An espresso machine is one of the most important equipment a cafe owner will need in running a cafe. The other one being the grinder.
Ever since we started our journey in the coffee industry, we see a lot of different brands and types of espresso machines, different prices, and of course, the different features and specifications of espresso machines.
Quite often, we see cafe owners in the City of Davao using the home use type of espresso machine. Their reason, budget. By home use, it means that the capacity of the machine can cater a minimal number of serving at a time, say, 3 to 5 coffee drinkers at once. Then you need to wait thereafter for the machine to reach the right temperature again to make another batch of 3 to 5 extractions. These types of espresso machines may not be able to sustain when the cafe business gets big especially if you use the steam simultaneously. That's the time that they need to decide on when to upgrade and which machine will be best for their operation.
So, the question really is, "which one should I choose?"
Remember that all espresso machines have different features. To name a few, boiler capacity, heat recovery of the machine after use, pumps, pressure and temperature reach and others.
The best advice I can give is to "know your goal" first. If your goal is to serve more than 10, 20 customers an hour, you need to put this into your priority list in choosing an espresso machine.
The next part is knowing how many succeeding extraction an espresso machine can make. Remember that temperature and pressure play an important factor on this. Hence, you also need to know how the heat recovers.
For busy coffee shops in Davao City, average customers may be from 20 to 50. We have seen coffee shops near schools where customers of 10 to 15 go in at once and order their hot or iced coffee drink. And with this number, an espresso machine and grinder which can sustain this volume of customers should be a priority.
If you have already found a list of espresso machine to choose from, the next thing you may want to know is the after sales service.
Of course, machines may break down, parts may need to be replaced at a certain time. Can the machine supplier provide you with the parts? How about a service technician? How fast can they cater to your concern?
Now if all of your questions and concerns are answered, that's the right time to pick out the best espresso machine on your list. This is certainly an investment that you may need to be really sure of.
So, happy espresso machine hunting!
