[Heather2727]

Hey guys, We have been having trouble with coffee at events. We had been using the Hamilton Beach 60 cup urn, but they tend to break very easily and do not brew the majority of the time. Since we were having so many issues with this product we have switched to brewing coffee at the kitchen then putting it into beverage cambros. Now our problem is that the coffee is cold by the time we are to serve it. Does anyone have any suggestions of any other ideas to keep it hot, or other ways to have fresh coffee at different venues.

 

[sgsvirgil]

How far in advance are you making the coffee? The coffee should be the last thing made as you are walking out the door to go to the service venue. Do you have to travel far? A cambro should keep the coffee hot for several hours. If you the event is a longer event or has a large guest list, perhaps shuttling in coffee from your kitchen would solve the problem?

The obvious answer here would be to brew the coffee on sight, if at all possible. If you have access to electricity on site, then, that solves much of your problem. However, if you do not have access to electricity, brew the coffee in your kitchen, fill the cambros as usual, and when the coffee starts to get cold, brew more coffee on sight with a gas operated hot plates and conventional coffee pots. Add the hot coffee to the cambros.

Have you looked into contracting out your coffee services? That may be a worthwhile solution for the larger events and the events that are farther away from your kitchen.

 

[aladeg]

We had the same issue - the cambros just don't do a great job of holding temp. We do mostly coffee stations versus table service and switched over to a coffee pot that brews directly into airpots - those will keep coffee HOT for 24 hours. There's some ups and downs to both but this is easier in many ways. Alternatively - if we have a really large group, we transport in cambros and then serve in coffee urns that are lit by chafing fuels. Helps to rewarm the coffee - and they look nicer.

 

[meezenplaz]

I agree the big rectangular coffee cambros with the spigots really suck, so
do the streamlined versions. I dont like the way they affect the taste either.
The deco coffee urns heated by sternos is my choice. They start about
120.00 online and theyre gorgeous. But you need the time to bring it up to temp.

You can also heat up a batch of pre brewed coffee with your better elec brewpots,
without having to rebrew. And in a pinch, Ive run the pot again with no new coffee,
and its done fine, because its based on temperature.....which means it goes
through the brew process and straight to the warm cycle pretty quickly.

 

[thomas fontaine]

What about fresh boiling water over Nescafé (soluble powdered coffee)?

 

[peachcreek]

Whether using a Cambro beverage dispenser or airpots your coffee will stay much warmer if you pre-heat the Cambro or airpot first by filling it with hot water and letting it set till it warms up. Then pour out the hot water and put in the hot coffee.

 

[foodpump]

The Cambros can hold hot water at the same temp for at least 4 hours, so the question is, why can’t they hold coffee for the same amount of time?

Peach creek is right, you have to pre heat the beverage cambros. Then, the question is, how are you filling the Cambro with brewed coffee?. We used to brew our coffee in a 60 cupper perculator, then remove the filter basket, and pour in the coffee in one go into the preheated cambro.

If you’re brewing individual airports, and then pouring it in a cold Cambro, then brew another pot, remove the cambro lid, pour it in, and so forth, the coffee will be cold after an hour.