New video

New consultancy course

We are proud to say that we now offer a new consultancy course.

This is one of the most effective and value for money consultancy courses you can find (so we believe). It is 1-to-1 and we have so much to offer!

Basically we have designed a business plan to open up a coffee house and share this with however comes on the course. There is a lot of information regarding cost of sales, VAT, takings, rent and rates, sollicitors cost etc. And of course you get to drink delicious coffee during the course.

Please have a look at our consultancy course for coffee shops course for more info.

Updated website

We have been working on the website the last 2 days. First of all, you can now place your order with us online through the website as well. We made this as some customers requested this and we are more than happy to help.

Today we have been taking some great pictures and added these to a couple of pages on the site. Just to make the coffee look a little more tastier

 

Beautiful rosetta

 

 

latt art training

Did some latte art training with Gary and Maarit today.

Always great to get some good result. And only after a few hours of training.

 

Rosetta

 

 

Best grinder ever? Anfim Caimano on-demand with doser

 

Anfim Caimano on-demand with doser - timer

 

 

We are all about grinding your coffee as fresh as possible, most people probably have realised that by now. There are grinders on the market that grind directly into the group handle, so called grind on demand coffee grinders. Great grinders however I find them a little messy and I think the dosing is a great presentation which gets lost by a grind on demand grinder.

There is a grinder that does both however. It grinds fresh for each coffee by a set time yet still has a doser. This is the Anfim Caimano on-demand with doser. I think it’s absolutely fantastic!

It works just like any other doser grinder but then it has 2 buttons which can be programmed to a certain amount of time. So for example a single could grind for 3 seconds and a double for 7 seconds.
It grinds the coffee in the doser and the barista doses the coffee into the group handle with the doser.

The great thing about this is that it keeps all the ’show manship’ ( <- is that a word??) yet it grinds each dose fresh and consistent with the same dose.

The fact that it grinds the same dose is very good and results in fantastic consistency.

Anfim Caimano on demand with doser

Left Anfim on demand with doser, right is one without a doser

A visit Hasbrum

I spend a day for latte art training at Urban coffee in Birmingham the other day. To my surprise we got a visit from Hasbrum who made a little video about coffee.

http://hashbrum.co.uk/2009/11/how-to-pour-the-perfect-latte-and-put-a-bear-in-your-cup/

Art

Artist’s assistants stand next to 3,604 cups of coffee which have been made into a giant Mona Lisa in  Sydney , Australia . The 3,604 cups of coffee were each filled with different amounts of milk to create the different shades!!!

Nice pics

Delicious rich, smooth and nutty espresso

7oz Cappuccino

Favourite cup size for caffe latte

We would like to know what size you prefer to drink your caffe lattes in?

Please let us know, thank you!

This is for a single shot latte

How nice!

Sometimes I walk into a customer’s coffee shop and am really impressed with the things they come up with. A lot of people actually ask me not to put it on the blog because it’s so original. Today I was really excited to see a beautiful picture of a coffee on the wall in a canvas. It made me proud and was very enjoyable.

Thank you Julie

 

Picture in a canvas

 

 

Soup coffee – special winter edition

How big can you make your cappuccino? This is a cappuccino in a soup bowl!

 

Soup coffee

 

 

A great way to offer loose leaf teas

Loose leaf teas are great although usually it is seen as a bit of a hassle. There is also the problem with take out teas so many coffee shops make the decision not to offer loose leaf teas which we believe is a little shame yet understandable.

A great and easy way is to offer the tea in a tea bag. You simply get a large tea bag which is open at the top. You add the loose leaf tea and brew it directly in the cup. Nice and easy, still great quality and the customer can see the tea as well when they open the bag. Great!

 

Loose leaf tea in a bag infuser

Customers can see the loose leaf tea

 

 

Honduras Cup of Excellence

Honduras rainforest

Yesterday on the training course I had the privilege to teach someone for the very first time about coffee.

And to make things very interesting for him, we made him a delicious cup of coffee from Honduras. This coffee is one of the cup of excellence coffees and it was very nice. Very good with milk as a cappuccino. Good body, good sweetness and actually quite good considering it was a single estate. I am a big fan of blends for espresso coffee but once in a while you get one that works well through the espresso machine.

Have a look at the Cup of Excellence coffees. It is an interesting read.
http://www.cupofexcellence.org/

How big is your cup actually?

We always talk about that the cup is 8oz or 6oz, but how big is your cup actually?

Have you actually ever weighed your cup properly to find out what the size is ?

I measured a cup which is listed as a 8oz cup. Weighing it with water reveals that is was 212ml (7.4 UK fl oz).

When making a caffe latte it was actually more like 190 ml = 6.6 UK fl oz.

Just think it is interesting, especially when working out ratios of espresso to milk.

Indian

Another design. Not our creation but we did do the pour. Very cool.

Another bear…

yes I know we have shown this before but it’s just so good!

Did a really fun one-on-one barista course today and we had a bit of fun with latte art at the end.

Floorplanner

Just came across a great online program that is great for designing a shop layout. It’s all free and can be really useful.

Have a look at:

http://www.floorplanner.com/

Counter or table service

Many coffee shops will go automatically for a counter service in their coffee shop. It is often seen as the standard, especially for the high street where it is expected to be busy. Counter service is seen as quicker and easier and often people think that it requires less staff compared to table service.

The truth is however that it has a lot of downsides compared to table service. There is often a lot of pressure in the queue for the customer and the barista example. Many times a customer will order just a coffee because he or she is holding up the queue. The menu and offerings can be a little overwhelming in a short space of time and because of the pressure of the queue the customer orders a lot less than originally planned. Counter service usually gives you less takings compared to table service. You probably won’t agree but lets have a look at the practical side of things.

With counter service the pressure on the barista can be hard when there is a queue. We believe strongly that the espresso machine and the barista should be easily visible by the customer in any kind of coffee shop. This does mean however that many people in the queue will watch the barista make coffee. Sometimes this can stress the barista so much that the quality of the drinks served are dropping. Drinks are being rushed and the customer who has been waiting extra long now get’s a less tasty drink than when its quiet. There is nothing worse then waiting extra long and receiving something less good.

The layout of the coffee shop has to be designed around the counter service as well. Your customers should queue along all your products which means that pretty much all your sandwiches, cakes and confectionery should be on display. People will spend more when they can see the products in front of them so you have to design the counter around this thought.
The counter can therefore take up a big space of the coffee shop, space which could be filled with extra tables and chairs giving you higher takings.

A counter with a long queue might make people decide to not enter your coffee shop; sure it is great to look busy and successful although you can also look too busy and lose sales. If everybody that was in the queue was sitting down then your shop would still look busy yet there wouldn’t be any long queues and as long as there is space people would probably come in to the shop more likely.

When people are sitting down  for a minute waiting to be served they can have the time to acclimatise to the shop and have a good look at your menu. This will make them feel relaxed and when people are relaxed and have the time to look at your menu they will spend a lot more money; and more importantly they will order what they planned on having in the first place. Of course it is important to acknowledge the customer once they sit down and to let them know you will be with them shortly to take their order.
This is also where table service is so much more personal. There is one host walking around and as soon as customers walk into your shop they are being greeted and welcomed. With counter service a customer might not be acknowledged by the staff until they have been in your shop for a full two minutes.

Many of our customers have table service for their coffee shop. When I speak to them and ask about the average spend of the customer I pretty much always hear of a higher spend compared to a counter service. With table service people often have a coffee and something else. Most counter service coffee shops have customers just drinking coffee. A customer who just drinks one coffee in a busy coffee shop and sits for a full hour could cost your dearly.

Table service allows you to turn tables over quicker as well. If you are busy and need some tables free then table service is fantastic. It is much easier to talk with a customer to see if they would like anything else. If not, then the bill comes a minute later. This is usually enough for people to realise that a table is needed. In the end, table service simply turns over tables so much quicker and turning tables over quickly is extremely important when the shop is full.

Table service will give the customer the chance to order something else. Once a customer has paid for an order they are very unlikely to order and pay again for something else. With table service however the tap is still open and it is easy for the customer to order another coffee. The great thing with table service is that it increases the average spend.
Because the tap is open and the host talks to the customer, it is easier to upsell and to receive some feedback on the products.

Some might argue that take-out doesn’t work very well with table service and I would agree. Although there are ways around it. You could have a little take out counter area where customers could be served for take out only. You could even have a hatch which is designed for take outs only. Take out service is a little harder with table service but then again, most people think they offer a lot more take out then they actually do.

Another downside of table service could be that the customer is not seeing the coffee being made. We believe that making coffee is an art and can be a great show (think of latte art for example). With table service you might lose this a little. A great way around this is to have the espresso machine inside the serving area, not behind the counter. This is a little controversial but it could be fantastic if designed correctly. All you need is to place the espresso machine on the end of the counter/kitchen with the machine facing the inside of the shop. Place it so that anybody in the coffee shop can watch the barista make coffee. Of course you have to consider safety options here.
If you do it right then it might even invite customers to have a chat with the barista about coffee. A simple sign saying ‘Feel free to have a chat with the barista about coffee’ might please those customers who would like to know more.
It is different but different can be great!
And of course it would really help the flow. Coffees don’t have to travel far to the tables and if you position the dishwasher right behind the espresso machine (out of view) than washing up cups and placing them back on the top of the machine is easy. Don’t forget how important this is as it can really slow things down when the dishwasher is in the wrong place.

Some people will argue that table service needs more staff. I would disagree. You will find that this isn’t the case if you have a good layout. If you design the counter so that even the host (the person waiting the tables) can make coffee, reach for cakes, muffins etc. then you can really speed things up. You could have a till that spins around so the host can always reach it from inside the serving area. The cakes are all on display for the host to reach. In the end, you would need someone at the till anyway which can now be the host. With a bit of planning you could run the shop with 3 people.

And if you are really clever and design the shop carefully then you might even be able to have both counter service and table service available. You could have the espresso machine on a rotating disc so it can turn around for table or counter service. The same goes for the till. It may sound crazy but I am sure you can do it with a little planning and thinking ahead.

It is all about making it work for you. The goal is to make your customer feel at ease, spend as much money as possible and optimise customer flow as much as possible. And of course, to serve delicious coffee!

Ethiopian coffee ceremony

What a great video! If only everybody would love making coffee like this.

This reminds me a little of putting some green coffee over a barbecue once. Not quite the same taste as a properly roasted coffee but you can’t beat this for love for coffee.

Latte art training with an engineer

Stephen came back to us today. He joined a barista course with us 6 months ago and came back today for some latte art training. He brought his Italian machine in and I thought it would be fun to see what happens when an engineer gets into coffee

Stephen is a lovely gentleman, makes fantastic coffee and pours rosetta on all his drinks for friends and family.

He adapted his machine by adding a temperature probe into the group head! I think it just made him more frustrating with the brewing temperature control. But very cool to see such a passionate person and an honour to teach him!

Stephen's machine with his custom made temperature probe

Close up of the temperature probe

In-house latte art competition

We are organising an in-house latte art competition with one of our customers. I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea! What a great way to boost the staff into making coffee, there is just no better way.

Of course I feel honoured to be one of the judges. I have put together an example of how you could do such an in-house competition. My idea is just an example, I hope it helps people with organising their own competitions.

You can find a link here to the word document.

Rosetta

When does consistency goes too far?

I totally understand that coffee bar owners want consistency for their drinks. The question is however, how far do you take it? Automatic espresso machine + automatic milk frother + automatic grinder + automatic tamper = too automatic? Isn’t this close to a bean to cup machine?

How are the baristas supposed to get passionate about the drinks they serve when the equipment does everything? How are the customers supposed to get excited about the drinks?

I saw this post on a blog I follow.

another bear

Fresh coffee served here <- not good enough

Lots of places now advertise that they are serving fresh coffee. You walk into any service station and you will probably find something saying that the coffee is fresh. This is really damaging the name of fresh coffee. Many places claim that they serve fresh coffee however the coffee is often not that fresh. The coffee is usually a couple of months old when bought and often left in the coffee machine for days and days.

The problem is that people drink so called ‘fresh’ coffee all the time and it is not that impressive anymore. After all, they had a fresh coffee at the service station and it wasn’t noticable at all.

It would probably be better to be a bit clearer. Maybe mention that your coffee was roasted on a certain date, 9th of September for example. A little note on the bar mention the roasting date can be very impressive.

Or advertise differently outside. Just marketing fresh coffee might not mean enough to people. Why not shout out that you have professional trained baristas working here. Many people now know what a barista is and it looks a lot more impressive. Shout out that the staff are skilled in the art of coffee. Surely that brings people through the doors.

Service that is too fast

It may sound a bit strange but service can be too fast sometimes. I often see this in coffee shops and restaurants and thought I would write about it.

When a customer walks into a coffee shop many baristas will try to serve them as quickly as possible. The customer is confronted with a barista very early and is asked for their order. This can put the customer in an awkward position as they are not sure yet what to order and they start feeling pressured. This is especially the case when people are waiting behind this customer in the queue. The result is often that the customer just orders a coffee. And the coffee shop is losing big time on sales. It is important to recognise a customer that walks through the door asap, yet there is no need to take the order straight away.

It also happens when the barista takes the money. Taking the money should be the last thing and left to the end as much as possible. Once people have paid they are unlikely to order something else again. The time it takes you to make the customer a coffee might be enough to convince them to buy something else. This is where the shop layout should be so that the customer is always looking at the products available. Either the customer is looking at the menu, a display or a counter filled with great good food. The customer has ordered the drink and is waiting for it to be ready. Now let the delicious looking food do their job. Now you can ask the customer if they would like something else, maybe they would like to try a cake. Don’t be pushy, after all people come to relax. But it never hurts to ask.

So be patient, give the customer some space and don’t take the money too quickly. The art is to find the balance between speed and upselling. With upselling I mean naturally, not a cheap retail sales upselling which nobody likes. Just let the products sell themselves.

Latte art training course

Did a really fun course today with Stefan and Kat. A day of barista training and latte art training. See the video below, quite amazing really!

We are in Caterer

Ian Boughton from the brilliant Coffee House magazine has written about us for the Caterer.

The online barista training course is becoming more and more popular!

http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/09/08/329730/absolute-coffee-launches-one-to-one-online-barista-training.html

No need to join a barista course anymore…

This guy is explaining it all! There is no need to do any barista training anymore after you have seen this.

By the way, this IS a joke.

Wi-Fi, should you offer it?

Just reading the website of Boughton’s Coffee House and there is an article about whether or not you should wi-fi at your coffee shop.

You can have a read here:
http://www.coffee-house.org.uk/CH3Gotspot.html

What do you think? Should you offer free internet? Should you charge for it? We would love to know your thoughts on this.

Personally I think it all depends on the size of your shop and the kind of place and customers you have. If you the space then yes, definitely go for it. If space is extremely limited then maybe cut your losses. Please do let us know your thoughts.

Online barista training courses

Yes, we are going to do it: online barista training courses!

To our knowledge, Absolute Coffee will be the first ever coffee company in the world to offer a 1-on-1 online barista training course over the internet using video conference.

We will run a 3 hour course over the internet using Skype and webcams. This is a first ever and is going to be very exciting!

No need to travel anymore. Simply book a course, hook up your computer with a webcam, point it at your espresso machine and let the fun begin!

We are welcoming people from all over the world to book a course.

Read more about it on our website here.