I second that. I’m using a Bunn thermal carafe. It produces consistent hot water and is always ready. The brewed coffee stays hot for several hours. I bought it over 5 years ago and use only filtered water so no scale build up. Now when it dies I will replace it with a Moccamaster thermal carafe.
In your situation, I’d ask for a Bunn 10 cup home coffee brewer. It’s the longest lasting, most reliable, kitchen appliance I’ve ever owned. Nothing beats it. They have fancier models, but the one I mentioned is the one I have-have had for years.
If each of the 20 drinks say, a 12oz portion that's 240oz or 30 cups. So you're looking at 3-4 runs with a 10 cup machine.
Machine: Bunn. There's 10 cup options around $130.
Carafe: Whatever. You can get insulated carafes for like, $20-$30. This will help your production line since you can't fit a commercial Bunn in that budget, keep one of those full + the pot.
Grinder: You can get an OXO for $80-$100, or a Cuisinart for $50.
Cuisinart grinder + Bunn 10 cup + cheapo carafe keeps you in budget and should all work great. Splurge on nicer grinder if you find more coin, Baratza Encore.
Or go even cheaper + showy (though more difficult/more time) and do boilers and pour overs or french press made to order. Spend more on the grinder if you go this route.
I've always had BUNN pots, but the quality on the residential ones has gone to crap, a few years ago, I splurged and bought a commercial grade one that plumbs directly into the water supply! The hot water tap is nice for my wife who loves hot tea and the kids for cider or cocoa.
IMO nothing beats a restaurant Bunn or one of their clones. Water is always hot, brew as much or little as you want, if you replace the plastic basket with stainless you have zero plastic from the boiler to your pot. The only better coffee IMO is pourover, Bunns are like pourover for people who don't want to fuss over their pot.
Impossible_Rub24
