Large amounts of decent coffee needed!

May 28, 2009 6:35 AM

How do I provide some not-terrible coffee to about 50 guests in Windham, NY?

I'll be hosting a party at a house outside Windham (in the Catskills) next month. Relatives will be catering, and we're renting a tent and equipment from a party rentals place. The thing is, the only coffee makers they have are percolators.

So we're trying to figure out how to get/make decent, strong coffee in sufficient amounts to make everyone happy in the morning.

Options:
1. No coffee :(
2. Ask people to bring coffeemakers (messy, hassle for guests).
3. Buy a bunch of french presses (very expensive, messy, hassle for us).
4. Rent a giant drip machine (expensive? big hassle).
5. Get coffee boxes from somewhere. (But where? The nearest Starbucks is 25 miles away, and those boxes are cheesy to serve from.)
6. Brew coffee using an obscure technique that you know about, yet I do not).
7. ???

posted by Jonathan Harford to food & drink (19 comments total)

This coffee snob thinks you can make just fine coffee with a percolator. What really matters is the quality of the beans you're using.
(and use cream, not milk. please. people will be impressed.)
posted by dunkadunc at 6:43 AM on May 28

Wake up early and use the percolators in advance of the party (seconding dunkadunc. use real cream). Store the coffee in a number of airpots.

We have an airpot at home and it keeps the coffee warm (if not hot!) for hours
posted by lyam at 6:44 AM on May 28

Go to Bread Alone on Rt 28 between Mt. Tremper and Ashokan and ask them if they can either provide coffee or sell you enough fresh beans to make your own. 50 guests is going to be way to many to go the percolator route so if they can provide you with those big Samovar type things, you will be golden.

By the way...if these was 10 people, I'd say you would be well served to use the percolators. I use my grandmother's 40 year old percolator every morning with gourmet beans and it's the best coffee I've ever had.
posted by spicynuts at 6:55 AM on May 28

I think percolator coffee will be more than fine, personally. Especially if you use decent beans and keep it warm in thermos carafes rather than over a heating element.

Alternately, you can cold-brew lots of coffee concentrate and let people mix up their own cups. That's how I feed my coffee habit at work. You'd just need large hot water dispensers.
posted by crush-onastick at 6:58 AM on May 28 [1 favorite]

yes, I know that first link pans the cold-brew coffee, I happen to disagree and I think it's a pretty good explanation of the process using the store-bought system. The second link is a good explanation of the process using a home-made system.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:00 AM on May 28

Trader Joes serves coffee made in a percolator and it is great tasting. One time the guy mentioned to me that the secret was to use a lot of coffee. Two tablespoons per cup. Yikes!
posted by snowjoe at 7:02 AM on May 28

My local rental place rents a 90 cup percolator for $25 and pump pots for $5. I'm thinking that you'd be spending more money on the coffee than the rental.
posted by plinth at 7:07 AM on May 28

Starbucks also (at least in the past) has coffee Cambros available. (So something like this, usually in green: http://iweb.cooking.com/images/products/enlarge/705242e.jpg).

You could talk to a manager in advance to reserve it and then they should have it ready to go for you at a specified time when you get there. Then you bring it back when you are done. Don't recall if there is a deposit involved.

Although 25 miles is kind of far... But maybe there are other coffee places nearby that do a similar thing.
posted by unsigned at 7:16 AM on May 28

I make coffee for events in those giant percolater urns all the time. The secret is twofold: 1) use good coffee and 2) use enough of it, which looks like way too much and scares a lot of people off. I use a 6 oz plastic cup full for every 10 cups water level. It will be fine.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:26 AM on May 28

1. Boil a large pot of water. Turn off the heat once it boils.
2. Dump the appropriate amount of coffee into the pot. Stir. Cover. Let steep for 3-4 minutes.
3. Pour coffee off the top into giant percolator urns for service. If the grounds are still floating around or you want to get every last little bit out, pour it through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
posted by electroboy at 7:42 AM on May 28

Seconding the TWO TABLESPOONS per cup reco. The main reason most bulk-brewed coffee tastes so nasty is that people cheap out/underestimate the amount of coffee per cup.
posted by chez shoes at 7:50 AM on May 28 [1 favorite]

Trader Joes serves coffee made in a percolator and it is great tasting.

There is no Trader Joes anywhere remotely near Windham. Unless you want to drive to Brooklyn or Union Square, Manhattan.
posted by spicynuts at 7:52 AM on May 28

Trader Joes serves coffee made in a percolator and it is great tasting.

spicynuts, I think the point here is that good coffee can, in fact, be made with a percolator.

Seconding the 2 Tbsp grounds per 6 oz water. Make sure you use a coarse grind if you're using the percolators. The airpot suggestion is a good one, you'll just have to get a bunch.
posted by purpletangerine at 8:36 AM on May 28

Another voice saying use the percolators with good coffee. Decent coffee, served fresh and hot, should be fine. Coffee snobs get very particular about their coffee; you can't please them all (or any of them). For instance, I find the stored coffee usually gets cool. And I strongly prefer milk to cream. And those plastic cups of hyper-pasteurized cream are truly vile. So, back to basics.

Good ground coffee, fresh and hot, pitchers of fresh cream (or whole milk) packets of sugar, and splenda if you want to make some friends, and no complaining.
posted by theora55 at 9:21 AM on May 28

I'll chime in in favor of using lots of coffee. Back in the day when our local Dunkin Donuts served the best coffee in the world, the manager told me that was the secret... and they weren't making particulary large amounts.
posted by wryly at 9:27 AM on May 28

nth-ing percolators. i'm a full time a/v tech and spend a lot of time drinking percolator-made hotel or special event catering coffee. in fact, some of the best tasting mass-produced coffee has come from a dented up silver percolator. give it a try.
posted by spydee at 9:48 AM on May 28

I don't know how long you need to have it available, but the local Dunkin Donuts place here will sell you large quantities of brewed coffee in cubitainer-like things. The ones I've seen look like they're about one gallon each in size.

I've been at a few meetings lasting several hours each where the hosts had these, and the coffee was very good and remained hot for the duration.
posted by imjustsaying at 11:51 AM on May 28

All these people who seem to know what they are talking about insist that percolator's the way to go! Have I been misled to think that this device is the creator of all bad coffee? I'm going to give it a shot! Thanks everyone! I'll do it -- and 2 Tsp per 6oz.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 12:37 PM on May 29

Drip coffee is largely responsible for the horrible coffee I've had in the past, while percolators and french presses have given me delicious coffee every time. Good luck!
posted by lyam at 8:00 AM on June 2