Brewing Coffee in LARGE quantities and keep HOT

[The Rookie]

I am attempting to brew a lot of coffee as quickly as I can - and keep it hot for as long as possible.

My goal is to brew coffee in large quantities, store them in airpots and then take them to various places around the city to serve at different events.

So, I need to brew in large amounts, and I need to be able to keep it hot for as long as possible. I am guessing I would use airpots to keep the coffee hot? Which ones are best? What machine should I use to brew large amounts of coffee, quickly?

 

[shadow745]

I agree that air pots are a great way to keep coffee piping hot for hours while preserving the taste/texture and doing so at a good price. I use BUNN air pots that have the lever on top and really like the overall build quality of these things. I recently bought some used air pots at a great price for the larger events we do. These are the Update brand and they are nice, but I don't like them as good as the BUNN air pots.

For brewing I use a BUNN VPR unit which has alot of great features without being overfeatured/overpriced. It is a pourover model, has adjustable brew temperature and brews exceptional drip FAST. Can do 3 liters in about 6 minutes and extracts alot of flavor in this short time. Is very easy to use and is awlays ready when you need it to be.

Don't forget a grinder if you plan to use fresh beans and grind yourself. Don't go through the trouble of getting a nice drip machine, air pots, etc. then use preground stale crap... For drip I use a BUNN LPG grinder as this thing not only grinds with amazing consistency, but does so rather fast.

I will tell you most people enjoy/appreciate a great cup of "fresh/hot" coffee. We sell ours for $1.75 for a 12 oz. cup and $2 for the 16 oz. cup. This includes tax. We have had a few people to question our prices, saying "I can get this much at the gas station for $1" or whatever might be the case. We simply tell them that our beans never get older than 2 weeks, we grind and brew on-site and never keep the coffee in the air pots longer than 3-4 hours. Then go on to say "if you don't like the taste it's free"... they take a sip and gladly pay. I will say some people are OK with the sludge they are used to drinking and think if they start on good, fresh coffee it might lead to the "froo froo" or "foo foo" stuff (whatever in the hell that is supposed to mean) and they will become addicted, so they can be quite hesitant on giving it a shot. Good luck!

 

[CCafe]

A VPR is a good machine but its not going to pump out large quantities. In my opinion its not going to give you the best cup either. VPR's really are meant for low grade restaurants who don't need exceptional brewing. They just need a reliable coffee pot that is an affordable brewer and the Bunn VPR nails it every time.

That being said I would highly suggest you look into Bunn's specialty coffee brewer line. Either the ICB or the Brewwise. The Brewise is the bells and whistles model while the ICB with many of the same features comes in a slightly different package and in my experience is just as good as of a machine for slightly less in price.

You can brew up to 18.9 gallons per hour vs the VPR's 3.8 which may be right up your ally. The biggest advantage your going to have with a ICB is the control over your coffee. These machines are very precise on temperature as well as how much water will be running through the machine at any given time. Having pulse brewing is a nice plus. Once you get inside the programing its really easy to navigate around it and you'll see just how far you can really go to perfecting the perfect cup.

I've sat around for many hours playing with settings to get an extraordinary cup! 8)

Another line to try would be the Fetco Extractor Series. A little more complicated but more for the set it and forget it crowd. I will say I have more Fetco's out there then Bunn so people do like them.

 

[shadow745]

CCafe I have to ask... who is going to need/use close to 19 gallons of brew per hour? I'm sure there are better options out there for drip brewers than what the VPR offers, but for what it is it does a great job and I get great results in the cup from it. I will say that our primary sales are in espresso based drinks as it should be, but the VPR does a nice job of banging out tasty brew in a small footprint, which is a huge concern in a mobile setup. The VPR is also reasonably priced for what it does.

Getting back to the OP's comments... if he needs something cranking out that much flow, he'd need a large capacity grinder and lots of fresh beans to complete the setup. Later!

 

[CCafe]

For one I know a coffee shop here in Des Moines who at weekly event for 6 months out of the year brews on two CBS-52H nonstop for about 4 or 5 hours. So trust me just because your business isn't flourishing on drip coffee doesn't mean the rest of the coffee shops out there aren't either.

Honestly if I see a VPR in a coffee shop I'm going to walk out anyways. That is not a specialty coffee brewer and screams to me that this person just doesn't care.

Now on to The Rookie's original question. He/She was asking about brewing large quantities of coffee. A VPR isn't designed to do this. A machine the size of a ICB can and will give you the batches you need.

Look at it this way a 3 liter VPR brewer is only capable of brewing roughly 5 batches an hour. That's 1 batch every 12 minutes. That's taking in the time to brew as well as the time it takes the machine to recover. The ICB can produce 24 3 liter batches an hour. I rounded up to keep the math easier. Assuming your brewing both sides at the same time the ICB can brew and recover every 5 minutes.

I'm assuming The Rookie is going to want to brew 5 to 10 pump pots if not more. So if the purpose is to brew it fast and deliver product all over the city, do you want to spend 2 hours brewing 10 pots on a VPR or less then a half hour pumping out 10 on a ICB?

I'm trying to address The Rookie's issue and not push my favorite coffee brewer in the process! As for the grinder you don't need a large capacity grinder. A simple G1 will suffice. A G1 can grind a pound in under 30 seconds. Heck you can even buy a G9 portion control grinder. To brew 19 gallons of coffee your only going to grind about 6.5 pounds of coffee an hour.