Commercial Coffee Makers

[eldub]

Just got off the phone with the grease interceptor authority after getting some clarification and guidance. All went well. The fire marshall gave us permission to sell coffee to go by the cup the other day and the guy at waste water reclamation just confirmed that as long as we're not altering the sewage line by hooking up an espresso machine, his office has no issue with us selling coffee to go. Wheeew!

Anyway, the question now is which type of commercial coffee maker would be most appropriate for our needs. I envision offering 2-3 different coffees by the cup every day. We also plan on selling coffee at farmer's markets in season. Our original idea was to purchase a Fetco CBS 2052E and a few 3.5 gallon thermos dispensers. However, I'm not sure if we need to go that big right off the bat. I also have looked at Bunn commercial brewers with space to warm three glass pots for a lot less money.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

scott

 

[CanadianBrian]

Hello Scott;
Congrats on getting around the grease trap. I suggest you get it in writting as sometimes there is a miscommunication and if you have it in writting their is no miscommunication.
Not sure if you would need the bigger Fetco and I would STAY away from any glass pots. Coffee done in these have a life of 15 minutes. Tim Horton's here in Canada advertize that their coffee is fresh and will use or pour out their made coffee if it is over 20 minutes old. They mark a time with a white marker on each glass pot when they brew it. Bunn has a smaller insulated coffee pot system that you might wanna check out. It is reasonably priced.
Brian

 

[eldub]

Thanks, Brian.

At this point, I can't imagine brewing coffee every twenty minutes for the low volume of coffee to go I'm initially expecting. The wife just told me that that brewing system w/ heating element for the glass pots also tends to scorch the coffee if left for too long. (hence the reason for fresh pots every 20 minutes, maybe?)

Anyway, I just found a fetco single brewer that works with stainless steel gallon urns. Could maybe also be used for dispensing coffee at the farmer's markets. My initial idea was to have a few coffees available for those in a rush and to also offer pour overs at request for those with more time. That way we could allow customers to try any coffee they were considering purchasing in bulk and demo some items we plan on carrying for resale at the same time.

 

[CanadianBrian]

Hello Scott;
Yes that is very true. Coffee left in glass pots will degrade in 15-20 minutes, that is why Tim's changes pots so often. Major marketing campain on their part considering all of their coffee is pre-ground. Lol
We have quite a few coffee shops here that use the smaller insulated pots and then do a pour over for the less requested decaff and other not requested often coffees. Great idea.
You can see what your sales are like and have 2 or maybe 3 pots going at a time. I have thought about maybe doing a smaller trifecta/bonita/technivorm for a few cups at a time. I know that these are for home use but I think that in some situations these might be sufficient.
Brian

 

[eldub]

I considered the technivorm but am now questioning the quality of construction. (Although I hear they brew a great cup of joe.)

 

[CCafe]

If your going to sell coffee to the general public you need to go for a commercial machine. I know Technivorm builds a commercial line but you'll be far better off if you were to choose Bunn, Fetco, Curtis, or even Newco. These brands are all well established in the US. The main problem with Technivorm is they are distributed solely by Boyds which cuts down on service. I can call Bunn or Fetco right now and get a list of 5 to 10 repair companies in most major metropolitan areas.

As for glass pots you have to change coffee out because that 100 watt element never shuts off. I've seen places where the coffee was literally boiling on the burner. It is possible to purchase a Bunn CWTF brewer with glass pots and then pour the coffee into airpots but why not just buy an airpot brewer?

For now if your not looking at producing a lot of coffee I might suggest you take a look at a Curtis D500GT, Fetco CBS2051 or a Bunn ICB single.

All 3 of these brewers are digital and support pulse brewing. They are all easy to make adjustments on the fly. They are all affordable and can be easily repaired through out the states.

The only other brewer I can think of that would be a good addition would be a Fetco CBS51H. It's a manual handle machine with no bells and whistles. The beauty of this toy is the life expectancy and its lifetime operational costs. For a few hundred dollars every 5+ years you can overhaul it and keep running pretty much indefinitely.

As much as I like pulse brewing it brings its own unique problems in the form of valves and additional electronics that have a tendency to fail. That failure can add up fast.

 

[eldub]

As for the technivorm, I have been considering selling it in our shop, not brewing coffee from it.

 

[CCafe]

I wouldn't even bother. Again Boyds is the main distributor so your not going to make much selling one. The other problem is people have a very hard time wrapping their mind around a $300 home coffee brewer that's only redeeming quality is it can brew at a constant temperature. People see the bells and whistles version of Mr.Coffee and those other home units running around $100 and they just can't get over that hump for a Technivorm. You and I both know the advantages but with the way of this economy your going to be sitting on equipment for a very long time.