Hey gang,
I have the opportunity to do a small pop-up coffee cart in my local area early next year and I'm starting to really hone my workflow. I plan to offer: cold brew, batch brew, and latte/cappuccino from my espresso machine with homemade syrups.

As far as equipment on hand, I have:
- Breville Dual Boiler
- Niche Zero
- Baratza Virtuoso

My idea is to use the Niche and BDB as the main espresso drivers. What are the upper limits to # of coffee served with this equipment? Should I seriously consider upgrading to commercial equipment, or will this suffice for a small specialty pop-up?

How many drinks do you have to prepare at peak? That's the main problem I see with you using the BDB. It's going to take a long time to steam milk.

aehernandez wrote:Hey gang,
I have the opportunity to do a small pop-up coffee cart in my local area early next year and I'm starting to really hone my workflow. I plan to offer: cold brew, batch brew, and latte/cappuccino from my espresso machine with homemade syrups.

As far as equipment on hand, I have:
- Breville Dual Boiler
- Niche Zero
- Baratza Virtuoso

My idea is to use the Niche and BDB as the main espresso drivers. What are the upper limits to # of coffee served with this equipment? Should I seriously consider upgrading to commercial equipment, or will this suffice for a small specialty pop-up?

I'd be concerned with the longevity of the BDB on a coffee cart. it's made with a lot of plastic parts and overuse may result in a lot of heat stress on these parts causing them to warp. I'm also not quite sure how well it would perform in high-volume moments. if you got 10 lattes back to back I don't think the steam boiler could keep up.

If I were to start a coffee cart right now I think I would look at a Decent Espresso (DE1PRO, XL, etc..) because of its small footprint, versatility, and its ability to heat on demand (and keep up to demand). The cost of a new BDB is $1600 USD, cost of a decent (ranges from $3500 to $4300 USD so the cost is significantly different. I have the DE1PRO (which right now is their lowest model) and I can assure you the machine can keep up, steaming is like a commercial espresso machine and takes seconds, not minutes. The workflow is well suited for a coffee cart and it would pair with a Niche very well.

Maybe you want to use the BDB for a bit to see how well it can keep up and if it gets too busy then look at investing in another machine.

DamianWarS wrote:I'd be concerned with the longevity of the BDB on a coffee cart. it's made with a lot of plastic parts and overuse may result in a lot of heat stress on these parts causing them to warp. I'm also not quite sure how well it would perform in high-volume moments. if you got 10 lattes back to back I don't think the steam boiler could keep up.

The thermal cycling is what's hardest on most components. People turn their BDBs on and off every day, so that won't be an issue.
I'd also be concerned about how high volume of steamed milk drinks you could achieve.

You may need NFS-rated equipment along with the department of health inspections and such. There is a lot more to it than just showing up with an espresso machine. You need to check with your local municipality about the requirement for a food service startup, business licensing and such.