Home Coffee Bar

[srobinson]

OK guys, need some help. I am up to my eyes with my wife's new blueprints for a kitchen update. I also have her convinced that I need a little corner of her world to dedicate to my lever hobby. I would love to get your input as to what I should include...or more importantly what I should not forget. Right now now thoughts are:

Dedicated sink...what material would be best.
Cutout knockbox with undercounter trash
Room for Oly and grinder
Shelving for tampers, cups collections etc.
Drawers for tools, brushes, towel storage
Filtration for when I test equipment...or just a filtered water line to simply filling up the Swiss Miss.

Lighting?
undercounter plugs?
mirrored back?
Plasma TV?
Krell amps?
Original art?

We are thinking of a recessed area with the possibility of doors that can close off the area.


Share with me some pics of what you have done as well as comments on what you did right and what you wish you would have done better. We are still in drawing mode so easy to fix now.


Many thanks.

[mogogear]

1. I know you have espresso cups- so display shelves above-
2. A nice Olympia graphic printed on a wall clock face- You can get it done at cafepress.com. You submit the graphic- they will make you one for about $15 -really! a nice focal point , when you open the doors.
3. Have 220v available , just in case you go really HX!
4. A sweep slot in the counter top- to sweep grounds into- a drawer under neath it with a small pan to catch.
5. Sink faucet that IS filtered and had either a pull center nozzle that can be pulled to fill your Oly or fitted with a fitting to quick hook up a test machine. Or the old school restaurant style goose neck hose, off a faucet set, that has a barbed fitting on the end can do double duty easily.
6. ? A a small fridge...
7. Shelf pull out trays ( in the base cabinet)- can keep cleaning tools and supplies easy to reach and not clutter the drawer.
8. top it with a outside vented ventahood and start roasting........
9. You said you really don't use a knock box with your Oly, so may be instead of a need for a trash set up( like we guys need another trash basket to empty!!) put in a small disposal and dump in the the sink!!
10. A instant hot water dispenser next to sink- .....

I'm shutting up

[Dr Jim]

As long as we're dreaming - you said you like to work from pre-tamped baskets didn't you?

How about a small (I think a 6"x8" is available) induction plate set into the counter top?

Now you fill, distribute, and tamp your basket - then place it with the others in a damp towel on top of the induction plate - whee it will stay moist, fresh, and piping hot - and a dandy place to keep the portafilter up to temperature too.

After a few weeks you will hardly even notice how hot the baskets are, and rarely ever say "EEee-Yow!" anymore.

Cheers

Jim

[KarlSchneider]

OK guys, need some help. I am up to my eyes with my wife's new blueprints for a kitchen update. I also have her convinced that I need a little corner of her world to dedicate to my lever hobby.

Hi Steve,

I have been sitting here for a while meditating on your question. My wife will tell you do not get me started on such questions. We have done our kitchen and 2 baths (and all 23 windows and the skin and the roof and ...) in this 100+ year old farm house. We use the phrase "mission creep" regularly. I am the worst culprit.

But alas, too late. One question is do you really want "a little corner"? Do you want to be separate? Your title of Wine Bar suggests such an assumption. But maybe what you want is integration into the fabric of the kitchen. Sure this makes for need to work together. But why not? I find that my espresso obsession is fully a part of the culinary aesthetic and not at all separate from baking or sauteing -- conceptually. Temporally perhaps but not aesthetically and so also not spatially. Assuming you have finite total space you are stealing from "her" space anyway.

You have read parts of the thread about the difference between a pro barista and what we do at home. I think these are totally separate activities. I do not aspire to become a pro barista. I want to make the best individual espressi I possibly can. I do not care about consistency, for example. Single perfection is far more my goal.

I wonder if your goal is an imitation of a commercial establishment. I am not interested in trashing commercial espresso bars as some like to do. But I think I have a fundamentally different goal. My goal is single works of art, one by one. I am happiest when they are completely different from each other (like Cezanne Natur Morts). I would prefer if you said you wanted to create an espresso studio (as in artist's studio) as opposed to a bar.

These are entirely thoughts that I may well retract tomorrow. (You did ask)

KS

[mrgnomer]

OK guys, need some help. I am up to my eyes with my wife's new blueprints for a kitchen update. I also have her convinced that I need a little corner of her world to dedicate to my lever hobby. I would love to get your input as to what I should include...or more importantly what I should not forget. Right now now thoughts are:

Hi srobinson,

I think you've got it covered well. I'm going to renovate our kitchen hopefully in the next few years. Right now my set up is perched on an existing ledge facing the dining room. I don't know where you're planning to situate your set up but facing guests while preparing/pulling shots and handing them over is very convenient and keeps you part of the company when preparing lots of drinks. It's also good to have open space above both machine and grinder.

I've got a lot of tools hanging off of hooks right under the machines so everything is within easy reach. The ledge also hosts espresso treats so guests can choose from a large crock of biscotti, a glass jar of lady fingers and a can of hazel nut rolls and whatever other espresso nibble treats are there.

When I redesign our kitchen I'll definitely build in a ledge for the grinder, machine and espresso treats. If you're building in a dedicated sink you could add a cold water t and cap it off with a valve for a future plumb in if your machine isn't a plumb in already. You could do the same for the drain: put in a y and cap it off for a future plumb in drip tray. I'd wire in a dedicated circuit to accomodate machine and grinder. I've got an I Roast 2 as well and lots of room in my fuse box so my kitchen reno will also include installing a dedicated circuit for the roaster as well.