Starting a Mobile Coffee Cart

[shadow745]

Well, just like everything in life: there is first choice, second choice, third choice, ..., ..., no choice (have to take it)...
If you really care about something, you don't want to make it dirt cheap: the reason Italians don't want Pizza Hut in their country.

Do explain... with our mobile setup we had an awesome 2 group Nuova Simonelli machine/grinder (Italian high quality) that I controlled manually for every extraction as well as texturing the milk by hand for every single drink. Nothing done volumetric/automatically... I kept the grind dialed in on the hour throughout the day by consuming 5-8 doubles on average daily in order to ensure the espresso quality was spot on. I sourced high quality coffees from a local roaster and never used anything that was more than 2-3 weeks post roast and went to visit the roastery to pick up our order the day it was roasted/bagged. For the entire van the water was softened/carbon filtered when the tanks were filled and I sanitized the water tanks, lines, sinks, icemaker, hot water heater, etc. on a very regular basis. How would you possibly think any corners have to be cut when comparing mobile to store front? To operate we had a propane home sized generator if needed, but most locations we had electric for cheap/quiet operating...

Funny thing Italy... they did create espresso, but it took die hard American purists to make it better than the Italians could do it. Well, same with pizza I imagine!

[shadow745]

For the yuppies that lack skill, intelligence or determination to make great coffee at home yeah Charbux is the answer. Howard Schultz has said many times they sell an experience, which is true as their products are seriously lacking. For those of us that actually care about every step involved from the farm to the demitasse environment means little as in I can sip espresso anywhere, while doing anything.

[shiftbicyclecafe]

We use a 2 group1963 Faema e61 that is heated with propane, a Burco gas water boiler a small on demand water heater for hand washing and dishes, a small inverter/battery ,to power the espresso grinder and espresso machine pump (AC) along with a small marine refrigerator and RV water pump (DC). No generator necessary, can run all day with no worries.

[voltagecoffee]

I think it's a fantastic idea. Espcially in cities such as Philadelphia that are very cold. Sometimes the only way to walk for more than 10 minutes is with a cup of coffee!