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DE1XL For Commercial Coffee Shop Use - 2 machines

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  • Plestor
    replied
    Originally posted by Budgiesmuggler View Post


    ive got the standard decent. If you’re not pulling milk drinks daily it’s likely fine for your use. While you can’t stream and pull shots at the same time, your mate could steam while you’re grinding and prepping the portafilter.
    Obviously my day to day use case is right up a DE's alley. My other use case not so much.

    I'd typically do ~25 doubles the majority as some form of milk drink in 30 mins for a party that doesn't really seem viable? Normally I'd run 2 groups and have 1 portafilter preping and 1 portafilter pulling. Unless you run a very long profile or your machine has recovery issues you can do this with a serious 1 group and 2 portafilters too...

    Given this I get to 3 solutions

    DE1 XXL -- too slow? Obviously the most convenient tho.

    Single boiler steamer -- Various options could be either built in (mavam, modbar -- both $$$) or separate. Annoying, likely need 15a / water depending on choice.

    Keep my 2 grp Portofino for groups -- parts are getting expensive. Need 15a/ water / space. Could pull the shots on the machine itself which may be easier.

    Leave a comment:


  • Budgiesmuggler
    replied
    Originally posted by Plestor View Post
    On a tangentially related note if I rarely make milk drinks outside of large gatherings* where I make lots of them (generally with a mate to steam) am I better off getting something like a haros steamer (or keeping my 2grp portofino) over going to an xxl?

    ive got the standard decent. If you’re not pulling milk drinks daily it’s likely fine for your use. While you can’t stream and pull shots at the same time, your mate could steam while you’re grinding and prepping the portafilter.

    Leave a comment:


  • Plestor
    replied
    On a tangentially related note if I rarely make milk drinks outside of large gatherings* where I make lots of them (generally with a mate to steam) am I better off getting something like a haros steamer (or keeping my 2grp portofino) over going to an xxl?

    Leave a comment:


  • PoseidonstTrident
    commented on 's reply
    Yeah, this is my current path forward. I might be wanting the decents to work too much, but this is just such a simple and cheap solution to use these awesome machines.

  • PoseidonstTrident
    commented on 's reply
    Thanks for your reply. You make a lot of good points. Yeah, right now getting 2 decents is just under the la marzocco. I spoke to a shop owner in Austin who uses 2 decents. His suggestion was a similar one in that getting a cheap e61 to solely steam on will make the decents work.

    Do you have an idea for how many people that pop up shop was serving?

  • decentespresso
    replied
    The planned-for-February new version will be called the DE1XXL (like t-shirt sizes) and steams 40% faster. Pros used to LM or NS machines, who have come to the factory have *not* remarked anything about the steaming, until I asked, and the answer has been "seemed normal to me". In other words, steam speed on this new model is the same you'd expect on a traditional multigroup boiler machines.

    Even though we sell 1 group machines, my advice for cafes it to have 2 or 3 of our machines, just as they'd choose a 2 or 3 group traditional machines. The nice thing about buying 3 is that if one (god forbid) died, you'd still have a working 2 group machine for the 48h it took for us to send you a swap. Less risky than a monolithic single machine.

    I can put you in touch with Charles in NYC, who works for me as a tech, but also has a summertime high-intensity bespoke catering biz, and he can discuss his experience. DM me if that would be useful.

    Generally you'll find Decents in pro use to be much more common in mobile or popup locations, where size, transportability and the lack of special power plugs, is an advantage for us. Given COVID and the scaling back of most cafes, few are replacing existing machines. But there are a few dozen Decents in mom & pop (or two friends) starting cafes, because they can buy one group now, and more later if business expands.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CHZkySLHuUM/

    Leave a comment:


  • AtticusSinclair
    replied
    The Decent XL is getting a new 10A heater in the next month or so. It's actually available for pre-sale if you contact John.

    While you still can't steam and brew at the same time, it is more comercially viable as it's 40% faster at steaming and can handle pour over profiles better (that require pre-heating of brew water). It'll also work on standard mains power anywhere with 220-240v mains (unlike the 110v version, which will require a 240v line installed).

    To quote decentespresso (John) from Diaspora:

    We do have 10A (2200W) heaters now on order, as the steaming time is about 40% faster, and those can still run on the existing power connector, as well as worldwide on and 220/240V line.

    With the 10A model, it's taking me 43 seconds to steam *2* 200ml lattes at the same time, and 23 seconds to do one. That's with fridge-temp milk, going to 60ºC.

    Those 10A machines will start appearing in January, I hope (depends on the heater-supplier).
    The steam on this model is 40% faster, machine warmup is at 3 minutes, and pour overs recipes can sustain about 40% higher flow rates and keep water temperature at goal.

    FYI all current DE1 models use about 6.5 amp, and this model uses about 9.5 amp. All heating times change linearly, almost exactly the same as the amp change.

    It comes with Zubing's 3 hole steam wand tip, as the steam is too powerful for the 1 hole time.

    There is a short video from September where I first showed this model:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CE_SPYeh5rf/

    This model does work in the USA, but you need to get a 240V line installed by an electrician. 10A is available worldwide, in any 220v-240V country, without any special request.

    Leave a comment:


  • Budgiesmuggler
    replied
    I’m sure John will see this as he drops in regularly. He can likely put you in touch with others using it in a commercial environment. His model is that if a problem occurs the machine can easily be swapped out which is more convenient than a larger machine going down.

    the ability to dial in shots but also make it super simple is a big plus of the Decent.



    Leave a comment:


  • roosterben
    replied
    What about a standalone milk steamer?. Then you could just runs shots on the Decent while you steam milk on a small steamer outlet. They look to start at around $750 for a commercial milk steamer and then you have a nice clean countertop.

    I know John has addressed support in the Decent thread (and they really do offer excellent domestic support but you really need some DIY knowledge) but in a commercial environment if you Decent breaks down you could really be stuck as your average coffee tech is not that likely to be able to fix or have parts readily available.

    Leave a comment:


  • dbun
    replied
    I haven't seen any cafes use them here, but I did stop past a small speciality coffee pop-up overseas that had two DE1s (not sure on which model) going.

    I observed for a while and saw them mostly use one to pull a shot and the other to steam - as you mentioned you can't do both simultaneously on one machine.
    For the amount of traffic coming through it seemed to manage fine, but not sure how it would have gone if the traffic ramped up and you really needed the efficiency of two groups and steam going simultaneously.

    If I was setting up a small cafe I would find it hard to justify a multi-DE1XL setup which would be ~$13k (not including the refill and counter-sunk kits) when a 3 group La Marzocco Linea can be easily had for around $8k on the used market which is a well-proven work-horse.

    Possibly a combination of a smaller 'work-horse' machine coupled with a single DE1XL for pulling speciality shots may be the go?

    Another thing to keep in mind is whether or not the average coffee punter will actually appreciate the subtle nuances of the shots pulled on the DE1.

    Leave a comment:


  • PoseidonstTrident
    started a topic DE1XL For Commercial Coffee Shop Use - 2 machines

    DE1XL For Commercial Coffee Shop Use - 2 machines

    Hi everyone. I've read a good bit of recent posts, especially considering the decent machines. Decent is an attractive machine due to software capabilities and price point. Has anyone had experience using the DE1XL in an actual coffee shop? How does it handle a lot of traffic? Obviously for medium to high traffic shops, you would need 2 machines for the 2 grouphead experience, but has anyone pulled that trigger and done it?

    From what I keep seeing, the decent is a great machine. The community is strong and supportive. It's easy to make a good shot and easy to make a bad shot. I think my biggest fear using them commercially is the inability to pull a shot and steam at the same time. But, maybe their functionality will work better in a small town shop than a very high trafficked city shop...unless you're the only coffee shop in town (like I will be...).

    Due to their size, and the fact you can only pull or steam at a time, maybe you can get by using a 16 gallon or less RO filtration system.

    I do love the idea of being able to ship one package back in a suitcase if a problem happens...but since it's new technology you can't just get someone out to fix it like the tried and true machines we all know.

    Anyway, I am dying to hear how these hold up in a fast-paced environment, outside of home use. Please share your thoughts!
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