Considering upgrading machine

[stardust]

Hi there. We run a tiny shop that's 1/3 cafe, 1/3 books, and 1/3 local handmade items so we don't spend a whole lot of capital on the cafe. That said, I've just about had it with our coffee pot. It's reliable but that's it's only virtue. It's an ancient Bunn ThermoFresh. It keeps a hot resvoir of water so we can never unplug it. The thing costs us $75/yr in electricity alone. I would also love to have something that has a hot water tap on it. We need a pot that we can pour the water into (we don't want to hook up a water line) and I'd prefer not to spend more than $200-300 on it. I'm happy to look for something used. We only make about one pot of coffee every 30-60 minutes so it doesn't have to anything too special. Do I have my head in the clouds? Any chance I could find the kind of replacement I'm thinking of?

Thanks,
Micah

 

[CCafe]

Well what comes to mind when you specify how much you want to spend and how little you plan on brewing is a simple Bunn VPR-APS.

You can find them just about anywhere and as long as you hit up a major reseller/retailer such as Sams Club or Costco you can pretty much come out ahead of the game.

Costso has their's listed for $200 - http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... d=11232429
Sams Club is listed a little higher about $225 - http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/produ ... navAction=

The only real problem is it doesn't have a hot water tap. Then again with pourovers you don't get much from the hot water tap anyways before you have to refill it. With that said I would probably look into something you could run a water line to. Most of your conventional Bunn brewers only need a 1/4" water line and you can run just about any type of line needed to get the job done.

 

[stardust]

Well, that's a good point. I hadn't really given a water line much thought, but you're right, it isn't necessarily a huge deal is it? Hm. Do you have an idea of what kind of machine I might look at if I was willing to run a line over?

 

[CCafe]

Well if you go to Bunn's website and take a look just about any APS should do you. Now if you want to stay in your budget I would try to find one with very few bells and whistles. The Axiom and some of the other digital machines will be priced well above what you are looking for. But I do believe that you might be able to find a newer machine around the $300 to $400 bracket.

Google Bunn APS and you should find several stores selling CW and CWTF APS's.

 

[stardust]

Well, that Bunn coffee pot we had just bit the dust. Figures. So now I'm even more interested in buying something (..tomorrow).

Given that we only keep about 1-2 liters of coffee available at a time, I'm wondering if there is any reason not to just go with a decent household coffee machine?

 

[shadow745]

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/produ ... bunn%20vpr

I second the BUNN VPR/APS as that is what I use daily. It is a great unit regardless of price. No bells and whistles, just a plain/simple workhorse that will give you fantastic drip coffee provided you give it good water/fresh ground coffee. The build quality is good as it's pretty much all stainless steel, has an adjustable thermostat should you want to change the brew temperature and all internals are easily accessible. It recovers quickly between batches and I can easily grind/brew several gallons per hour if needed.

I wouldn't bother trying to use a "home" drip machine in a commercial setting regardless of volume. Most of them simply won't achieve proper brew temperature for a decent period of time and most don't brew nearly fast enough either. Later!