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There have been some good discussion posts on the topic of 3-way brew solenoids lately. I just wanted to add a little explanation of 3-way valves to help people understand how they function in espresso machines and problems you may see.
First, thanks to Terry Z and the Espresso Parts guys for putting up great pics of these parts on their site. Most of the pics that follow came from there.
A typical 3-way solenoid valve is shown here --->
On many commercial espresso machines this valve is screwed directly to the group via the holes in the brass bass.
The valve serves two functions:
1. Start and stop the flow of brewing water
2. Exhaust excess pressure once the shot is complete.
The valve consists of four major parts:
1. The coil (the black box).
2. The valve guide "stem" (the stainless steel part shown at right).
3. The valve guide "base" (the brass part seen at right).
and...
4. The valve "nucleus" (seen here).
The nucleus is enclosed within the valve guide, and slides up and down inside of it. Take a look at the nucleus and note the spring wrapped around it, the slots that run up and down, as well as the circular red valve seal. There is a second red seal on the opposite end of the nucleus, hidden from view in this picture.
Also take a look at the valve guide picture, noting the single large hole at the end of the valve guide "stem". This is the exhaust port, which we'll call port #3.
The bottom side of the valve base is seen below. Note ports numbered 1 and 2.
Most commercial and some home espresso machines are plumbed-in (connected to a water line). When they are, there is some some water pressure within the heat-exchange system or coffee boiler at all times. Brew water circulates through pipes and channels within the group before entering the valve at port #2.
When the machine is off or idle, the spring on the valve nucleus pushes the red seal against a valve seat inside of the base, closing off port #2 and keeping water from entering the valve.
When the barista pushes the button to start making espresso, electricity flows to the coil. The coil generates a magnetic field, which draws the nucleus away from port #2. This allows water to flow into the valve and back out through port #1. From there, the water flows through the group and out the dispersion screen where it meets ground espresso.
One thing to note is that port #1 (the one leading to the dispersion screen) is always open.
In this way, the solenoid valve accomplishes its main function - starting and stopping the flow of brewing water. If that were all it did we'd call this a two-way solenoid, but it does more that that... so we don't.
Recall that the valve's other function is to relieve the excess pressure from the brewing chamber when the shot is finished. Port #3 is that exhaust path.
Remember that when the barista pushes the button to start a shot, the nucleus moves away from port #2. When does, it closes off port #3. This prevents the water that's now flowing through the valve from escaping through port #3. When the shot is finished, the nucleus moves back against port #2, opening port #3. This allows any pressurized water that remains within the portafilter basket to come back into the valve through port#1, flow through the slots in the side of the nucleus, then exit through port #3.
When the valve functions normally, only two of the three valve ports are open at any one time.
Though these are fairly high-quality components, failure is common. Frequent use and constant contact with hot brew water and waste coffee create a pretty harsh operating environment.
How do these valves fail? Coils fail. Buildup or damage to the valve seals and seats often prevents them from sealing completely. Sometimes, the nucleus will "freeze up", which will prevent it from opening. The nucleus spring can sometimes break due to fatigue and age. Debris or buildup can also obstruct one of the valve ports, preventing water flow.
Troubleshooting coils is pretty straightforward. If the coil is "on" and receiving power equal to its listed rating (20V, 110V or 208-240V), you should feel a little pull when you (carefully!) tap the end of the valve guide with a screwdriver. No pull? Bad coil.
Seal failure causes the valve to leak water, generally out of port #3. Leakage when the machine is idle indicates a problem on the port #2 side, leakage while pulling a shot indicates a problem on the port #3 side. Sometimes the problems can be fixed by disassembling and/or cleaning the valve, other times replacement is required.
There are two things you can do to prolong the life of your three-way solenoids:
1. Backflush regularly with a good espresso detergent. Use only products that are labeled as "espresso machine cleaner", Cafiza, Puro Caf, etc. Follow the procedure recommended by the manufacturer (though you should use less detergent, a dime-sized amount is adequate). Please backflush often.
2. Make sure your water is "safe" for your machine. Manufacturers generally recommend that water hardness not exceed 2-3 grains. Use an appropriate filter and/or softener, and maintain them according to manufacturers recommendations. Have your water tested to be sure that it is appropriate.
Hopefully this article has helped you understand the parts and function of three-way solenoid valves. Please post any feedback or questions in the comments section.
Let’s face it, not to sound too terribly clichéd, but first impressions really do matter. What is the first thing your customers are going to notice when they walk in the door? That’s right, the café itself. Whether you are making the best coffee in town or not, pulling bodies off the street into your door has to be the forethought of your business plan. You are out to make good coffee, sell it and be able to balance your checking account without pulling your hair out. If the customers off the street don’t feel comfortable looking in on the environment, you can bet they will walk away. Design of your café shouldn’t be more important than the quality of your coffee, but it had better be a top priority in your planning.
See It Before You Build It
The build out and design is of critical importance when you are planning to open an in-line or storefront coffee bar, no matter what size of a business you have in mind. But back up for a second: before you even think of starting the build-out, you will want to have a clear vision of your concept and the theme of your coffee bar, and you absolutely must have an overall plan and budget in place. This stays true no matter if you are designing a small, minimal, 600 sq. ft. coffee bar or a 3,500 sq. ft. community-based coffeehouse. Without a plan and budget firmly grounded in the real world, spending will quickly outstrip your means, and your entire enterprise will start deep in the hole, which may be difficult to impossible to ever dig your way out of. So even though you may be realizing your dream by opening your own café, make sure your design and strategy is determined well before any real construction begins. That way you have a much better chance of bringing your dream to life instead of finding yourself in a waking nightmare.
The first time you open your doors, you will want your operation to look and feel well organized, clean and inviting.
The best place to start on a solid design plan is to have a rough picture in your mind of what your bar will look like, and a major step toward refining that vision is to determine your menu. For example if you’re going to prepare and sell food, you’re going to have very different concerns than a coffee shop that only offers espresso and bagels. A couple of other major factors that can influence the design are if you plan to retail coffee brewing equipment, or extensive whole bean coffee.
When designing the interior of your coffee bar, there are some components that promote good customer flow and aesthetics, as well as creating a unique retail coffee business. Generally, a coffee bar should be a relaxing and comfortable place to be. Often this is achieved with soft and simple textures, natural finishes and more muted colors. Some favorite and often inexpensive components to work with are different woods, concrete, stainless steel, and deep textured accents.
Get in the Flow
Once you have your café’s menu planned and an idea of what you want for a working design, it’s time for some field research. Spend a few days checking out other coffee bars or food service venues that are successful in your area. It is not as important that these places serve coffee, or are similar to your concept, but that you can find some strong examples of a “good flowing” retail environment. Look at places that are busy and successful. It can be useful to even take a note pad to a few different places to write down your impressions. Keep an eye on the flow of the customers in and out, as well as the employees. If the space designed well, there should not be a lot of general confusion.
Two different flows must work together in order for your café to be successful: the customer flow and the baristas’ workflow. Each requires bringing different variables to the plan, but both must be in harmony for the café to really sing.
When planning for the customer flow it’s important to build a defined route from beginning to end, almost sub-consciously directing each customer on where to go from the minute they walk through your door. By placing menu boards, pastry cases and other profit centers in the right places you can also greatly increase what your customer sees prior to point of purchase. It’s not unusual in a poorly planned café to find yourself at the coffee bar ready to pay for your order when you realize that there’s something else, like a pastry that you wanted, but feel like it’s too late. Build your café with a strategy for the customer flow in mind, and you can minimize these lost sales.
First, consider counter space and espresso machine placement. This may be the most critical part of the overall design. Even though this is not a space customers will be spending much time in front of, it is the space that will determine how much time they will be spending standing in line and waiting for their drink. It is also the space from which your baristas will serve coffee.
If the counter space is uncomfortable for your staff, there is no doubt your customers will notice, and at seven in the morning with a line out the door, a disruption in customer flow is quickly obvious. One should be thoughtful of the natural flow of people around the counter space: customer walks in, places an order with the barista, grabs a pastry, walks to the register. It’s a simple progression, but one that all too often runs into too many obstacles simply from a lack of prior planning.
Once your customers have their beverages and their favorite tasty treats, you want them to have a seat in the cozy space you have dreamt up. First stop is the condiment bar, a small part of the café experience, but nevertheless, an important one. The last thing you want is a fight over the last packet of Splenda, or customers reaching over one and other juggling their hot cups of coffee. Keep it simple and keep it easy to stock, so your staff does not have to put on a safety helmet to fill the to-go lids.
Refining Workflow
If you have not worked in a coffee bar or foodservice business before, it may be difficult to understand the importance of workflow between an employee and the equipment used in a coffee bar. It requires the right amount of space, not too small and not too big, to promote efficiency behind the bar. The mechanics of drink preparation in a coffee bar are different than almost any other foodservice business. Incorporate these variables into your design and try to understand exactly where to place your equipment, where to leave open space for drink preparation and delivery, establish work areas and define places where interaction with customers can take place and feel natural.
You will also want to project the volume you anticipate your business doing, and be prepared if down the road you need to add a second machine, or go from a 3-group to a 4-group espresso machine. Often, your space design can greatly limit growth within your menu, be it adding a third grinder for a single-origin espresso, a pour-over brewer or even a prep area for light food in the afternoons.
You’ll want to place the espresso machine/barista workstation so it is prominently within the customer’s line of sight when entering the café. The machine should stand at a medium-low height, not only to accommodate the munchkin or two on your staff, but also to give the barista a good opportunity to make eye contact with each new customer.
Eye contact and a smile never go out of style for someone walking into a coffee shop to shake off the morning grumpiness. Your barista can then take the order, be as pleasant as necessary, and send the customer down the counter to the cash register, charmed and ready to settle up. Additionally, ergonomics, also understood as human engineering, are of extreme importance to coffee businesses, which are often high volume/quick transaction operations. Strong design in your coffee bar will pay off many dividends in the future. And overcoming early errors in design can end up costing you dearly. The return on investment of hiring a professional to help design your coffee bar can be tremendous. It’s not unusual to hear how after a poor decision early in a café’s design, a few years after opening, the owner needs to tear out the whole bar and re-design the operation. This can mean lost income, and the extra expenses involved in build out and construction. It’s much better to spend a few dollars up front than thousands to go back and re-design your bar.
You must also pay attention to how efficient the employee’s work environment is. It will be imperative to create an efficient workflow to minimize the preparation time of products, to hold labor to a minimum and to minimize conflict or working areas between employees. Your employees will also appreciate a thoughtfully designed workspace, as it will allow them to optimize their hours spent on shift, which can greatly increase tips and lower overall stress while at work.
You can also minimize the repetitive movements and steps that a barista makes each day while behind bar. With a good workflow, a barista will not have to make excessive steps, or will not have to make as many awkward movements to perform their job. In a busy shift, a barista may make more than 200 drinks and if each time they have to take four extra steps to the trash can or sink, the wasted energy and fatigue on the barista will quickly add up. Creating well planned working paths is also important; minimize any potential hazards for a collision between employees or customers.
Countertop Wisdom
Tip jar, pastry case and cash register should be the holy trinity of your counter space. The pastry case should be very simple, clean and easily navigated by your customers’ eyes and hands. Don’t clutter it up with unnecessary signage, and make sure the customers have a chance to peruse the goodies well before they have to pay for their order. Put all the pastries that are delivered in at once, so you don’t have to worry about clumsy staff trying to restock the case in the middle of a rush. This pastry case should be very accessible to the person operating the cash register, so they can double up their duty as money-taker and pastry-slinger. Our other two suspects, the register and tip jar, should be staged with forethought as well. Figure out where the baristas’ hands will be as they reach across the counter to hand the customers their change; that is where the tip jar should go, as at that point the customer is more apt to drop a George Washington or a couple of his little brothers into the jar.
The counter itself should be long enough and wide enough for comfort. If you plan on having two grinders, a three-group espresso machine, an air pot for drip, and some sort of space for cups (porcelain and paper), start thinking about building a U-shaped counter. In this set-up, the back counter can be for a drip-brewer, drip grinder and other accessories. And the front counter, where barista and register person stand, should be stocked with items needed immediately in service, like milk pitchers and such. Keep plenty of room for the baristas to move in a rush, but the space ought to be tight enough that they don’t have to walk all the way to Antarctica to wash their hands.
It’s always easier to keep the color simple, like white, gray or exposed brick. But it depends on that original vision you had for your shop and the environment where your café will be. Effective color palates vary according to the larger environment surrounding your business, but as a rule, keep your colors neutral. Then you can use items on a rotating basis to liven things up such as work from local artists. Remember, most of your customers are just waking up, or are on the road to waking up, no matter what time of the day it is, so you don’t want anything abrasive. You want a relaxing vibe in the shop, and color is key to that. Another key of course is lighting.
The lighting inside your coffee bar is also extremely important and will greatly affect the mood and ambiance of your business. Before putting in new lighting, think about the mood you want to create throughout the day. Invest in a dimmer switch for all front of the house café lighting. This is essential in giving your staff the ability to set the mood no matter what time of the day it is. Lighting is huge, whether you have an enormous aquarium of a window, or are entirely closed off from the world; it is going to affect your customer’s perception of every aspect of your café. People are very light sensitive, especially when they are trying to enjoy some calming time away from life in general, so the last thing they want is the dentist chair experience. Train your staff to adjust the dimmer switches to match the daylight outside, keeping in mind you want the happy medium and don’t want the café to look too dim from the outside. This will make a huge difference in your staff ’s mood and potential customer’s attraction.
Finally, with your customers and your employees happy, make sure your design calls for space exclusively for you. Incorporate a small office into your design if at all possible. It is important to have a place where you can take care of your duties like counting money, assembling bank deposits or meeting with an employee, and you don’t want to have to be doing any of those things at a table in the midst of your customers. It’s a great bonus if you can design your office with a window that gives you a view of your operation.
At the end of the day, what you want in a café is a place that you, your customers and your staff can feel comfortable and take pride in. You could travel the world and see some of the best cafés for years, but when it comes down to what makes a café great, it’s the simplicity of its function: provide a great space for social interaction. Keep in mind all of the aforementioned things in design, but don’t think in terms of right and wrong. Take a look at the neighborhood around you, and feel out your potential customers and surrounding businesses. What can you do to stand out in a unique way? Ask yourself that at the beginning of the process and you will surely find something that works out in the end. And remember, if you are able to start planning your design before you sign a lease, you will be better off. Establish your menu and determine what you intend to sell. Every aspect of the production of your menu will affect not only your design, but also all the things that follow—equipment, prep areas, storage, refrigeration, etc. Take into account the customer traffic flow, placement of menu boards and display items to maximize impulse purchases, and the ergonomic design of your employee work areas. With all of these in place you will have a fully functional and pleasant work environment for you and your baristas, and a dream café to call your own.
An article in the Oregonian today about how Stumptown will stop using Clovers to brew coffee in their retail stores by Friday.
"We've never purchased parts or service from Starbucks in the past, and we're not going to start now," said Matt Lounsbury, Stumptown's director of operations, who said the company's two stores with Clovers would stop using them by Friday.
Solutions for Operators
A standard practice in the restaurant industry is to calculate the food cost of every item you sell. Knowing this cost allows you to a) purchase ingredients more wisely and b) maintain and train staff to standards. There is a time investment in making these calculations, but the reward is a "tighter ship", leading to greater profit opportunity and lessening of production costs.
So how do you calculate the production cost of your menu items? If you ballpark it in your head, it's likely to not be accurate. Let's get started in a demonstration. First, download the sample Food Cost Worksheet. Then you'll need tools to measure: a scale and volume measuring (cup/teaspoon) tools are necessary.
Click this link to open a Food Cost Worksheet Template you can download for your use.
Please notice there are formulas in some of the cells. Be careful to not edit those cells.
Let's fill this worksheet out for a bagel with plain cream cheese. The first thing to do is enter the date and the recipe name: "Bagel with Cream Cheese". We're not going to enter anything in the cells named "RecipeMultiplied" nor "Size" - we don't need these for this sample.
Next, let's enter the sell price for this item. I randomly chose $2.95. We don't need to enter anything in either of these two cells (there are auto-formulas in them): "Cost Per Portion" and "Cost %".
Now let's enter our ingredients. We type in Bagel (be as specific as you want - this is a text cell). Moving right, we enter the number 1 in the "Count" column. Moving right again, we enter the cost of that one bagel in the "AP$/unit" cell. Let's pause so I can explain these column heading in both the measures section and the costing section.
In the measures section, we have three columns marked "Weight", "Volume" and "Count". If the ingredient is measured by weight, enter it in that column (this is when you need a scale). If measured by volume, enter the volume amount in that column. The same goes for count.
In the costing section, we have the column marked "AP$/unit". "AP$/unit" stands for Price of Ingredient As Purchased, per unit of measure. In this example, the cost of one plain bagel is $0.75 each.
The right-most column is the subtotal for this ingredient. You'll need to enter a formula in here. The formula for the bagel in this example looks like this:
=sum(E10*F10)
E10 is the cell that contains the count of the ingredient. F10 is the ingredient cost. The multiply function is the star character *
Writing the formula in this column is pretty easy. You only need to choose which cell from the measure of the ingredient you want in the formula. It is going to be in either the Weight, Volume of Count cell of that row. Let's look at the next ingredient to demonstrate what I mean by this.
The next row down has the cream cheese ingredient. I've put in one ounce by weight and entered the cost per that weight measure (ounces). The formula I write in the subtotal column looks like this:
=sum(C11*F11)
Pretty simple, really. In the old days, they'd do this with a calculator and note paper. Once you get comfortable entering the subtotal formulas, it goes pretty quick. By the way, if you have multiple ingredients in the same measuring column, simple copy the formula from one row to the next.
So what happens now?
The worksheet automatically adds up all the subtotals at the bottom. It also calculates the food cost percentage. These are handy numbers for you to know. You now know exactly how much a menu item costs in raw materials. You also know how much of the menu selling price that cost is; in this example, 36.6 percent.
Got questions? Feel free to comment below and I'll answer.
Jeff from Mocafe
For the next three months the American Barista & Coffee School is offering the following discount exclusively to Barista Exchange members.
Any Barista Exchange member will receive the following discounts on these classes:
Business + Barista Training [5 Days] - $200 OFF Reg. $2695
To take advantage of any of these offers please call ABC's @ 800-655-3955 and mention that you are a Barista Exchange Member.
We also have an exclusive discount from another Barista Exchange Partner, Selby Soft.
SelbySoft would like to help support the Barista Exchange community by offering an exclusive discount to new customers of our SP-1 For Coffee POS System.Until the end of April 2009, SelbySoft, Inc will offer a discount of $200 off on any Turnkey Point Of Sale system purchased by a Barista Exchange member! Please call us at 800-454-4434 to take advantage of this exciting offer and for details.
Anybody recommend a good-looking and good-working hot water tower or something for americanos? I'm currently using a small boiler plumbed into a tap on the counter but it doesn't hold enough volume. I need something plumbed-in that can almost boil and that can hold 4 litres (1 gallon) minimum. It has to be good-looking enough to be on the counter! At least as beautiful as thick, caramelly crema!
Thanks for your ideas.
Once every 3 years, leading manufacturers of commercial coffee machines vie for the prestigious opportunity to have their equipment featured as the official tools used by national barista champions at the annual World Barista Championship. All candidates considered for equipment sponsorship must meet exacting technical standards set and tested by the WBC, but only one supplier from each category may prevail as the official sponsor.
In the most recent contest held this June in Copenhagen, national barista champions from 51 countries converged to compete for the title of world’s top coffee maker in front of a live audience of several hundred spectators and thousands of online viewers.
Next year’s World Barista Championship will be held April 16-19, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A. in conjunction with the 2009 Specialty Coffee Association of America Annual Symposium and Exposition.
About World Barista Championship UK Ltd.
World Barista Championship UK Ltd is jointly owned by the Specialty Coffee Associations of America and Europe. The first WBC competition took place in Monte Carlo in October 2000 and has since held annual competitions Miami, Oslo, Boston, Trieste, Seattle, Berne, Tokyo and Copenhagen. The organization’s next event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A., April 16-19, 2009. For more information, please visit http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com.
About Nuova Simonelli S.p.A.
Nuova Simonelli S.p.A. is an industry leader in the production of high quality commercial espresso machines and related equipment. Nuova Simonelli has been manufacturing espresso machines in Belforte del Chienti, Italy since 1936, and today has a worldwide reputation for reliability and innovation. For more information, please visit http://www.nuovasimonelli.com.
About MAHLKÖNIG GmbH & Co.KG,
The high quality of MAHLKÖNIG grinders guarantees precise and constant grinding results and long lifetimes. For more than 80 years MAHLKÖNIG has been the leading brand for high quality, professional grinders. For more information, visit http://www.mahlkoenig.de.
In reality, there are only a couple of things that happen to espresso over the course of a few minutes. First, the crema or foam that sits on top of the espresso reintegrates with the liquid. Crema, on its own, contains some of the best flavors and aromatic qualities of the espresso in high concentrations. Drinking it straight can be overwhelming but, it stands to reason, that having the crema reintegrate might actually be a good thing. Second, the espresso cools down. The temperature of espresso has a lot to do with how we taste the various flavors contained within it and, in fact, our taste buds have many microscopic channels called TRPM5 that increase the bud's sensitivity at higher temperatures. If, however, espresso passes a certain temperature (the exact temperature being unique to every person) it will burn our tongues and greatly decrease our ability to taste. Given that espresso typically comes out of the machine at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit, a fresh shot can easily burn off our ability to taste its liquid-y goodness or numb us to its heave-worthy horrible-ness. In essence, a shot that has sat for about a minute may actually be a better representation of the espresso than a fresh one.
I don't know how the rumor of "dead shots" got started but I do know if you work at a shop that serves poor coffee (or poorly serves great coffee) it would be advantageous to let people drink the shots hot. That way their burnt taste buds won't be able to tell them that they're drinking something awful.
Compostable White Hot Cups with World Art ... Here in Portland, I have seen a lot of coffee bars switching to compostable paper cups. I have also heard different reviews from baristas and roasters on which are the best. There are the Eco-Products Hot and Cold cups, made using a PLA plastic inner lining, these paper hot cups are fully compostable. Espresso Parts has a full line up of Eco-Friendly cups, lids, and more to check out. Eco-Products' compostable/biodegradable COLD cups are clear and are made from an annually renewable resource--corn! With the same look and feel as clear plastic cups, these compostable biodegradable corn cups contain NatureWorks PLA, and environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. The cups are odorless and completely non-allergenic. These products are designed to compost in a commercial facility in 45-60 days.
Cafetto has an Organic Espresso Machine Cleaner called EVO. Cafetto EVO is OMRI listed as complying with the USDA National Organic Program requirements and BFA registered as complying with the requirements of the Australian Organic Standard.
I know that this cleaner is popular in Australia, and I was curious how many people here in US are using it, or if anyone has any feedback? I see on their site that both Cuvee Coffee and Coffee Klatch are distributors.
Another brand of Eco-Friendly cups that I have seen at the EcoTainer from Intl. Paper. They have a in depth FAQ on their site about the cups. It seems to be very similar to the compostable cups. I encourage all of you to check with your local coffee roaster if they can provide you with an eco-friendly option. Show them there is a demand for this.
Another topic discussed was Composting Coffee Grounds in your garden. We like to save the grounds from our training classes at ABC's and my wife and I use them at home. Here is a link on How To ... and another link I found on Peets Coffee and Tea website, that talks about using Coffee and Tea Residues.
It is great to see people on this site sharing these types of experience, and maybe with some work we can develop an easy system for really Greening coffee shops around the U.S. Feel free to post other ideas/products below that may be helpful. I remember in the last Green post many people were asking about products and for any feedback. Thanks! (next blog post ... organic milk, coming soon).
- Matt
