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Permalink Reply by Nathanael May on January 14, 2011 at 8:50am

I have some experience with Contis, as a few of our wholesale customers use them. They're good, but not great. That said, I've never had any problems pulling great shots, and steaming great milk on them. I can't speak to their longevity, though.

This will probably be said again, but if you can, focus your financial outlay on getting a great grinder (Mazzer and Mahlkonig make some stand-outs), as that will deeply impact the quality of your espresso. Espresso machines, for all their bells and whistles, are essentially just fancy, pressurized hot water heaters, and almost any machine that can push water through your coffee at 9-10 bars of pressure will do what you need it to.

I'd also look at your expected amount of business - are you going to be busy enough to need a 2 group espresso machine? If so, awesome. If not, you can save a chunk of change by going with a 1 group version of the machine you like best.

Long story short, the grinder is the most important piece of equipment on your bar, and make sure you don't overbuy on the espresso machine - you can get a lot of very nice machines for less than $5000.

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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on January 14, 2011 at 9:05am

you might be a newbie, but at least you were clear and honest and put this in the proper forum!

 

you obviously haven't said what your overall budget and expectations are, but have you considered not doing espresso?

 

if you'd like to do it right, you're probably at least looking at $700-$1400 for a grinder (http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/grinders/compak10wbc or http://www.1st-line.net/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=64P802&type=s...), then at least $3000 plus installation for something like a used La Marzocco Linea. for instance, looks like the safehouse guys are selling theirs - http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/bfs/2136473417.html . so that's $4500 plus installation. and you've gotta learn how to properly use the thing.

 

now here's my thought - why not get a used bunn bulk grinder, put new burrs in it, and just do a serious manual brewed coffee service? jason dominy dropped off some batdorf ethiopia the other day, and a clever dripper of that stuff would go great with anything involving berries or plums. you could match your coffees with your pastries, offer pairings, etc. it seems like manual brewing would not only be MUCH more economical, but also allow you to be a coffee gastronome in a way that's much harder to do with espresso. you can get out for under $1000 for a full-on manual brewing setup. clevers, chemexes, presses, etc. if i were you that's the way i'd go.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy Varney on January 14, 2011 at 9:15am

Nathaniel - Thanks so much for your response. I think I have been looking at that backwards actually so I really appreciate the feedback. The Conti I am looking at is around $2500 - been used for about 9 months but still waiting to hear how old/if it's under warranty, etc... It happens to be a 2 group but I don't think that's necessarily a need for us either. I expect to have under 50 servings most mornings. I'm not married to the idea of a Conti either, just want to produce VERY good espresso and a stylish machine would be cool;)

 

Thanks again for your input! I'll check out the grinders you mentioned.

 

Tammy

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Permalink Reply by Tammy Varney on January 14, 2011 at 9:54am

Jared - also really good thoughts, thank you! We really want to serve espresso but I do have an very limited start-up budget and am still slightly convulsing from my little chat with the Fire Marshall about the several thousand dollar Type I hood I'll need. So I can't afford to be too uppity about what I want;)

 

Hmmm, lots to consider...

 

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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on January 14, 2011 at 12:01pm

Seriously now, while I may be an advocate of presenting the highest quality coffee in our own shops, is that path really the right path for you and your company?

 

It takes an inordinate amount of training before a person can be capable enough to call themselves a "barista" let alone make drinks for customers.  If coffee is not going to be a significant focus for your business, then perhaps a semi-auto machine will be best for your operations.

 

I know a great patissier who makes amazingly traditional French pastry and is quite successful.  In his own shops, he runs Illy and super-auto machines and makes a killing.  Certainly his coffee is not to the level of ours but that's neither his focus either.  

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