WHY KALDI’S COFFEE HAS A TECH TEAM
The Kaldi’s Coffee tech team is a core component of Kaldi’s Coffee, but one that doesn’t often get big headlines. We strive to provide an exceptional coffee experience, and the skills and expertise of our tech team are vital to achieving that goal.
Why? Because while a barista imparts the final touch to your delicious cup of specialty coffee, they would not be able to do so without the technician before them. Espresso machines and coffee brewers run the gamut from simple to complex, automated to fully manual. From the hot water and high pressures inside, or the banging and clanging of porta-filters on the outside, espresso machines are put through enormous strain in a coffee shop's busy environment, be it. Our tech team installs, maintains, and fixes any issues quickly and expertly, so that coffee can literally keep flowing despite the wear and tear of every day use.
...Our tech team installs, maintains, and fixes any issues quickly and expertly, so that coffee can literally keep flowing.
The tech team’s goal is the same goal all of Kaldi’s Coffee: source, roast, and brew top-quality specialty coffee. This is only made possible by installing and maintaining top quality coffee and espresso machines. As part of our broader mission, we aim to provide this service not just to our own cafes, but to every place our coffee is served.
WHAT DOES A KALDI’S COFFEE TECH DO?
Responding to calls for aid up to 300 miles away, the Kaldi’s Coffee tech team delivers parts, skilled service, and freshly roasted specialty Kaldi’s Coffee products to more than a hundred customers. In addition to coffee machine services and repair, a Kaldi’s Coffee technician is expected to have a grounding in specialty coffee, so that they can help our customers better understand their equipment, and how it makes quality coffee. A tech uses their knowledge of Kaldi’s Coffee products to calibrate an espresso machine or automated drip brewer to produce the best cup of specialty coffee it possibly can, while performing at optimum efficiency.
In addition to coffee machine services and repair, a Kaldi’s Coffee technician is expected to have a grounding in specialty coffee
Most coffee in our cafes or our customers’ is still brewed via drip brewers. A simple flaw in a water line or in the programming or internal sensors can cause major problems. Malfunctioning or poorly-calibrated coffee machines can over-extract or under-extract the coffee (making poor brews that can be sour or bitter). Or, they can go on the fritz and make a huge mess of steam and hot water - not the ideal outcome for a crowded cafe countertop, and a line of customers!
As mentioned, espresso machines are even more complicated. These expensive, super sensitive devices that baristas use to make cappuccinos, lattes, and mochas can cost tens of thousands dollars. Even a brand new espresso machine requires dedicated calibration to properly perform. An espresso machine is the centerpiece of a Kaldi’s Coffee cafe, and the same goes for many of our wholesale customers and partners.
The inside of an espresso machine. Our techs are experts at each part.
High quality espresso-based drinks are not feasible without the perfect functioning of the delicate machinery within an espresso machine. Boilers, pumps, valves, water lines, and more must all be in proper working order to create delicious espresso.
High quality espresso-based drinks are not feasible without the perfect functioning of the delicate machinery within an espresso machine.
AT HOME OR ON THE ROAD
Coffee machine service is a hectic job, but it’s always an adventure. The Kaldi’s Coffee tech team rotates “on-call” weeks, so a single tech is always available, every day, 7 days a week, to respond to any emergency service calls. Go-bags and vehicles prepped with spare parts ensure a speedy response to a jammed grinder, an espresso machine on the fritz, or a leaking water filtration system. The techs do it all!
The Kaldi’s Coffee tech team rotates “on-call” weeks, where a single tech always available 7 days a week, to respond to any emergency service calls.
One tech member will usually be based in the workshop at our Roastery manufacturing and warehouse facility. This tech, informally called the “dispatcher” will have a number of duties:
- Answering service call requests and questions
- Coordinate with the techs in the field
- Communicate with our purchaser to order emergency parts from suppliers
- Work on rebuilds, repairs, or other in-house service jobs
- Inventory and prep
The tech team’s workshop is one part tool aficionado’s heaven, one part assembly line, a smidge of office, and always bustling. Disassembled brewers, pipes and boilers soaking in descaling solution, stripped-down espresso machines venting steam, and a steady barrage of service calls and sales team queries keep the place hopping.
The wall of bins and parts that our Techs need to perform their duties.
WHO OUR TECHS ARE
We want to shine a spotlight on our current roster of hardworking techs who keep the tasty ‘spro flowing, so let’s meet the team that keeps our gear, our customers’ gear, and ultimately your tasty coffee drinks, pouring smoothly.
Sean D.
Sean joined the tech team years ago, having pulled a tour of duty in our busy shipping department. Sean brings intense technical focus and an unending sense of humor to the tech team and to Kaldi’s Coffee. His quiet hobby of juggling--pins, balls, even torches!--may surprise colleagues and customers alike! He’s also a regular on the Kaldi’s Coffee tabletop gaming scene, bringing hilarious, over-the-top characters to laife.
Elliot C.
Elliot came to the Tech Team straight from his multi-year role as barista and barista trainer at one of our cafes and brings that unique viewpoint from retail to his duties. Having seen and worked on espresso machines for years in cafes, Elliot knows just how important this device is to our own cafes and to our customers. Elliot is a motorcycle enthusiast and takes an annual cross-country motorcycle trip, while indulging his passion for photography.
Matt O.
Matt's our newest member of the tech team. After working at our cafe on Skinker for many years as a skilled barista, he joined the tech team in 2022. A skilled musician who's also mechanically minded, Matt excels across disciplines, and has even hand built a coffee roaster.
These team members are the faces of the department, bringing good cheer, specialty coffee expertise, and vital replacement parts wherever they go, but their hard work wouldn’t be possible without the help of our purchasing, sales, and billing teams. From the moment a customer gets a look at the tech department during their warehouse walk-through, to the detailed monthly inventory and billing reconciliations, Kaldi’s Coffee makes sure its customers get the very best we can offer in coffee and espresso machine installation and maintenance.
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Interested in Tech Services for your business, restaurant, or coffee shop? |
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