Has having a pourover bar helped your business.
Hey BX'ers, i've been thinking about this for a while and would like some of your input.
I was thinking trying to get more pour over bars in coffee shops in my area, and maybe making some money along the way. The idea is to take my V60 set up and demo it for coffee shop owners and talk about the pros of having a pour over bar (its unique, the coffee is more fresh, its a spectacle etc.) If they are interested i would then take care of buying all of the equipment, making a pour over bar (out of copper piping) and training their baristas to pour.
My question to you all is, has having a pour over bar helped your business? Is this idea worth pursuing? How would you react to someone approaching you with an idea like this?
Any input would be great.
Thanks,
Alex
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Gasaway on
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From what I've seen, most customers embrace the idea as long as it was explained to them properly. They have to know why it's better and along with that TASTE the difference.
Having a pour over bar just for the sake of it will get you no where. There is a lot of experimentation on the barista side to find pouring methods that work well as well as being extremely consistent in their brew parameters.
That being said, I think it's totally worth pursuing. The more the general public is aware of the differences we as barista pursue to craft a better drink, the more accepting they will become and will have no problem leaving the Dunkin Donuts or any other fastfood coffee behind.
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Permalink Reply by Katrina Dodge on
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We use a pour over bar at the coffee shop I'm a barista in, and it's very popular. Every few orders is a pour over... especially when our house brew isn't something the costumer wants, we can do a personal cup for them of their coffee choice. As long as they are done correctly, it's a great idea. Baristas can tend to be inconsistent, and sometimes the water temperature isn't monitored enough for the specific coffee they're using.
But people love it, and once they can taste the difference, they start to ask for the pour over no matter what, even if it's the same coffee we have on drip. We charge the same amount, though.
:)
Katrina
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Permalink Reply by David Lanning on
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What are you using Katrina?
Clever Drippers or Harios?
Also, do you charge a premium for pour overs?
Katrina Dodge said:We use a pour over bar at the coffee shop I'm a barista in, and it's very popular. Every few orders is a pour over... especially when our house brew isn't something the costumer wants, we can do a personal cup for them of their coffee choice. As long as they are done correctly, it's a great idea. Baristas can tend to be inconsistent, and sometimes the water temperature isn't monitored enough for the specific coffee they're using.
But people love it, and once they can taste the difference, they start to ask for the pour over no matter what, even if it's the same coffee we have on drip. We charge the same amount, though.
:)
Katrina
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I suppose it looks like the clever drippers... but not exactly. It's just a little bar made for pour overs. I'll take a picture of it next time I'm at work. :)
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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on
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My question to you would be what would be your reaction coming into my shops when you saw the pour-over bar with Beehouse, Hario and Clever brew options already there! :)
Yes we charge more versus house coffee for iindividually brewed just for you which usually includes a minimum of three SO choices depending on which location. (Roastery coffeehouse usually more like a dozen or so choices:) Though actually at the roastery coffeehouse we don't charge more, because we do exactly zero pre-brewed.
While Pour-over bars are labor intensive and really take more skill than many believe or put into them, they can readily lead to more bags sales too, more so than espresso brewing. And sales of pour-overs and filters themselves.
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We don't charge any more for a pour over. Everything is roasted in house, actually about two feet from where we brew it. So they do have several choices, but that extra work on our part doesn't make the drink cost more because we want our costumers to embrace the quality and not be driven away by it costing more than just getting the drip.
We're fighting a war, here! People come in and say, "You probably can't make this Starbucks drink..."
A revolution is well overdue.
Mike McGinness said:My question to you would be what would be your reaction coming into my shops when you saw the pour-over bar with Beehouse, Hario and Clever brew options already there! :)
Yes we charge more versus house coffee for iindividually brewed just for you which usually includes a minimum of three SO choices depending on which location. (Roastery coffeehouse usually more like a dozen or so choices:) Though actually at the roastery coffeehouse we don't charge more, because we do exactly zero pre-brewed.
While Pour-over bars are labor intensive and really take more skill than many believe or put into them, they can readily lead to more bags sales too, more so than espresso brewing. And sales of pour-overs and filters themselves.
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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on
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Not to be antagonistic, but those of you not charging a premium for hand-brewed coffee are throwing money away.
People will pay more for quality. Don't be afraid to charge for it.
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Permalink Reply by Alex Stoffregen on
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Back to my idea.... is it a good one? How would you feel if someone approached you with something like this (given you didn't already have a set up)
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Permalink Reply by Oscar Nyman on
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I would be interested if my roaster or machine/equipment supplier would introduce me to any new concept/brew method that was interesting, produce great coffee and could generate some more revenue but I would be very sceptic if a random guy would walk in and do the same.
I think most interested quality coffeeshop owners could pull this off themselves if they haven't done it already, if they don't know what pourover is, it indicates that they are not that interested in coffee and they will probably never be successful running the operations and the up-selling of the slightly more expensive drinks
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Truthfully? Most likely response "take a hike kid" and go open your own place then run it the way you want don't try and tell me how to run mine.
Expect rejection. ANY form of outside sales (which is what you'll be doing) can expect a huge number of rejections for every sale. The ratio depends on your skill as a salesman.
If you feel strongly go for it, you don't need our (my) approval. No guts no glory.
Alex Stoffregen said:Back to my idea.... is it a good one? How would you feel if someone approached you with something like this (given you didn't already have a set up)
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Perrine on
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One the the few times Mr McGinness and I whole-heartedly agree one particular topic. Go for it, but expect the worst.
Mike McGinness said:Truthfully? Most likely response "take a hike kid" and go open your own place then run it the way you want don't try and tell me how to run mine.
Expect rejection. ANY form of outside sales (which is what you'll be doing) can expect a huge number of rejections for every sale. The ratio depends on your skill as a salesman.
If you feel strongly go for it, you don't need our (my) approval. No guts no glory.
Alex Stoffregen said:Back to my idea.... is it a good one? How would you feel if someone approached you with something like this (given you didn't already have a set up)
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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Carroll on
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At the previous shop I managed at, we put in a custom pour-over bar, nothing crazy fancy, just simple but easy for the customer to see everything and every process. We initially started with the cold-brew tower only
for show. It took about 3 hours to do and one customer did actually wait for it...but though this may not be a superior form of brewing, it immediately gained attention.
Soon after we put out the harios, clevers, chemex, and the like. The eyes of the customers caught these instantly and slowly but surely, the pour-over station was increasing in popularity.
I eventually started to pour myself a few cups from a chemex before every shift. This is rather simple, but I made sure I did it where the customers sitting could see and customers coming to the bar were obligated to watch.
Another awesome thing was that these methods were more popular with the later crowds. We all know that most coffee shops in the US struggle in the P.M. and when the sun goes down...but I found more customers at night became addicted and interested to learn these slower, more detailed brewing methods. This brought both parties (the customer and i) satisfaction and a damn good cup of coffee.
I say, if the establishment has the room to do it, if the owner is optimistic or passionate, and if the customer flow is good enough...build it, teach it, drink it!
Tip: Don't use a chemex or clever dripper and tell a customer that the smooth grinds left in the filter taste amazing...chances are they will try it and spit it out and find it utterly disgusting and you will laugh hysterically. If one wants to execute this...make sure it is one cool regular customer =)
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