Seeking advice for small commercial espresso machine

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
qq35q35
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Joined: 2 years ago

#1: Post by qq35q35 »

Hi Gurus :D ,

I'm a total newbie to the coffee industry. I'm in Melbourne Australia and I want to start a food stall business selling some products that need to combine with espresso coffee. I've been doing some research for a few days and heard that the rotary pump and a good grinder would be the two most critical elements for my business in the aspect of continuously making coffee and ensuring good extraction. In that case, if my budget is about $3,500 AUD ($2,275 USD), can someone please recommend me a combo of machine + grinder? I'm looking at Lelit Bianco V3 which looks like an ideal machine but it's over my budget a bit. Still need some coffee machine gurus' help :!:

Keywords:
Espresso only, 200 cups a day on average, food stall (tent) business.

Cheers,
Dawei

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another_jim
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#2: Post by another_jim »

I would not get a Bianca or any home machine for 200 cups a day. Get a used one group commercial machine; Rancilios and Astorias make good inexpensive workhorses.

For a grinder: get a used Mazzer Super Jolly and add the SSP Cast Steel burrs, or a used Eureka or Mythos 75mm flat burr grinder. Any of these options gets you excellent grind quality at a commercial pace and at a low price.

The traditional alternative is to avoid us chatty home espresso people, and find a local roaster whose coffees you really like. If you make them your supplier, they will hook you up with the right gear and teach you the right techniques to make them look good.

And here's a reality check. You will be competing against many cafes run by people who have worked as baristas, who know espresso inside out, who roast their own coffee, and who feature guest coffees from the world's best roasters. Cafes like this have been displacing old line places in Chicago, where I live, and just about all the big cities I visit. I don't know Melbourne, but I doubt it will be much different. So you had better be planning on drawing people to your place on something other than your coffee skills.
Jim Schulman
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Milligan
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#3: Post by Milligan »

Rancilio class 5 would be a good choice for traditional espresso. Keep in mind that a lower end commercial machine is built to pump out drinks but don't typically offer a lot of control. So while you can pump out traditional espresso, you won't have a lot of control over the variables for modern or tricky espressos. 200 espressos in a morning rush is nothing to sneeze at. You may do better leasing a machine from a local espresso supplier to get going and get support.

buckersss
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#4: Post by buckersss »

I second the class 5 choice, or a promac single group machine if it can be had for cheaper, as they are also made by rancilio.

Up here it, some good, older, double/triple group machines from la marzocco, nuova, la spaziale, unica can be had for pennies on the dollar through companies who auction off gear from restaurants. If you have the room, and can find a company selling these, it may be a cheaper route.

Id say it should be paired with a super jolly or anfim cody.