rdennhardt Senior Member Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Posts: 2 Location: Nebraska Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Thu Feb 14, 2013, 3:46pm Subject: Mass Amounts of Coffee
Hey everyone, I have been given the task of improving our coffee situation in the office/plant We have 350 employees and currently use a larue coffee extract machine...it was here when I got here! not my fault! I was thinking about going with a Fetco 3 gallon brewer but dont want the coffee to sit and I know that it will. I dont think people will know the difference and Im sure it will still be 1,000 times better than what we have even after its been sitting for 6 hours...but...I just cant allow it. Im wondering if there is a product or company that does an extract or one cup brew system that is good. I know im asking alot but I need to weigh all options before training these folks how to brew coffee. just to give you an idea, in the month of January we went through 832oz of extract wich equals 3,744 eight ounce cups of cofee. I ready for your sugestions!
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,684 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 10:24am Subject: Re: Mass Amounts of Coffee
HI Is there going to be a person devoted to making coffee or is the "system" along the lines of "if the pot is empty, make a new one" ?
There is nothing as good as high quality coffee, freshly roasted, properly and FRESHLY ground (hint, you need a grinder too, ground coffee goes stale in about 15 minutes) and brewed. With your volume, I would guess you can get a bluk discount but even then I would expect to pay more than $8 per pound, that could add up very quickly.
Any of the major manufacturers make quality equipment. Bunn, Fetco, Newco to name but a few. Most high end coffee shops will brew into air pots for rapid service drip coffee. They also do by the cup brewing for those who ask for it. When they make the air pots, they put a timer on it and when it gets to be 1 hour post brewing, what is left in the pot goes down the drain and a new pot is brewed.
Your stated volume of coffee use, when evenly divided over the month works out to only 23.4 8 oz cups per hour (4 weeks x 8 hr day= 160 hours. 3744 "cups" / 160= 23.4 cups per hour) . I would guess that most coffee though is used in the morning and a lot less in the afternoon so if all the consumption was only in the first 4 hours, then you are looking at a system that brews 50 of your cups per hour or (50 x 8 =) 400 oz / hr or just over 3 gal per hour.
You also need to discuss distrubution, how big is the plant, how many coffee stations do you need? How are you going to get the coffee from the brewing station to the serving stations?
You have to answer those kind of questions for us to give much more help.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
rdennhardt Senior Member Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Posts: 2 Location: Nebraska Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Fri Feb 15, 2013, 2:59pm Subject: Re: Mass Amounts of Coffee
The process if we go with Fetco or any other manual brewing set up will be...if you drink the last cup you start a new pot. I will be doing a company wide training to ensure the most consitant brew. I generally choose Fetco as it is what I used when owning my own coffee shop, I also have a contract with them as a consultant and sell their equipment when I do training jobs. Thankfully I can get coffee a bit cheaper than 8.00 so that will help. my biggest concern is waste and the coffee sitting. the system now is ready when they need it...it just sucks! I would like to drastically improve this, but it needs to be realistic for this to work out
Posted Sun Feb 17, 2013, 8:37am Subject: Re: Mass Amounts of Coffee
I know of a company here in Kitchener, ON that just came out with large super auto machines ideal for office/workplace. They grind fresh and the company will supply coffee, milk, cream, sugar. They are custom made and I have tried them they produce good cup of coffee as well as other hot drinks. PM me if you would like more info.
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