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Equipment needed for mobile Espresso coffee and options.

beanflyingbeanflying
edited November 2011 in Coffee Industry related subjects
Basic list of essentials.

Machine - well duh  :) 2 group is best for most jobs not to heavy and can generally be wound back to 10A supply
Grinder - this needs to be MUCH faster than a domestic one or you will finish up in strife with heat and speed.
Bench top - if your setting up separate to existing benches then this needs to be very solid and have a sanitary top.
Permits - unless your trying to sneak in or the quiet then you need a local council permit to make and sell coffee.

Water Supply tank - budget 100-120ml/cup including a little cleaning up. So 20 litres with a spare is plenty.
Waste Tank - generally can be smaller at 10 litres but 20 will save a trip to get rid of it.
Slops Bucket - Milk slops and extra foam are best put separately rather than down the drip tray.
Extension leads - Heavy Duty ones, don't scrimp.
Power Boards - as above HD.
Fridge - Needs to be able to handle being opened and shut and keeping cold. Budget 120-200ml/serve for milk.
Jugs - 3-4 needed. dedicate one to doing Hot Chocs and label it that way. Also Temp stickers on each for consistancy.
Teaspoons - long handled ones 4-6 for mixing HC and all sorts of other reasons.
Cleaning gear - clean (separate) cloths for PF's machine and wands. Extra gear for other cleaning.
Knock box - floor standing one or certainly one that will handle 30-40 pucks (not a home one).

Coffee - consider decaf as well if it is a night time gig.
Hot Chocolate - seriosly good money and depending o the crowd 10%+ of turnover.
Milk - low fat and full cream in a 1/3 to 2/3 split will get you 95% happy. 5% Soy is about normal so optional.
Sugar - Bowls of sugar are the cheapest least rubbish inducing option. Consider offering Raw and White.
Chocolate shaker - and sweetened chocolate for caps (different to HC blend)
Marshmallows - forget these at your peril and frowns from all ages of kids to 60+
Cups - disposable only to keep it simple 8 & 12 oz. I still serve Espressos in ceramic as is proper.
Lids - if you don't offer them always you will only need around 30-40% to cups used.
Teaspoons - only offer disposables to save on health and safety issues with your permit.

Menu and holder to suit. Keep it simple clear and easy to avoid confusion on both sides.
Cashbox or bumbag for the $$. Double what float you think you need. You will get a heap of coin late in the day but you need to surrvive the opening $50 note barrage.
Notepad and pencil/pens for taking large or difficult orders (embarrassing to have to ask to often)
Textas and paper

Additional items.

Second Grinder - Decaf or even throw in a S/O to mix it up a little.
Cup Trays - box of 100 off evilbay for $30 is a good idea to have up your sleeve
Timer - check your shots once in a while if your outdoor grinders need to change all day.
Electronic thermometer for checking fridges - locally should be done twice a day.
Cable ties - keeping leads hoses and lots of stuff neat, never leave home without some.
Gaffa Tape - same as above just really handy.
Large Clothes Pegs - handy for clipping Sugar or Coffee bags closed (not all have zip locks).
Broom and shovel - spill beans or grounds you need one and searching for a broom can't be done if your busy.
Rubbish Bin - don't rely on ones provided in all cases end of the day may be overflowing.
First Aid Kit - slices cuts and the odd burn happen when your under the pump and rushing.
Trestles, Chairs, Umbrellas, Sunscreen - If your doing coffee your stuck for the duration so plan ahead with comfort.

That's a basic list of gear to kick it off. Anything else needs adding or you want to chat about any of the items on it then this is as good a place as any to do it. Several of us here have some to a lot of experience in running coffee carts and mobile coffee of various sorts so if you get asked to do a job say yes and have a go it's lots of fun to be had :)

Just on the list above while it may seem a little intimidating there is no reason you can't take your home tanked HX or double boiler along to a venue and make maybe 20-30 an hour but if you want to get a little serious then boiler volume and a couple of groups makes a heap of difference.
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Comments

  • mycuppamycuppa
    Good list Timbo. Water, as you can imagine is pretty important. As Tim says a spare (taking 2x 20lt) Jerry cans is vital as they are only $20 ea from Bunnings. At a busy event last year, we ended up almost running through the 3rd Jerry can. With 2x it allows you to swap over very quickly if it's busy and then fill the empty one when it gets quiet. Always ask beforehand if water is available on-site. With power boards and extension leads, unfortunately the word "heavy duty" is a much-maligned statement these days. I would always advocate using 15A leads (used for Caravans, etc.) with a 10A plug as they can really get warm and or damages at events. When looking at power boards, pay around $100 for a quality unit or else you will be pressing the reset button way too many times and wondering why you run out of steam. Take as many jugs as you can. 2lt jugs are especially useful as it's not unusual to get an order for 8 coffees at once. Whilst it's not environmentally sound, I suggest the use of sugar sticks and wooden paddle-pop stirrers placed on a table AWAY FROM THE SERVING AREA (adjacent). So many times you see people fumbling with sugar and spoons holding up the queue and making a major mess. I used to place the cup lids, sugar sticks and stirrers on a separate table and gently "PUSH" customers towards it so we can smash out the next order. Powdered Chai is a big seller just like Hot Chocs. Tea is often asked. Suggest buying a box of the Lipton Pyramid tea bags to provide a reasonable quality experience. Rubbish bins - you can never have enough and also plenty of garbage bags. Whilst fresh milk makes the best coffee, I've managed to get some very good results with Devondale UHT in the Semi-Skim and Full-Cream. I've carried 300 litres of the stuff to remote events and run through it very quickly. The ratio of full-cream versus skinny becomes a nightmare. The last few events I've done with just Semi-skim and told them that's it.......take it or leave it..........you would be surprised how easy they back-down and accept what's on offer. Certainly made our event a lot easier. I reckon there is close to 50/50 split between fat and skim but it depends on the demographic. The most important thing is to get your float right. At a good event you will need around $350 broken down into numerous denominations because at some stage you will have a lot of people ordering 2x coffees with a $50 bill.  Suggest trying to keep your pricing simple with only a $0.50 difference, so it won't be necessary to have all those different coins. Long Blacks, Teas and 2lt jugs kill the machine, so always be careful when you run these unless of course you have capacity to burn.
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  • UNMUNM
    I have no experience of setting up a coffee cart, so may be way off here, but a basic first aid kit seems sensible and may well be a requirement  of some councils.  Also duct tape can come in handy in all sorts of situations,  although in my car that IS the first aid kit.
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  • beanflyingbeanflying
    First Aid is a good one slices from machines happen when cleaning up and at other times. Will keep the list up top updated with anything else comes up during the topic or other ideas or information surfaces. Re extension leads my on my Cart I have a dedicated 15A circuit and lead for the machine and a separate 10A lead off a general circuit for the grinders, fridges (I run 2 when busy) and anything else I need. I have avoided Chai and Tea so far as I would rather do them properly and brewed. I have seen it done well at a Music festival complete with rugs and cushions in a tent to sit in  :)
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  • KelseyKelsey
    BF, that's a mobile setup?!? I've seen caf
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  • beanflyingbeanflying
    on 1322571638:
    BF, that's a mobile setup?!? I've seen caf
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  • mycuppamycuppa
    on 1322572240:
    Mobile yes Portable NO  :rofl: It's only a 20m push from the shed to the footpath but at 3-400kg loaded it's a tough push single handed.
    And it's the reason we don't do it anymore - even the charity events were killing us in sheer physical prepare, bump-in, bump-out, pack away. We also used to take 2 or 3 folding trestle tables, signs, etc. with us and would require a good 2-3hrs to load everything into the van because the first 2 attempts would mean it does not fit and you end up re-packing numerous times to get everything inside. Then of course it takes an hour+ to unload on-site and setup and about the same to cleanup and pack up to head home, then another 2hrs at the end when you arrive home to clean and put everything away. All up, if you don't do this sort of thing regularly and have it " already packaged" you can count on perhaps 8hrs of time where you are NOT providing a service. But, I have to admit.........despite all the hard work it is a hell of a lot of fun when the game is on and the crowds build - just like going to watch a great sporting event :)
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  • Bottom LineBottom Line
    Physical work, hell yeah! Takes us about 40-60mins to load in or out of the van. The machine and grinder don't sit on the cart during transport. Lifting the machine up is probably the hardest thing. The fridge (Waeco 110CF) is on a home made dolly. The machine is put on a dolly for pushing in and out of the van. But this means we can go anywhere. I would have to say about 30% of the markets/event has been on the ground/grass. Pushing the cart with the water bottles full and machine on is sometimes impossible. Cart has even sunk into the ground on many occasions. Our fridge only holds 50 litres. So we always bring a back up of UHT. Skinny ratio varies a lot. Can be 30%, once it was 2 out of 300. Same with hot chocolate. Once it was all most half the orders, a lot of the times it has been close to none. We make up a syrup of 2 parts sugar, one part cocoa, add boiling water and blend. Put this into a squeeze bottle. Got annoyed with the icy pole stirrers/sugar sticks. People just left them on the bench even though there is a bin next to them. Some leave the used stirrer on the table cloth. Even worse some people stir and push the coffee over the top onto the table cloth. They know they are doing it but don't seem to care. On top of this is that it holds up the line. Using sugar and stirring ourselves adds too much time. So we have start using syrup in a squeeze bottle. 1 part sugar, one part water. We ask if they want sugar when they order. So far it has worked a lot better then I thought. We do the same as Jeff with tea and chai. Have made up chai syrup before. Much, much nicer than the powder but this ended up to be too much work. Our view is that we do coffee. You want tea or chai? We have it but it ain't "our thing". Jugs with stick on thermometers - a must. The machine we use has steam arms at a length so that you can stretch, start the spin and walk away to do something else. The stick on means I can see where the temp is at without having to be close. We used to wash the jugs under the tap. I put on of those milk jug rinser on the cart. http://clean-machine.com.au/Milk_Jug_Rinser-_In_Bench-_Square_-_Rattleware.html Best thing ever. It works better than it does in the videos. Fully cleans the jug in one second. Saves a lot of time and water. Long blacks can tip and stain the cup when taking out from under the group handle. Also disturbs the crema. To fix this small issue we use a naked group handle. Take out the normal, put in the naked and run water through to warm while grinding for the shot. Get the nice crema on top and the cup slides in and out without having to tip the cup. If I think of any more I'll re-post. And as Jeff said, despite the hard work so far it has been a lot fun and we meet a lot of wonderful, beautiful people. Some hilarious crack pots too!
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  • beanflyingbeanflying
    Interesting on the Tea Chai thing. I might reconsider some alternates for the Christmas session. With those who have come up asking about Tea Chai or even Decaff will still in a lot of cases still order a single shot of standard or a HC. There is places in this town charging $3+ for a teabag in water but given that maybe serving Instunt at $3 a cup might be a plan  ;) With the low fat milk thing to keep it simple I have never offered Skinny Milk only 2% LF. When told low or full fat are the options I can't think of anyone walking off or changing orders over it. Last time I tried UHT I just didn't like using or drinking it and as the Supermarket is just round the corner or the local Dairy will deliver by the crate several times a day if needed fresh is best. I do always run Bonsoy when I can get it and those with Dairy issues appreciate it. Should be noted on the Menu above I am going to have to add an extra to Soy due to the cost.
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  • askthecoffeeguyaskthecoffeeguy
    I've done charity gigs with my Rancillio S27 where I've knocked out 200 coffees (including hot chocolates ans chai teas) in a day on my single group machine - and let me tell you it was hard work - tougher than working in the cafe when we're under the hammer by far! But also a lot of fun! I dont do charity gigs any more for the same reasons as stated - too much hard work, and the cafe takes me away from my family enough as it is BUt I used to use UHT milk, and a small portable fridge, and keep rotating stock so that there was a constant supply of cold milk.  UHT is not the best for coffee, I know, but I found that if you open it up and allow it to breathe a bit prior to serving it looses a lot of what I would call it's 'musty' aroma For mobile Chai I use an organic liquid concentrate as its super quick to make and still tastes great And I make my own chocolate syrup which is quick and easy Still bump in bump out is always a massive effort - and I've done a few dance parties as well where the money is invariably good but if you divide earnings over number of hours worked including prep time it only averages out at about $5 per hour - its a labour of love I tell ya!
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