Mobile coffee operation (Propane)

[nogueradaniel]

Hello there,

I'm getting ready to start a mobile coffee operation in OH and I'm looking for right components to do so efficiently without compromising the quality of the product. With this said, does anyone have a recommendation on a espresso machine for a mobile operation? I'm leaning towards dual fuel (propane and electric) machines.

If you have one for sale, let's talk.

Thanks,

Daniel

 

[shadow745]

IMHO the espresso machine IS the core of any coffee operation and should be treated as such. Ran a mobile setup for 2.5 years and strongly advise you get something of considerable size/build quality/simplicity. 2 group/240v/semi-auto is what you need for size/recovery. Personally used a 2 group NS Aurelia (14 liter boiler HX) and regardless of how much I pushed the limits it always kept up with whatever was thrown at it. Still maintained consistent brew temperature and steam capacity as long as it was ON. Matter of fact with both steam valves wide open the boiler pressure never dropped less than 1 bar as it was constantly recovering during use. Now it was a power hog, having a 4500 watt heating element, but it never left us wanting more machine. I say that because I've seen people try to keep up with demand using "compact" 2 groups, TWO 1 group machines side/side, etc in an effort to conserve power, but they were always waiting for the machines to recover and usually losing customers not wanting to wait. Also know a guy that was using a 2 group manual lever Astoria in a mobile operation. Was setup for propane or electricy, but it was a headache for him and recovery times suffered terribly.

What size will the vehicle be? What size generator are you planning to use?

 

[Mr Shave]

My advice

buy nice or buy twice
moving stuff isn't fun! Bolt it down and plan out a setup that allows for everything to be stationary. It will save you time, money, and your back.

http://www.coffeeforums.com/forum/c...ding-mobile-food-lunch-wagon-coffee-cart.html
http://www.coffeeforums.com/forum/c...ning-mobile-food-lunch-wagon-coffee-cart.html

Good luck!

 

[CoffeeJunky]

both Mr. Shave, and shadow advise need to be taken very seriouly.
I have never ran a mobile coffee house but I know few and I did see them upgrading their espresso machine within few months.
First, when you are running mobile business, your open for business time is much shorter then most of the sitdown cafe business. Which means you have to do more business in shorter time. Also translates into higher demand of the machine. NS Aurellia is great machine and also Brazilia and some other Italian machines. Going with cheaper machines would be big mistake if you want to run very sucessful mobile coffee business.

Good luck

 

[nogueradaniel]

Thanks so much for replying, I appreciate your comments.

My setup will be very small, it will be some kind of kiosk on top of a Vespa Ape. I'm in the process of applying the last touches to the Vespa and once I figure out exactly the equipment I'm using I will start the fabrication of the kiosk. There are several limitations to my set up, one is weight (only 1000 pounds) and the other is power source.

I was looking at two espresso machines, one was the Astoria you mention (Gloria) which can be used with propane. It looked like a good option because it has good reviews and it solves in some way my energy challenge. However, I did read that the recovery time was not great which you also mentioned. The other machine I'm looking into is a british one, Fracino Contempo and the Fracino Retro. The Fracino is a dual fuel machine with this configuration: gas rating is 5500 watts, electric is 350 watts supplied by a 240v generator or 12v inverter. In addition the Fracino can produce 30 litters of water per hour. These Fracino machines are popular in mobile coffee operations in Europe; however, the unknown factor to me are 1)recovery time of the machine, 2)can I get parts, repairs, etc here were the machine has no presence.

I still don't know what electric generator to use. I wanted to get a better sense of my energy needs by first selecting the correct espresso machine. I will take your suggestions given your experience in the field.

 

[nogueradaniel]

Thanks so much for the tip. I will start researching the Brazilia.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Mr. Shave have ran a mobile coffee house before. Also there are few of the members have mobile coffee house. But I don't know if they have any experiences with limited power source mobile coffee house. I would be interested to know how this works out. Also do you have specific reason for going with this type of operation? I am just curious.

 

[shadow745]

What you're trying to accomplish is unique, even among mobile setups. There is a setup similar to what you want to do in my area (60 miles away), but I haven't been able to track down the link/info for it.

In the meantime I found this and thought it may help a bit...

About | Velopresso

 

[CoffeeJunky]

That is so damn cool for the show however, I don't know if you can sell fast enough but it sure will be entertaining for people who is waiting for their cup of espresso....