Jetblack Espresso is a one-stop-shop dedicated to enhancing the skills and knowledge of one of the largest growing demographics in the coffee sector – the home barista.
For Jetblack Espresso Owners Charlie and Debbie Monteleone, there’s no greater reward than watching their customers have that “lightbulb moment” when they can produce a three-tulip latte as good as the café down the road.
“It still gives me a kick to see the sense of achievement on peoples’ faces when they’ve learned new skills and realise they are capable of producing a café-quality product – that’s the pay off,” Debbie says.
It’s a moment Charlie and Debbie experience regularly during Jetblack Espresso’s education workshops to teach avid coffee lovers how to dial-in a grinder, extract the perfect shot, steam milk, and care for their own home coffee machine. Course participants are even encouraged to bring in their equipment so they can feel confident to achieve the same results at home.
“It’s an exciting time for the home coffee market,” Charlie says. “First came the evolution of capsule machines and super-automatics, which gave home users consistent coffee options, but there’s been a real shift in the market where customers are more interested in how they can achieve café-standard coffee in the comfort of their own home.”
Jetblack Espresso is a company designed to encompass everything a home barista needs to make a quality cup of coffee, from education to equipment.
The New South Wales-based company is the exclusive Australian distributor of Lelit and Profitec espresso machines, two innovative brands with a range of models to help turn a curious home coffee drinker into a home barista.
Lelit, an Italian manufacturer, produces “prosumer” espresso equipment ranging from a $900 single-boiler espresso machine to a $4999 compact two-group commercial machine, the Giulietta. This stainless steel model with 10-litre boiler and E61 group heads is compact in size and can run off a standard 10-amp power point, making it suitable to use in coffee carts, sports clubs, churches, and cafés.
“Some compact commercial machines have a four- to six-litre boiler, but with a 10-litre it means baristas can make a half a dozen long blacks without the boiler pressure dropping,” Charlie says.
Many components from commercial machines can now be found on domestic models, making them easier to use and more reliable. These include the E61 group head and rotary pump, found on the Lelit Giulietta. Another example of the “trickle down” effect is the prosumer Profitec Pro 800 lever, which has the same group head found on commercial lever machines.
German manufacturer Profitec sees the potential in prosumer equipment and caters to the market with espresso machines from $2500 to $4500, all installed with PID controllers.
To complete the full service experience, Jetblack Espresso not only distributes machines but also provides wholesale prosumer equipment and genuine spare parts to like-minded businesses across Australia, including brands which can be hard to source.
While other Australian companies are typically focused on the commercial market or roasting, at Jetblack Espresso, the home user is everything.
“Our interest in the home barista comes from a place of pure passion. We didn’t think it’d be a strong market. We were just interested in taking what we had learnt and sharing it with others so they could benefit too,” Charlie says. “Then the Masterchef-effect took hold, with more people devoting energy and time into learning about produce and how to make quality coffee.”
Making quality coffee remains Jetblack Espresso’s mission, and it’s confident it can. The company has grown from having just two staff in 2008 to an additional 10 in 2019, with its showroom, workshop, and distribution centre doors open for all to experience in Frenchs Forest in Sydney.
“Australians love their coffee and that’s not going away,” Charlie says. “Over the past 10 years the quality and consistency of café coffee has excelled and it will continue to do so, but on the home front it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. There’s an exciting time of growth ahead, and we’ll be there to support that market every step of the way.”
For more information, visit www.jetblackespresso.com.au or call (02) 9452 6470
