Your store will have a brew batch guidance somewhere that tells you when you should be switching from full to half to quarter batches, if you aren’t already using it that might help.

Starbucks’ standard on fresh coffee is that it is to be sold within 30min or dumped. So your cycle for each coffee is 30min. If you’re brewing three coffees such as Pike, Veranda, + Verona, you’ll brew a new batch every 10min as it cycles down.

You will 100% dump a lot of coffee. Some brew cycles you’ll probably not sell a single cup. Luckily the cost for the coffee is so minimal that it barely matters. Don’t worry about dumping a lot of coffee, but do look into your store batch guide. Some day parts only require 1/4 batches while sometimes you’ll have to brew 1/2 or full.

Depends in your shift tbh. I work mid-close so a lot of the time I’m just brewing if we’re 3/4th empty or if the red light is blinking. I always do 1/2 batches as well