View entire thread: Linens, Laundry...
Posted by Alun_evans on 2004-04-19 07:46:14 Post Subject:
Hey Geburton...really this is an age old question and one which can be argued either way. Linen rental is not always cheap...but the busier you are the more economical it is. The linen hire guys can either hire you napkins, aprons, bar towels, floor mats etc....of you can buy your own and get them to launder them for you (called C.O.G- customers own goods). The advantage of full hire is you do not have to worry about replacement- especially of the generic types of linen such as napkins. They leave your place in a mess, enter a 'pool' of linen at the laundry, and a nice, clean, starched napkin is left on your shelf. Of course some line companies don't have enough stock in their pool and you can find yourself just before the lunch/dinner rush on the phone ranting and raving 'cause you have run out of all of the hired items and the linen company has too! Once you have experienced the hassles of trying to get coffee stains out of white napkins, get grunge off waiters aprons, get whatever out of the bar towels....I reckon hire works out to be economical. Cost..... well depends on volume. Napkins can be had from about $0.07 each, bar towels $0.15, mats are charged on a weekly rental plus clean basis.
Back to top | view poster's profile
Posted by Alun_evans on 2004-04-19 07:46:14 Post Subject:
Hey Geburton...really this is an age old question and one which can be argued either way. Linen rental is not always cheap...but the busier you are the more economical it is. The linen hire guys can either hire you napkins, aprons, bar towels, floor mats etc....of you can buy your own and get them to launder them for you (called C.O.G- customers own goods). The advantage of full hire is you do not have to worry about replacement- especially of the generic types of linen such as napkins. They leave your place in a mess, enter a 'pool' of linen at the laundry, and a nice, clean, starched napkin is left on your shelf. Of course some line companies don't have enough stock in their pool and you can find yourself just before the lunch/dinner rush on the phone ranting and raving 'cause you have run out of all of the hired items and the linen company has too! Once you have experienced the hassles of trying to get coffee stains out of white napkins, get grunge off waiters aprons, get whatever out of the bar towels....I reckon hire works out to be economical. Cost..... well depends on volume. Napkins can be had from about $0.07 each, bar towels $0.15, mats are charged on a weekly rental plus clean basis.
Back to top | view poster's profile
View entire thread: My Coffeemaker Problem, any suggestions??????
Posted by Parts Guru on 2005-01-01 21:57:50 Post Subject: Re: My Coffeemaker Problem, any suggestions??????
I have a low-end Mr. Coffee standard drip coffeemaker (plastic), because I cannot afford a fancy machine. My problem is since it is plastic when the coffee flows through the machine it comes out tasting stale, like hard water kinda feeling sorta like. It is not the coffee but the machine as the coffee I make is quality. It appears that since this machine is plastic and it runs throughout the tubes inside that I get the flavor of the cheap machine in my mouth. Anybody have any suggestions as I have cleaned it many times.
Here are some suggestions:
Use Baking soda to cleane your espresso maker. Dissolve it in water and fill in the water tank. Flush it through the machine by making espresso without coffee and also run hot water through steam/hot water wand. (I am assuming that you have a pump operated espresso maker). It will take away most of the plastic taste.
You also need to watch the quality of water used for making espresso. Use some coffee cleaning liquid that will remove coffee stains on the plastic tubes. Coffee stains can be stubborn.
Also it will be a good idea to replace the stained and old plastic tubes that you think may be causing the bad taste in your coffee.
(Just an observation) -Fungus is as passionate about coffee as any coffee lover can be. Leave the machine with coffee stains or the coffee grounds for just two days. You will find fungus thriving on it with its white cover on brown coffee.! The point is that the coffee should be cleaned immediately after use. Stale coffee may can add stale and bad taste as you have described.
t
Back to top | view poster's profile
Posted by Parts Guru on 2005-01-01 21:57:50 Post Subject: Re: My Coffeemaker Problem, any suggestions??????
I have a low-end Mr. Coffee standard drip coffeemaker (plastic), because I cannot afford a fancy machine. My problem is since it is plastic when the coffee flows through the machine it comes out tasting stale, like hard water kinda feeling sorta like. It is not the coffee but the machine as the coffee I make is quality. It appears that since this machine is plastic and it runs throughout the tubes inside that I get the flavor of the cheap machine in my mouth. Anybody have any suggestions as I have cleaned it many times.
Here are some suggestions:
Use Baking soda to cleane your espresso maker. Dissolve it in water and fill in the water tank. Flush it through the machine by making espresso without coffee and also run hot water through steam/hot water wand. (I am assuming that you have a pump operated espresso maker). It will take away most of the plastic taste.
You also need to watch the quality of water used for making espresso. Use some coffee cleaning liquid that will remove coffee stains on the plastic tubes. Coffee stains can be stubborn.
Also it will be a good idea to replace the stained and old plastic tubes that you think may be causing the bad taste in your coffee.
(Just an observation) -Fungus is as passionate about coffee as any coffee lover can be. Leave the machine with coffee stains or the coffee grounds for just two days. You will find fungus thriving on it with its white cover on brown coffee.! The point is that the coffee should be cleaned immediately after use. Stale coffee may can add stale and bad taste as you have described.
t
Back to top | view poster's profile
View entire thread: Coffee from a cuban sock
Posted by BeanGrinder on 2006-07-07 15:24:48 Post Subject:
This looked intriguing. I dug out an old sock from the laundry room and gave it a try. I'm not sure how clean the sock was before I started, but I figured the coffee stains would hide that.
The resulting brew was strong and had a grassy taste to it. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that this sock was part of my son's soccer uniform.
All joking aside, we used a similar method in Morning Call down in New Orleans. This landmark coffee house has been in business for 165 years! The brew method was through a metal sieve that looked like a stove pipe hat, only no top on the hat. The "sock" was placed in the "hat" and tied off. The grounds were added to the sock and the whole apparatus placed on top of a pot. Next, boiling hot water was poured through the sock and the coffee allowed to drip down into the pot. This would later be poured into the serving pots for the waitstaff to use. The coffee is served "au lait" style by pouring equal amounts of coffee with heated milk. This method was in use long before the espresso machine had been invented!
-BG
Back to top | view poster's profile
Posted by BeanGrinder on 2006-07-07 15:24:48 Post Subject:
This looked intriguing. I dug out an old sock from the laundry room and gave it a try. I'm not sure how clean the sock was before I started, but I figured the coffee stains would hide that.
The resulting brew was strong and had a grassy taste to it. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that this sock was part of my son's soccer uniform.
All joking aside, we used a similar method in Morning Call down in New Orleans. This landmark coffee house has been in business for 165 years! The brew method was through a metal sieve that looked like a stove pipe hat, only no top on the hat. The "sock" was placed in the "hat" and tied off. The grounds were added to the sock and the whole apparatus placed on top of a pot. Next, boiling hot water was poured through the sock and the coffee allowed to drip down into the pot. This would later be poured into the serving pots for the waitstaff to use. The coffee is served "au lait" style by pouring equal amounts of coffee with heated milk. This method was in use long before the espresso machine had been invented!
-BG
Back to top | view poster's profile
View entire thread: A few questions from a beginner (nothing quite obvious)
Posted by Kukla on 2007-02-08 21:25:30 Post Subject: A few questions from a beginner (nothing quite obvious)
I just realized that this post is way longer than I wanted it to be, but i guess its better than posting all the questions individually right?
Hello, first off I just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this forum and everyone who takes the time to read and respond to my questions. This forum has provided me with some invaluble information with which I have based my first opinions of starting a small cafe upon. To put you at ease, this isn''t a standard, \"HELP ME I''M A NEWB I NEED ADVICE\" thread. I found like 20 such threads across the pages of this forum section alone. You guys are extremely helpful. Anyway, a few days ago, a friend mentioned (somewhat jokingly?) that he and I should open a caribou coffee shop in our small town of Yorkville, Illinois, which has roughly 14,000 people. I kind of discarded the thought, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. I am an avid coffee drinker, I have experience in business, having already started a small business of my own, although it does not pertain to coffee. And really the only competition we would have in this town is Dunkin'' Donuts, Panera Bread, and McDonalds. So now I am researching the whole industry, I have gone through all 14 pages of \"Coffee Industry\" threads on this forum, along with a great deal of other websites. So far, I have a general idea of what I want to do, but I had a few questions and thoughts in mind that I would appreciate an answer/opinion on.
1- Is it a good idea to sell books at your cafe? I probably won''t be doing this initially, but it was a thought that crossed my mind as something we might do as we become better established in the community. I can imagine the coffee stains on the books though.
2- I had the idea to have either a tv with a dvd player for customers or maybe a separate \"theater\" room. But I''m not so sure if i want people parked in my cafe for 2 hours while nursing the same cold coffee. What could make this idea work?
3- I am only 17 and a junior in highschool. WOuld it be realistic to expect that I could manage my school work (which I don''t have much of by the way) with the full time responsibility of opening and managing a cafe? Keeping in mind I will have a classmate to help me, although he is much less knowledgeable at this point. I figured I could get up and open around 6 in the morning, leave the shop to a manager/employee/family member that I have hopefully found trustworthy by this point at, at 9, and return at 2:30 when school gets out. How does that sound?
4- (Thank you for putting up with all these questions) My (primary) target market is people ages from 15-25. Me and my friend are thinking about it, but does anybody have any good ideas for turning our cafe into a nice chill spot? I was thinking about having an xbox to play or something, but that might prove too unwieldy.
5- Being located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, I have been looking at local roasters to supply us with our beans, but can anyone make any recommendations? Or are there any semi-close by cafe/coffee houses that would be willing to give us some pointers or training if we stopped by?
We, of course, could compensate you for your time and effort in training us. At this point, I only have a love for coffee and my community, which will only take one so far though.
6- Is there that big of a taste/freshness difference between freshly roasted beans, and beans from a nearby roaster? (probably a day or 3 shipping) There was another thread kind of like this, but I did not get that much of a definate answer out of it. I would really like to have a wow effect with my customers the first time they try my coffee.
One last short question. I plan on attending CoffeeFest Chicago in two weeks, being that this expo is not public, do they require proof that you are part of the industry to enter? and if so, what would be the easiest way for me to attain said proof being that I am in the preliminary stages of planning my business? and do the educational seminars have size limits and or need pre-registration of which seminars you will be attending?
Should I get there early? Could I rely solely on books, dvds and the training I get though CoffeeFest to run a cafe? Or would a consultant make more sense?
Okay. Thats it. Thank you if you read the whole thing, and if not, I can''t blame you. And thanks again if you take the time to help me fulfill my dream by answering my questions. I''m sure there will be more by the time I open.
Without you guys, I don''t know where I would be.
(At another forum?)
Kukla
and sorry if I asked anything obvious/stupid.
Back to top | view poster's profile
Posted by Kukla on 2007-02-08 21:25:30 Post Subject: A few questions from a beginner (nothing quite obvious)
I just realized that this post is way longer than I wanted it to be, but i guess its better than posting all the questions individually right?
Hello, first off I just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this forum and everyone who takes the time to read and respond to my questions. This forum has provided me with some invaluble information with which I have based my first opinions of starting a small cafe upon. To put you at ease, this isn''t a standard, \"HELP ME I''M A NEWB I NEED ADVICE\" thread. I found like 20 such threads across the pages of this forum section alone. You guys are extremely helpful. Anyway, a few days ago, a friend mentioned (somewhat jokingly?) that he and I should open a caribou coffee shop in our small town of Yorkville, Illinois, which has roughly 14,000 people. I kind of discarded the thought, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. I am an avid coffee drinker, I have experience in business, having already started a small business of my own, although it does not pertain to coffee. And really the only competition we would have in this town is Dunkin'' Donuts, Panera Bread, and McDonalds. So now I am researching the whole industry, I have gone through all 14 pages of \"Coffee Industry\" threads on this forum, along with a great deal of other websites. So far, I have a general idea of what I want to do, but I had a few questions and thoughts in mind that I would appreciate an answer/opinion on.
1- Is it a good idea to sell books at your cafe? I probably won''t be doing this initially, but it was a thought that crossed my mind as something we might do as we become better established in the community. I can imagine the coffee stains on the books though.
2- I had the idea to have either a tv with a dvd player for customers or maybe a separate \"theater\" room. But I''m not so sure if i want people parked in my cafe for 2 hours while nursing the same cold coffee. What could make this idea work?
3- I am only 17 and a junior in highschool. WOuld it be realistic to expect that I could manage my school work (which I don''t have much of by the way) with the full time responsibility of opening and managing a cafe? Keeping in mind I will have a classmate to help me, although he is much less knowledgeable at this point. I figured I could get up and open around 6 in the morning, leave the shop to a manager/employee/family member that I have hopefully found trustworthy by this point at, at 9, and return at 2:30 when school gets out. How does that sound?
4- (Thank you for putting up with all these questions) My (primary) target market is people ages from 15-25. Me and my friend are thinking about it, but does anybody have any good ideas for turning our cafe into a nice chill spot? I was thinking about having an xbox to play or something, but that might prove too unwieldy.
5- Being located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, I have been looking at local roasters to supply us with our beans, but can anyone make any recommendations? Or are there any semi-close by cafe/coffee houses that would be willing to give us some pointers or training if we stopped by?
We, of course, could compensate you for your time and effort in training us. At this point, I only have a love for coffee and my community, which will only take one so far though.
6- Is there that big of a taste/freshness difference between freshly roasted beans, and beans from a nearby roaster? (probably a day or 3 shipping) There was another thread kind of like this, but I did not get that much of a definate answer out of it. I would really like to have a wow effect with my customers the first time they try my coffee.
One last short question. I plan on attending CoffeeFest Chicago in two weeks, being that this expo is not public, do they require proof that you are part of the industry to enter? and if so, what would be the easiest way for me to attain said proof being that I am in the preliminary stages of planning my business? and do the educational seminars have size limits and or need pre-registration of which seminars you will be attending?
Should I get there early? Could I rely solely on books, dvds and the training I get though CoffeeFest to run a cafe? Or would a consultant make more sense?
Okay. Thats it. Thank you if you read the whole thing, and if not, I can''t blame you. And thanks again if you take the time to help me fulfill my dream by answering my questions. I''m sure there will be more by the time I open.
Without you guys, I don''t know where I would be.
(At another forum?)
Kukla
and sorry if I asked anything obvious/stupid.
Back to top | view poster's profile