The capacity that the commercial espresso machine you will decide to choose has to be proportional to your business scale. Are you going to serve several cups of to-go daily? Do you happen to be a local roaster, serving specialized brews to just a few customers? What is the amount of space that you have for storing the machine?

When it comes to operating the machine, how many baristas are going to operate it simultaneously? They are essential questions that you will need to ask before you pick your espresso machine. The capacity of the device will be determined by the size of the boiler and the group-head numbers.

Most commercial espresso machines have 2,3 or 4 group heads. The group head number will dictate the number of baristas who will have to work on the machine at the same time.  Each head has the capacity of being able to produce 2 drinks simultaneously.

You have to remember that having a higher number does not automatically mean that it will be better as you might end up being limited by the space you have behind the counter. The capacity of the boiler is also a factor that is very important to be considered when choosing the right commercial espresso machine.

You have to ensure that the boiler is large enough to give enough water during the business peak numbers. In most instances, it depends on the heads – the more the heads, the bigger the boiler.  You always have to remember the machine size. While going for a large machine will cost you more and need more space, it will be great for the staff to improve their service time.

Maintenance and ease of use

Just like any other profession, equipment that is high performing has to be well maintained. It means both the ease of repairing in case of having any technical issues or daily routines like having to clean the machine.

Almost all espresso machines that are in the market are designed to make the work of making coffee easy and ease on menial tasks of daily maintenance.  But have to be aware that having to research on the machine’s practicality is very important.

Most of the commercial espresso machines in the market tend to be self-cleaning, but regularly, you will need to descale them. They don’t have group heads that is detachable, meaning you will need to rely on the machine’s ability to self-cleaning.

You could decide to go for a commercial automatic espresso machine, which has removable parts. With that, you will get all the flexibility to do the deep cleaning manually once in a while, but there will be a need to train your staff on how to remove and return the kit.

The commercial espresso machine that is semi-automatic comes with removable parts, and thus, they have to be descaled manually. They tend to be easy to maintain as compared to the automatic ones because there is no inbuilt coffee grinders or any machinery that is complicated.