Rich, aromatic and full of flavour - there’s something deeply satisfying about the perfect cup of coffee. When you’re anticipating that first cup of the day, there’s nothing worse than being handed a coffee which is nothing more than a tasteless pool of brown liquid.
The good news is that with modern coffee machines, there’s no need to ever put up with a poor cup of coffee ever again. A bean-to-cup machine can deliver a wide range of coffees, personalised to just how you like them.
Surprisingly simple to use, there are both home and commercial bean-to-cup machines available. Here’s the lowdown on how they work and what to expect.
What is a bean-to-cup machine?
Although the name may sound technical, bean-to-cup machines are easy to use, and allow you to enjoy the taste of coffee which has been freshly ground.
A versatile piece of kit, a bean-to-cup machine grinds whole coffee beans quickly, makes espresso-based coffee and also adds frothy milk, where required.
Making the coffee from the whole beans gives plenty of options to grind them precisely how you want. You’ll get the maximum flavour, and a mellow, well-rounded coffee which can be brewed to the strength you prefer.
To achieve this, every bean-to-cup machine has a grinder. The beans are ground to your specific preferences, brewed with hot water and then combined with either steamed milk and/or milk foam where required, to make the speciality coffee of your choice.
Getting the espresso flavour
A bean-to-cup coffee machine offers far more options than a regular coffee filter machine because it is able to produce espresso. This isn’t just a strong coffee; it can only be produced by using high pressure to force hot water through finely ground beans.
Lots of coffee drinks are based on espresso. Grinding the beans freshly every time means that you can enjoy whatever type of coffee you want, depending on the options included in the machine.
Freshly ground beans hold more flavour than pre-ground coffee. This is because oil starts to evaporate from the beans after they are ground, with exposure to oxygen degrading the flavour. Only grinding the beans as you need them ensures the coffee has its freshest, fullest taste.
Getting the coffee you want
Bean-to-cup machines are available in a wide range of sizes, and budgets. Whether you’re looking for a smaller model for your home office, or a large commercial bean-to-cup-machine that’s capable of producing hundreds of cups every day.
Bean-to-cup machines typically offer a wide selection of coffees, such as espresso, latte, cappuccino and cafe creme. They can also serve delicious hot chocolate and other instant drinks.
You can choose the coffee you want using the control panel and there are touch free models available too.
A good quality commercial coffee machine gives the opportunity to finely tune the drinks to get the best out of the machine. This can include adjusting the temperature, brewing time and how finely you want the beans to be ground. The Rex-Royal range for example provides a huge range of options when it comes to setting up drinks. To get the most from the machine you need an experienced engineer to work with the chosen coffee, to ensure the drinks are the very best they can be.
A milk dispense system is an essential part of a bean-to-cup machine. If you want something different than a straight espresso or black Americano, you can add hot, steamed and foamy milk to your cup. The milk solution may be manual or automatic, depending on the machine you choose.
Transform your coffee experience
A bean-to-cup machine can transform your daily cups of coffee, giving you access to creamy delicious coffee at the touch of a button and far more cheaply than you can buy on the high street.
There are more compact bean-to-cup machines which are perfect for domestic use, as well as larger commercial bean-to-cup machines more suited to offices. Take a look at our range online today and get in touch if you’d like to find out more.
