in this video i'm going to talk you through the things you need to consider when choosing between
a two group coffee machine or a three group coffee machine to go into your cafe [Music]
let's start with size and space do you even have enough room for a three group if you're an
existing cafe uh you might have a bench space that you've got to work with but if you're building
a cafe and you're thinking about how much space you've got to work with you've also got to think
about the fact that you might actually want a jug rinser and a second grinder or a deli grinder or
a puck press they are also a three group is around 250 millimeters wider than a two group machine so
it is taking up a fair bit more bent space you do have to think about whether a barista can actually
stand in a good position on both steaming arms because you do need to be able to
use both steaming arms and have enough room either side of you so that doesn't
always work in every cafe scenario now don't forget that a two group coffee machine is already
quite heavy a three group coffee machine can be anywhere upwards from 50 to 60 kilos so make sure
you've built your bench sturdy and strong and ready to hold the weight of that coffee machine
if you are in a restaurant scenario and doing a lot of dining i do have some people that
like the size of the machine purely just for the cup warmer if you're doing takeaway cups
it's not such a big deal but if you do need that cut warmer on top that is maybe a reason that the
size is important to you just keep in mind that if you want to move from a two group to a three
group machine in the future you might be drilling holes in your benches and cutting holes out for
your juggering so that is going to actually cause issues for you when you switch to a through group
so when you're doing your planning keep it in the back in mind if you grow what would happen if you
put a three group machine in is it worth if you've already got to update upgrade to 20 amps of power
maybe you want to do the 32 amps of power now so you don't have to do it down the line maybe
you need to make sure you've got enough room either side of the machine should you grow into
a through group machine it's definitely something to think about early if you're not going to start
with the three group just have that in the back of your mind because if your business grows you'll
be ready for it now let's talk about power power for a two group machine is around 20 amps a three
group machine is around 32 amps and sometimes you can get up to 40 amps on a three group machine
does your cafe have that much power do you have access to that is it already installed or is that
another expense that you're now looking at to be able to get a free group you might be looking at
anywhere from six hundred dollars upwards if an electrician has to come and upgrade your power
um some of the old buildings might only have 60 amps of power available
in whole place there is more expenses that you might have to factor in now technical differences
if you're looking at the same model of cover machine like a two group linear classic or a
three group linear classic just remember that you're not actually getting anything technically
different it's the same machine you're just getting a bigger boiler which means you have
access to more steam and better recovery time but not necessarily more technicality to that machine
it's not until you go from say a linear classic to a strata or a cabin 90 where you're introducing
more technicalities in the machine that are going to yes improve your coffee but that's
not what we're comparing here we're comparing um the same models there is obviously advantages
to introducing a third group head in technical things like if you wanted to do a single origin
on a dedicated head you could actually adjust that to its own brew recipe you could adjust
temperatures if you've got a machine like the kb 90 in the lumbersoccer range
and you can get very technical on one particular head that way you've got
three heads two doing blends one doing single ocean as best it can be and that would be an
advantage from a technical point of view but if you're comparing the same coffee machine there's
no difference technically between the two group and the three group now workflow have you already
got a two group coffee machine and you're looking to upgrade to a three group because you think
your bruises will get faster you might need to actually assess your area and you might find that
it's actually a workflow issue i'll put a link in below to a video we've done on workflow that'll
help improve speed efficiencies for your bruises and that might be the answer you're looking for
let's talk about speed and the volume of coffee you can produce with a two group or a three group
now most people have the idea that if you get a three group you can make coffee faster and that
is just not true we do training with people on two group machines to get them faster at using both
steam ones and youth and brewing coffees at the same time or using the steam ones now two group
with a good dual boiler can manage that up to about 40 kilos upwards i've seen machines
do even more volume but we recommend potentially going to a through group after 40 kilos of coffee
because a two group dual boiling machine can manage the amount of steam required and the brew
head control there so what we don't want to see is shots getting made ahead of the steaming
of the milk so we will always recommend people actually get both baristas putting milk on you
can pump out shots as fast as you can that's the danger of a three group is you can get way ahead
of your milk person by just putting shot shots and as soon as that shot is ready and your milk
person's not it's oxidizing and it's decreasing in quality you're losing flavors and aromas and
that's actually going to become a negative on your customer experience and and taste of that coffee
so three groups might make you get the shots out faster but you're better off putting two people
on the steam um on the milk on two grit machine and consistently getting those coffees out faster
so in my experience for my cafes i've seen some great results from two group machines i've it's
meant that i've been able to help them with other equipment that's improved their businesses
and that's what we're going into next the assets that you've got in your cafe and the return they
truly make you if you're looking at buying your own equipment and you want to buy a llamas like
a classic two group you'd be up for about 14 grand if you went for a three group you might be up for
around 16 and a half thousand dollars australian now that's two and a half thousand dollars
especially if you're a new cafe that money really counts and can you use that money to invest in a
second grinder so you can introduce single origins and freshly ground
decaf is that expanding your options for more product lines in your business maybe you would
be better off with a better grinder to produce better coffee or a jug rinser that's going to help
productivity and workflow for your baristas you might be thinking that you're investing in
the future of your cafe and that's definitely true there is value in buying assets that are
obviously going to mean that you can grow and but in the early days
it might be something to think about that you do look at a two group coffee machine and you
can use the spare money to invest back into other areas of the business that you can increase profit
productivity and that's the money that you will then be able to sell the two group and upgrade to
the three group once you've got the volume to that you need that through group for if you're working
with a roaster that supplies equipment they might be able to look at a scenario for you where if you
come on board at a lower volume you can introduce a two group machine and as you grow you could
work with them and upgrade to a three group machine that's going to suit your business and
suit your growth and and a good roaster will will help facilitate facilitate that for you
understanding your demographic now you need to look at the customers you're going to be serving
if you're an existing business you already know what kind of coffees you're serving but if
you're not are you moving into a high volume area that you're going to be doing 16 ounce cups and
potentially needing triple shots for a single cup if you have a two group you are going to struggle
with one person on the machine to be able to do two cups with a triple shot in each maybe you do
need that third head to to be able to make sure you can do the volume of shots you need for the
size of cups you need or maybe you need a high cup machine so there's other variables to think about
based on the coffees you're going to be making in your cafe now let's talk about servicing the labor
and the costs involved with that now a three group machine it's just a bigger machine there's more to
look after there's more servicing costs you've got seals and shower screens and just general running
costs of that machine you have to factor those costs into your business and the other expenses
you might not really think about now but is cleaning that machine there's the cost of the
chemicals but also your staff's labor and time at the end of this shift are you allowing enough time
in your work day for your boosters to clean spend the extra time cleaning that third group head now
we'll say that in case of an emergency if one of your heads was to get blocked on a three group
you've got two groups left and you can carry on as business as usual but on a two group it does
leave you a little bit high and dry when you're back to one head that's kind of hard to work with
if you are a busy little cafe if you don't have a service technician that you can call and have them
fix that group head within 24 hours it might be something for you to think about that you
do need that backup head and lastly your brand and your aesthetics you might just be a specialty
coffee shop trying to look the part with all the bells and whistles the three group machine the
deli grinder the ek the jug washer and that's the look and feel that you want for your cafe from day
one and that's fair that's definitely reasonable to think that um if if that's your thing you can
do what you like just be mindful that until you get that volume you might not be so profitable
um you might not really need that three group yet you still have to service the whole thing
you still have to clean it every day and there's that that might be an expense in your business
that you can avoid earlier on in the process but if it's of value to you go for it i'm not going
to stop you from i'm not going to talk you out of of being who you want to be and being the brand of
the look and the feel that your business is just be mindful that might be an additional cost to you
that you're going to have to factor into your business now are you in australia are you looking
for coffee equipment are you trying to decide between the two group and a three group and
maybe i could be of more help or my team i'll put our contact details in below because we work with
commercial equipment and domestic equipment we also can can help you decide what's the best thing
for your cafe so put our contact details below but uh be sure to put any comments that you have in
below as well so that we can answer them in the the community can answer this question for you as
well if you haven't already be sure to subscribe to the channel like the video and hit the bell
icon so you get notified of all future videos thanks for listening guys i'll see you next time
[Music] you