A Coffee Cart for 100, 150 or 200 Guests: What It Takes

The question behind most quotes is the same one: is one cart enough? Here is how we work it out, with the three headcounts people ask about most.

The two numbers

One cart, one barista, pours 30 to 40 drinks an hour. Over two hours that covers about 75 guests, assuming most of them want a drink and they don't all show up in the same ten minutes.

So the math is guests divided by hours. Under 40 an hour, one cart. Over that, add hours or add a cart.

100 guests

Two hours, one cart, if the crowd spreads out. 100 guests in two hours is 50 an hour, which is past what one cart pours. In practice an office of 100 trickles in over a morning and one cart keeps up. A party of 100 where everyone arrives together does not.

• Office or party: one cart for two hours is $750. Three hours is $1,125 and gives one cart room to serve everyone.
• Wedding: $1,000 for two hours plus 20% gratuity, $1,200. Three hours, $1,800.

Our honest call for 100: one cart for three hours, or two carts for two.

150 guests

Two carts. 150 guests in two hours is 75 an hour. Two carts pour 60 to 80 an hour, so two carts for two hours covers it, with a line that moves.

• Office or party: two carts, two hours, $1,500.
• Wedding: two carts, two hours, $2,000 plus gratuity, $2,400.

One cart for four hours is the same drink count on paper, but four hours of line is not what anyone wants at a wedding. For an all-day office event it can be exactly right.

200 guests

Two carts for three hours, or three carts for two. 200 guests in three hours is about 67 an hour, which two carts handle. At two hours it's 100 an hour, which is three carts.

• Office or party: two carts, three hours, $2,250. Three carts, two hours, $2,250. Same price, so it comes down to how the day runs.
• Wedding: two carts, three hours, $3,000 plus gratuity, $3,600.

For the record, we've done 200 guests across five hours with one cart. It was a store opening, people came and went all day, and one cart kept up.

What each cart needs

Each cart comes with its own barista and needs its own 6 by 6 foot spot and its own dedicated outlet. Two carts can sit side by side or at opposite ends of the room, which splits the line in half.

Weekends and travel

Offices and parties on a weekend add 10%. Weddings don't, since they're priced for weekends. Travel is free within 50 miles of Denver and $1.50 a mile past that.

The short version

Send us the headcount and how the day runs, and we'll tell you which one it is.