Seems like a large chain would make things in bigger batches where things would be easier to control anyway. Plus, it's easy to imagine a commercial bulk coffe

Seems like a large chain would make things in bigger batches where things would be easier to control anyway. Plus, it's easy to imagine a commercial bulk coffeemaker that's designed to make coffee at the average rate you're selling it, hold it in a cooling chamber for a while, then put it in a vacuum insulated chamber from there. I like fresh coffee, and the safety issues is minor, but if it's going to be stale anyway, I might as well get the benefits of the crappy bulk process. Especially when keeping it hotter for too long seems like it would oxidize something and make it even more stale faster.