# Another new cafe thread



## boydster76 (Jan 9, 2017)

Hi all, I'm new to the forum (and the industry) come seeking a bit of friendly advice. Feel free to shoot me down if I've not searched hard and deep enough for answers that may be lurking in other threads









I'm opening a cycling focussed coffee shop close to the New Forest, but intend to keep the offering broad enough not to exclude non-cyclists. We have a good amount of space and an A3 license, all I need now is a ton of kit and some staff!

I'm trying to source a 2/3 group machine at the moment and wondered about the merits of having a single boiler machine v. double in a 40-45 cover location. Any advice?

Also, I'm currently limited to single phase electrics. Is this likely to be a major issue, or massively limit the kit I can get? Now's the time for me to uprate the system if needed but I'd rather avoid unnecessary spend if possible.

Final question for now, what advice can people give me on the ratio of espresso based coffee to filter coffee? I want to offer both but I'm struggling to gauge how much emphasis to put on the filter offering, both in terms of equipment spend and budgeting.

Thanks in advance for help, or for simply humouring me as I ask dumb questions.


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Better to have 2 group machine + a hot water boiler ( Instanta, Lincat etc). Both machines will be single phase & you'll have better quality hot water for teas tec.

Few 3 group machines these days are 3 phase, even if they're taking 20amps+.

Don't forget to fit a good in-line water softener system.


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## Stevie (Nov 18, 2015)

You can go into essays about this stuff so i'll just keep it to some simple points:

1. single phase is fine just make sure the sparky knows the machines useage/output and puts it on its own isolater with suitable cables and such.

2. 2 group is generally fine unless you plan on doing more than 5kg (250) coffee a day - which is a lot!

3. Invest in a good grinder (or 2) so improve consistency and flavour

4. Use good coffee, use an independent roaster... if you're out New Forest way maybe try one of the Bristol ones like Clifton Coffee Roasters or something towards Sussex like Cast Iron (both very good)

5. If you want to focus on quality, don't offer sizes for your drinks. Each drink should have its own cup and be made with a doubel shot unless the customer asks. No large flat whites and such...

6. Dual boiler is, personally, the way to go. I don't know your budget but expect to have to spend around £5k for a good espresso machine, and maybe use something like a LM Linea as a goal - and buy that if you can afford it. Machines that have shot timers are also amazingly useful, so you can really keep an eye on extraction times and this improves consistency 10 fold.

7. Filtration use Brita or BWT for good results in the south...

8. Use good milk, don't just settle for whatever is easy to get. Ask your coffee roaster to advise.

They are the big ones in my head at the moment!


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## boydster76 (Jan 9, 2017)

Thanks all for the advice above - it's really useful.

I've settled on a 2 group LM Linea machine which I've been able to pick up at a good price second hand. One careful owner etc. I've also invested in a hot water boiler and BWT filter and I'm on the look out for a basic filter coffee machine. I'm sticking with the single phase electrics for now - I understand the potential issues with this but the cost of a change at this stage was prohibitive and with sensible management my sparky says it should be fine.

So next stop is a coffee supplier... I'll have a look at Clifton Coffee but I am keen to try and keep a little closer to home if I can. There are a couple of roasters within 10-15 miles of the cafe so I'll be starting with them for now.

Thanks again


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

boydster76 said:


> Thanks all for the advice above - it's really useful.
> 
> I've settled on a 2 group LM Linea machine which I've been able to pick up at a good price second hand. One careful owner etc. I've also invested in a hot water boiler and BWT filter and I'm on the look out for a basic filter coffee machine. I'm sticking with the single phase electrics for now - I understand the potential issues with this but the cost of a change at this stage was prohibitive and with sensible management my sparky says it should be fine.
> 
> ...


How is the cafe going ?


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