MACHINES FOR BEANS
As coffee service increases in importance,newly improved coffee and espresso machines can make--or break--a program.
By Howard Riell
Coffee, espresso and cappuccino are steeped in tradition--but
even tradition must yield, or at least adapt, to such business
needs as lower labor costs, space efficiency, ease of use, longer
holding times, product consistency and speed of service.
The middle ground, like the products themselves, has become a careful blend.
Decades-old tradition combined with cutting-edge technologies have made coffee and specialty drinks more profitable and easier to serve than before. When it comes to espresso and cappuccino, the micro-chip has made the subtle art of brewing, as one manufacturer put it, "idiot-proof."
While price tags can get steep--the newest "super-automatic" espresso/cappuccino machines can reach $25,000--all but the most adamant traditionalists view them as the wave of the future. And with prospects good for their prices eventually coming down, the benefits of such machines quickly become even clearer.
Coffee Concerns
Americans clamor for freshly brewed coffee. Whether made in bottle brewers or urns, the basics of coffee making remain the same: hot water is sprayed over a bed of ground coffee in a filter, drawing flavor from the grounds. "There is nothing really new in coffee brewing equipment," says Gary Jacob, national sales manager for Portland, OR-based Boyd Coffee's Italiadoro (espresso) division. "Air pot brewing systems are increasing in popularity and becoming more accepted in the industry." Nearly ideal for labor-saving self service, the units brew into an insulated thermos-like container that retains heat and eliminates exposure to oxygen and deteriorating direct heat.
Urns offer two advantages over brewers: longer holding and adjustable controls which operators can use to control the strength of the coffee by adjusting the amount of water passing through the coffee. Brewers generally make 12 cups at a time, while urns range from 75 to 500 cups. Specialized high-speed systems brew, hold and dispense up to 9,000 cups an hour.
But there are disadvantages as well. John Hagan, general manager at Manhattan's Post House, says he got fed up with the 144-seat restaurant's old tank-style coffee urns. "The coffee seemed to get stale after a couple of hours." He has since switched to smaller units.
Greg Fisher, manager of new product development for Bunn-O-Matic in Springfield, IL, says his newest product brews coffee and holds it on what execs call "soft heat. Instead of having the direct heat that you'd have with a regular warmer, basically you spread the heat out like a blanket, and then you only give the coffee heat when it needs it." Temperatures are thermostatically controlled with heat pulses without overheating the coffee. "So it's an intelligent system that really treats the coffee correctly," he says.
Bunn's insulated Soft Heat Servers combine heat retention technology with an indirect internal heating system to keep gourmet coffee at its optimum flavor. The units feature a temperature sensing system to ensure that every cup served will be at 175° to 180°F. Preferred serving temperatures can also be set via an electronic control at the bottom of the device. A patented Safety Fresh brew-thru design allows operators to brew directly into the server without removing the lid.
While holding times may vary, Fischer says, product will last "easily past an hour with the integrity intact."
Espresso/Cappuccino: Doing Super Brewing
Manual espresso makers contain a lever-driven hydraulic pump and require well-trained baristas. Semi-automatic machines also require an employee to time the brew. Automatic machines start and stop on their own, offer consistent portion control and free employees from the machine, yet still require regular attention.
Most of the excitement today comes from the super-automatic machines. With the touch of a button, a super-automatic grinds beans, loads and tamps the filter, brews the correct amount of coffee and adds steamed milk. They also discard used grounds, self-sterilize and require minimal operator training.
"Vendors found that customers wanted espresso and cappuccino, but because they're not American cultural items nobody knew how to prepare them," notes T.J. Tarateta, director of sales for 86-year-old La Cimbali. With his company's units, however, "Any old busboy can push the buttons and make Italian-style, perfectly brewed espressos and cappuccinos.
Gabrielle Lepore Gaspar, retail director for Manhattan's four Ferrara's Bakery and Cafes, calls the super-automatic machines "terrific in the sense that everybody's hand is different. We had the manual machines here, obviously, for years. It was the only way to go, the only way to make a cup of coffee. But then it got to the point where it's tough to keep your help around and tough to train your help. This is all computerized. It comes out the exact same all the time."
Roberto Bresciani, sales director for Nuova Simonelli, an Italian espresso machine manufacturer with U.S. offices in Ferndale, WA, calls the super-automatics "idiot-proof." You just press the button, and it grinds the beans, makes the espresso, takes the milk, drops it into the cup, and you have whatever drink you like." Nuova's unit sells for under $12,000. A traditional machine, the VIP, "is totally computer programmed. It looks like a regular machine but it still gives end-users and consumer the look of a traditional machine and a totally consistent product."
Super-automatics make sense at Walt Disney World because of the fierce volume, according to Mim Flynn, general manager of Magic Kingdom restaurant operations.
"We've actually seen an improvement in sales of espressos and cappuccinos, especially in our table service restaurants, because we don't have them doing the grinding and making the coffee," says Flynn. "It's easier on the service people, and we're seeing more people buying it because our service people are pushing it." Don't, however, look for the traditional models to disappear, she adds. "I think you're going to have your purists who are always going to want to do it by hand."
Manufacturers most also contend with space issues. For example, Techni-Brew, a division of Boyd Coffee Co., features a smaller footprint--four inches thinner than most two-group espresso machines--to fit easily into crowded bar backs or kitchen counters.
Traditional Machines Will Stay
While the super-automatics may be the thing of the future, the hospitality business has many facets. Tradition will never disappear.
Elizabeth Kane, communications manager for Turin-based Lavazza says super-automatics will not render traditional machines obsolete for a very practical reason. "The cost is too high. It's a big investment if you're going from a $5,000 piece of equipment to $20,000. That's a lot of money. A restaurateur is going to say to you, "I'll get my staff to understand how to use this machine."
Nuova's Bresciani agrees, but for a different reason. "There is a tendency in the United States that everything must be fast and quick and easy. But people do appreciate tradition and quality, so I don't think traditional machines are ever going to be gone." And neither will innovation.
Howard Riell is a veteran business writer and a long-time contributor to Cheers.
Super-Automatic Universe
Operators drawn to the benefits of specialty coffee drinks will find an expanding universe of suppliers to serve them. Among the choices:
Grindmaster Corp. in Louisville, KY, recently introduced the 2450 two-group (dispenser) automatic model espresso machine, with a two-gallon boiler and touch-pads to dispense preset espresso portions. The machine contains an auto-frother.
Ammirati Inc.'s super-automatic La Cimbali M50 Dolcevita espresso/cappuccino makers can be fine-tuned for temperature, coffee dose, cream and frothing consistency with up to 16 programmable selections. The company's new M28 Compact, available in automatic and semi-automatic models, are "considerably smaller" than the traditional two-group machines. In addition, Dolcevita's machines can be serviced via a modem system.
La Cimbali's unit "pretty much does everything but clean itself," says Cindy Taylor, manager of equipment purchasing for Darden Restaurants, parent to the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains. The standard pod coffee makers the chain uses have proven "very labor intense," she says. "It also has all that noise. In casual dining they don't see us make the cappuccino anyway, so we don't need all the whoosh-whoosh and all the antics. We can just have a server go up to the bar and push one button." A computer readout can tell the operator how many of a particular beverage have been made, and even the last time the unit was cleaned.
Bill Edwards, Darden's director of beverages, says there are 17 super-automatic units currently in test throughout the chain's 465 stores. "We believe them to be more labor efficient, but at this point it's very much a test." When a cappuccino machine goes out of service (about one every two weeks), executives take a look at unit sales to see whether the volume at that particular location justifies the incremental expense of bringing in a super-automated machine.
Italy-based Faema's X5 GrandItalia espresso machine's push button board offers eight selections (including espresso, cappuccino, Americano and decaf) individually programmable to set the dose of ingredients, type of coffee and grind and infusion time. A double coffee dosing grinder for whole beans and an automatic dosing device for ground coffee permit the use of three different blends of coffee. All information for easy control and management of the machine is shown on a clear alpha-numerical display.
Faema's E-91 Diplomat espresso/cappuccino machine features a thermosyphon system, which ensures a constant temperature balance. A luminous display shows boiler pressure, time, programming set-up and operating parameters. A control board offers digital, programmable dosing.
Carimali's Super ECO Raised Group of espresso machines increased cup clearance, so that even tall to-go cups fit under the dispensing area. Its fully automatic S 03 automatically grinds, tamps and extracts a "perfect shot" from whole beans every time, providing espresso at the touch of a button. It also has an automatic self-cleaning program.
Carimali's super-compact Uno espresso machine, at only 10-1/4 in. wide, is designed to fit into limited counter space.
Illy Espresso of the Americas in Scottsdale, AZ, markets a line of espresso makers from UNIC. Its Pony Espresso units are smaller (12 inches high, 10 wide) and designed for "light" commercial use. The size of the coffee dosage is controlled by using pretamped espresso "pods" and a pre-programmed steamer.
The Rancilio Orbita is a completely modular system that can be installed in a variety of combinations. The system is composed of a simple coffee machine which can be extended with other built-in or external components such as milk frothers, steamers, hot water boilers and cup warmers.
The Rancilio machine produces more than 16 types of espresso beverages and can dispense frothed milk alone for use in hot chocolate. Each step of production is fully automated with a self-prompting menu-driven touch panel. The machine automatically grinds fresh beans (regular and decaf), brews single or double espresso and froths milk (drawn from a built-in reservoir kept at pasteurizing temperature). It also cleans itself every 15 minutes of non-operation. --HR
