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Bunn UK

01908 241222,

7, Beaufort Court, Roebuck Way, Knowlhill,

Milton Keynes, MK5 8HL

Many of the people who watch trends in the beverage trade reckon that filter coffee is on the way to a big comeback. In America, filter (or ‘drip’) coffee has always been phenomenally important – it doesn’t matter whether it’s the little coffee-stop in the bus station, or the conference hall for a thousand delegates, filter coffee is what they serve. The importance of it can be shown by the fact that Starbucks, while a pioneer of high-street espresso, has never lost sight of the market for ‘regular’ coffee.  In recent years it may have upgraded the marketing of the brew by promoting single-origin and ethically-sourced variants, but the fact is that filter coffee has been a major part of its business throughout.

In Britain, filter coffee is mainly used in hotels, tea-rooms and pubs, generally as a cheaper alternative to espresso.  But there is a growing body of opinion that in mainstream cafes, a well-judged offer of speciality filter coffees has a very big potential.

One of the very biggest specialist brewing companies for filter coffee is Bunn, of America, where Randy Pope, director of the Bunn Beverage Technology Centre,  is convinced that  filter coffee has a big future in the UK.

Is Bunn’s technology fitted for the high-speed, high-volume market?

"Yes, we have a very big experience of filter/drip ideas for the coffee-house market," he told us. "We have come a long way from the original cowboy method of putting beans into a sock, banging it against a rock, and boiling it for a while...”

The potential for high volume of filter sales exists in Britain, he says. The big drawback is being absolutely sure of the quality of what is being served.

"When in Europe, I have found that most café owners just can't see past espresso. In the UK, you're 95 per cent espresso and five per cent drip – in many coffee houses in the States, you'll find the inverse proportion.   I am told this is because people stopped drinking filter so much in Europe because it wasn't good enough. 

"Certainly, filter/drip brings you many more options in flavour than espresso does, and so you do have to look very seriously at your quality.”

The major difference to work on, he says, is the concept of ‘holding’ coffee.

"Espresso is a 'not holding' coffee - you grind it, pull it, serve it. Filter coffee is always held for a time, whether you brew two litres or sixteen litres.

"So what you must look at is your serving sizes and your holding options.  We have recently done a lot of work on this, because here in America, the 20oz size has really taken off, and where we used to talk of a brewer holding so many ten-ounce cups per hour, now we have to talk of gallons per hour!

"You may need to hold two litres in stock at some times of the day and sixteen litres at others, so how do you do that? We suggest the British coffee-house market could look at our Brew-wise range, which helps with all the variables.”

What are the right rules about holding coffee? The Starbucks principle used to be that their filter coffee should stand no longer than an hour, but at the famous meeting in 2008 when the top man decided they'd got it all wrong, he ordered the time to be cut to 30 mins. However, even on the consumer forum set up by the company itself, there are complaints that the coffee is still held for too long.

"If you hold your coffee in an open pot over a burner, it has a limit of 20 minutes, and beyond that it can become objectionable," says Randy Pope.

"'Soft heat' is a thermostatically-controlled method  which applies just enough heat to keep the coffee at 180F, and which can turn itself off when necessary, and back on when it is needed. Some people will tell you this tastes good two hours later, and some will say three… we certainly recommend an hour.

"However, although we can put all kinds of lights and bells on to a machine to tell operators when to brew fresh, this comes down to your own training.

“You must encourage staff to want to brew fresh… although we do have systems for some customers which, when the time has passed, will evacuate all the brewed material. Time's up, it goes down the drain, and you have to brew again!"

Good filter coffee is a true 'speciality' offering, says Bunn, so watch your brewing recipes.

"You want the facility to programme your machine, because each coffee has its individual recipe. In filter, you also have to allow your coffee to swell and de-gas, which is why we have what we call 'pre-wet', which is similar to the principle of pre-infusion on an espresso machine. This does enhance the quality of the brewed coffee - it's like laundry, in that where you used to just throw it in the water, now you have a pre-soak cycle so that the main wash gets the dirt out easier!

"Decide the brewing parameters in your own coffee house. You have to decide for yourself where each coffee needs to be - I find that dark coffees, ground a little coarser with a little less extraction, taste cleaner. You can decide to brew analytically, according to the roaster's recipe, or you can choose your recipe by your own experience, and according to the kind of water in your own area. Remember that the water is everything in brewed coffee - you don't want your Ethiopian blueberry with the back note of a swimming pool that never goes away.

“So decide the recipe in your own coffee house, according to your own water!"

What is the correct practical filter coffee menu? In the UK, Starbucks promotes one coffee of the day.

"In many cases in the US, we find two brewed coffees available. In some US coffee houses you'll find a choice of six brewed coffees, from a very mild light roast at one end to something very dark and smokey.

"But as the big problem of a range of coffees is keeping them all fresh, you're better to start with one very good one, and spend your earliest time working out by experience when you need two litres brewing, and when you need six."

Typical of Bunn's imaginative support is a new  free brochure, BUNN Tea Basics, an easy-to-use guide to steeping and serving one of the world’s favorite beverages. Using simple explanations and colorful illustrations, the brochure has several sections: it talks about how to select tea,  including an explanation of the types and grades of tea, and discusses the elements and art of tea brewing -- water, temperature, time, tea, and sanitation and instructions on how to steep both hot and iced tea.

The brochure goes on to talk about the role of water quality, with particular emphasis on iced tea, and the importance of sanitation.

Tea Basics is available here

The new SmartWave low profile coffee brewer is an example of how Bunn has worked to create space-saving machines - this one is only 17in high, but it is still possible to brew into a 1.9 litre thermal carafe.  SmartWave is a turbulence element, developed to provide uniformity of extraction and more contact between water and coffee.

  Pulse brew technology gives control over the extraction time. Energy-saver mode, standard on all models, reduces tank temperature during idle periods.

At the other end of the scale, high-usage venues can now brew 22.7 litres (about six gallons) with Bunn's Titan Dual coffee brewer. It uses two three-gallon servers, each working at six minutes or less, to serve high-volume serving environments. Potentially, the Titan Dual brews 34.3 gallons (129.8 litres) of coffee per hour.

Although the Titan offers pre-infusion, pulse brew variable by-pass and digital temperature control, the company stresses that it is easy to use. The LCD screen and touchpad provide step-by-step programming and diagnostics.