Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Need a machine for a small cake shop

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Need a machine for a small cake shop

    At the moment we have a really old, slow fully automatic domestic machine that came with the shop when we bought it. At the moment we dont promote that we sell coffee because we hate using the machine. We would be lucky to do 20 coffees a week at the moment. We would probably aim to get up to 20-30 a day eventually once we promote it, etc. but will only be doing a few a day until then.

    That said, we dont want to spend thousands - up to $2k. Do we get a good automatic like Jura (more like $3K) or a fully manual machine like a Rancilio Silvia? Any machine recommendations will be appreciated! I dont like autofrothers.

    thanks!

  • #2
    Re: Need a machine for a small cake shop

    You will definitely want a higher-end heat exchanger (HX) coffee machine for your commercial/semi-commercial scenario; the Silvia is not one of those. With the Silvia you have to wait about a minute between extracting the coffee and frothing the milk for the machine to change temperature. For 30 coffees a day thats half an hour of total down-time

    With an HX machine you can do both at once - much more practical for your situation. Having said that, you would need your 2k just for the machine, and all the folk on this site are about to tell you that you need a good, quickish grinder that will cost at least $600.. Either way you are approaching the $3k mark of the fully-auto; but the manual setup will give you better, more exciting coffee. Second-hand would be a good option price-wise but has the perils of not having a warranty, or the support that by all reports is amazing from Chris at Talk Coffee, a regular poster/sponsor here. Email/PM him!

    I am not the right person for particular model recommendations, but I believe the Giotto and Domobar Super Lever are really impressive and popular HX machines. Im jealous! Others will be more specific on which machine to buy and why. Good luck!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Need a machine for a small cake shop

      Hi sweetgirl,

      Welcome to CS. In my opinion if I were to go to a cafe or bistro and see a fully automatic machine I wouldnt even bother with ordering coffee. This is my own opinion but then again, were all self confessed coffeesnobs here

      My tip is a manual or semi-auto. Youll need to learn how to use and produce good coffee with it though. A couple of hours with a barista or training would be enough to get you started... or simply stick around and read some of the posts in CS!

      I own an Expobar Minore which can quite confidently be used in a small cafe and definately be able to handle the sort of volume you indicated. Another in this category of ~$2000+ would be the Giotto/Rocket and Im sure others would jump in with their recommendations. Best thing to do is find a good seller and have try some for yourself. There are many sponsors on this site that can help you with this decision.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Need a machine for a small cake shop

        Hi Sweetgirl,

        Going on your 2k budget, Id suggest the Expobar Office Semi Auto and try stretch the budget just a tad and get a grinder - I suggest you contact one of the site sponsors - They should help you with a package I suspect.

        Comment

        Working...
        X