Your basket is currently empty!
Category: Coffee Machines
The new La Brillante from Gaggia Milano
Watermark Coffee are please to announce the inclusion of the La Brillante bean to cup coffee machine from Gaggia Milano into our range of high performance automatic coffee machines. La Brillante is ideal for office and hospitality businesses that need superior quality coffee made consistently without fuss.
Gaggia Milano have created a ‘statement’ machine, with a contemporary and minimalist look and feel that makes La Brillante stand out from the competition, both reaching out to new customers and impressing existing ones.
This machine in particular makes a positive, long-lasting impression on customers by adding value to the experience, thanks to its design, its user-friendly touchscreen interface; flexible drink customisation and energy saving mode.
The La Brillante is self cleaning with fully automated cleaning cycles that makes day to day maintenance of this coffee machine simple and straightforward. There is no requirement for machine parts to be disassembled for cleaning.
The user interface is an LED touch screen that allows the drink selection to be customised to include any combination of coffee and hot chocolate drinks but also allows for the user to make a stronger Americano or a more foamy cappuccino.
Ideal for locations that need to make up to 100 coffees per day, the La Brillante is sure to please. Watermark Coffee offer a range of leasing and rental options for the La Brillante from €150 plus vat per month.
All considered, the La Brillante is an outstanding coffee machine in terms of quality and value for money. if you would like to find out more or would like to arrange a demonstration, please drop us a line at info@watermark.ie or call us on 014666304
Introducing the Saeco Magic Bean to Cup Coffee Machine
We are thrilled to add the Saeco Magic to our range of automatic bean to cup machines. The Saeco Magic illustrates how advanced small tabletop coffee machines have become with perfect espresso and silky milk foam, the Saeco Magic delivers over and above expectations.
The highlights of this machine for me are:
- The coffee quality is superb, the espresso has a rich golden colour and the milk is texturised to a beautiful microfoam consistency, this is helped along by a larger the average brewing chamber of 15g. Americano is made properly using hot water and espresso which gives the americano a lighter vibrant flavour.
- Automated cleaning cycles that are easy to follow and require minimal involvement from the user. The menu has options to carry out a full clean or just a rinse setting which is really handy.
- The touch screen makes using the machine easy to navigate and customisable.
- The Magic is really versatile; its small and compact so it will fit ideally in any office canteen. It has a water reservoir and a wastewater holder so there is no need for a freshwater mains connection or a waste pipe.
- It has an A enegy rating with energy saving mode.
There is a very nice video (which is perhaps a bit long) that gives insight into the look, style and features of this wonderful little machine.
The machine is available to purchase from as little as €60 plus vat per month. If you would like to find out more, please let us know by calling us on 01 4666304 or dropping us a line on info@watermark.ie
Getting your coffee just right
Whether you are a home coffee enthusiast or operate in a busy café, ensuring you get the best from your coffee and coffee equipment demands vigilance.
In no particular order; the top tips to help you get the most of your coffee and your espresso machine are:
1 Make sure your machine is clean, serviced and working correctly
Backflushing the shower disk and group head is essential to ensure that the espresso flavours are vibrant and are not tainted with stale coffee oils which can give a smokey after taste to the coffee. Use espresso machine detergent tablets or powder and follow the instructions in terms of the correct dose for each group. Overdosing detergent powder can cause the brew valve to block, so be careful.
Adhere to the recommended service interval, this will both save money in terms of catching things like water filters that require changing. It is also a chance to recalibrate the machine settings if they require adjustment and replace wear and tear parts which are vital to ensure the coffee machine is operating correctly.
2 Calibrate your grinder to ensure you get perfect coffee flavour extraction
Espresso that is brewed too fast or too slow ruins the flavour extraction. The grinder is key to regulating the flow and making sure that this is running perfectly is essential in delivering quality coffee. We have several ‘How To’ videos that demonstrate how to adjust the grinders we use. Click here to see the range of videos
3 Buy good quality coffee
Matching your coffee choice with your budget is essential; try and pick coffee that is either 100% Arabica or close to it. Not all coffee is created equally and there are still some terrible coffee beans for sale in the market. All the Watermark coffee bean blends that we sell are high grade speciality espresso Arabica.
4 Keep an eye on your measurements
Making sure that each of your coffee drinks have a balanced flavour is key here. Once you are happy that you have achieved this balance for the cup size, record and compare regularly:
- the amount of coffee being dosed from the grinder,
- the amount of water is being extracted through the espresso shot
5 Keep your beans fresh and free from oxidisatio
For the most part, coffee beans are now packed with nitrogen infusion which dramatically helps in eliminating oxidisation when the coffee beans are sealed in their bag. The real harm from oxidisation occurs when the bags are open, and the beans are sitting in the bean hopper for longer than they should. Ideally try and keep the amount of beans exposed to the air as low as possible, storing the remaining beans in an airtight container. Using a ‘grind on demand’ grinder really helps with preventing oxidisation with ground coffee.
6 Avoid overheating your milk when making cappuccino, latte and flat white
This can be a tricky one to gauge as some people like their latte made with very hot milk. In Italy, cappuccino / latte is served at about 62/63 degrees centigrade which would be largely unacceptable to most people here. I like my flat white made to about 66 to 67 degrees as it allows the coffee and milk flavours to complement each other. Avoid going over 72 degrees as the milk starts to burn at this temperature and the steamed milk loses its consistency and flavour. I usually recommend operators to gauge the temperature with their hand placed (outside) on the side of the jug as it’s being steamed and turn the wand off when it’s hot. If you’re unsure of when this is, then a milk thermometer can be useful.
7 Keep an eye on your water quality
I had a customer in Northern Scotland who used to claim that his water was the magic ingredient; his coffee did taste wonderful! As you would expect, water quality plays a large role in coffee flavour. While it can be difficult to change your mains water supply, you can invest in water filtration to ensure you are getting the best from it.
For our commercial customers I recommend that those making coffee for customers have a coffee every day from their machine and really concentrate on how it tastes. This daily routine helps identify anything that might need adjustment or attention. If you would like to find out more, please drop us a line at info@watermark.ie
All the best
David
Optimise your espresso with the Gaggia La Reale – Dynamic Flow Control
TheDynamic Flow Control (DFC) functionality on the Gaggia La Reale allows the Barista to optimise and refine the nuance of flavour from your espresso bean, Easy to programme, this functionality brings to life the opportunity to propel your coffee to the next level of refinement. The Gaggia La Reale is the ultimate high performance coffee machine, like to take a closer look? Then drop us a line on 01 4666304 to set up a demonstration in our Citywest showroom.
Touchless Office Coffee with Coffee APPeal
Coffee APPeal is a new user friendly, free app, which allows you to select and customise your coffee selection directly from your smartphone without touching the coffee machine.
- Simply download the App from the Apple App store or on Google Play for Android devices.
- Scan the QR code with Coffee APPeal on the Gaggia La Radios coffee machine
- Your phone connects via bluetooth with the coffee machine with no personal information being transferred
- Select and then customise your coffee on the App
- Place your cup under the pouring spout
- Enjoy!
Coffee APPeal has been developed by Gaggia Milano to ensure
- A safe and hygienic drinks selection without the need to touch the coffee machine
- No personal data or extra information is required
- It’s user friendly and intuitive to use
- Drinks are easily customised
- It works without mobile data
- Free to download and free to use!
Like to find out more? Please drop us a line or call us on 01 4666304.
Introducing the Gaggia La Nera 2 group
Looking to supplement your food offering with coffee? The new Gaggia La Nera 2 group is a great choice, its compact in size at 45 cm in width which should make it easy to squeeze into most places. The La Nera uses a standard 13 amp plug socket, so no need to get high voltage cables run into the area. But best of all, it comes in at a really economical price of just €4,500 plus vat which includes installation and 12 months warranty.
The Gaggia La Nera comes in 1 and 2 group models and has a 5 litre internal water boiler suitable for coffee / tea volumes of around 80 per day, Equipped with a steam wand and hot water outlet with barista lights over the coffee making area to ensure full visibility of the coffee extraction. The La Nera is from the world renowned coffee machine manufacturer, Gaggia Milano, and is hand made with the precision and attention to detail that has made this iconic coffee machine brand famous the world over.
Please call or drop us a line for more information on this great machine to have a chat on how we can help you develop your coffee business to its potential!
A Summer Outside
Coffee from horseboxes is a new phenomenon of living with lockdown. Given the surge in demand for coffee machines going into horseboxes there is apparently plenty of demand from the public to support these local entrepreneurs that see and seize their opportunity. For those with existing businesses and premises that may be operating at reduced capacity or are currently closed, there is a great opportunity to adapt the offering and increase revenue into the business.
Coffee is a great ‘horsebox’ product because it’s easy to handle, low preparation, attractive margin and customers don’t necessarily need to take a seat or table. For existing businesses with reputation, power, water, refrigeration all close to hand an adaptation of the business model should be reasonably straight forward. Whether it’s moving an existing coffee machine and running it off a pumped water bottle system or putting in a smaller 1 or 2 group machines like the Gaggia Ruby, there are plenty of options that can boost your revenues; who knows it might become a permanent feature of your business once lockdown eases!
It’s worth checking out to see if your business qualifies for an ‘outdoor dining grant’ which is being administered through Failte Ireland to help businesses adjust to the new operating environment.
If you would like to find out more about what coffee equipment might be most suitable, please give us a call or drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
#outdoordining #coffeetogo #summer2021 #supportlocal
Choosing the right coffee machine
There is an array of coffee equipment to choose in the market today and a lot of coffee machines are chosen based on personal preference; be it colour, shape or brand badge of the machine. Considerations such as staffing, rotas, throughput and performance are also really important.
For me, one of the most important questions that you need a good answer for is: “Who will I be dealing with on an ongoing basis when I need to get my machine serviced and repaired?” Does the service agent or company have access to all the spare parts and if so, have they bought them, or are they winging it? This point is now more important than ever as a result of Brexit, importing anything into Ireland is now a lot more costly and difficult that it was in 2020. Once you are happy that you’ve a partner that you can trust then you can move on to other practical matters.
Do you buy or rent your coffee machine? This will depend on your own time horizon and personal circumstance. Renting has the benefit of flexibility in uncertain times with the option to upgrade to a newer or larger machine over a shorter time frame than would be the case if you leased or purchased a machine straight out.
Purchasing or leasing a machine has the benefit that it works out cheaper over an 8 – 10 year period but it is really important to keep on top of your servicing as your coffee machines gets older. Coffee machines work in a challenging environment, operating with water / steam pressure, heating elements, different water hardness levels, different coffee types, different staff members (with different habits), so it’s important to keep on top of maintenance.
At Watermark, we have a range of world class coffee machine makes and models for rent or purchase. This includes a range of ex rental or used coffee machines that are serviced and sold with warranty to give you piece of mind but at a budget that will allow your business plan to come to fruition. Whether your plans are big or small, whether you want to dip your toe in the water or you have 20 years’ experience, or if you want the latest state of the art coffee equipment, drop us a line; we love to talk coffee!
