Reccomendations?

[rickyp]

What a great group this site is! I'm glad I found it.

I've found the location for our first shop and have begun the negotiations with the leasing company. Pretty straightforward thankfully. The design and layout is being being done by a professional who specializes in restaraunt and cafe installations.

I've got the espresso machine narrowed down to a couple of choices but would like to hear from you folks whether you feel a three group makes better sense than a two group, or maybe a four? Two group machines seem pretty tight if you are busy enough to have two baristas working the machine at one time. Hard to determine what volume will be at this point but of course I have high hopes! I will have the bar space for a machine as large as a four group but that's a lot of power, heat and $.

Looking forward to your helpful responses!

 

[La Crema Coffee]

Two barista's working the same machine: NEVER. The grind and tamp is unique to each barista. MY .02, and where as in what state are you going to be in, or are in

 

[CCafe]

Instead of looking at a 3 or 4 group how about two 2 groups. This way you have redundancy incase one machine crashes. I maintain a 3 group and a 2 group for the coffeehouse I work for. 7 months out of the year the 2 group is barely used. The other 5 its solely used for Farmers Market on Saturday.

It is there for when I take the 3 group down for maintenance.

 

[rickyp]

Two barista's working the same machine: NEVER. The grind and tamp is unique to each barista. MY .02, and where as in what state are you going to be in, or are in

Thanks for the tip. We have four espresso grinders on order, two for each side of the machine. One each for espresso and decaf.

We are opening in Arizona. Just got a call telling me our buildout plans have been ok'd!

 

[rickyp]

Instead of looking at a 3 or 4 group how about two 2 groups. This way you have redundancy incase one machine crashes. I maintain a 3 group and a 2 group for the coffeehouse I work for. 7 months out of the year the 2 group is barely used. The other 5 its solely used for Farmers Market on Saturday.

It is there for when I take the 3 group down for maintenance.

Good thinking, very practical. While I have space for a machine as large as a four group, I don't believe we have the room for two machines. Talked with a couple machine service providers and they will be able to provide a loaner under contract should the machine need to be serviced "off site". I realize there will be a bit of downtime, but hey, stuff happens.

I'm leaning towards a three group at the moment and will run your thoughts by the distributers.

Now to find a coffee roaster to supply the beans!

 

[CCafe]

To give you a heads up you may want to check on any hidden costs for the loaner. I charge $15/day and installation and removal costs for the use of our loaner.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

We have two baristi working on our 3 group machine no problem. Usually one barista pulls shots, and the other steams milk and assemble the drink. I think it is really smart to hook up two machines on the counter, not only to use the second machine when busy or as a back up, but also as a machine to train new barista on. If I was to do my counter all over again, I would want to have room for two machines.

 

[rickyp]

Thanks for all the help!

I decided to go with two 2 group machines. The roaster I decided on happen'd to be a distributer for equipment and got me the dimensions on the espresso machines and we have room for two!

 

[CCafe]

Good choice. You will be happy with your decision the first time one goes down.