We polished off the Vivace Dolce this morning- and now it’s time for the Victrola coffee.
Only half a pound in the hopper to start the day and we’ve got about 8 or so doubles left.
Tag Archive for 'Synesso'
Two years ago when we were getting ready to open for business in the Strip District we didn’t really know much about the business of making coffee. Like most customers, we only knew what we liked. We had chosen a quality roaster based on a blind taste test of several local and national roasters. That was a good first step- we certainly didn’t know how poorly this decision could have gone now that we have the benefit of hindsight.
Six months into our first year of operation a NY Times article came my way from a regular customer of ours. It talked about the renewed emphasis on quality coffee making, and some of the shops in the NYC area that were leading the way. It excited us to see the press take interest in our industry and we wanted to be a part of a similar “coffee revolution” in our hometown. Around the same time another regular customer of ours came to us with word that a spot was available in the lobby of the Frick Building. We checked it out and after a lot of thinking and running of numbers we decided to go for it.
Once we made the decision to open up shop #2, we needed to purchase new equipment. Having the experience of shop #1 under our belts, the above mentioned article, and lots more research, we decided to turn to Synesso for our espresso machine and became the first shop in PA to install one. We now have one in each of our shops.
We bought the Synesso because it was temperature stable and would allow us to take our drink making to the next level. The Synesso ended up being a dream to operate and the owners of the company, Mark and Sandy, have been a joy to work with. When I have a question about my coffee, I’m a phone call away from the folks who have actually been to the origin farms. When I have a question about my espresso machine, I’ve often spoken to an owner of the company. Talk about eliminating the middlemen!
I never saw the following article before and came across it today online- it’s from a few years back. The neat thing is that Synesso is a young company, too. They had a dream and put a lot on the line to make it a reality. It’s great to see good, hardworking people have success.
“Machines cannot get any better than this, in my opinion,” said David Schomer, owner of Seattle’s Espresso Vivace and an espresso expert who has used Synesso’s Cyncra machine for nearly two years.
“Mark risked his house to get this machine into the world, and I think that’s rather commendable, too.”
Read the entire article here.
Our first Saturday in our new spot on the corner was a big success. Here were the highlights:
- The Pittsburgh and Western PA debut of the Clover coffee brewer was a hit. Customers loved the whole experience as they followed their drink order from whole bean to a fresh brewed cup. We hope to put together a short video of our own soon and post it online.
- We experienced triple the normal Saturday business from our old location down the street, without having yet reintroduced our new food menu (in other words, we made/sold A LOT of drinks).
- Customers loved the fact that they could now sit inside at the window bar, tables, the couch, or at one of many outdoor tables.
- The Clover was so popular that we sold out of all of our single origin coffees! We started Saturday with a half dozen offerings but by the end of the day we had sold out of coffee and switched to brewing our house blend and El Diablo (our dark roast) on the Clover. This week’s order has some really exciting stuff in it so stop in to check it out.
- Not to be outdone by the new coffee brewer, the incredibly good Synesso Cyncra espresso machine showed customers all day long why we decided to upgrade from our Astoria machine. The espresso is sweeter, the milk foam is finer, and overall it just tastes better.
Having been in business at the Frick Building for 7 months now (that went fast), it was time for our 6 month preventative maintenance. After several thousand drinks you need to take care of your equipment so it is up and running every day in top condition.
These non-emergency service calls can only be scheduled during normal business hours and so we chose 11am today to get our Synesso serviced. Basically needed to replace some gaskets in the group heads (where the espresso is brewed) and in the steam wands (where the milk is steamed). It went down on schedule and although I didn’t set a time frame for getting it completed, we were unable to make drinks again until about 3pm. To anyone that stopped by for an espresso drink or milk based drink- sorry. Understand that our first priority is to ensure that we can provide our customers with the best quality drinks every day. If we have to turn away some business for a few hours to make sure everything is running properly for the next six months… well we think the downtime is worth it.
By the way, if you ever need to get your commercial espresso equipment serviced- call Espresso Solutions. They’re based in Pittsburgh and they are the best in the area by far. They are part of the same group of companies as Pittsburgh’s Coffee Tree Roasters. Great people to work with. This was the first time anyone has worked on a Synesso in Pennsylvania and they really took the time to make sure the job was done right.
Espresso Solutions
1200 Lebanon Rd
West Mifflin, PA 15122
(412) 326-0170
Point Park University’s “The Globe” recently paid a visit to our shops, read on in:
State-of-the-art espresso a treat at Caffe Intermezzo