Help With Deciding On A Restaurant Coffee Machine

The experienced staff in our family business can help with deciding on a restaurant coffee machine, visit our London showroom or call us on 0203 096 7233. If you are thinking about a new coffee machine for your restaurant the choice is by no means easy. There is a bewildering variety of coffee machines and grinders and it’s very important to have an understanding of the types, performance and workings of restaurant coffee machines and – how will your staff and customers react? Will it increase sales and the ambiance of your venue? Can the coffee machine be leased or rented?

Traditional Coffee Machines

These are smart and rugged coffee machines which are ideal for making caffe latte, flat white and cappuccino in restaurants. The concept of an espresso machine originated in Italy and the key point is the high-pressure extraction of intensely flavoured and concentrated coffee in short measure known as ‘espresso’.

This strong brew has spread from Italy to conquer more or less the entire world as a favourite coffee fix – with the Caffia range of beans it comes in a variety of taste styles but should always have a good ‘crema’ – the emulsion of coffee oils that floats on top of the drink (it’s a good idea to stir your espresso to blend this in).

Coffee beans in an espresso grinder like the Macap MXA are ground to a very fine consistency and ‘tamped’ (pressed firmly) into a strong handle which is known variously as a portafilter or group handle, this is not unlike a very small saucepan. Once secured in the group head on the espresso coffee machine by means of a quarter of a turn the pump is triggered to force water through the ground coffee at around 140psi (but low flow rate) and the result is intense and short extraction of around 2 or 3oz.

Milk heating, foaming and texturing are undertaken with the machine’s steam arms – this is a skill that takes practice but don’t worry – we train you on all of this. You can watch a simple video here demonstrating barista skills and how latte art can be achieved in your restaurant with some training and practice:

The strong points of espresso machines for restaurants are smart looks, good cup warming storage, good ‘theatre’ as customers can see the drink being crafted for them, good prices and robust performance. Caffia Coffee Group offers a range of both ‘workhorse’ low price and luxury top end espresso machines, grinders and barista training from Cimbali and Royal Synchro.

Filter Coffee Machines For Restaurants

Filter coffee machines work by percolating hot water over ground coffee of the correct mixture of grinds (finer than cafetiere, coarser than espresso grind) which normally passes through a filter paper into either a glass jug or a thermos flask.

Commercial filter coffee machines or ‘brewers’ or ‘pour-overs’ start at the rugged Caffia CX-2 machine with 2 glass jugs and go up to the monster Bravilor B40 with twin 40 litre urns; these latter are known as bulk-brewers – for obvious reasons – and the sheer speed of brew means achieving a delicate  brew is quite challenging with these machines.

The brew from a filter coffee machine is pleasant and thin on body due to the filter paper; aromatic and very drinkable, filter coffee is very useful for office meetings, hotel breakfast and conferencing. Filter coffee, prepared in batches, is the quickest form of coffee to serve – simply pour it and enjoy.. I am delighted to see filter coffee’s popularity make a well-deserved comeback in recent years.

Bean-to-Cup Coffee Machines

This type of restaurant coffee machine is essentially an automatic robot using coffee beans and milk in either fresh or powdered form – you can see a video of the popular Jura Giga X8c bean to cup coffee machine here:

From this combination, these machines produce a full range of drinks at the touch of a button like espresso, americano (a diluted espresso), caffe latte, cappuccino, flat white, mocha (includes chocolate as well as coffee and milk) and espresso macchiato. The automation that you get in bean-to-cup machines is useful in offering a consistent drink with zero skill on behalf of your staff; in many cases they are ideal for self-service coffee as well.

A bean-to-cup using fresh milk does produce a better quality drink than one using powdered milk and the latest generation like the Jura Giga series and Franke A600 are also easier to clean than previously. There are situations where a bean to cup with powder milk and often with hot chocolate powder as well offers a neat ‘vending’ type option that is ideal for offices or showrooms – like the Necta Koro Max Prime or Bravilor Esprecious coffee machines for example.

The purchase prices on our range of bean-to-cup machines goes from £1250.00 to £15,000+ – there is a wide range and something for every site situation, volume and quality requirement. Have a look on our website or call us to discuss on 01324 617618 or 0203 096 7233

Instant Coffee Machines

One of these machines – often called ‘dispensers’ – offers a compact and low-cost machine which is generally plumbed to the mains water supply – the principle benefit is very high speed dispense or a very hot beverage (all powder, no fresh milk to cool the drink, or to go off either), low cost machines and low cost drinks in high volumes. They use soluble (instant) ingredients like freeze-dried instant coffee, cappuccino topping powder (around 70% milk) and powder hot chocolate.

In quick service or staff restaurants these machines can be a real queue buster without breaking the bank but the fact is that generally people are more and more seeking better quality coffee such as a bean-to-cup machine would give. With instant coffee machines, the machine cost is generally lower than espresso machines or bean to cup in some ways with less to go wrong as well. See here for more information.

Caffia Coffee Group is a friendly family run company and would be glad to discuss your needs further; our principle sales contacts are Ben Hardwick and Russell Hardwick and we hope this Help With Deciding On A Restaurant Coffee Machine article has been of use to you.

We have showrooms at our Falkirk head office in central Scotland and one in Clerkenwell, central London; these are very useful for viewing equipment and trying coffees.

Caffia Coffee Group
Lomond House
Russel Street
Falkirk
FK2 7HS

Tel: 01324 617618 | Email: sales@caffia.com

Caffia Coffee Group
Design Hub Clerkenwell
47 Gee Street
London
EC1V 3RS

Tel: 0203 096 7233 | Email: sales@caffia.com

Offices at: Aberdeen, Barnard Castle, Stafford, Peterborough, Manchester and Bodmin, Cornwall