Commercial coffee equipment, of which the major piece is the coffee maker comes in various sizes. Restaurant versions may hold five gallons or sometimes more, while smaller units rely on a ten to twelve cup reservoir. Commercial versions tend to be larger, but the principle that makes them work is the same as with the home units. The earliest units were simply water heated to boiling with ground beans tossed into the mix and cooked until the smell was right.

Later, a two-part system was used with one portion holding the beans and the other holding the water which heated and allowed to drip down through the ground beans. This style of device has been around for about 125 years and the design is pretty much the same as when it was first invented. The drip process resulted in a fairly uniform cup. The strength of the brew was controlled by the amount of ground beans placed in the container.

A refinement of the original brewing equipment was called a pumping percolator. In this model, the water is heated in the lower tank and forced up a narrow tube into the top chamber where the grounds are maintained. The heated water trickles down through the grounds and back into the lower container from which it can be decanted. The principle of these two types of equipment has remained much the same over the years.

The next step in the evolution of brewing equipment was the vacuum brewer. Since the water was heated in the unit itself, rather than from an outside source of heat, the appliance was available anywhere there was electric power. The cold water was heated to the boiling point within the unit. This was the first fully automatic device, since a thermostat controlled the heating process of the water.

The automatic device reduced wait times, since the water was heated first, then moved to the drip chamber where the ground beans were held. The percolator used the same process, except that the liquid was passed through the grounds repeatedly until the desired strength was achieved. The main drawback with this unit was that it allowed fine particles of the ground beans to be released into the liquid.

Both commercial and home brewers use filters to prevent solid pieces of the beans from being released into the liquid. Some units use pre-measured portions of ground beans in order to standardize the brew strength. So long as the beans are stored under good conditions, this is not a taste issue. Placing a pre-measured packet of grounds into the unit, filling the water reservoir and turning on the unit is simple enough that almost anyone can make a good cup of beverage.

More sophisticated coffee types and the devices for brewing it is now available commercially. Some of the devices include latte and espresso as well as other types of designer coffees. These were more likely to be found in commercial establishments rather than in home units, until fairly recently.

Commercial coffee equipment is widely available, both in restaurant supply houses and in the home market. When a buyer plans to operate a restaurant or coffee bar where volume of coffee produced is perhaps as important as the other parts of the menu, used or re-manufactured machines might be appropriate. It is helpful to know the dealer and how service on the equipment will be handled.