Batch Brew Blues?

Batch brews BABY! Anyone who knows us here at Marvell Sreet knows we are a little obsessed with filter coffee and brewing 'batchies' for the crew. It's pretty much the first thing we do at the roastery each morning, rinse, grind and brew, and quite often by the time everyone has arrived, caught up and gotten to work there is a second batchie brewing because 3L is never enough (yes, we may have a problem).

It seems our stoke for batchies might not be matched out there in the big wide world, with some customers reporting sales are down, and too much coffee is being tipped out at the end of the day, which, for us here at Marvell HQ, is quite shocking news! So we thought we would outline a few things about Batch Brews and filter coffee that we absolutely love.

Here are a few reasons we love batch brewing:

• Easy and efficient, one barista can brew 3L of coffee in less than a minute. Weigh, grind, press go and walk away baby!
• Super fast to serve, have your pot at the till and your customer will have their coffee in hand by the time they've finished paying.
• Economical, a 3L batch yields on average 2.65L of coffee, which is around ten 250ml cups, Cost Of Goods for a single 3L batch is $7-$9 depending on the coffee, sell two cups and you've covered your COGs.
• Dynamic and engaging, you're brewing the best quality single-origin coffees in the world. This means every couple of weeks you and your customers get to try something new, whether it be a flavour profile, an interesting variety or an amazing producer story, it is a product that can engage customers and staff about how awesome coffee is!
• It makes hands down, the best cold coffee, we call it chilter, brewing directly onto ice rapidly cools the coffee, retaining sweetness and acidity, it's the best coffee in summer.
• It's healthy, high-quality coffee, high-quality water, that's it, no nasties, no extras.

The above points are really just the tip of the iceberg, but there is a bigger picture to look at here, and that's hospitality. Having a quality batch program as part of your coffee service opens up a whole realm of customer experiences, for coffee lovers it's obvious, they get to try new coffees on the regular, but it shouldn't end there. If you're 15 dockets deep and getting smoked and customers are starting to look anxiously at their watches or desperately over their shoulders from their table, slinging out a few small (100ml) cups of batchy with a smile and a bit of froth ('you gotto try this crazy Gesha we have on!') can go a long way and turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one. Or say a customer's food order got mixed up, nothing says sorry like a little cup of batch whilst you let them know the kitchen is all over fixing up the order. Notice a regular just switched from a large latte to a large soy latte? Hook 'em up with a little batch taster and let them know it's dairy-free and less expensive! Because having a cafe, restaurant or coffee shop is really about hospitality, giving a guest an epic experience, the coffee plays a part but it's the whole experience that keeps a customer coming back for more.

Too often we hear about batch being tipped down the sink at the end of the day. Batch should never be tipped down the sink! Here's why:

• Is your batch visible? Vac-pots should be next to the till, with some signage if possible. Make sure staff know what's brewed and have some info cards at hand for anyone interested, and make sure the customer gets their batch as soon as they have finished paying. Fast, fun, tasty.
• It's too tasty, get your staff drinking it, it takes a staff member 2 seconds to pour themselves a batch, what's the cost for them to make or have the barista make a soy latte or oat flat white?
• Who is your most legendary delivery driver, regular customer or birthday superstar? Keep 'em smiling and send them on their way with a batchy and a high-five.
• Build it into your menu, spro and a batch combo deal, flatty and a batchy deal, do you sell cake? Batch and a cake deal, cookie and batch, bottomless batch, bring-your-own-mug-get-a-sweet-dizzy-batch, two-for-one-friday-batch, the opportunities are endless if you get a little creative.

There are a few things required to build a little batch brew following though, and if you stick to it you'd be surprised how quickly that following can grow, just stick to these simple tips:

• Always have a batch brewed fresh and ready for when you open the doors every morning. This is the number one way to build a strong following and keep batch brew lovers coming back. Hot, fresh and ready to go first thing.
• Don't serve lukewarm batch, nothing is worse than getting a tepid cup of batch. If your vac-pot is pretty full then it will be pretty hot, but as soon as you've sold a few cups (and covered your COGs) that temperature is going to start dropping, if you're not sure sure have a little taste, if it's on the edge serve the customer a small cup and let 'em know you're putting a freshie on just for them. They feel special, and you've got a whole new pot of batch to spread some stoke to your customers with.
• Give batch away, sounds weird but as explained above, batch brew is an ice-breaker, an experience-maker, and a way for your staff to engage with your customers and show some next-level hospitality. And ultimately that is the game we're all really in, hospitality.

We don't want to sound preachy, we know not everyone loves batch like we do and that's fine, not everyone has to serve it, but for those who do and are finding sales hard we hope some of the above might help get those sales up again. We are here to help so reach out and let's get those beautiful batch brews flowing!