Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marilyn on March 24, 2010 at 9:40am

i have a 3 group heads. It all depends on how busy you wish to be. 3 group heads allow more Barista at the machine when you get really busy. And if Space/price is not an issue at all. Otherwise, if you are efficient and fast, 2 is great.

Marilyn
www.tancoffeetoronto.com

Permalink Reply by Alex Galt on May 18, 2010 at 7:40pm

160 cups of cappuccino per hour is almost three a minute. While that may be technically possible, it's very hard for me to imagine actually getting that volume through one machine. If I were you and I had some reason to expect that volume, I'd go for two two group machines. I have a three group linea and I don't do anywhere close to that even at our busiest times ever. With a three group and two baristas we can do quite a lot, but three a minute is insane. Unless you had two baristas and someone dedicated to rinsing frothing pitchers and keeping the area clean.

Permalink Reply by christopher myers on July 4, 2010 at 12:18pm

I've been pondering the same question, and I keep hearing "if you expect high customer traffic, you should get a 3 group" and yet I don't think I've ever seen or required having 2 baristas on the espresso machine at one time. The only other thing that you already addressed is running out of hot water, since most 2 groups don't have a double boiler, but that's why you get a marzocco. I mean even if you are busy enough to have 3 employees on shift, you'd want 1 on register, 1 on espresso, and 1 on food/dishes (if you do that at your shop). And unless you have grinders on both sides of your machine, it's really awkward for 2 people on an espresso machine to dance around each other just to be able to make 2 drinks at once. Sure if it gets really busy it's tough for one barista to make all the drinks, but ideally they're trained well enough to be fast and efficient without sacrificing quality.

Permalink Reply by Lacey Reichwald on August 19, 2010 at 7:24pm

Well.. on our three group machine the far left group NEVER works. Fix it, it breaks. Fix it again, it leaks, then breaks... so we have a two group and it serves us just fine even when we are extremely, extremely busy. When this happens I am usually the only barista on the machine which is how I like it. Another barista can still set up cups with sauces and such but I don't want anyone up in my business. :)
For tea, we use the hot water from our coffee brewer instead of our espresso machine.

Permalink Reply by David Lanning on October 3, 2010 at 9:57am

From a showpiece point of view a 3 group is nice.

From a practical point of view a 2 group is realistic.

We have a 2 group and have conquered some deep lines of people.

And, yeah... 160 drinks per hour is an amazing technical specification. It's like having a car that can go 300mph. But really, where, when, and how often would you actually drive that fast?

Permalink Reply by Jesse Darwin on November 8, 2011 at 1:36pm

do you have a grinder(s) that can keep up with 3 groups?

ive been in a alot of shops that get really busy, they have 3 or 4 group machines. guess what... they only use two

 

how many baristas are on bar and how experienced are they?  if you have one good person, they can run 2 groups. if youve got 2 good people(that work well together) then they can use 3

 

Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on November 8, 2011 at 2:17pm

After a rush with a three or four group you can down one or two for cleaning leaving two up just in case get hit with another rush. When that one clean move on to the next. Keeps shot quality higher thoughout the day.