Not all coffee brewers are the same

So, you’re ready to open up. Now you’re ready to bring in your coffee company to set up your shop. Hopefully, you did all the prep work.  The question is,  what type of coffee machine should you get?

Well, not all coffee brewers are the same. Even those in the same category differ greatly. Of course, I have my personal preferences, looking at them from their functionality and mechanical components. But from their coffee making capabilities, they differ greatly. All of them will make coffee, but one better than the other.

Planning is of an essence. Know your needs.

What kind of set up are you going to have? Are customers going to serve themselves? Do you want small batches for freshness’s sake? (Dunkin’ Donuts did this for years. Now they have switched to the equipment we’re discussing.) How hot do you want your coffee to be?

These are decisions that merit your time. You can delegate this to your coffee company’s sales rep, but his focus will be on availability, rather than practicability and functionality. You should know what you need.

How important a role is coffee going to have in your business? Imagine walking into a restaurant and finding out they don’t have coffee. Is that you?

Spray head design, does it really matter?

To make a great cup of coffee, you need to have three essential elements. We call them in the industry the three t’s: temperature, time and turbulence. These will have an effect in the taste of your coffee, even if it is a subtle one.  Think of the way our grandmas made coffee. They boiled water and most likely added coffee grounds, then they would stir (turbulence)the mix and then filter. 

That’s something you want replicated during the brewing cycle. The only way to do that, without having a hand in the machine (LOL),  is by a well designed spray head and pulses (intermittent ons and offs).  Bunn and Fetco have taken the time to do this. Wilbur Curtis satellite brewers allow to you control the volume of flow but do not  add any turbulence to the cycle.

Why is turbulence so important? To help in extracting solubles from the coffee grounds.  This yields a fuller bodied extraction. 

Soft heat  vs  high heat.

Not all heat is the same. Coffee when left on a warmer will continue to cook up. That’s why many people won’t drink coffee that’s more than 12 minutes old. Most satellite brewers have  direct high heat on their satellites. That’s a no no for coffee freshness. Soft heat is just more like a thermal container that maintains a constant temperature of 195, but not straight to the container, with a lower wattage warmer element. In layman terms, a fancy thermos.  Will it keep it from getting old? No, but it will extend its shelf life a lot. I still think it tastes funny. From the moment you finish brewing coffee, It’s going to begin to age. There’s no way around it.

Tips and tricks

Do I have to say, keep your machine clean? That’s tip number one.

Brew fresh coffee as often as you can. 

Brew full batches when you’re most busy.

Discard old coffee. If you feel like recycling, use it as a wood stain, not for iced coffee.

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