Ive been thinking about this for a while, and it has been the cause for some major debate over the past few weeks. Can brewed coffee ever make a succesfull transition to a coffee shop? It has been done, namely with Intellies recent move to a pour over based shop called montadon (I think). you can find the video here http://vimeo.com/11181154 but can it work in Ireland?
Coffee angels method certainly works in a top end restaurant where pomp and theatre are part of the experience but in your standard coffee shop? To me the biggest hurdle is educating the customer that this method is worth paying a bit extra for and waiting that little bit longer. But how do you do this? In an average 10hr day we put out about 300 or so coffees, never mind all the food and buns and milkshakes that are part and parcel of the job. I dont know if we would have time to sit with the customer and talk them through the process so they get value for money and know they are getting something special. To make any kind of go of it you also need to be staffed by raging coffee geeks who have a passion for what they are producing, training is one thing but to sell it you need to believe in it.
Obviously the home brewing community would jump on board for this and who know the time and effort it takes to achieve the desired results with brewed coffee, but chances are they are in a shop because they want an espresso based coffee, not something they can do themselves at home, and do it to there own specifications.
To make it a success a big push would be needed in the shop. An idea I have been kicking around is to do a filter day, where all the toys are on show in the shop, chemex, hario, uberboiler etc, the same idea as the brew ha ha but on a slightly larger scale but this is a big layout for something so specialised in a country where people are intimidated by coffee shop menus. Furthermore all the staff would have to be well trained in all these processes and what makes each of them different. Alot of organisation just in getting that right.
I would love to see a move to brewed coffee as I know how good it can be, and am passionate about getting people educated that brewed coffee can be a premium product, not the poor cousin of espresso based coffee.
If anyone knows somewhere wher this has been done in Ireland please let me know or any thoughts or ideas you have on the whole topic
April 26, 2010
clementsbelfast
4 responses to “Brewed coffee, can it work commercially?”
Karl
April 28th, 2010 at 20:21
Mick. You certainly ask some valid questions. And afaik, there isn’t a ‘Monadock’ clone here in Ireland doing 700+ cups a day. But Colin at 3FE has been doing it quiet successfully for several months now. Granted he is the quintessential pro and totally passionate.
What I think you want is volume and i really don’t think there is a magic wand to achieve this and do what intelly do. At a guess, I believe they have invested in both staff and customer education – and come up with an absolutely stellar marketing persona backed up with well earned credibility.
What we in Ireland need to do is start somewhere. As a small first step, please stop calling it ‘filter coffee’ (even though it is). Coming from Belfast myself, that moniker has ‘shite’ written all over it. It implies airpots, hot plates and awfullness.
Best thing though, get some coffee and get brewing…
clementsbelfast
April 28th, 2010 at 20:49
I know I know, force of habit, pushing for a change of wording in the next menu update, but to do that everyone across the 10, soon to be 11 stores has to be educated on why its called pour over and why thats a good thing, its something in my, admittedly, short time with the company that has never really been looked at and never really entered my radar until the last few months. What i have been saying recently is to have a more focused part of the brand, where its just coffee, offering different blends and brewing methods, closer to what Colin has going at 3FE. Clements as a brand has built a reputatuion for good coffee in belfast and I would like to think im helping to keep the standard set by my forebears. Our customers trust us to deliver a good standard and i think they would trust us to try something different if we offer it. I would love to be let loose and see if it works, I realise im still learning about all this and always will be. It something im pushing and would love to see happen, but im also aware of the fact that ultimately it is a business, and I worry that im letting the coffee geek rule the shop manager at times. I suppose the bigger question is, can my yearning to try something new and different, something i believe in, be translated into a good bottom line?
Edward Benton
October 23rd, 2010 at 11:31
Karl has hit the nail on the head – The biggest obstacle to overcome is the public misconception that filter is an inherently poor or lower grade type of coffee. People are used to getting it stale after sitting on a hot plate for hours like Karl said, airports, train stations.
Pour over sounds good, or brewed, or perhaps chemex. Do a funky chalkboard outside on it being James Bond’s brewing method of choice (true story).
I think the key is to get people to try it once, and the key to that is free samples, after a table of people are done with their cappas or lattes, drop by with some cups and a chemex and offer them a free sample sample. A few small cappa cupps of chemex brewed coffee (or other method of choice of course) give them a few facts about it and head back to the bar let them talk it over, debate it, let it become something they set themselves apart with, something they deem a hallmark of sophistication, and hopefully, something they’ll pay for next time.
Its always good to see someone keen on coffee, so many coffee *all* about bottom line, I feel with this one you can indulge both the coffee geek and the shop manager.
Sé
March 16th, 2011 at 22:38
You gotta keep the faith, and if John continues to give you the leeway to run with it I think you should.
I’ll be doing something soon myself and eventually we’ll get to a critical mass whereby brewed coffee will not be seen as the poor (geeky) relation.
Persevere and I believe it will take us another step up the ladder.
Sé