Do you have a bar? Find out how to start serving filter coffee!

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Do you have a bar, café or restaurant?

Are you passionate about filter coffee and would like to start serving it in your own establishment?

You are in the right place to find out how!

The world of filter coffee is vast and full of different equipment. Not to mention the huge amount of different coffees you can start serving!

Getting your bearings is often not easy… what do I need? Which instrument do I bet on? Which coffee should I buy?

We answer these and many other questions in the new ABCoffee article!

Tables of content

Definition of Filter Coffee

We are used to walking into a coffee shop and asking for a coffee, taking it for granted that the barista will prepare and serve an espresso.

But what if you arrived at the counter with a nice big cup with a long, hot, heady-smelling coffee inside?

Filter coffee is one of the oldest and simplest coffee preparation methods, perfected in Germany in the early 20th century.

Today, it accounts for about 80% of world consumption. In particular, we find it in the United States, also becoming a symbol of the American lifestyle, in Canada and Northern Europe.

But be careful not to confuse it with Americano!

American coffee is completely different from filter, both in ‘ingredients’ (coffee selections and roasting) and in the way it is extracted. In fact, it is nothing more than an espresso coffee diluted with hot water, created in Italy to meet the needs of foreigners.

Ultimately, filter coffees are more delicate in body than espresso, but incredibly fragrant and aromatic. Bitterness is absent, while sweeter and more acidic notes are enhanced.

Finally, as we all notice immediately, it is a longer drink.

Is my bar suitable for Filter Coffee?

The first question you must ask yourself is whether your venue is suitable for the inclusion of such a different product and never take the answer for granted!

You need to consider the following points:

  • Staff
  • Work area
  • Type of service

Let’s understand it better!

Staff

Is your staff trained? If the answer is no, would they be interested in following you with passion and attention in your new project? Are they interested in taking training courses to fully understand the product and also learn how to communicate it to customers?

These are the first questions you must ask yourself, and avoid giving hasty answers!

Think carefully about how your employees behave with customers, how they clean or tidy their work area and especially whether they have already had at least one espresso training course.

And again, think about when you correct them a small gesture or explain how they can improve on the machine or in service… do they roll their eyes? Or do they keep doing the same things without improving? Beware then of adding more tasks to them.

If, on the other hand, every time you explain something new they are there to listen attentively, become curious and also ask you many more questions, then you can start a new journey together!
Work Area

Do not underestimate the necessary space that these preparations require.

Here is what you need to think about:

  • Storage space for tools, servers and spare filters;
  • Dedicated counter space for their preparation with everything you need at hand:
      • Dedicated on-demand coffee grinder;
      • Two electrical sockets:
      • Kettle;
      • Scales;
      • Server;
      • Instrument;
      • Paper filters;
      • Coffee;
      • Any other accessories.
  • It would also be good if the preparation took place in front of the customer, to make the experience even more fascinating and solemn.

N.B. Take care that the area you have set up does not impede the work of others and/or slow down the service of the espresso. This must be an extra product, without blocking the normal workflow.

Type of service

We could define espresso as a fast service product and filter as a slow service product.

This is because espresso is prepared in about 30 seconds and swallowed in as many, standing at the bar counter, hot and on the fly. Potentially a customer could be in and out of the bar in 90 seconds, calculating also the time for the receipt.

While the second is prepared in 2/3/4 minutes and drunk very quietly. This is why customers often consume it on the street in take-away cups, or comfortably seated at tables.

So you have to take into account the waiting space, any space for seating, and the number of bartenders present at each shift.

Would you be able to correctly and quickly follow all the customers waiting for espresso, while also calmly and narratively preparing a filter coffee?

P.S. There is a different option: if you have a very large foreign clientele and therefore want to put this product in precisely to satisfy a large demand, but do not have the space or the appropriate personnel, opt for an automatic filter coffee machine, in which you only have to put the coffee beans and water in the tank, while it takes care of the rest!

Different equipment and what I need to consider

Let’s assume that you have all the above-mentioned requirements and that you are ready for this product.

But which equipment should I buy?

Here are the ones I most recommend:
Hoop

Brand new extraction method, launched in 2022.

Pro:

  • Easy to use
  • It can be served to the customer while the draw is still in progress, so as to engage and fascinate them
  • As well as obviously speeding up service time

Cons:

  • Definitely not the extraction method that makes for the best filter coffees in the world, precisely because it standardises the preparation
Moka + Pump My Moka

The most widely used tool in Italian homes and still dominating the market today. This time, however, prepared with PumpMyMoka!

Pro:

  • Italians know and love it, while foreigners are immensely fascinated by it
  • With Pump My Moka you eliminate bitterness in the cup and speed up extraction
  • But above all it makes you independent of the heat source!

Cons:

  • You have to know how to communicate with the customer and explain the product, because consumers will find themselves holding a different coffee than they are used to drinking at home
Clever

It is called ‘smart’ because it has a valve at the bottom that is only opened when you place the instrument on a server or cup that will accept the drink that will come out of it.

Pro:

  • Easy to use
  • It can be served to the customer while the drink is brewing with an hourglass beside it. Once the necessary time has passed, it is the customer who places the instrument on the cup to witness the magical moment of filtering.
  • This ultimately speeds up the serving time

Cons:

  • None known.
V60

The real star of all brewing methods, used in world coffee competitions and in all the best speciality coffee bars.

Pros:

  • Aesthetically appealing
  • Fascinating in preparation
  • Allows you to obtain drinks with an incredible taste
  • Very versatile

Cons:

  • And the most complex to use
  • Or rather: to understand how to use it and make the most of it requires training, a great deal of experience and continuous experiments
French Press

If you want a thicker, more intense coffee than the classic paper filter methods presented above. This in fact features a metal filter.

Pros:

  • Very easy to use
  • Very fast in preparation
  • No extra server required
  • You can also use it to whip hot or cold milk by hand or for tea infusions

Cons:

  • The customer may find a ‘pasty’ coffee in the cup and may often also feel extra-fine ground granules between the teeth. That is just the beauty of this tool, but some customers might find it annoying

Support Tools

Once you have chosen the tool(s) you are going to use, you must consider the following purchases:

  • Quantity of tools and servers suitable to meet all potential customer demand;
  • Suitable serving cups with a capacity between 200 and 300ml;
  • Professional, waterproof scales with timer function fitted and 0.1g weight tolerance;
  • Electric kettle with the possibility of setting and maintaining the temperature with deviations of at least 1°C and with a ‘swan neck’ spout;
  • Dedicated coffee grinder with the possibility to grind from the finest grind similar to icing sugar to coarse grind similar to coarse salt;
  • Washable or disposable filters suitable for the selected instrument;
  • Carafe with filter to purify sink water or purchase bottled water for these preparations.

Which coffee to choose?

The answer is very simple: a single-origin Arabica with Medium or Light Roast, even better if Specialty Coffee.

I will be brief as to why:

this type of extraction offers a drink with very little body, no bitterness and a wide range of aromas.

Knowing that Arabica gives a large aromatic range to the drink, while Robusta brings bitterness and body. Which coffee would you choose? The Arabica of course!

Knowing also that a medium or light roast makes the coffee slightly bitter, enhancing its aromatic profile, while a dark roast makes the coffee simply bitter… which would you choose? The first two!

I recommend Specialty Coffee because obviously the better quality the coffee, the more it will offer an incredible, defined and unique flavour profile!

So look for a coffee roaster, like us at Caffè Ernani, that has this kind of coffee in its catalogue in addition to the classic bar blends!

Communication

We have come to the last section that I think it is right to consider before starting: sales and communication.

It will happen that an experienced customer will come into your establishment, who already knows the type of coffee, the tool and the drink. All you will have to do is prepare and sell it to him.

But it will not always be like that.

There may be customers who simply ask you “what is this new thing?” and that will be the crucial moment when you will be able to introduce them to this new beverage (with even higher margins for you), intrigue them and convince them to try it.

If you don’t know how to present coffee in very few but captivating words. If you do not know how to describe the drink they will find in their hands, or if you are not prepared to answer false myths such as ‘it is just dirty water‘, ‘I am looking for intensity‘ or ‘this is not a real coffee‘, it is better not to offer it at all.

If, on the contrary, you know how to answer all the questions, describe everything impeccably and approach your customers, you will have retained them forever!

If you want personalised advice, write to us!

Marketing, E-commerce e Social Media Manager
Coffee Lover

Author

Martina Mazzoleni

Marketing, E-commerce e Social Media Manager Coffee Lover

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sono Martina, come ti possiamo aiutare?
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