Velopresso Time Trial #1: ‘20 minutes – How many espressos?’
Pedal-powered artisan quality coffee, what’s not to like? But what about productivity and, most importantly, profits? We’re hearing great stats from Velopresso operators around the world (40 double-shot milk drinks or 100+ espresso per hour, which is a pretty good earner!), so we’ve had some fun demonstrating the efficiency of Velopresso’s coffee machinery in a controlled test in our factory.
We have a bit of a passion for time-lapse films, and we love a challenge, so here is a real-time, 20 minute time trial, compressed into just over 2 minutes. Our man in the saddle is Adam Chan, an experienced barista and trainer who works with our friends Monmouth Coffee and is training to be a roaster. Although Adam isn't a regular Velopresso user, he’s played around a bit, so knows the rig and was quickly into a groove.
In this first time trial, we set out to see how many espressos Adam can make. This is stripped-down testing, without customer interaction, and shows the maximum output on the machine. (A real-world equivalent would be running a ‘coffee service’ at an event, where it’s about maintaining quality while knocking coffees out as quickly as possible.
We’re not going to let on how many he made – watch the video to find out – but it’s a lot. Times it by three (to get an hour) and it proves without doubt that Velopresso is as ‘fast’ as any café operation that uses a single group espresso machine – mobile or café-based. Given a relatively skilled barista, capable of multi-tasking at the counter – grinding, tamping pulling shots, steaming milk, pouring, rinsing and handing out drinks – the potentially limiting factor of having one group doesn’t slow down the profits.*
*Tech talk: the GR1-Velo pedal-powered grinder uses 71mm conical burrs, and pedalling at 80–100rpm drives the burrs at 250-400 rpm (depending on which gear you use, so the speed is the same as a commercial electrical grinder – like the Mazzer Robur. The potentially limiting factor, in terms of pure speed, is the single lever group. The Velopresso is a very compact mobile café, and our espresso machine is a commercial single lever group FCL1 (made for us by Fracino) that’s been designed to fit the more compact space of our trike.
