Actually this blog is not about Kees's business but about our new Mirage made by Kees I just wanted an excuse to use his full title.
At the BCC we have put in a new Mirage with Bastone levers and Veloce body work and more importantly the internal workings of the machine is what has always impressed me about these machines. We have had the machine for a few days now and I thought I would post on some of my observations over these days.
Improved taste: the flavour we are getting out of our Octavia blend has improved out of sight.
Happier baristas: Our baristas have a lot more pride about who they are and what they are doing, this has a few carry on effects 1. customers are looked after better because our baristas are in a better mood and 2. the baristas make a consistently better coffee because we have given them a Maserati to work on rather than a Ford.
Customers love the look of the new machine: I guess this will die down after a week or so.
Technical hiccups: We had a faulty pressure switch which was easily fixed and the staem arm seams to be getting a little stiff very quickly.
The adjustable restrictors: Kees has come up with this great idea of putting adjustable restrictors at the exit point of the heat exchangers at the top of the boiler giving the barista the ability to adjust the brewing temperature and also control over the steam pressure. To use this correctly you need a SCACE or a thermometer in the puck but it works a treat and I love the extra control it gives you.
Jung hanging trays: With the Mirage you can get a lot of extras or not and we have put the milk jug hanging trays on, they are very fiddly to adjust but when you set it right they are fantastic.
