Painted Table Coffee Program
To grow and improve the quality of Painted Table's existing coffee program using percolators and to establish an upscale coffee service by offering a boutique pour-over coffee bar option. Featuring coffee by local roasting company El Cap Coffee Co.
The Percolator
To simplify preparation on site, I would suggest that you narrow your potential batches to 20 or 25 "cup" increments. For example 20/40/60/80/100 or 25/50/75/100 based on the water markings on your equipment. We can supply pre-ground pouches measured to the increment of the batch sizes, e.g., 1 pouch = 20 cups. If you're providing service for 80, you'd use 4 pouches and fill water to the 80-cup mark.
Once ground, coffee begins to stale quickly. With that in mind, if you're using pre-ground coffee, it is ideal to order on a weekly basis wherever possible. If weekly ordering is not feasible, I would not recommend using your ground coffee past 30 days or so post-roast and grind.
Cost:
To nail down specifics, I'm going to need to know a little more about your equipment, and I'd like to experiment a little to get the recipe really dialed in. This pricing is going to be "general" and you can relate it to quantities you're currently using.
$18/lb for Glacier Blend ground and portion packaged for percolator. This is a darker roast for us and fits that more typical or traditional coffee flavor profile.
In addition to Glacier Blend, we can develop a custom branded "Painted Table Blend" for you, and I think we can develop a "half-caf" product as well.
Pour Over Bar
This is going to be primarily an equipment list. Of course the aesthetics of the actual bar are a piece of it, but I'm not going to go too deeply into that part - your presentation is your domain.
Pour overs are desirable because of the improved quality resulting from the increased precision and control in the process. Secondarily, the preparation is great theater and provides an upscale visual for guests. You can make compromises in equipment and process that will take away from the finished product if you're most interested in the "theater".
To prepare a pour over you need 6 things:
- Pour-Over device such as the Hario v60 or Kalita Wave (+filters)
- Gooseneck kettle, filtered water 205-210 degrees
- Burr Coffee Grinder
- Scale
- Carafe/mug/cup
- Great beans, ground fresh
1. Pour-Over Device
There are two good options here. The Hario v60 is the established "standard" but it requires more attention and precision. It does come in several different materials - metal, plastic and ceramic in a variety of colors which is nice, but the consistency can fall off if attention is not maintained by the barista. I don't think it's the best option for you, especially in an environment where a single person is potentially trying to make multiple cups at a time.
$20-30 depending on color/material
The Kalita Wave is the other great option and is far more forgiving when the barista must multi-task. It features a more restricted water flow which makes up for the potential pouring inconsistencies possible in the Hario. It looks good, is durable, makes great coffee and is my top recommendation
$25 for stainless
2. Gooseneck Kettle
You need water with good temp control - just off the boil, or 205-210 degrees. Assuming you don't have this readily available, an electric gooseneck kettle is going to be your best solution. I have used the 1L and 1.7L of this Bonavita kettle for years (the smaller one is still in service at my parents). It heats quickly, and you can program your desired temp and it will maintain it. I would equip two of these so you can use one, while the other heats. The larger capacity is worthwhile. There are sexier looking options out there, but they tend to be much smaller.
$81
If you have a bulk boiling water source on site and easily accessible at the coffee bar, you can use a regular gooseneck kettle like this:
$32ea
3. Burr Coffee Grinder
Coffee stales very quickly after grinding and grinding coffee immediately before brewing has the single largest impact on taste out of all the variables. You can taste the difference in as little as 15 minutes post grind. The quality and consistency of the grind is also of great importance which rules out using the "blade type" spice and coffee grinders. You can get an inexpensive burr grinder for as little as $50-60, but you can get a legitimately very good one - the Capresso Infinity - for $90. I used one of these for several years before moving up to entry level commercial grinders starting around $400-500.
$85ea
4. Scale
Aside from having freshly ground coffee, the second most important variable in making a great cup of coffee is the coffee to water ratio (1:15 to 1:18). The quickest and simplest way to do this is with a responsive scale weighing your carafe, coffee, brewer and the water as you add it. There are dozens of inexpensive scales on Amazon of varying performance, but the Hario v60 Scale is the standard.
$50-60 ea
This is one of those cheaper coffee scales that looks like it would do an acceptable job:
$17ea
The only downside to the Hario is that it does NOT like to get wet. I've flooded mine, and it dries out after several days and works again, but a bad overflow can kill it for awhile. I haven't completely killed one...yet. :)
5. Carafe/Mug/Cup
The simplest thing is to just brew straight into the mug or cup your serving in, but you can also brew into dedicated carafes. Both Hario and Kalita have dedicated carafes that fit their brewers. The advantage of these is that the brewer and carafe are a single unit so your weights are far more accurate when pouring water. They're also a lot more stable (safer) during the brewing.
$27ea
Hario Glass Range Server - there are a few for the Hario, I like the looks of this one.
$27ea
6. Brewing Station
There are a ton of stylish DIY and manufactured brewing stations out there, many/most of them don't have room for the scale, or they separate the brewer from the carafe which makes tracking accurate weight difficult. I use the Hario v60 Drip Station because it's functionally perfect. It's designed to work with the Hario v60 Scale mentioned earlier and it will accommodate either the Hario or Kalita brewers and carafes (or a mug/cup). This one also provides some protection of the scale should there be an overflow situation.
$45ea
Note - any pour over "stand" you build should allow you to incorporate the scale under the carafe/mug+brewer during the pour. You'll need one scale for every "position" or however many brews you want to make at once.
7. Great Coffee
We currently offer the following wholesale pricing for whole bean coffee:
- $75 for 5lb bags
- $32 for 2lb bags
- $13 for 12oz bags
There is the occasional coffee that costs a little more, but most are available at those rates.
Usage for pour overs is about 20g per 12oz cup. There is enough coffee in a 12oz bag for about 17 pour-overs. In a 2lb bag, there is enough for approximately 45 12oz pour-overs.
As a good practice, you should offer a couple different origins at the bar to enhance the upscale feel. Like a fruity Ethiopian paired with a round and smooth Peruvian.
A Word About Percolators
Percolators, unfortunately, are not a great way to make coffee unless you need a whole bunch of it all at the same time and mostly labor free. They provide the caffeine hit, but it's unlikely anyone will ever mistake it for a great cup of coffee. There are stand-alone brewers that will do a far better job and would probably keep up with needs at most events if you have someone to operate it. They get a bad rap because they're the stuff of diners and truck stops, but they work pretty danged good if you put great coffee in them. Coffee can be brewed and then stored in insulated airpots for up to an hour with decent results. There is even a version of the one below that brews directly into an airpot.
$290 on Amazon, can be found elsewhere for less
Finally...
The Amazon links on this page are affiliate links for us and we get a little kick if you use them to purchase. That said, do a search before you buy anything on Amazon. They usually have the best prices, but since Covid arrived, everything is crazy. I've had to do deep searches to get filters at times, I know the Hario scale is out of stock on Amazon, but widely available elsewhere, the Bunn coffee brewer is available for a good chunk less at www.webstaurantstore.com, and so on.