Commercial Coffee Machines?

Commercial Coffee Machines?

Q : I am a design student at the University of Illinois and I am working on a project to design a commercial coffee pot that will produce one cup and samples at a time. I work at a coffee shop who specializes in over 50 flavors of gourmet coffees but only can brew 3 flavors a day (1 reg, 1 flavor, 1 decaf) with our current machine.

I would like to make a machine that:
+allows me to produce samples of any flavor of coffee so the customer can taste it before they buy it. (the coffee that we sell is pretty expensive)
+brews up to 3 different sizes of regular cups of coffee (aside from the sample sizes)
+grinds the beans when placed in to the machine for the best taste
+brews the coffee fast and at the correct temperature
+slim design that allows for easy and minimal cleaning

I heard coffee needs to brew for at least 4-5 minutes? -Does this refer to how big of a pot it's making?

Can I make a machine that only makes a small amount at a time?

What are your ideas?

thanks
A : I used to own a coffee shop, so I feel your pain. Yes there are commercial grade machines that will brew small amounts of coffee. I don't know where to buy them, but strangely, at some of the rest areas in Illinois, there are machines that will brew a single cup of coffee at a time, with freshly ground beans. These things were awesome. They were really fast, too. I don't have clue as to who makes them, but at least we know that it can be done. If you are grinding flavored coffee beans (vanilla or whatever) using a burr grinder, then you will want to use a separate grinder for each one, or your flavors will not be "pure". If you are using a blade type grinder, then you should be ok on flavor by brushing it out after each use.
As far as brewing time, it should be relatively fast, but the strength of flavor can be adjusted a little bit by finer grinding.
I know that this is really confusing. There are lots of good resources on-line, so just keep searching!!!

How to drain water from a commercial coffee machine?

Q : Imagine draining water from a one gallon milk jug, while keeping the jug totally upright without tipping it.

What would be the best way? I've already tried an industrial water pump...(which didn't work at all for some reason)

Then I tried a black and decker drill-mounted pump that did work, but then broke after 3 uses.

I'm looking towards some kind of gravity actuated device... what do you think???

An average commercial coffee maker holds about 300 ounces of water, and should not be tipped over in any way.

PS. Taking the tank out and emptying it is A LOT of work and would not be a viable option.

Thanks!
A : Don't know what type of machine you have so I could be wrong in what I say.

I had to drain out coffee makers for a camp I used to work at in NH. On the drip models, where you put a pot under a spout and brew coffee by the pot, I was able to remove the top plate and see the water tank. Our model had a removable top and so it was easy to open it and remove the water.

Our newer models were larger units where a large pot of coffee was brewed. These were easy since all I did was drain the holding tank, then tip the unit forward a bit until all the water drained out.

The one brewer that took the longest was one that I could not tip. After draining the tank as much as possible, I was able to hook up a small air tank to the water input line. After removing the in line filter, I open the air valve slowly and let the air push the remianing coffee out of the spouts. The main problem here is that too much air just went over the remaining coffee but did not push it out. Thus the slower I allowwed the air to go in, the better it worked. I used the same technique with blowing out water lines at the end of the season.

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