I'm often surprised at the response given by someone who
discovers that I work in espresso. "I used to have an
espresso machine in my store", they say. When I ask
what kind it was, they remark, "a RED one". "Ah,
yes…a red one", I muse, wondering where to go
from there in the conversation.
I admit I'm a gear head. I love to know how things work.
But really, making espresso is a delicate balance of exacting
pressure, temperature and time. The espresso machine's ability
to do that is a big factor in delivering the goods correctly
and reliably. If you're aspiring to give your customers what
they're paying for it's important to understand how your
machine measures up. My intent here is to survey the machine
buying decision beneath the paint.
I remember buying that first machine. That experience of
spending thousands of dollars knowing virtually nothing about
what laid beneath the paint. Buying the machine was just
one step of many to get the business set up. I bought on
price. Read on and you won't have to learn the hard way too.
Conventional Machines
For starters, lets start with the three basic categories
of machines: manual, semiautomatic and automatic.
THE MANUAL: The
manual is the thing with the big ol' handle that Grandpa
Luigi used to use in the motherland. Sure, it's as romantic
as a gondola ride in Venice but after cranking down on that
handle 300 times a day for a year you'll be ready for Workman's
Comp. Besides, because the design is old, most manuals have
large swings in the brew temperature when making lots of
drinks, reducing espresso quality.
THE SEMIAUTOMATIC: The
semiautomatic was the next evolution of the espresso machine.
It is a pump driven machine, delivering constant pressure
to the brew group with a switch to turn on and off the shot
delivery. For extremely well trained baristas, there is a
small resurgence in this kind of machine, where total manual
control of the drink is desired. This niche runs counter
to the mainstream, which continues to flow to the available
technology for consistency in drink making. If you qualify
for this artisan category, you're probably already using
one.
THE AUTOMATIC: 95%
of conventionals purchased in our shop are automatics. The
automatic machine doses the correct amount of espresso shot
out of the portafilter and stops the flow. So you get a 1.25
oz single and the 2.5 oz double or whatever your shot size
is. That is the distinction between a semiautomatic (where
you turn off the flow of the shot yourself) and an automatic.
The feature will run you about $1000-$1500 on a two group.
One neat feature on some automatics is the override button
that La Marzocco began and now is found on Rio, Astoria and
La San Marco automatic machines. When either the touchpad,
or wiring between the touchpad and "brain" (electronic
control box) or the brain itself fails, the manual override
will keep you in business until the Service Calvary rides
in to rescue you.
Superautomatics
In the March 2000 issue of Fresh Cup, I did a survey of
Superautomatics titled "Giving in to Techspresso".
Just a few comments here on a buying decision involving Supers.
They are great. They're a big chunk of the future. They're
also a big chunk of money. That will be saved if the machine
is utilized appropriately to become your employee. People
using them with high drink activity tell me that they have
far less labor costs in busy stores with supers. Did you
ever have a $10 per day employee? The Supers are appropriate
for multi-tasking and increasing high output locations if
put to the task. If you go this route, make sure that your
service company is tied at the wrists to you. For the deeper
study on Supers, go back to the original article.
My Machine/Myself
In choosing a machine, you first need to define the purpose
of the business. There is no one machine for all purposes.
The good news is that's because many different kinds of machines
have been developed because of the proliferation of espresso.
For a destination espresso bar, your machine is the focal
point of your establishment. It is the Steinway concert grand
piano to the concert pianist. It defines to the discriminating
customer what your espresso shop is. Do some research in
finding what other fine espresso bars have for equipment.
See if you can find out why they have them. Factors in a
high volume, destination espresso bar are:
-
How much steam the machine
can produce. In high volume locations, the limiting factor
is usually producing enough steam over time to keep up
steaming enough milk for back-to-back 16 and 20 ounce
lattes.
If you buy a single boiler 2 group machine with
a 3000 watt element, while it may seem like a powerhouse
on your first day of business, you may be looking for
a trade-up if you really get slammed. Bear in mind,
if you're doing that kind of drink volume, you're making
a lot of money, too. Trading up is not the end of the
world. I suggest using your high projection figure
for what you think the shop will do to determine machine
capacity.
- If
you've taken care of the steam volume issue above, most
conventional machines will usually have a proportional
number of group heads to satisfy your need for espresso
shot making.
The quality of the espresso shot is a simple
matter of consistent delivery of pressure and temperature
to the brew head. The goal is to be at 195 degrees F
and at 135 PSI (9 bars). Roasters may find that their
particular blend/roast respond best at an exact temperature
within a 5 degree range of that. The better the machine,
the more consistent that pressure and temperature happens
at the point of contact with the coffee. Cheaper machines
have wider swings in that delivery temperature, especially
with high volumes of shots. The heated water runs to
the head, increasing brew temperature to nearly boiling
(if unregulated) and then decreases again as more shots are
made and cooler water comes through the heating device. This
will make for a series of drinks unlike each other.
Most all
conventional machines are made with a single boiler for
steam with a heat exchanger running through it for brew
water. This provides satisfactory brew temperature for most
folks, although there is enough of a temperature variation
in the heat exchanger for the most particular experts (Coffee
Basics by Kevin Knox, p. 145) to use a machine with a separate
boiler for brew water and a thermostat regulating water temperature
plus/minus 1 degree Centigrade. That feature is found on
the La Marzocco machines.
The shot capacity discussion takes
a different tack with superautomatics (normally single head
machines). I've noticed that shot-making capacity normally
disappears before milk steaming capacity drops. On superautomatics
(assuming a single head superauto), I find that adding a
second machine is required after about 150-200 drinks/day,
if the morning brings most of the business and produces crunch
time.
- The
cheapest machines will end up being the most expensive.
There is an old Italian saying, "I am too poor to
buy cheap." If
the cheap machine fails once a year, or fails with a substantial
part, what is that worth? How much loss in business can
you sustain? Remember that retaining customers in your
main business and each core customer is worth $300-$500
per year. Changing their day can lose their allegiance.
What's the longevity of the machine? Where are the oldest
high volume machines? A difference of $1,000-$2,000 may
buy you a machine that lasts twice as long and performs
better that whole time.
How deep is
the local service? How deep is the local service company?
Can you bet your business life on them? How is their parts
stock for your machine? What can they provide for references?
- - When you decide on the machine,
the grinder normally appears as another line item without
choice. But there are differences in grinders. The task
of the grinder/doser is fairly simple- to grind whole
coffee beans consistently to very fine particle size
right and then dosing it, in a consistent amount to the
portafilter held underneath it.
We always recommend some
means of making sure your decaf is ground fresh. Buying
a little $125 Solis grinder without a doser is far better
if money is tight than pregrinding your coffee. A huge
amount of quality is lost with preground espresso.
The quality
of the grinder/doser will show up in: size of the burrs,
quality of the dosing mechanism, rpms, ease for disassembling
the dosing mechanism for cleaning, and the quality of the
motor. The larger the burr size, the less heat (eroding
coffee quality) will be generated when grinding large amounts
of coffee. The slower the grinder turns (the less rpms),
the less the coffee heats in the grinder as well. The doser
(the click-click thing) is used hundreds of times a day.
You want to make sure it is durable, snapping back into
position with the assurance that it will do so thousands
of times.
In our shop, we have had the best overall performance
with grinders from Mazzer. They seem to just keep on working
and give us the least amount of work. The other thing to
remember is that grinder burrs wear out generally at about
1,000 to 1,500 lbs of coffee, so remember to look at changing
them out when needed.
- - There's
a used machine you saw that's less than half of the price
new. Is it a good deal? It's hard to tell. A few months
ago, a fellow came into our shop with a 'great deal' he
had found. After going through the machine, we found that
the machine had been left out in the cold and the boiler
had been frozen and split- more than $3000 in service bills
in his case. We have story after story like that. To purchase
used may provide value if you absolutely know the condition
of the machine. The best way to do that is to buy it refurbished
from a reputable dealer, with a modest warranty.
One other
big issue on used machines is the cumulative effect of
lime scale, sometimes just called lime. Calcium carbonate
(lime) builds up in steam boilers and valves like you wouldn't
believe. Steam goes out the top of the boiler and the minerals
are left in the bottom of the boiler. Machine problems are
compounded multifold with lime. Steam pressure can be tremendously
reduced, heating elements in the tank fail, and every solenoid
and valve can be rendered worthless. The only way to know
the lime scale factor on a machine is to have a good technician
look at it thoroughly.
When you're considering new vs. used,
add in the things of value to you that your dealer includes
in the sale of the new machine. The first year parts and
labor warranty, (~$600), installation of the machine (~$225),
training, important if you are learning how to make espresso
(~$200 for 3 hours) may be factors that make buying a new
machine a better value than you first thought. At our shop,
we usually include the first Preventive Maintenance visit
also included in the cost of the new machine. Make sure
that you remember when you buy to get on a regular preventive
maintenance program and to faithfully do the daily cleaning.
That's my Reader's Digest overview of the buying process
that we try to walk people through. Don't stress, just think
through what you want your shop to be. What features on a
machine fit? What do you need from the service company? How
can you make sure that you will get it? Ultimately, the proof
is in the pudding, or crema, in our case, that the machine
delivers shot after reliable shot, year after year. |
