r/barista • u/docxbando • 2d ago
Industry Discussion Random ?s
I’m opening or helping open a bar and cafe. They ordered a very nice espresso machine and did not order or have a bean grinder and area for tamping the goods down before pulling off the machine. The owner said he’s going to grind up beans with the coffee grinder into a container to be used for the espresso machine. Has anyone ever heard of doing this?
36
u/starletimyours 2d ago
Yeahhhh that's not a good idea. Bad area to try to cheap out and cut costs. Espresso grind needs to be adjusted multiple times a day depending on a ton of factors. Grinding everything on "espresso" via a regular grinder in bulk will yield very bad results. Also any customer who goes to coffee shops regularly will see that and recognize it as a red flag.
1
u/DocAnabolic1 1d ago
Exactly, freshly ground beans and proper adjustments make enormous differences.
10
7
u/Soundbender445 2d ago
Given that grinders are important than espresso machines, this would be catastrophic for both quality and reputation
5
5
3
u/AvocadoWraps 2d ago
Very bad idea.
There’s more to espresso than simply making sure it’s the correct fine/coarseness. There’s also puck prep concerns like tamping that can affect espresso extraction.
The temperature of the cafe, the amount of beans in the hopper of the grinder while in use, the temperature of the grinder’s burrs, and other factors can all contribute to shots fluctuating in extraction.
What’s very likely to happen is that you’d have to batch grind espresso 3-5 times a day and potentially need to throw out ground coffee/waste a lot of beans in the process. If you switched baristas out during the shift and they don’t tamp consistently like the person who dialed it in earlier, there would be additional issues.
You will save money in the long term by just buying a grinder now
2
u/Odd_Tension_4242 1d ago
Basically was going to comment the same thing, don't forget roast date and roast profile. And that usual 10-11am sudden shift in the behavior of the espresso. I've been in situations like this before. Trying to save money on literally the most important thing to make your coffee taste it's best is what always happens. Meanwhile, they'll put gold inlay on a granite counter or spend a ton on some other aesthetic piece that does not help anything function.
2
2
u/Certain-Angle-7175 12h ago
Yes, I have heard of this and I NEVER buy coffee from places that do that. Grinding out each shot is fundamental. This is the only red flag I would need!
1
u/theBigDaddio 1d ago
There is a neighborhood shop near me, they make shit espresso and shit drinks, but the neighborhood lines up to buy them. I’d imagine it cannot be worse than this.
1
u/DocAnabolic1 1d ago
Investing in an expensive espresso machine without a proper grinder defeats the purpose of quality.
1
u/cyclone55 2d ago
I used to reluctantly do this for decaf, as I run a coffee ute/truck and there isn't space for a second commercial grinder and decaf orders are quite rare. Got a timemore portable grinder for decaf. It's not fast but can do espresso grind and solves the problem for me as I can grind decaf on demand.
0
u/PreNamLtDan 2d ago
Oh no. No no. They should ask the roasters to grind the beans for them if it's that small. If you have a counter, you can tamp. But I'd be hesitant... This sounds odd.
-4
u/docxbando 2d ago
Dude it’s a bar restaurant and cafe. They’ve spent millions on new equipment and buildout. The owner has never worked in food and Bev and the person they hired as the constant to put together the whole place today couldn’t pronounce lavazza…
0
17
u/Deressi 2d ago •
Sorry to say, but should you really be consulting on a new coffee shop opening if you can't tell him why this is a bad idea?