I just did a google search for "Rancilio Epoca DE" and got plenty of hits. It looks like a good choice if you can get power for it, 20 amps at 220 V.

Ira

Rita Endres wrote:I've been given the privilege of starting a coffee shop/cafe in our church of about 700 people. We'll have a 30-45 minute block between services where we'll offer coffee and I hope lattes, etc. I just simply do not know where to start. I've never used any equipment before other than my silly Mr. Coffee (hold your laugh please), but am willing to learn. I'd like to eventually rival the coffee shop in town, but until reading your site today did not even know what a barista was.

What would you recommend starting with equipment-wise? My boss loves good coffee and wants me to look at used-commercial equipment. I've found the articles on this site incredibly educational and love it. Any direction would be awesome as we'd kinda like to be up and running in an aggressive month.

Thanks!
Rita

I wish I had seen your post sooner. My first advice would be not to be too influenced by equipment-loving home baristas. You are essentially taking on responsibility for a commercial coffee bar without any training. It only looks easy from the customer side of the bar. Taking orders from a line of 50 people who each want their drinks a different way and want them fast requires training or other serious experence.

Second, check out your local health code requirements. You are dealing with a product that spoils and can get people sick (milk), if not handled properly. Just because your bar is in a church does not mean you are exempt from the local health codes. It depends on your town. Take a visit to City Hall and educate yourself.

Third, I strongly encourage you to keep it simple and avoid machines that require serious barista skills. You, yourself, have no training, and what will happen when someone else has to cover for you? As others have wisely suggested, think seriously about one of the "superautomatic" push-button machines or a machine that takes pods. Look for equipment that automates the milk frothing process. No, your drinks won't win any prizes, but those machines will help you keep your sanity.

Marshall wrote: My first advice would be not to be too influenced by equipment-loving home baristas.

Hmmm...I never knew such people existed!

We had an enthusiast who opened a coffee cart at a neighborhood car wash. The L.A. Health Department descended on him and told him he needed more space on his counter between equipment for proper cleanup. He wound end up having to give up his grinder and use pre-ground (delivered twice daily!). Not every city is as strict as Los Angeles (I think most are not), but you have to know what the score is before you start operations.

Ditto on the super auto suggestion. Especially since you are going to be dealing with 'slams' and not a steady stream of customers here and there. I'm not so sure you won't come up with a good product if you can get your machine setup properly and use good ingredients. I think most places using superautos are using lousy stale burnt beans, and therefore have a lousy end product. I've never seen a cafe using good beans and a superauto - but you may do my-t-fine!

Estimating by the size of your church, you might even attract kids in the youth groups if you had a smoothie machine & donuts.. uh... now getting ahead of things there...

Geoff

In a perfect world, price would not be a factor in determining the equipment one can choose. However, as we all know, that is not the case. Price is a serious consideration. With that said, super automatic machines can be a great option, although... you'd have to spend an arm and a leg to get a machine capable of the quantity you demand, while providing the customers with a drink. Also, they are slower. Much slower. Semi Automatic machines can produce better drinks (with proper technique, beans, grinder) and produce them quicker. They are also more resilient, meaning that recoup temperature and pressure faster than super-automatics at the same price point.

I think that the opportunity you have to purchase the semi automatic machine should be seriously considered as your best bet. With a little practice, you'll be able to create drinks as good or better than what the super automatic machines at that price point will be able to. Not only that, you'll be able to service more people in a row without hindering the long term performance of the machine.

As for the performance of super autos vs semi autos when it comes to drink quality, there are varying results that can be expected from both machine types. Super autos tend to have a small spectrum of drink quality results, and semis have a much broader spectrum of results.

Hope this helps... good luck!