FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a standard Single Espresso Pod?
What is a standard Double Espresso Pod?
What is a Swiss Water Decafeinated Espresso Pod?
Why are Cafes using espresso pods?
Why are Bars, Clubs, Restaurants, Kiosks, Churches using Espresso Pods?
Why are offices using Espresso Pods?
Do you offer coffee capsules or non-standard coffee pods?
What is a standard single espresso pod?
The single espresso pod standard is 44ml wide and 10ml high. The weight varies according to coffee blend, roast, grind and batch - around 7-8 grams. The pods are symetrical in shape and have a tag for easy removal from pod ony/specific equipment. For more information visit www.esesystem.com
What is a standard double espresso pod?
The standard double espresso pod is 57ml wide and 13ml high. The weight varies according to individual blend, roast, grind and batch – around 13-14grams. The pods are symetrical in shape and have a tag for easy removal of from pod only/specific equipment. Systems such as; La Piccola Cecelia, Spinnel Duetta, Tecnosystem Gemini. Locally packed double espresso pods are packed in brown foil.
The double espresso pods can also be used in traditional café systems using the Pod Pressure Handles(sold on this website). The Pod Pressure Handle has an adjustable floor which can be set for double pods and a built-in pressure valve that opens at 9Bar. There are 7 different Pod Pressure Handles specific to different makes/models of cafe equipment. Systems such as; Astoria, Bezzera, Boema, Brasilia, Caramali, Cimbali, Expobar, Faema, Nuova Simonelli, Pavoni, Rancillo, San Marco, San Marino, San Remo, Wega.
The cafe espresso pod is 57ml wide and 11ml high. The weight varies according to individual blend, roast, grind and batch – around 10grams. The pods are non-symetrical in shape. Café Espresso pods do not conform to any standard and have been developed specifically for the Australian Cafe market.
The Cafe espresso pods are designed to be used with the Pod Pressure Handles(sold on this website). The Pod Pressure Handle has an adjustable floor which can be set for cafe pods and a built-in pressure valve that opens at 9Bar. There are 7 different Pod Pressure Handles specific to different makes/models of cafe equipment. Systems such as; Astoria, Bezzera, Boema, Brasilia, Carimali, Cimbali, Expobar, Faema, Nuova Simonelli, Pavoni, Rancillo, San Marco, San Marino, San Remo, Wega.
What is a Swiss Water Decaffeinted espresso pod?
Research tells us that the market for decaf coffee is people who actually like coffee, however, for one of many reasons, don’t want the caffeine. The market is not people who don’t like coffee. Caffeine is present naturally in coffee beans grown on the plantations. To date, the process of removing the caffeine from the coffee beans has been chemically intensive. The choice of coffee beans to be put through the de-caf process has typically been low grade. The end result is often an unpleasant, chemically tainted coffee.
The Swiss Water decaf process does not use chemicals and does not taint the taste of the coffee. Visit www.swisswater.com. We have selected a high grade coffee blend, popular as a café blend. The only difference is the caffeine, the taste is not compromised. Decaffeinated espresso pods are packed in blue foil.
Why are Cafes using Espresso Pods?
Espresso pods are ideally suited to requirements for decaffeinated coffee, organic coffee and other specialty coffees. A fresher, more cost effective option to operating multiple grinders.
Switch to espresso pods rather than opening another bag of coffee beans at close of day. Continue to serve coffee during and after the grinder has been cleaned/serviced.
Why are Bars, Clubs, Kiosks, Restaurants, Churches etc, choosing Commercial ESE Coffee systems over traditional café systems?
The main reason is that a coffee grinder cannot turn stale coffee beans into freshly roasted coffee beans. Freshly roasted coffee beans are like freshly baked bread, the freshness and flavour deteriorates rapidly. Cafes, selling 100’s of cups of coffee each day can justify discarding unused/unbagged coffee beans at the end of each day to ensure coffee freshness and flavour are maintained. Lower volume coffee sellers cannot justify the costs of maintaining coffee freshness and flavour. Commercial pod systems eliminate this problem.
A La Piccolo installed in a Sydney Pub Restaurant. Bar staff do not want to be coffee baristas. Commercial pod systems offer a faster, fresher and more consistent coffee. Coffee drinkers get a cafe quality coffee served over the bar and bar staff do not need to be coffee baristas.
There are also spoilage and wastage costs associated with professionally operating a coffee grinder. The coffee grinder must be continually calibrated(grind and dose) to allow for coffee batch to batch variables and day to day variables( ie humidity swells coffee beans). Commercial pod systems eliminate this problem.
A Tecnosystem 520DA(7+7) installed in the kiosk of a Sydney Aquatic Centre. A traditional café system is considered too slow for this environment. Coffee needs to be served immediately over the counter. The 520DA can be easily operated by all staff and is twice as fast as a traditional café system. The high powered auto-frother on this model is very effective, operating simultaneously with coffee extraction on the RHS.
There are also staff training and operational costs associated with professionally operating a traditional café system. With commercial pod systems, these costs are significantly reduced.
A Tecnosystem 510DA installed on the bar in a Sydney RSL club. A traditional café system operates limited hours in another part of the club. The space available and low volume makes the commercial ESE pod system ideally suited.
A Tecnosystem 520DA(7+7) operating in a Sydney soccer club canteen. A traditional café system considered too slow for this environment. On a Saturday morning, the requirement is 150-200 cups, in 2 hours, served immediately over the counter.
Why would an office choose a Commercial ESE coffee system instead of a Commercial Automated System?
Automated coffee systems are not designed to produce café-style coffee, nor are they designed to compare or compete with Traditional Café equipment. Coffee freshness, flavour and consistency must be compromised to achieve automation. If automated coffee systems could achieve consistent coffee freshness and flavour, every café would have an automated coffee system.
Café systems operate on a high pressure, high temperature, infusion, extraction process. The coffee presents golden in colour, syrupy in consistency, with a dense crema and a rich flavour. Automated systems operate on a coarse grind/loose pack and a brewing/washing process. The coffee presents brown in colour, watery in consistency, dull in flavour and with a thin layer of froth. It is one of the reasons office coffee systems sit idle and staff buy coffee from cafés.
`A Tecnosystem 520DA Double/14g LHS, Single/7g RHS, Steaming wand LHS, auto-frother RHS installed in the Sydney office of an international law firm, with over 3,600 lawyers in 70 countries. The system is used by catering staff to serve coffee to clients and available to 400 other staff as an option to the “café run”.
Commercial ESE systems are operationally better suited to offices. There are a range of coffees available to suit all tastes. The coffees are packed in single and double size to suit preferences for coffee strength. Changing milk types is quick and easy. Models are available with both an auto-frother and steaming wand. Minimal cleaning.
A Tecnosystem 520DA Double/14g LHS, Single/7g RHS, steaming wand LHS, auto-frother RHS, plumbed installed in the Sydney office of an international architectural firm, with over 100 staff in the Sydney office. The system is used to serve coffee to clients and available to staff.
There is a perception that Commercial ESE coffee systems are expensive. In reality, Commercial ESE coffee systems cost less money to buy/hire/maintain/clean than commercial automated coffee systems(no grinder/s, no motors, no expensive electronic circuitry, no onerous time consuming cleaning routines). Commercial ESE systems are in the $2400 to $3900 price range. Commercial automated systems are in the $6,000 to $18,000 price range. There is a perception that coffee costs will skyrocket, when using pods. The cost of a double pod starts at 70cents- 35cents per cup. The discounted price(orders of 1,000pods) is 29cents per cup. However, a cup of café standard coffee is not directly comparable to a cup of “coffee flavoured water”. The coffee drinking profile of an office with a Commercial ESE coffee system changes to a lower number of higher quality cups of coffee consumed. In reality, the coffee costs of commercial ESE/pod systems are not significantly different to commercial automated/bean to cup systems.
A Tecnosystem 520DA Double/14g LHS, Single/7g RHS, steaming wand LHS. In the interests of minimal cleaning a plastic steaming wand has replaced the auto-frother on the RHS. Operated by a staff club in the staff room of an Australian Airline. Operated on a user pays basis, the unit is available 24 hours/7days.
The bottom line is a better cup of coffee, a system better suited operationally to an office at a comparable or lower overall price to alternative systems.
Yes. However, our website ordering system does not calculate discounts. A 10% discount is offered for 500 pod orders. Higher discounts are offered for larger orders. Contact our offices for details.
Do you offer coffee capsules or non-standard coffee pods?
No. Coffee capsules are non-standard single serve coffee products, specific to a particular make/model of coffee equipment. Non-standard coffee pods are also specific to a particular make/model of coffee equipment. We promote the standard coffee pods exclusively because they are the superior choice in single serve coffee products. Considering;
1. There are over 100 Australian coffee roasters promoting their coffee products in standard coffee pods. There is a broadening range of high quality, competitively priced coffee pods. The pods are packed in 7g, 10g and 14g weights to suit a variety of coffee equipment and tastes.
2. With the coffee pods, the layer of paper serves as a fine, membrane-like filter. There is a better extraction yielding a richer coffee flavour. The single serve coffee product of choice to produce saleable café quality coffee.
3. There are no taste distortions or toxicity associated with coffee pods.
4. There is a growing range of coffee equipment designed for use with coffee pods. There are four categories;
a) Starting from portable hand held devices such as the Handpresso. The Handpresso system is available for sale in our shop section.
b) Home use machines incorporating pod adaptors such as DeLonghi, Sunbean Café Series, Saeco Via Venezia.
c) Purpose built pod-only coffee equipment such as La Piccola Cecelia, Spinnel Duetta, Tecnosystem Gemini. We have Tecnosystem equipment available for sale new, for hire and for sale as ex-hire units.
d) Café equipment using Pod Pressure handles. Systems such as Brasillia, Faema, San Marino. We have Pod Pressure handles for sale in our shop section to suit 12 different makes/models of café equipment.