Low tech coffee by the cup idea

[chrism]

So I came up with an idea and I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried this before? I was wondering if you could setup a booth at the local farmers market and use a small camping stove to heat water and use an Aeropress to make coffee to sell by the cup. It wouldn't take much and if there isn't too many people lining up for a cup of coffee (my local farmer's market doesn't get too busy) it would probably work decent and not cost much at all.

It might be a good way to get a nice cup of coffee to the few people that would stop by and help people starting up a coffee business, or it could be a really bad idea. I figured someone who frequents this forum has tried this or thought about pros vs. cons.

 

[ensoluna]

i like the idea in a way. Pros will be that people can really enjoy some good cup of coffee (assuming that it is fairly good quality coffee ground) in local farmer's market rather than 2 hours old burnt drip coffee. Also, you might be able to sell coffee beans / ground coffee and other related products along with it. If you can create your own brand of coffee, that would be ideal. (btw, it is very easy to make your own brand of coffee. if you do not know, please let me know.)
Cons...be... perhaps take too much time to make it?!!! unless you got few people doing it at the same time.

 

[peterjschmidt]

My suggestion would be to sacrifice a lb. of coffee and conduct an experiment with your camp stove and AP to see how fast you can do it. I know someone in IL that does just what you're saying, but he roasts at the market and sells beans too. He has electricity, so heating the water is less of an issue. He uses three AP's, and is very proficient with them. My guess is that your proposed setup won't be able to keep up, and only overly-patient people will hang around long enough, causing you to miss potential customers.

 

[PinkRose]

My suggestion would be to sacrifice a lb. of coffee and conduct an experiment with your camp stove and AP to see how fast you can do it.

Peter's suggestion is a very good one!

If you give it a try, you may discover that your camp stove won't be able to heat the water fast enough, especially if you're making multiple cups of coffee for people waiting in line.

 

[BFRoasters]

If you can get electricity then you can use a few electric water kettles.

 

[coffeeroastersclub]

There are quite a few people who roast beans at Farmers Markets. And I recall a person who was integrating the aeropress at the market too. People thought it was a neat thing and certainly enjoyed the coffee.

Len

 

[WatVentu]

This is a cool idea. I love the Aeropress for single cups, although it can be difficult to manage for groups- feeling rushed. without the time for a steep i think it diminishes one of the important qualities of the Aeropress. maybe have an option such as a chemex for groups that wish to get a quicker cup.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

If you are planing on using AP, you need readily available hot water. You do not want to be waiting for water to boil. Also, you need to have 3-4 AP so you can get them going at the same time if you get busy.
Basically, you get one ready and while its brewing, you can start on second and come back to press the first one when second AP is brewing. If you have bigger group, you can also work on third when Second AP is brewing.
This will take some practice. But it won't be hard to perfect it.

 

[peterjschmidt]

If this becomes reality, you could think about selling AP's at your booth. Once people see how easy they are to use, they'll want one, especially if they're going home with some of your beans. There were cases of 12 available at one time, and I'm sure you can still buy wholesale lots.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

good point.
We are all love making extra buck where we can......