THE TEARDROP COFFEE BUILD JOURNAL
A pair of Fracino machines, a bargain grinder and a few new coffee toys. Time to get the kit ready for the trailer.
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PART THREE / THE COFFEE KITThe trailer build is still moving along, but this week the attention has turned to the equipment that will actually make the coffee.
A change of plan means going fully electric, giving me a simpler fit-out and more useful space under the rear hatch.
PART THREE · 26–31 OCTOBER 2026
A good machine, and a useful backup.
The original trailer came with a lovely two-group Fracino LPG espresso machine. It needed a proper service, but it works fine, and it was a great bit of equipment to get with the trailer. I have since decided to go 100% electric for the main setup, so I will keep the LPG machine as a backup — or perhaps put it to work if I expand in the future.
A nearly mint machine for a few hundred pounds.
I later found a nearly mint-condition single-group Fracino Little Gem espresso machine, complete with a grinder, for only a few hundred pounds. It was too good an opportunity to miss. I have serviced this one as well: it mainly needed a good clean, a new sight glass cover, a filter and a few screws before its boiler certification test. Going fully electric also saves a lot of plumbing for both gas and water supplies, which means I can fit other useful items in the rear hatch. A smaller machine feels like the right fit for this build.
A good starter grinder, stripped and rebuilt.
The Iberital grinder is a good starter grinder and, importantly, it is in better condition than the Mazzer that came with the trailer I bought. It looked promising as a complete unit, but I still wanted to give it a proper once-over. So I stripped it down, cleaned the components and rebuilt it. Nothing quite like getting an older bit of coffee kit looking tidy and ready for service again.
Now comes the practice.
A few new coffee toys have arrived, including the tamper kit, and it is starting to feel like a proper coffee setup. Over the next few weeks I will be spending plenty of time dialling in my coffee skills on the smaller Little Gem machine — getting used to the grinder, practising my shots and finding a consistent routine before the trailer is ready to serve.
With the smaller electric machine serviced and the grinder rebuilt, the next few weeks are all about getting comfortable making great coffee.
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