<p>Will the crowd arrive all at once? If so, this will require commercial grade equipment and I think at least one other person. I know this may not be popular, but batch prepping as much as you can to overcome operational limitations may help. That would mean having iced lattes made in high quantities and stored in the fridge to be poured over ice, also having the grinder's doser full for faster puck prep.</p>
<p>The most difficult part will be frothed milk based drinks. The foam can not be stored as the bubbles will collapse with a handful of minutes, so these must be made to order. If you have one person pulling shots while the other person focuses on milk it may be possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T13:26:38.033Z
I settled on canned lattes.  The logistics of doing hot espresso based drinks for extended periods of time were overwhelming given the site constraints.
gbronner
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T02:18:28.740Z
2023-04-18T02:18:28.740Z
Emerson
<p>I would recommend firstly, estimate amount of people who would drink coffee. Everyone? If yes, I suppose, you'll need a lot of machines and baristas for espresso and cappuccino. Another way, prepare coffee in advance, and keep it warm. Google &quot;coffee break station&quot;, to see how it looks like. In my opinion, espresso is not an option for a such big gathering, unless the number of coffee drinkers is limited.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-24T00:53:29.860Z
2022-01-24T00:53:29.860Z
MaxL
<p>This depends on how many people you are planning to make coffee for. I ran an event similar to this but on a smaller scale (around 60 people) and multiple machines were used. For a bigger setting, it would be important to get a headcount ahead of time.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-16T07:16:59.107Z
Welcome! This matches what I guessed in an earlier comment. Did you use restaurant-grade equipment? Can you give us a rough number on how many did you need for 60 guests (so that we can calculate the numbers for larger/smaller events)? Other lessons learned?
Stephie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-15T22:07:02.717Z
2022-11-15T22:07:02.717Z
ilovesi
<p>I would like to offer espresso (and possibly cappuccino) at an outdoor event with hundreds of people. What is the most cost and capital effective way to do this?</p>
<p>I have power connections, but not unlimited ones, and I have plenty of counter space.</p>
<ul>
<li>What is the cycle time on nespresso machines?  Peak draw?</li>
<li>Is there a way to produce lots of foamed milk at once?</li>
</ul>
<p>Is there some way to produce a lot of espresso and then pour it out?</p>
<p>Curious how this generally gets done at events.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-14T15:29:40.907Z
Totally without personal experience, I would think that this is only doable with multiple professional machines. Nespresso and domestic machines are not designed for continuous use. They *will* burn out or shut off after a while. An acquaintance who runs a cafe told me that his pro machine broke just a few weeks ago and that they tried to tide over with a private bean-to-cup machine. They killed *two* in a day.
Stephie
<espresso><brewing-process><nespresso><cappuccino>
Espresso for hundreds of people
gbronner
# Espresso for hundreds of people

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-01-13)

I would like to offer espresso (and possibly cappuccino) at an outdoor event with hundreds of people. What is the most cost and capital effective way to do this?

I have power connections, but not unlimited ones, and I have plenty of counter space.

* What is the cycle time on nespresso machines? Peak draw?
* Is there a way to produce lots of foamed milk at once?

Is there some way to produce a lot of espresso and then pour it out?

Curious how this generally gets done at events.

**Tags:** espresso, brewing-process, nespresso, cappuccino

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Totally without personal experience, I would think that this is only doable with multiple professional machines. Nespresso and domestic machines are not designed for continuous use. They *will* burn out or shut off after a while. An acquaintance who runs a cafe told me that his pro machine broke just a few weeks ago and that they tried to tide over with a private bean-to-cup machine. They killed *two* in a day.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-04-18. Score: 1

Will the crowd arrive all at once? If so, this will require commercial grade equipment and I think at least one other person. I know this may not be popular, but batch prepping as much as you can to overcome operational limitations may help. That would mean having iced lattes made in high quantities and stored in the fridge to be poured over ice, also having the grinder's doser full for faster puck prep.

The most difficult part will be frothed milk based drinks. The foam can not be stored as the bubbles will collapse with a handful of minutes, so these must be made to order. If you have one person pulling shots while the other person focuses on milk it may be possible.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I settled on canned lattes.  The logistics of doing hot espresso based drinks for extended periods of time were overwhelming given the site constraints.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2022-01-24. Score: 0

I would recommend firstly, estimate amount of people who would drink coffee. Everyone? If yes, I suppose, you'll need a lot of machines and baristas for espresso and cappuccino. Another way, prepare coffee in advance, and keep it warm. Google "coffee break station", to see how it looks like. In my opinion, espresso is not an option for a such big gathering, unless the number of coffee drinkers is limited.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-11-15. Score: 0

This depends on how many people you are planning to make coffee for. I ran an event similar to this but on a smaller scale (around 60 people) and multiple machines were used. For a bigger setting, it would be important to get a headcount ahead of time.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome! This matches what I guessed in an earlier comment. Did you use restaurant-grade equipment? Can you give us a rough number on how many did you need for 60 guests (so that we can calculate the numbers for larger/smaller events)? Other lessons learned?  

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