What is the most common mistake when buying an espresso machine?

Sizing the machine for the daily average number of coffees rather than for the busiest hour. This leads to too few groups and queues at peak times.

Is it worth buying a bigger machine just in case?

Spare groups for a growing venue, yes. A flagship with features your team will not use, usually not. We recommend the simplest model that covers your traffic.

How many grinders does a café need?

At least two: one for espresso and one for a second coffee, decaf for example. Budget for grinders together with the espresso machine.

When should you check the connections for an espresso machine?

Before the bar is designed and built. Your contractor should know the dimensions, power supply, water supply and drain of the chosen model.

What should you look for when choosing a supplier?

Service in Poland, response time, phone support, replacement equipment and access to parts. Parts for La Marzocco machines are available for at least 10 years after a model is discontinued.

10 café espresso machine buying mistakes to avoid

1. sizing for the daily average instead of the peak

A venue sells 250 coffees a day, so “on average” that comes to a dozen or so coffees an hour. The problem is that coffees are not spread evenly. The queue before nine can take a fifth of daily sales in an hour, and a machine sized for the average will not keep up.

How to avoid it: work out your busiest hour, ideally from your till report, and choose the number of groups for it. The group calculator will help, as it also takes into account the share of milk drinks and the number of baristas.

2. too few groups, or far too many

Too few groups create a bottleneck: the barista waits for a free portafilter and guests wait for their coffee. Too many groups mean a bigger machine, higher power consumption and budget tied up in a machine that runs at half capacity for most of the day.

How to avoid it: stick to the rule we apply to every recommendation: the simplest model that covers your traffic, with the number of groups matched to the peak and to the number of people behind the bar, plus sensible headroom for growth. We set out the coffee and group thresholds in the guide how many groups a venue needs.

3. a flagship “just in case”

It is tempting to buy the most advanced model “to be sure it is enough”. But pressure profiles or extensive electronics only make sense when the team uses them. In a venue with one coffee and changing staff, they often go unused.

How to avoid it: start from your menu and team, not from the catalogue. We describe the differences between models in the guide which espresso machine for a café. If you run a specialty café and genuinely work with recipes, see the guide specialty café: which espresso machine to choose.

4. overlooking the grinder

The espresso machine brews the coffee, but the taste starts in the grinder. The best machine paired with a random grinder will give inconsistent coffee, and a single grinder for espresso and decaf or a second coffee means constant readjusting.

How to avoid it: plan for at least two grinders and include them in the budget together with the machine, not after the purchase. You will find La Marzocco grinders in the espresso machine and grinder catalogue.

5. no plan for water and filtration

Water makes up most of the cup and is the most common cause of espresso machine problems. Hard water leaves scale in the boilers and filter baskets and changes the taste of the coffee.

How to avoid it: measure the water hardness in your venue before installation and choose a filter and a cartridge replacement plan to suit it. Details in the guide water for espresso machines.

6. power, water and drain checked after the bar is built

The bar is ready, the tiles are laid, and only then does it turn out that the machine needs a different connection and there is no drain where the machine will stand. It ends with chiselling out walls and a delayed opening.

How to avoid it: choose the model before the bar is designed and give your contractor the dimensions, power supply, water supply and drain. You will find a list of things to check in the guide preparing your venue for an espresso machine.

7. counting only the purchase price

The price of the machine is only one of the costs. On top of it come scheduled services, consumable parts, filtration and above all downtime: a day without coffee in the high season can cost more than the difference between two models.

How to avoid it: compare the total cost over several years: the purchase or instalment, service, parts and the risk of downtime. We explain how to spread the purchase over time in the guide café espresso machine leasing, and what a service covers in the guide espresso machine service.

8. no team training

A new machine in a team without a shared recipe makes better coffee than the old one, but it still differs from person to person. And bad habits from the first weeks, such as skipping the backflush, come back later as breakdowns.

How to avoid it: plan training together with delivery: operation and cleaning on setup day, the recipe in the first week, working at peak times in the weeks after. You will find a ready plan in the guide a barista training plan for the first month.

9. a supplier without service or parts

A machine bought at a bargain price from a supplier with no service in Poland works perfectly until the first breakdown. Then the search for a technician and the wait for parts begin, and the bar stands idle.

How to avoid it: before you buy, ask who will come out to a breakdown and how quickly, whether there is phone support and replacement equipment, and where the parts will come from. Parts for La Marzocco machines are available for at least 10 years after a model is discontinued. We provide service across Poland, more on the Service and leasing page.

It is also worth asking what the first scheduled service looks like and who will show your team how to use the machine at setup. A supplier who stays with you after delivery is often worth more than a lower price on the invoice.

10. design over workflow, or the other way round

One mistake is choosing a machine just because it looks beautiful, without checking whether the barista can comfortably lock in the portafilter, steam milk and reach the cups. The other is the opposite: completely ignoring the fact that the machine sits on the bar and guests look at it all day.

How to avoid it: judge it from both points of view. From the barista's side: group height, space on the drip tray, the layout of the station. From the guest's side: the back and side of the machine, its colour and how it fits the interior. A good example is the GB5 S with two red lilies on its side panels, often chosen by hotels, restaurants and cafés where the bar is the venue's showpiece.

how to buy an espresso machine without these mistakes: the order of steps

Most of the mistakes on this list can be avoided if decisions are made in the right order. This is how we guide clients through a purchase during a free consultation:

Menu and guests. What drinks you sell, how much milk goes into them, and whether coffee is your main product or an add-on.
Traffic. How many coffees a day and how many in the busiest hour, today and in two or three years.
Team. How many people are behind the bar at peak times, how experienced they are and how often the staff changes.
Number of groups and model. Only on this basis do we choose the number of groups, the model and the version, following the rule of the simplest model that covers your traffic.
Grinders and water. Grinders, the filter and a cartridge replacement plan go into the same quote as the machine.
Venue. Connections, drain and dimensions go into the bar design before the contractor starts building.
Financing and support. Cash or leasing, scheduled services, team training and service after setup.

This order has one more advantage: each stage narrows the choice, so at the end you are comparing two or three sensible options instead of the whole catalogue. It is then easier to judge whether paying extra for a more expensive version will bring something to your venue or just raise the instalment.

If you are only planning to open, start with the menu and traffic, even if they are estimates. It is better to size the machine for a reasonable forecast and leave spare groups than to buy a machine that turns out to be a bottleneck after your first successful season.

summary: mistake, consequence, how to avoid it

A summary from our advisory work.
Mistake	Consequence	How to avoid it
Sizing for the daily average	queues and stress in the morning rush	work out your peak in the calculator
Too few or too many groups	a bottleneck or tied-up budget	groups based on the peak and the number of baristas
A flagship “just in case”	you pay for features your team will not use	the simplest model that covers your traffic
Overlooked grinder	good machine, inconsistent coffee	at least two grinders, budgeted with the machine
No plan for water	scale, breakdowns, change in taste	hardness test and filter at installation
Connections after the bar is built	chiselling, rework, delayed opening	power, water and drain in the bar design
Only the purchase price	service surprises and downtime	count service, parts and downtime
No training	expensive machine, average coffee	a training plan for the first month
Supplier without service	long waits for parts and repairs	service in Poland and access to parts
Design versus workflow	a beautiful but awkward bar, or the other way round	barista ergonomics and the look from the guests' side

Want to avoid these mistakes? Let's go through your venue, menu and traffic together before you order a machine.

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10 mistakes when buying a café espresso machine (and how to avoid them)