An important part of café equipment or a barista's whim? Glass and milk jug sharpeners can optimise your work at the coffee machine. But if you choose it correctly. Find out how to do it!
With a clean teapot for perfectly whipped milk
"Always keep your milk jug clean!" - that's the phrase you'll hear at every barista course. Why? Because you care about the perfect taste of your coffee, you need to whip your milk clean, without any residue from previous whipping. Even worse, after using a teapot to make hot chocolate etc. It may seem like an obvious thing to do, but using improperly washed milk jugs is unfortunately a recurring problem for baristas.
An improperly washed milk jug means:
- a reduction in the quality of the milk whipped into the coffee
- a reduction in the quality of the coffee as a finished drink
- risk of faster degradation of the milk foam
- a more difficult milk whisking process
- transfer of allergens from/to plant-based drinks (alternatives to animal milk)
Taste and odour traces from an unwashed teapot can significantly degrade the quality of the whipped milk and the coffee prepared from it. As a barista , you want a clean coffee flavour profile, without the taint of external influences that an unwashed milk jug can be. Last but not least, there's also the view of hygiene in a coffee shop, right?
Why have a milk jug sharpener?
Hand washing in the sink is the first way to keep a clean milk jug. A mechanical rinse is much more effective. One such simple teapot sprayer in a coffee shop will significantly improve the hygiene of the preparation and the quality of the coffee. At the same time, will optimize the barista's work processes and speed up the preparation of orders. Isn't this exactly what café operators and owners want? A more efficient barista is the key to a better customer experience.
Barista work with glass and teapot sharpeners
The basic rules of working effectively behind the bar in a coffee shop include keeping the work area clean. If you're using hand washing teapots in the sink, not only will you slow yourself down as a barista, but you'll likely limit your work space by putting away wet teapots. You also don't want to work with constantly wet hands. You have to move from the coffee machine to the sink.
A tidy workspace, clean dry hands and as few changes of station as possible makes the ordinary barista - an efficient barista. Optimizing the space around the coffee machine will speed up orders and improve the quality of coffee preparation. That's why the incorporation of a pot sharpener is almost essential in all coffee shops, where it's all about customers getting the best and without unnecessary waiting.
(how to further speed up in a coffee shop? read our case study)
Disadvantages of barista teapot sharpeners
Sharpening teapots and glasses also has its needs. Specifically, maintaining the hygienic cleanliness of this equipment. Despite the huge advantages that barista teapot sharpeners provide, it is important to give them some care as well. A barista should not forget to include cleaning of the spout in their daily sanitation schedule. Simply wash and sanitize it regularly. For a perfect cleaning, don't forget the barista wipes.
Cheap vs. quality glass and teapot sharps
Speaking of the drawbacks of these rinsers, overly thrifty coffee shop operators and owners suffer the most from problems with this equipment. I don't think frugality in equipment is entirely wrong. I speak from experience where buying cheap kettle washers (from AliExpress and similar online marketplaces) has not met with a solution to the problems of the operation. These just added on the contrary.
Cheap sharpeners have a disadvantage mainly in the quality of construction and material. They are assembled in such a way that the sharper mechanism cannot be disassembled easily or at all so that the device can be properly cleaned by the barista. I have also more than once seen a barista take an unexpected shower with a cheap washer that simply got stuck in the position to trigger the rinse. The unfortunate drain design and short-lived material then contribute to the early need to replace the cheap washer. The financial cost of such a device is therefore higher than the initial purchase and installation of a quality kettle rinser.
How to choose a barista pot rinser?
The range of rinsers is relatively easy to know and choosing the right one for your café then depends more or less on operational and space requirements. Usually, café owners resort either to smaller rinsers that take up a minimum of space. This is especially true if they add this equipment to their countertop at the coffee machine during operation. Or they take into account the need for a pot washer from the design of the coffee shop equipment. In this case, they prefer to have a built-in drip tray.
Choose a new glass washer and save time when washing the teapots.
