A new milk steaming solution

CMT’s in-house, Australian-made brand Viper is getting ready to serve up a new milk steaming solution.

Coffee Machine Technologies (CMT) has been serving Australia’s coffee community for more than two decades. Through selling, supplying, and servicing, to being directly involved in research, development, and testing equipment from some of the world’s leading coffee brands, the company has unique vantage point into Australian coffee.

These insights were put to the test in 2012 when it launched Viper, an in-house, Australian-made brand created to even further help cafés and coffeehouses around the country.

Now, the Viper range is preparing for its next great step into the emerging world of automation. Initially showcased to the world at Host Milano, it is releasing the new automatic steamer – designed to work hand-in-hand with its existing milk dispenser – to the market.

CMT General Manager Gianluca Colangeli is excited to see Australia’s coffee industry embrace another product developed under the Viper banner being well received by

“Viper is an extension of CMT and was created by John (Colangeli, CMT’s Founder),” says Gianluca. “It’s quickly become one of the biggest brands we work with, and that’s really special because we make them in-house.

“I came into the business around 2017, and it’s been an awesome experience to be involved in re-engineering, upgrading, modifying, and evolving the brand since then.”

Automation station

The manual Viper milk steamer has been a favourite of Australia’s coffee community since it was first released, and Gianluca expects the automatic steamer to be met with similar positivity.

It has been created to improve workflow across high-traffic cafés and chains, reducing the need for specified training behind the bar.

“The Viper has, traditionally, been a manual milk steamer which still requires skill and technique in frothing the milk, but the new automatic steamer we’re releasing doesn’t need that – it’s totally hands-free,” says Gianluca.

“The automatic steamer can be used with jugs of three different sizes, and it can steam to three different textures – latte, flat white, and cappuccino, and it’s basically set and forget.

“You select what sized jug you want, what type of milk, whether that be dairy or any of the alternative milks, and it does the work for you, all from one steamer.

“It’s completely hands-free, and it’s really easy to teach so you don’t need a skilled barista behind the bar.”

Gianluca says CMT has been collaborating with The Udder Way, a sustainable milk delivery system that looks to replace single-use cartons with reusable 18-litre kegs, for the most efficient and sustainable use of the milk dispenser.

“The milk dispenser just dispenses cold milk into the jug, so you don’t even need to open the fridge, grab a bottle, and throw it away since it all comes delivered in kegs.

“By combining a milk dispenser and the new automatic steamer, you limit the need to have fully trained baristas, and it provides extra assistance in high volume environments.

“If you take the automatic steamer and use it in sync with our milk dispenser, then you won’t need bottled milk anymore.”

With the milk dispenser already well established in market, and its popularity only growing, Gianluca believes it will be easy for CMT’s existing customer base to take advantage of the automatic milk steamer.

“It has been available for about a year now, and there are more than 100 units out there. Chains like McDonald’s, and Zarraffa’s in Queensland have been using it which is great,” he says.

“The benefit of having so many existing customers is it will be really easy for them to link the new automatic steamer that’s coming into their setups and help their workflow.”

Once it does become available in just a matter of weeks, the prototypes will have been well and truly put through their paces in a pair of vastly different but equally demanding venues in Melbourne.

“We have two of them and they’re being put to the test in the field right now,” says Gianluca. “The two venues that are using them have had nothing but good things to say about them.

“One of them is in a really high-volume café in the city, while the other is in a chocolate store, so they pour the milk in with the chocolate and steam it to make hot chocolate.”

Ears to the ground

CMT, as a service provider, has become synonymous with research and development in the Australian coffee market. Whether through international collaborations with brands like Fiorenzato, or the launch of its own products through Viper, John, Gianluca and the team are some of the most trusted industry leaders in the country.

This is exactly how the creation of the entire Viper range, including the automatic steamer, came to be. After listening to the needs of Australia’s coffee industry, CMT acted to fill a gap and make things easier for café owners and baristas.

“We’re pretty fortunate to be in the position where we can see every side of the story, from cafés and end users to roasters and chains,” says Gianluca.

“Our servicing and sales departments funnel all the information they receive from customers and help us identify trends, and we noticed the market needed something in this area.

“Viper is already very established and embedded in the market, so it’s got trust and history, and that just becomes more evident when you the products being used by customers of a large scale.”

It’s the Australian coffee consumer’s penchant for milk-based coffee that makes products like Viper so integral to improving café workflows.

“The main reason people use Viper is because most coffee machines can’t handle the steam output that most cafés require since, in Australia, about 90 per cent of drinks are milk-based,” says Gianluca.

“They need a lot of steam to be able to steam all that milk, and that’s why we invented Viper and why it’s become so popular. You can have one barista making coffees, another steaming milk with the Viper, and it improves workflow.

“There are other products in the market that do it well, but most of them need a Viper boiler anyway, otherwise you’re just piggybacking off your coffee machine which doesn’t fix the problem.

“Putting a Viper in over anything else is definitely the smart thing to do.”

Backing Australian-made

The Viper manual milk steamer, just a few years after the brand’s launch, was recognised as one of the premier Australian-made products of any industry.

In 2015, it was named the Best New Australian Made Product Award by The Australian Made Campaign, with then Australian Made Chief Executive labelling CMT’s commitment to Australian manufacturing as “commendable”.

The Viper range continues to be manufactured in Australia to this day, and Gianluca believes it’s important for businesses to look to locally made products to continue to elevate Australian industry.

“I think, unfortunately, manufacturing in Australia has significantly reduced in the past 10 years, and seeing an Australian brand at the forefront of what it does doesn’t happen enough,” says Gianluca.

“It’s important for our country to be able to manufacture high quality goods here and to support the people who do that, because that helps brands like Viper stay at the front of the line. One of the major benefits of using a brand like Viper is the fact it’s locally made.

“Viper equipment also has a very competitive price point and small footprint, and it’s the only product in the market with its own independent boiler and steam or hot water heads that can be mounted on your bench.”

The automatic milk steamer will be available soon, and Gianluca says the best way to get your hands on the new equipment is, simply, to get in touch.

“It’s super easy, just go to the Coffee Machine Technologies website or give us a call on the landline,” says Gianluca.

For more information, visit coffeemachinetechnologies.com.au