Today on the streets of Russian cities there are more and more large and small coffee houses. And sometimes the language does not turn around to name a small, cozy, catering establishment with a delicious smell. A coffee shop is an attractive and profitable business that does not require large initial costs, unless, of course, you swipe from the start to an extensive network of points or an expensive respectable cafe in the city center.
Concept definition
What coffee equipment to buy depends on the concept of the institution and on the financial capabilities of the future business owner.
A minimum of financial investment requires a simple posting of hot drinks in crowded places, where there is no possibility of installing stationary points.
The popularity of mobile coffee houses around the world has led to the emergence of such a business in Russia. This can be trailers, which are installed for a sufficiently long time in one place, or coffee machines mounted in the trunk of a car, which arrives and leaves if necessary.
Such a business requires a minimum of permits and costs. Neither an equipped room, nor a stationary power supply system, nor highly professional personnel are needed.
If you still intend to create a stationary coffee house, then in this case you need to choose its format.
It can be an institution of the French or American type. The French small cafe assumes the presence of tablecloths, beautiful dishes, the smell of freshly ground coffee and hot pastries, waiters in long aprons, and an unhurried audience.
In an American-style coffee shop, service is very fast, baking is not hot, coffee is served in plastic or paper cups. Such a drink can be drunk standing at a high table or on the go. The choice of location for him and the necessary equipment depend on the type of establishment.
Coffee makers
Whatever coffee shop format is chosen, the main equipment for coffee production is an apparatus for making coffee.
Coffee makers are divided into three types. The appliance is suitable for home use. Its power is enough except for the smallest manager. Semi-professional devices are more powerful, but if a large influx of visitors is expected, they will not cope with the preparation of a large amount of drink. Professional coffee makers are the machines that are most suitable for coffee houses, and they are called coffee machines.
By the type of preparation of the drink and the design, several types of apparatus are used. In most coffee houses you can find an espresso coffee maker, much less often - drip, geyser or french press.
French press and geyser devices
In the plunger coffeepot, a piston moves inside the housing with a strainer, it squeezes out the sediment, and a clean drink is poured into the cup. But at a low cost and, most importantly, without connecting to the mains, the fren press has significant drawbacks - it is controlled only manually, you need to use a kettle to heat the water, and it takes at least 5 minutes to make one cup of the drink.
Domestic experts consider the lack of aroma as a disadvantage of a geyser coffee machine , since its principle of operation is based on filtering hot water through ground coffee and the need for a full load, otherwise the device will not work. In addition, for Russian lovers of drinking coffee from large cups, the marking of the geyser coffee machine is not true.
Espresso
Equipment for coffee shops of any format is an espresso coffee maker. In it, water heated almost to a boil enters the dispensing group under pressure, where it passes through ground and pressed coffee. The process takes only half a minute, after which a portion of the aromatic drink with foam is obtained.
In coffee houses, economical pump-action coffee makers are installed, in which the working pressure is created by a pump (pump). They can be carob, combined and automatic.
In a carob coffee maker, a well- pressed powder (the taste of the prepared drink depends to a large extent on this) is poured into a metal or plastic horn. Devices with metal horns are more expensive, but coffee in them, since the drink warms up better, turns out with a rich taste and lush foam.
The combined design allows you to simultaneously prepare drinks drip or under pressure from coffee of different grinding.
In automatic devices, not only espresso is prepared, but also cappuccino, latte and several other drink options.
Driven by one button, the machine itself will grind the grain, if a coffee grinder is built into it, pass water through the powder, dump the waste coffee into a special container and wash itself at the end of the day. In automatic devices, you can adjust the volume of water and the strength of the drink per serving. For the preparation of coffee, both grains and ground powder, and compressed tablets (pads) and capsules (plastic, paper or metal small containers in which freshly ground coffee is sealed).
Oriental coffee maker
Such a drink, according to coffee lovers, is the most “coffee” of all possible. He is preparing in cezve, which is located in the hot sand. The productivity of such a coffee maker is very low, therefore this equipment is intended for coffee houses on several tables for lovers of a leisurely conversation over a cup of (small!) Coffee with oriental sweets.
Modern coffee makers for coffee in the east are a stainless steel tray, which is heated by an electric spiral brought to it. Sand is poured into the pallet or a tray with it is installed. Cezves with coffee in the sand heat evenly. The drink is rich, aromatic and thick.
Modern equipment is equipped with temperature and volume sensors that prevent the rising foam from overflowing the edge of the cezve.
Coffee machines
Professional coffee equipment is divided into semi-automatic carob, automatic and super-automatic coffee machines.
Semi-automatic devices require competent service, but they can prepare drinks according to different recipes and make it more varied when serving.
For example, not so long ago a special technology appeared that allows using cream to create beautiful patterns in a cup on the surface of the drink. This trend is called "latte art" and is highly regarded in French-style coffee houses.
The super-automatic coffee machine does not require human intervention. She not only grinds and brews coffee herself, heats cups, and does all this extremely quickly, on stream, which is very convenient for American-style coffee houses. The smart device also sets the degree of grinding, measures and presses the powder, allows you to keep track of both raw materials and finished drinks. Such equipment is very expensive, about 20 thousand euros, it can only be cost-effective in large establishments where the production of drinks is put on stream.
Coffee Machine Features
When choosing a professional coffee machine, you need to pay attention to whether there is a coffee grinder in it and what type of water supply exists.
If the machine is connected to a central water supply system, it is imperative to provide for a water purification system whose quality directly affects the quality of the drink and the service life of the equipment.
If the apparatus is jellied type, then the volume of the boiler is an important characteristic.
But the main characteristic, on which both the amount of coffee and coffee equipment depend, is the number of cups of the drink per hour or day, which is being prepared or will be prepared in a coffee shop of a certain type.
In a small institution, depending on the number of seats per day, up to 400 cups of drink can be prepared and 3 kg of grains consumed.
In American-style establishments, a large amount of the drink is intended for takeaway, so up to 600 cups of 4 kg of coffee beans can be prepared per day.
The devices differ in the number of groups, that is, simultaneously filled cups. Their price depends on this indicator.
Not the last argument when choosing a particular coffee machine is its manufacturer. It is best to choose one that not only produces, but also provides after-sales service and repair of coffee equipment. It’s quite expensive to keep spare equipment in the warehouse in case of breakage, as well as wait until there is a specialist and spare parts for repairing the only unit without which the work of the establishment stops.
Coffee grinders
The variety of such equipment for coffee houses as coffee grinders is also different. They are rotary with knives and millstones.
The performance of rotary devices is low, so they are installed in small cafes, where coffee is prepared in cezves. They do not have dispensers, it is impossible to adjust the degree of grinding, the grains and ground coffee are in the same container, but (which is important when preparing coffee in Turkish) you can get a dusty powder at the output.
Experts recommend even in a small cafe to have several devices for different types of coffee with different flavors.
Powerful industrial units with millstones can be with dispensers or without them, but with a special clip for the package. They provide a uniform uniform grinding, which is important for making cappuccino, mocha or espresso.
In an American-style coffee house, you can choose industrial equipment with several degrees of grinding, different hopper volumes and millstone diameters and many additional functions.
Related equipment
Coffee machines are not all the equipment for coffee houses. Even for a small institution, in addition to a coffee machine and several coffee grinders, you also need: a water softener, equipment for baking, thin slicing and making cocktails and desserts: a mixer, slicer, oven, butcher table. According to restaurateurs, a variety of menus contribute to business development. Cheese or meat slices, sandwiches, pancakes with and without filling, mousses, soufflés go well with coffee and are in demand in coffee houses of any format.
It is difficult to do without a refrigerator, because at least cream needs to be stored somewhere. You may need a showcase-refrigerator for storing desserts, and a microwave for heating pies and making hot sandwiches. True, according to experts, it is better to buy baked goods on the side, since strict sanitary conditions are provided for its preparation.
Naturally, furniture and interior items, bar equipment, a variety of kitchen utensils, including beautiful cups, and a sink with a water connection are needed.
Mobile coffee shop equipment
A caravan-based coffee shop is an autonomous mobile selling point for a popular beverage. It can work at field events or - with a minimum of permits - in any convenient place for parking with heavy pedestrian traffic.
The equipment for the coffee house on wheels is a gas coffee machine (gas is delivered in cylinders), a tank for purified water, a manual or battery operated coffee grinder, which is also included in the package, disposable tableware and various devices for quick customer service. This is the minimum for a mobile coffee shop.
There are also trailers with the ability to connect to a stationary electrical network. In such coffee houses both refrigerators and microwave ovens are installed, and therefore, therefore, the product range is much wider.
And the trailer with a counter and light stools looks absolutely comfortable for those who can afford to drink a glass of drink while they are not running.
Auto coffee shop
Cars with coffee equipment are increasingly found on city streets. They can be located in crowded places and, unlike stationary establishments, at any time of the day. This advantage is especially felt in the early morning, when the cafes are still closed, and on the way to work you can drink a glass of hot aromatic coffee on the go.
Another significant advantage of this type of coffee house from the perspective of the future owner is that today you can purchase a fully equipped car, moreover, with after-sales service and a staff training program. The cost of such an almost ready-made business depends on the brand of the car, the degree of alteration of the body and the installed equipment.
Equipment for mini-coffee houses can include a professional automatic coffee maker and coffee grinder, a battery with a converter from 12 V to 220 V, or a built-in generator, for example a 5.5 kW Honda EM 5500CXS.
Gas coffee makers run on vibrant resistant gas for automobiles.
There are craftsmen who convert their own cars on their own, using inexpensive, used equipment to start with. However, those who have already gone through the initial stages of developing such a business are advised to save on anything, but not on coffee equipment. Success and further development determine the quality of the drink and the speed of its preparation.
Alternatives
Gas equipment or a battery with a converter is also installed in bicycle cafes, where a box is mounted on a reinforced bicycle with a two-wheeled cart, in which all accessories are placed.
Even more miniature mobile coffee houses appeared in New Zealand. There, equipment for mini-coffee houses - an autonomous professional coffee machine - was placed in a backpack, and workers carry it on their backs.
In domestic open spaces, this distribution option has not been found, maybe for now.
But a thermal backpack, which can hold from 9 to 17 liters with advertising on the front (also the back) for mobile bottling of hot drinks on beaches, stadiums and parks, is already found.
Equipment purchase
There are many sellers of coffee making equipment on the market today. But only a few manufacturers are selling equipment. The most reliable and efficient coffee machines are Italian, well-known firms La Cimbali (in the equipment line of which there are also very cheap machines), Faema, Franke, Rancilio, Jura. They are followed by less common German Bartscher devices. New such equipment is expensive, for beginning businessmen it is sometimes too expensive. Even with a minimum of equipment of five thousand dollars you can’t meet it. Therefore, a very convenient option is the rental of coffee equipment. The rental price usually includes installation of equipment, staff training, dishes with the company logo, and sometimes a discount on coffee beans.
Companies that sell coffee also usually offer equipment and their coffee varieties in predetermined quantities. Judging by the reviews, a proposal that is attractive at first glance often leads to problems and a lack of choice, and, therefore, a decrease in the profitability of such a business.
There is another development option. At the beginning of a difficult journey, inexpensive, second-hand or not as powerful as planned, and therefore cheaper equipment, is acquired. Then, using the Trade-In system, which is offered by some companies that sell coffee equipment and rent it out, you can exchange old equipment for new coffee machines even from other manufacturers with a surcharge.
Coffee houses of any format are an interesting, profitable business and, very importantly, with the possibility of gradual development. A lot of it depends on the equipment. At the very least, the coffee maker - the most important element of the equipment - must be of high quality and reliable. There are many offers on the market, the main thing is to make the right choice.