Opening a coffee shop comes down to six pieces of equipment: a commercial espresso machine, an espresso grinder, a batch brewer, a water filtration system, cold brew gear, and a maintenance plan to keep all of it running. Get these right and you have a café that makes great coffee and survives the morning rush. Here’s the checklist, what each piece actually does for you, and how to pick the version that fits your space and your volume.
This guide sticks to what lives behind the counter and makes the drinks. Furniture, point-of-sale, and permits are all real and all necessary, but none of them pull a shot.
1. Commercial Espresso Machine
The espresso machine is the heart of the shop, and usually the biggest check you’ll write. It sets the ceiling on two things at once: how good the coffee is, and how fast you can serve it. Group count is the first real decision. One group suits a cart or a slow bar. Two groups run most cafés. Three or four are for the shops with a line out the door at 8 a.m. One thing to plan for before the machine arrives: it has to be installed by a factory-certified technician with proper water filtration in place to keep the manufacturer warranty valid. Book the install when you buy, not after. Voltage carries commercial espresso machines from Sanremo, La Marzocco, Synesso, Slayer, Nuova Simonelli, Astoria, Schaerer, and Lelit.
- Good: the Sanremo Zoe. A single-boiler workhorse that handles a typical café’s volume without a heavy spend. A strong first machine.
- Better: the Sanremo F18. Multi-boiler temperature stability you’d usually pay a lot more for, and the right call once espresso is the center of your menu.
- Best: the Sanremo Opera 2.0. Sanremo’s flagship, with pressure profiling and the temperature control a serious specialty program is built on.
2. Espresso Grinder
A great machine can’t rescue a bad grind. That’s why the grinder is item two, never an afterthought. Consistent, precisely dialed grounds are what make espresso repeatable, shot after shot and barista after barista. Most shops run two grinders anyway, one for espresso and one for decaf or a second blend, so nobody’s re-dialing in the middle of a rush. Match the burrs and the hopper to your volume. Voltage carries commercial grinders from Mazzer, Mahlkönig, Eureka, and Compak.
- Good: the Mazzer Mini G. Compact 64mm grind-by-weight. Ideal as a first grinder for a smaller shop, or as your dedicated decaf grinder.
- Better: the Mazzer Major V. The big 83mm flat-burr workhorse for medium-to-high volume. For most cafés, this is the safe default.
- Best: the Mazzer Robur S. 71mm conical burrs built to hold consistency through the busiest part of the day.
3. Batch Brewer
Plenty of your customers just want a good cup of drip, and they want it fast. A batch brewer delivers that without tying up the espresso machine, and it keeps the line moving at peak because brewed coffee pours in seconds. Size it by how much drip you expect to move and how many airpots or servers you need to keep hot. Voltage carries batch brewers from Bunn, Fetco, Marco, and Wilbur Curtis.
- Good: the Fetco CBS-1231. A single-station, one-gallon brewer for low-to-medium drip volume.
- Better: the Fetco CBS-1251. A 1.5-gallon single station for when the batches get bigger.
- Best: the Fetco CBS-2232 twin-station. Two brew stations, so you can hold regular and decaf at the same time. Servers are sold separately.
4. Water Filtration System
Water is the one ingredient in every drink you sell, and it’s also what protects everything you just bought. Untreated water builds scale, and scale quietly kills espresso machines and brewers. It’s also why filtration is a condition of most manufacturer warranties. There’s no single right answer here, because it depends on what comes out of your tap, so start with a water test. For typical municipal water, a scale-inhibition and carbon system from BWT or OptiPure handles scale, sediment, and chlorine. In hard-water or high-TDS regions, move up to reverse osmosis, which strips the dissolved solids and then remineralizes the water back to a target you actually want. Not sure which camp you’re in? Send us your water report through our contact page and we’ll read it with you. Voltage carries water filtration systems for every setup.
5. Cold Brew Equipment
Iced coffee and cold brew sell year-round now, not just in July. Dedicated cold brew equipment gives you smooth, high-margin batches without the mess of buckets, bags, and guesswork: consistent concentrate, predictable yield, and fast cleanup. That matters when cold drinks are a real line on your menu. Size the brewer to how much you expect to pour in a day. Voltage carries commercial cold brew systems for shops of every size.
- Good: the Torr Hive Café. Entry-level and quick, with 20-to-30-minute brews and self-filtering cleanup. A serious step up from bucket brewing.
- Better: the Marco ColdBRU. Programmable and higher-yield, with repeatable profiles for both concentrate and ready-to-drink.
- Best: the Marco ColdBRU paired with the Marco POUR’D dispenser. A full cold-brew-on-tap setup for shops that pour cold all day.
6. A Preventative Maintenance Plan
This is the one most new owners skip, and it’s the one that keeps everything above it alive. Commercial espresso machines run all day under heat and pressure, and they need regular maintenance to stay reliable no matter who does the work. Skip it, and a small worn part becomes a machine that dies mid-rush on a Saturday. A preventative maintenance plan puts a trained commercial espresso technician on a set schedule, catching wear before it turns into a breakdown. Voltage offers an annual preventative maintenance program with scheduled visits from trained technicians, where your service area allows. Build it in from day one and your equipment stays dependable during the hours that actually make you money. To talk through what your setup needs, reach out through our contact page, or call 800-269-0051 or text 720-734-6257.
Your Coffee Shop Equipment Checklist
- Commercial espresso machine, sized by group count to your volume
- Espresso grinder, ideally more than one
- Batch brewer for drip
- Water filtration matched to your local water
- Cold brew equipment for year-round iced drinks
- A preventative maintenance plan to keep all of it running
Voltage ships this equipment free to the lower 48 and installs commercial espresso machines free. To plan a full café build-out, reach out through our contact page, or call 800-269-0051 or text 720-734-6257.
Frequently Asked Questions
What equipment do I need to open a coffee shop?
At a minimum: a commercial espresso machine, an espresso grinder, a batch brewer, a water filtration system, and cold brew equipment, plus a preventative maintenance plan to keep it all running.
How many group heads should my espresso machine have?
One group for a cart or low-volume bar, two groups for most cafés, and three or four for high-traffic shops. Match the group count to the drinks you expect to serve at peak.
Do I really need water filtration for a coffee shop?
Yes. It protects your equipment from scale damage and is usually required to keep manufacturer warranties valid. And since water is most of what’s in the cup, it directly affects how your coffee tastes.
Why does a coffee shop need a maintenance plan?
Commercial machines run all day under heat and pressure and need regular maintenance to stay reliable, no matter who does it. Scheduled visits catch wear before it causes a mid-service breakdown, which keeps you open during the hours that make you money.