How to choose the right machine for your requirements
We all would love to have the latest greatest biggest flashiest of the things we think we need, that’s human nature. If you can afford it and don’t mind taking the leap, then go for it.
With espresso machines, choosing the right machine for your environment can often be based on a few simple factors. The bench space you have, the power you have and most importantly the amount of coffee being produced per day. The peak periods, like early mornings is especially important.
Here we will offer you our opinion on how to select the right machine, but if you are dealing with one of our distributors already, you are in good hands and they will often have the best solutions for you because they are familiar with your business and can see firsthand what you need.
So in the coffee industry we determine sites by their coffee volume per day and per week. A high volume site for example, could be using 40+ kilo beans per week. A medium volume account could be using 20 to 40kg beans per week. Depending on the bracket you find yourself in, helps gauge what size machine you require.
A 2 group machine will be able to handle 20 to 60kg per week, but a 3 group machine would be a better suggestion for 40+ kilo because it will have a larger boiler so water temperature and steam pressure will recover faster. A 3 group machine takes up quite a wide bench space so it may not be suitable for all sites.
Around the 20 kilos per week will find a 2 group machine will work fine. If you have peak rush periods, then we suggest an element upgrade (for approx. RRP $250) is well worth it for continuous water temperature and steam pressure. Element upgrades can also be fitted to 3 group machines. Element upgrades draw more power so a site check will need to be done before hand to ensure it will handle the extra power being drawn by the machine.
A site doing 10kg week or a site with limited bench space could consider a 1 group or 2 group compact style machine. Being a compact machine means that the boiler and element are smaller so they will struggle with fluctuations in coffee service.
If you are a home coffee maker or in a small site only making up to 10-20 coffee per day, then our 1 group semi commercial range would be perfect. There are 8 models available, 4 of them are mains water optional. Our semi commercial range feature a commercial E61 group head, so paired with a good quality grinder and coffee know-how, the coffee extraction is as good as your local cafe.