Coffee Shop Supplies and Equipment Buying Guide
Posted by THOMAS STARKS on
Selecting coffee shop supplies & equipment comes down to a few things.
- The volume of your store
- Local trends
- Your branding
- Who your customers are
The volume of your store will impact your buying decisions. If you’re selling 200 cups of coffee a day do you really need to offer 3 different sizes? Probably not, but if you have 2,000 cups of coffee every day, then yes, you probably should offer a variety of sizes.
Local Trends should impact your decisions too. If you’re in an area that is environmentally friendly like San Francisco or Seattle, then you should probably spend the extra couple bucks to get compostable coffee cups and supplies.
Your branding should be a major deciding factor for what you purchase. If you’re doing custom printing, you’ll want to make sure you put your money into items that will create a lasting impact.
The last item that will have a major impact on your buying decisions is who your customers are. Not every coffee shop needs to carry Oat Milk, Almond Milk, and Soy Milk, but some coffee shops do need to carry all three because they have demand from their customers for those milk substitutes.
Coffee Cups
This products probably has the widest variety of options. You can do our standard cups, insulated coffee cups, ripple hot cups, compostable coffee cups, compostable + insulated cups, or custom printed coffee cups in any of these variations.
Recyclable Coffee Cups -- Our Standard
Our standard paper coffee cups greatly exceed industry standards. Our standard option is actually fully recyclable coffee cups! Most sizes are also certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, which means that it's traced from its origins to ensure that it’s produced in a manner that’s going to reproduce the trees that are used. These come in 7 sizes starting at an espresso cup size of 4 oz up to a large size of 24 oz. These can also have one of our stock prints for a nominal charge.
Insulated Coffee Cups
Insulated coffee cups are an ideal solution to avoid the cost of coffee jackets. The insulated hot cups, make it so your customer's hands stay cool while their coffee stays hot. These are great for business that wants to stand-out amongst their competitors. These are available only in white but can be custom printed.
Ripple Hot Cups
Ripple Coffee Cups have a similar use as our insulated cups. Ripple Hot Cups make it so you don’t have to use coffee sleeves. These are different compared to the insulated because these have a spiraled design that has a pocket of air. These come in Kraft or Black and can be personalized.
Disposable Espresso Cups
Our Disposable Espresso Cups are 4 ounces, the perfect solution for a takeout espresso cup. These are fully recyclable, so your customers can savor the taste of their espresso shot. These are available in white or in kraft ripple cups.
Compostable Coffee Cups - Eco-Friendly
Compostable Coffee Cups are our most eco-friendly cups. Compostable cups can provide your store with the branding necessary to appeal to the environmentally conscious consumer while helping to save the earth at the same time. Our long lines of compostable and biodegradable coffee cups help to make a dent in the total items that end up in landfills. Available in sizes ranging from 4 ounces to 20 ounces. These can also be bought using our stock print from Karat Earth, “One Cup, One Earth,” which will announce to your customers that you’re using environmentally friendly cups.
Coffee Beans
We carry select Coffee Beans from Cafvina. We carry their blend of Espresso Beans that make a robust classic espresso taste. Our French Roast is a dark roast that carries a bold taste and comes as whole beans. We have a Northwest Blend, this comes as pre-ground. Whether you need whole coffee beans, espresso beans, or pre-ground coffee, we have the blend that’s right for you.
Tea Leaves
We have a wide variety of Tea Leaves. We carry Tea Zone Tea, which is one of the finest US Tea companies. These make large batches of tea easy and can be a very cost-effective way for smaller batches when using a tea infuser or strainer.
Green Tea Leaves
Green Tea is known for its antioxidants and health benefits. It used to be very popular in Asian cultures, especially in China, but over the last five years has risen in popularity across the United States. Green Tea uses leaves from the Camellia Sinensis family. Green Tea has risen to become a fast seller to the health conscious. Some restaurant and beverage establishments will use Green Tea Leaves to create Matcha powder, by finely grinding the leaves down. Matcha has come to a meteoric rise across the US recently.
Golden Milk Tea Leaves
Perfect for making traditional milk tea. Golden Milk Tea Leaves are uniquely a Hong Kong style, though standard milk tea can be found in cultures ranging from China to Britain to Brazil. This blend is ideally made for adding milk. Try this special blend in specialty tea stores or bubble tea shops.
Premium Jasmine Tea Leaves
Jasmine Tea Leaves are an aromatic loose leaf that’s made from the jasmine blossom. Jasmine teas have green tea as a base generally, but sometimes they will use white or black tea. Jasmine tea has a subtle sweet flavor that is fragrant aromatic. This tea is one of the most widely known exotic teas.
Black Tea Leaves / Red Tea
Black Tea Leaves are used to create Red Tea. Confusing, I know. Red Tea comes from the literal Chinese translation for the tea, but Black Tea is what it’s referred to here in the US. Even though there are other types of colored tea, both black and red tea refer to the exact same thing!
Coffee Flavoring Syrups
We have hundreds of different coffee flavoring syrups! Whatever flavor you're looking for, you'll find it right here at Restaurant Supply Drop. We have all the major coffee syrup brands, plus we even have some of the unique latte flavoring syrups and chocolate sauces that have a customer demand that's growing by the day.
Torani Syrup
Torani Syrup is one of the most popular flavoring syrup brands in the world. This Italian brand is found in some of the most popular cafes. You can find any flavor you’re looking for since there are over 100 flavors to choose from. When looking for coffee syrup, they have all your perennial favorites like Vanilla, Caramel, and Hazelnut, but more niche flavors like Maple or Blue Raspberry. For the calories conscious consumer, they have a full line of Torani Sugar-Free Syrup.
Monin Syrup
Monin Syrup is the top gourmet syrup brand in the country. As a full-service coffee syrup creator, they’ve pioneered making gourmet the new standard. You can find fun items like apple, pistachio, and cotton candy, or standard flavors like Almond, French Vanilla, and Caramel. These gourmet style coffee syrups are found in fine coffeehouses across the globe. Sugar Free Monin Syrup is usually carried in the most popular flavors.
Davinci Gourmet Syrup
Davinci Gourmet Syrup has been a flavoring syrup of choice for Barista for decades. You can always find what flavor you need since they have over 150 flavored syrups. Davinci Gourmet is at the forefront of specialty beverage solutions and has everything you need to create flavorful and unique lattes, teas, and smoothies.
1883 Maison Routin Syrup
1883 Syrup will establish your cafe as a gourmet brand. 1883 puts flavor above all else and has created a high-end fine taste in not just their syrups, but their branding as well. This is a brand, that will establish your coffeehouse as the finest in the city!
Caramel & Chocolate Coffee Sauces
We have all your favorite Chocolate Coffee Sauces. These are perfect for topping every specialty coffee drink or for mixing in to make mochas and over drinks. Our Ghirardelli Chocolate Sauces are one of the most luxurious gourmet options on the market and bring a robust flavor that will delight your customers. Caramel Sauce makes for a tasty topping on lattes and can add a delicious infusion of caramel to any specialty beverage.
Brand Your Coffee Shop
Custom printed coffee supplies are the fastest way to brand your store. By personalizing your cups and sleeves, you can create an image that your customers will not only remember, but they’ll also coincidentally share your brand by carrying it in their hands. Stand out. Create your brand. Grow.
Custom Printed Coffee Cups
Custom Printed Coffee Cups help to create a memorable image for your brand. We custom print recyclable coffee cups, compostable coffee cups, ripple cups, insulated cups, and espresso cups. With all custom printing, there are order minimums that vary by product and size. We have some of the most budget-friendly economical printing, so you can shop assured that you’re getting a great price on high-quality disposable items.
Custom Coffee Sleeves
Custom Coffee Sleeves are a low-cost personalized supplies that help your store to stick out while keeping an affordable budget. Custom Coffee Sleeves have a minimum order and fit most standard size cups. The personalization of these coffee sleeves, lets you brand your store in a stunning way. Minimum order quantity depends on the specific product.
Custom Plastic Cups
Custom Plastic Cups are great for iced coffees and smoothies. When it’s hot outside, you want everyone to think of your cafe as a place to get a refreshing iced coffee or cold beverage. By personalizing your cups and adding your logo or design, you can keep your image strong in the minds of your customers.
Drink Accessories & Coffee Shop Accessories
We carry all the drink and coffee shop accessories you need. Whether you’re looking for sleeves or stir sticks, we have great options for you.
Stir Sticks
Stir sticks come in a few different varieties, so you can pick the option that suits your shop the way you like. We have wooden stir sticks that are a very classic option and come in a couple of different sizes. Plastic stir sticks come in their classic red color. We've recently added paper stir sticks to our product offering - this is a great way to stand out as an eco-friendly cafe.
Coffee Jackets
Coffee jackets are made to keep your customers hand cool. They also add a layer of stability to hot drink cups. Whether you call the coffee sleeves or java jackets, these are one of the most necessary accessories to carry in your coffee shop.
Beverage Napkins
Beverage Napkins come in many different sizes and colors. This is an item that is easy to match colors with your logo to add some branding or to choose a standard white color. With dozens of options, we have every different size and color napkin you’ll need.
Plastic Straws
Plastic straws are a basic item for any cold drink you’ll need, but we have no shortage of options. From straw spoons to standard straws, we have all the different options you need. Plastic straws are one of those small necessities that you’ll need for cold drinks, iced coffees, and other specialty beverages.
Paper Straws
Paper Straws are perfect for the eco-conscious consumer. There are also many counties and states that are enacting laws that ban plastic straws. We have all a variety of different paper straws coming in different sizes, paper wrapped paper straws and different styles. Paper straws work great in smoothies, there is the downside to paper straws, which is that they can get soggy after 10-15 minutes, but consumers are quickly adapting to this and have come to know their way around this paper straw issue.
Coffee Shop Equipment & Appliances
When looking for coffee shop equipment, you need to cover your basis with the necessities. First and foremost you’ll need coffee brewers and airpots. The next most necessary item is refrigeration and freezing. Blenders are the option if you’re going to be doing smoothies or frozen coffee beverages.
Commercial Coffee Makers & Airpots
Commercial Coffee Makers are designed to directly brew pots of coffee into airpots. This makes it easy for Baristas to brew large amounts without having to pour brews from regular pots into airpots. The airpots, make it quick and easy dispense coffee and can be used either by Baristas or setup for your customers to use. Our Curtis coffee dispenser and airpots help to make running your cafe more streamlined and seamless.
Atosa Refrigerators
We carry Atosa Refrigerators because they last forever, carry great warranties, and get the job done. We have reach in refrigerators for the kitchen. We also have glass door refrigerators that are display refrigerators so customers can easily find premade food and beverages -- perfect for iced coffees or small food items.
Atosa Freezers
Restaurant Freezers aren’t necessary for all coffee shops, but if you’re looking to serve smoothies or other food items, then you need an Atosa Freezer! These are perfect for freezing smoothie items or for other food products that require freezing. We even have display freezers that allow your customers to grab and go with upsell items.
Commercial Blenders
Commercial Blenders are perfect for whipping up some smoothies with frozen fruits or ice. They’re also perfect for frozen specialty coffee drinks. We have all the big brands that you know and trust including Vitamix and Blendtec. Not ever coffee shop makes blended drinks, but when you do need a blender, we have a wide selection to make frozen mochas and smoothies.