Coffee Machine Advise

newbloke

Hi, I posted this is the wrong section earlier...


My wife and I run a funiture and homewares shop.  A mix of old/new, shabby chic, retro.  Our shop is in an arcade directly opposite the worst cafe in Melbourne.  Bad coffee, bad service.  We want to start serving coffee to our customers.  We plan to have seating for only about 12.  and may do a max of 30-50 coffees a day.  Our machine budget is around $2000.

My questions are:  What sort of coffee machine should I be looking at? and, do I need to obtain a food licence to serve coffee and bickies, and if so who do I contact to organise this?

Thanks,
Luke

mattyj

i reckon (in my limited experience) that a heat-exchange machine (like a nuova simonelli oscar, expobar office ... all the way up to an ecm giotto) would suit your needs - but you need to consider that to have better than 'the worst coffee in melbourne', you'll want a really good grinder too. Preground coffee just won't taste all that great. Be prepared to spend more ... if the coffee and the business is good, the machine and grinder will pay for themselves in no time. Maybe chat to Freshcoffee, he's good for this sort of advice!

FreshCoffee2

Goodmorning Luke. Afraid you need to seek out a coffee machine merchant in your area to discuss this and from whom you will eventually buy, so that you can get good local service backup. If you came to my establishment, I would advise that on the basis of the figures you have supplied, I cant see why a 1 group commercial espresso machine would not suffice...it depends on how quickly the demand for coffee arises. If your 50 coffess are reasonably well spread out throughout the day, no problem. If on the other hand you get a rush and serve most of them in a short period, then you need a 2 group machine (eg restaurants have tiny turnover of coffee but the demand comes in a short period of time, ergo most retaurants have 2 group machines even though on the face of it (the turnover), they dont "need" them). Also, if what you say about the cafe across the way is true, you could end up with a spin off effect and get more business than you bargained for, and it is counterproductive to go into business aiming only to do a little business, rather than a lot! So it may be a good idea to aim for a 2 grouper. In addition, an espresso machine to a cafe is like a vehicle to a taxi service...you wouldn't start a taxi service with a clapped out 20 year old car, and the same applies to the cafe so afraid the budget will have to be re- thunk! $2000.00 for a used 1 grouper should get you a very good machine, but will only get you a base grade, older, someone else's 2 group reject...think about it. Forget auction houses as a means of buying a machine for your business. This is where all the clapped out rejects end up. You cant run them, you dont even know if they run, sometimes the cost of repair will be more than the purchase price....you need to see a machine running and producing good coffee, before you ask for delivery and connection. This is particularly important if you are buying an older machine in that price bracket. Generally speaking...yes you may well pay more for a machine in buying from a known coffee machine or coffee trader but there is no point in wasting 2 g's on a machine that wont cut it, then having to spend more to replace or repair. Also, machines from traders are usually complete, ie no parts missing. A favourite trick with older cheaper machines at auctions is that the motor and water pump and group handles are missing. This amounts to having to spend an extra $400 or thereabouts on a mator & pump, and atleast $100 each for group handles...plus incidentals. Note also that with used coffee machines there is a high degree of probablity that some goose (also known as "Miss Management") has sucked milk or detergents or other contaminants into the boiler. Smell the steam, and flush some water from the BOILER (not the groups) into a white cup & taste. Look at the colour, it should be CLEAR. Smell it as well. The normal kind of smell from a boiler that has NOT been contaminated, is a kind of strange "sweet" smell. It should have that funny kind of taste that you get from hot water from the hot water tap in the kitchen (ie from a hot water system). Strange colour and off smells mean MONEY needs to be spent before you even sell your first cup of coffee so...keep away. Budget a couple of hundred for a water filter suitable for your area, plus around 75 for a water pressure limiting valve, plus plumbing/plumber... With regard to a "food" licence, afraid you have to ask the relevant authority in your own area as the rest is simply conjecture. Note that if you go stirring the pot looking for a food licence you will end up with a health inspector breathing down your neck and if your premises does not have a grease trap (food service), or a proper floor waste (for the espresso machine), you would end up being stopped from trading, and you might have to forget the whole idea. Afraid that trying to stick to a "budget" for this sort of thing, may not be realistic. Remember, figuratively speaking the sign over your door is going to say "cafe", so in regard to the coffee machine......choose well rather than cheap. Hope this helps. Regardz and good luck, FC.

newbloke

Thanks for your extended reply.  You've given me plenty to think about.  I'll let you know how we go with the new venture. Regards, Luke

admin

Hi guys - just a gentle reminder... I have had to remove a couple of recent posts on this thread from resellers obviously trying to promote their own machine. Remember, we do not allow people to use the forum for advertising or promoting a product they have to sell. -A