How to introduce a filter coffee offering in your shop

Filter coffee is a wonderful and alternative way to taste and enjoy coffee, different from the classic espresso.

Our ideal coffee shop menu would always offer at least 2 espresso and just as many filters.

When dialed in properly, brewed coffee produces an elegant and aromatic flavor profile and you often get to see new levels of complexity.

Some coffees adapt particularly well to this type of extraction, so much so to be able to showcase flavors in the cup that could hardly be replicated in espresso.

In this article, we would like to guide you through some tips if you are planning to introduce a filter coffee offer to your shop menu, in order to help you embrace this exciting choice in the best way.

1) Training

With the growing consumer interest towards the final product, the role of the barista becomes more and more dynamic and no longer only just related to the preparation of the drink. Today barista can be in some aspects compared to a sommelier, he crafts the drink with precision and introduces flavor notes to the customer, engaging with processing knowledge. This is why baristas must be trained.

Our filter coffee technique course offers interesting ideas for understanding brewing methods, finding your way between "pour over" and "full immersion", understanding variables that impact flavors, connections between origin and result in the cup. Not only do we face practical preparation tests together, but we understand how to set up your brew bar area, net of available spaces, which equipment is the most ideal, and how to prepare your staff to implement a new offer in the classic coffee shop service.

2) Communication

Serving specialty coffee necessarily means accompanying the product with a part of communication to the customer. Whether it is espresso or filter, specialty coffee is in contrast to the flavor of commercial coffee, so it must be told to avoid a possible negative experience for the consumer.

Not only that, filter coffee culture is even less known and often misunderstood, therefore it requires a deeper communication phase.

How many times you heard describing a filter coffee as "dirty water" or mistakenly confused with “movie style” Americano?

It is key to prepare the customer for something extraordinary that has nothing to do with dirty water concepts. Filter coffee can be spectacular depending on the origin chosen, flavours in the cup can vary from super fruity to more floral aromatic to warmer chocolatey like notes. Building expectations and communicating all this to the customer requires hard work and passion, always rewarded.

3) Coffee rotation

Two coffees from the same production region, for example, Huila in Colombia, can showcase completely different characters in the cup.

One aspect that fascinates people about specialty coffee is the seasonality and rotation of the product, dynamic and for palates of all tastes: from the roundest and sweetest coffees to those with higher acidity and complexity.

With filter coffee, you have an exciting way to showcase how different and incredible flavors this product can offer.

4) Experience value

After training the staff, setting up a small brew bar area, understanding the importance of communication, and choosing the first coffees, you can only give the right value to the experience you are about to offer.

Implementing a filter coffee offering in the standard shop service certainly has a cost, not only for equipment but also to coordinate the staff around brewing, which requires longer times than an espresso. Unfortunately, many confuse filter coffee with something too slow, certainly to be avoided if you are in a rush, but trust us, serving an excellent filter can take just 3 minutes.

The beauty of a brew bar is then also to watch the brewing ritual, take the time to interact with the barista, enjoy coffee calmly and never in a hurry.

This experience has an important value, which must respect the whole supply chain, professionalism, and product quality. The price of a cup of filter coffee to the end customer can be between 3 and 6 euros or higher with certain rarer botanical varieties.

Our final advice is to never be afraid of quality. The choice of serving specialty coffees, training, and introducing filter coffees is of great professionals.