Church coffee brewing

[Redswing]

The church I attend has been brewing canned coffee in 100 cup percolators for as long as I know. I am going to put together a recommendation to whatever committee is in charge of things like this for a decent drip brew setup. Coffee for about 100 people, all at once, once or twice a week. I broke it down into categories. In each case, I want something respected industry wide, but not overkill.

Filtration: Would it be practical to use a pour over brewer and bring filtered water in from off site, or should I suggest they install some sort of filtration system and pipe it into the machine? (If so, what would be a decent filtration option?)

Brewing: After reading through previous threads and doing a bit of basic googling, I am leaning towards the Bunn Infusion line for the brewer. Could anyone critique this option, or make a different suggestion?

Grinding: For the grinder, maybe the Bunn LPG?

Service: Would you all recommend one of the dispensers with the spout (like the Bunn thermofresh server), or just simple airpots?

As you can see, I am leaning towards Bunn because it seems to be a little less pricey. Clearly, the people at my church aren’t gonna be too critical, so I am aiming for a setup that is capable of producing ACCEPTABLE coffee, not necessarily fantastic coffee. Feel free to make a completely different suggestion.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

Hi Redswing. I think a pour over brewing method would be too hard because of the volume of needed at one time. Lot of work and time.
Since you gave permission for completely different suggestions, I might recommend a plumbed in Fetco Extractor. They do not recommend
softeners before machine. I use a Everpure filter head(EV9259-24 - QL3B Single Filter Head). You could use a few different filters for this,
they are pricey. Found Everpure to be a very good product for the investment. I do not own a cafe, just a small roastery. But I use a Fetco
CBS 2051E extractor(3 brewing batches to choose from). I would recommend the larger paper filters when brewing fresh roasted coffee,
because of the bloom. You will need to experiment on grind and amount of coffee used. Personally after contact with Fetco, Bunn, Curtiss/Grindmaster,
I found the brewing volume recommendations were all over the place from company reps. So I figured it out for myself. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking Bunn brewers, I have a couple of them still, but I prefer the Fetcos. Couple of pics.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

Also, you could use a Bunn grinder or others like Grindmaster and Ditting. You need not buy a Fetco grinder, although they work well too.

 

[Redswing]

Thanks JumpinJak. When I looked into the prices, it seemed like the Bunn line is a little less spendy. Do you have thoughts on that?
Also, when I said pour over, I was meaning to refer to the kind of machine with the tank that you fill as opposed to the kind that is plumbed in.

 

[PinkRose]

The church I attend has been brewing canned coffee in 100 cup percolators for as long as I know. I am going to put together a recommendation to whatever committee is in charge of things like this for a decent drip brew setup. Coffee for about 100 people, all at once, once or twice a week. I broke it down into categories. In each case, I want something respected industry wide, but not overkill.

Did the committee from the church ask you to find a better way to make coffee? Are they not happy with they way they've been doing it, or are you looking for a way to become the coffee provider for the church?

 

[JumpinJakJava]

The Bunn certainly is less expensive, and the Bunn pour over would work fine. But you will have to weekly cart over the filtered water,
that may become a drag. I am assuming there is a small kitchen in the church, maybe someone in attendance is a plumber or could hook up
a filter and water line to a Bunn brewer with a designated water line. Just a few thoughts.

 

[Redswing]

JumpinJak: Bet you are right. I'll look that direction.

PinkRose: I wasn't asked, I just thought it is worth a shot to make a suggestion. I don't care if I roast the coffee myself or not, I'd just like people to be able to get a decent cup of coffee there.

 

[PinkRose]

PinkRose: I wasn't asked, I just thought it is worth a shot to make a suggestion. I don't care if I roast the coffee myself or not, I'd just like people to be able to get a decent cup of coffee there.

It's worth a try. But, they may be happy doing what they've been doing, and they may not want to spend the money on a new coffee setup.

 

[peterjschmidt]

It's worth a try. But, they may be happy doing what they've been doing, and they may not want to spend the money on a new coffee setup.

Either way, they'll stay awake for the sermon!

 

[sidg]

You can take it in steps as well.
First bring in some coffee fresh ground for that morning and use it instead of the caned coffee.
Then bring in a couple of fresh airpots or portable containers for a special event.
When they taste what they could have tell them there are ways that they could have that every week and the price is only going to be this much.

 

[Redswing]

I do realize there is a better than good shot they'll say no to this unless I can find a way to fund it through some special coffee fund raising drive. I am sure it will be hard for most church folk to swallow...$2,500 to build a well for a village without fresh water on site OR better tasting coffee for me.

Regardless, I like coffee. So here's what I am thinking of recommending. Any critiques?

Bunn ICB Automatic Infusion Coffee Brewer (Stainless) - Coffee Wholesale USA

Bunn LPG Coffee Grinder - 20580.0001 from Capital City Restaurant Supply

Servers: 3.8 L airpots, or as an upgrade, 5.7L thermofresh servers( BUNN-O-Matic 44050.0050 1.5-Gallon ThermoFresh Baseless Mechanical Server, Stainless )on wire stands (Bunn ThermoFresh Wire Base - Coffee Wholesale USA)

Everpure EV9270-76 H-300 Drinking Water System - Faucet Mount Water Filters - Amazon.com jumpin jak, this is what you suggested, right?

It comes to just under 2k with airpots(5), or 2.5k with the thermofresh servers (4).

 

[PinkRose]

You could buy the equipment yourself, and donate it to the church, and then deduct it from your federal taxes at the end of the year.

Or, you could just bring your own travel mug of coffee to the church meeting and be done with it.

Good luck with your plan.

Rose

 

[CCafe]

Save yourself some money on the water filtration.

Costguard CG5-10S 9-3/4" Carbon Block with Phosphate 5 mic - FreshWaterSystems.com

Housing

Pentek 10" 3G Slim Line Filter Housing Black/Blue IB w/ PR - FreshWaterSystems.com

Pentek owns Everpure and several other lines. Costguard is another Pentek line. This cartridge here will do everything you need for your coffee brewer as well as give you some scale reduction for your brewer which in turn will make your brewer last a lot longer.

Only difference is the micron rating. The everpure cartridge you listed is for .5 micron and this one is 5 micron. A human hair is between 40 and 120 microns wide so 5 microns is more than enough to get the job done.