Specifically gun club coffee.

We have a 6 litre vacuum bottle built in coffee maker at the club.  It will make 2, 4, or 6 litres of coffee.  The club's live in caretaker pretty much cares for and maintains the thing.   He buys the coffee for it from some restaurant supply company.  It comes in convenient 1.3 oz. mylar packs.  He insists on 1 package for 2 litre, 2 packages for 4 litres, and 3 packages for 6 litres.  Near as I can figure it that's a coffee to water ratio of somewhere around 1:54.  It's awful.

What's the question OP?

If you're looking for other recommendations you first need to find out if this coffee machine is owned by the club or leased from this same restaurant supply company.

If the coffee is coming in pre-portioned mylar bags then then your options are going to be limited to what that service provider is offering. It sounds like some sort of soluble right now

Just buy yourself a ChemEx 40oz., some decent coffee like 8 O’Clock and a vacuum bottle and go from there.

Chris

more of a grump than a question.  

I roast my own coffee, usually use a Chemex to brew.  I know that coffee is best around a 1:16 or 1:17 ratio, sometimes more & rarely less.

The club owns the machine.  No service contract I'm aware of, when we need coffee, the club caretaker orders it by the case.  I believe he once worked for a company that sold and serviced these machines locally - so he's partial to it, and he knows how to get parts, do any repairs and maintenance, etc.  I should ask, but I don't know what we pay for the coffee itself so I don't know if its pricey or cheap, but as near as I can tell he's using about 1/3 of what he ought to be using.  The actual machine is a Grindmaster brand, it's similar to a commercial Bunn.

I've never worked with coffee on a more industrial scale - maybe there is some logic to over extracting grounds on these type of machines (?)  So, I guess there's an actual question - commercial coffee machines - do they use a higher water to coffee ratio than you would use in your kitchen to make a pot of coffee? Is there science there? or is it just a cost saving measure? The coffee is weak - but its not as bitter as I'd expect for being over-extracted.

Got ya, so if I understand it correctly it's just a batch brewer (like a Bunn) and the club has a contract to get some pre-portioned ground coffee delivered for it on a regular basis. The description made me a bit confused with the vacuum bottle attached to the machine but we're on the same page!

It's my understanding that they include those pre-portioned bags because they are basically idiot proof. They are made primarily for foodservice applications so people who aren't intimately familiar with coffee or coffee equipment can make a decent cup. IIRC you fill up the carafe or the shuttle then just pour it in the brewer and empty the packet. There's no guesswork involved.

There's a whole industry surrounding soluble coffee (I.E. brown water that tastes like coffee but cost nothing and can be made almost instantaneously) but if you're dealing with a batch brewer and pre-portioned packs from a dealer then it doesn't sound like that's the case.

It's possible he just selected a really weak coffee? Or he could be watering it down to save a couple bucks but the directions on those pre-portioned packets are idiot proof

It's basically an oversized drip brewer.

The Mylar bags don't have much information on them.  Like dark roast, 1.3 oz. is about it.  No brewing guidlines on the individual packages.  

I'll be out there tonight, I'll see if there is any more printed information.   I looked up the grindmaster website and downloaded the manual.  It doesn't say much 'add coffee per corporate recomendations' is all it says about amount of coffee.

I was wondering if it isn't standard coffee grounds like a can of Folgers or something.  Somehow enhanced with some kind of solubles or freeze dried additives, but the grounds look like coffee grounds to me.

LOL thread of the day....

you guys are getting hosed on your coffee

1.3 oz packets are good to brew about 20oz, or 4 (5-6 oz) servings on the weak side (these tiny packets are for the little complimentary hotel room coffee makers)

might be good time to start looking for what else "the live in caretaker" is stealing

I'm thinking this is accurate

Personally I'm not familiar with any sort of concentrate or soluble mix that would be loaded into a drip brewer. The whole point of soluble is to be able to stir it into hot water.

Regardless of Grindmaster or Bunn, if you open the top of your brewer and see that there's just a couple tablespoons of coffee in there used to make a gallon and a half of coffee . . . . yikes

Nobody is stealing anything.  All the coffee bags are in the cabinets under the brewer.  Its just straight ground coffee.  I talked to the guy who works at the wholesaler that actual gets the coffee for us.  Somehow, somewhere it became gospel to use 3, 1.3 oz packets to make 6l of coffee.  

I'm guessing they wouldn't like my coffee.

don't know what kind of wacky weed folks be smoking there in your neck of the woods, but 1:17 is the industry golden rule ratio and therefore 3 packs is appropriate for making 2 liters

you need to get your guy corrected and using no less than 9 packs when making 6 liters