Walk into any Starbucks from Seattle to Seoul and you’ll hear it. That specific, rhythmic whir-click-hiss of the espresso being pulled. It’s consistent. It’s fast. Honestly, it’s the backbone of a multi-billion dollar empire. But if you’ve ever looked at that sleek, tall Starbucks commercial coffee machine and thought about putting one in your own cafe—or your kitchen, if you’re feeling spendy—there is a massive catch you need to know about.
Starbucks doesn't just buy off-the-shelf equipment.
They have a long-standing, exclusive partnership with a Swiss company called Thermoplan AG. Together, they developed the Mastrena. If you see a machine with a Starbucks logo on it, it’s almost certainly a Mastrena High-Performance Espresso Machine.
You can't just go to a website and add one to your cart. These machines are built specifically for Starbucks, and Thermoplan doesn’t sell them to the general public or even other major coffee chains. It’s a closed ecosystem.
The Evolution of the Mastrena
Before the Mastrena took over the world, Starbucks used the La Marzocco Linea. These were traditional, semi-automatic machines. Baristas had to grind the beans, tamp the puck, and time the shot manually. It was beautiful. It was "craft." It was also incredibly slow when you had a line of thirty people out the door at 7:00 AM.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, Howard Schultz realized that to scale, they needed speed and consistency. They moved to the Verismo 801, a super-automatic beast that did everything with a button press. But there was a problem: the machines were too tall. They created a literal wall between the barista and the customer.
The Mastrena I was the solution. It was shorter, allowing for "the theater of coffee" where you can actually see the person making your latte. Fast forward to today, and most high-volume stores have upgraded to the Mastrena II. It’s thinner, it’s faster, and it has three bean hoppers so the barista can switch between blonde, signature, and decaf espresso without breaking a sweat.
What's actually inside a Starbucks commercial coffee machine?
It’s basically a high-end computer that happens to brew coffee.
The Mastrena II is a "super-automatic" machine. Unlike a manual machine where the human does the heavy lifting, the Mastrena handles the grinding, tamping, and extraction internally. It uses sophisticated sensors to monitor shot times. If the grind is too coarse and the water flows through too fast, the machine's internal software actually adjusts the burrs for the next shot to fix the flavor profile automatically.
That is wild.
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Think about the sheer volume. A busy Starbucks might pull 500 to 1,000 shots of espresso in a single day. A consumer-grade Breville would literally explode under that pressure. The Mastrena is built with heavy-duty components designed to handle constant thermal stress.
Why you can't just buy a Mastrena
I get asked this all the time by small business owners. "How do I get the Starbucks machine?"
Short answer: You don't.
Thermoplan’s contract with Starbucks is one of the most exclusive deals in the food service industry. Because Starbucks owns the "recipe" for how these machines function, they aren't available on the open market. Even when a Starbucks store closes, the machines are usually refurbished or stripped for parts rather than sold to a local diner.
If you see one on eBay? Be careful. It’s likely a stolen unit or a "gray market" machine from a liquidator. And here is the kicker: even if you manage to buy a used Mastrena I, you won't be able to get it serviced. Thermoplan technicians are often contracted specifically for Starbucks accounts. Finding someone with the proprietary software and parts to fix a broken Mastrena is like trying to find a mechanic for a UFO.
The Real-World Alternatives
So, if you want that "Starbucks commercial coffee machine" performance but don't have a Starbucks franchise agreement, where do you turn?
Most high-end cafes that want the Starbucks level of automation go to Eversys. Many coffee insiders actually consider Eversys machines—like the Cameo or the Enigma—to be superior to the Mastrena. They offer better control over milk texturing and "micro-foam" quality.
Another big player is Franke. You'll see these in high-end convenience stores or hotel lounges. They are workhorses. But they lack the brand recognition of the Mastrena.
Then there is La Marzocco. If you want the "old school" Starbucks vibe from the 90s, the Linea PB or the KB90 is the gold standard. They aren't automatic, though. You need a trained barista who knows how to dial in a grind and steam milk by hand. It’s more work, but many argue the coffee tastes significantly better because a human is making the micro-adjustments that a computer might miss.
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The Tech Behind the Milk
It’s not just about the beans. The Starbucks commercial coffee machine is famous for its steam wand.
On the Mastrena II, the steam wand is partially automated. It has a temperature sensor at the tip. When the milk reaches the exact temperature for a "no-foam" latte or an "extra-hot" cappuccino, it shuts off. This prevents the milk from scalding, which is what happens when a distracted barista leaves the steam running too long.
The consistency is the point.
Whether you are in a Starbucks in a London airport or a drive-thru in Ohio, that milk is being heated to the same thermal spec. That’s why people go there. It's not always because it’s the "best" coffee in the world; it’s because it’s the most predictable.
Maintenance is a nightmare
Don't let the shiny exterior fool you. These machines are temperamental.
Because they are super-automatics, they have a lot of moving parts. Grinders, pistons, brewing chambers, and valves. All of these interact with water and heat. Scale buildup (calcium deposits) is the silent killer of the Starbucks commercial coffee machine.
Starbucks spent millions developing a specific filtration system that sits under the counter. Without it, the Mastrena would be dead in three months. Every night, these machines have to undergo a rigorous cleaning cycle using specialized chemical tablets. If a store skips a cleaning, the machine might literally lock the staff out until the cycle is performed.
It's a high-maintenance relationship.
Is it worth the hype?
Honestly? It depends on who you ask.
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If you are a coffee purist, you probably hate super-automatics. You want to see the "tiger stripes" on a manual espresso pull. You want to see the barista carefully pouring latte art.
But if you are a business owner looking at the bottom line, the Starbucks commercial coffee machine is a masterpiece of engineering. It removes human error. It ensures that a 19-year-old on their first day of work can produce a drink that tastes exactly like the one made by a 10-year veteran.
That's the business of coffee.
What to do if you're starting a coffee business
If you've been searching for a Starbucks commercial coffee machine for your own project, stop looking for the Mastrena. You're chasing a ghost.
Instead, look at these three paths:
- The "Quality First" Route: Buy a La Marzocco Linea Classic. It’s the machine that built Starbucks in the early days. It’s iconic, it’s indestructible, and any tech in the world can fix it.
- The "Efficiency First" Route: Look into an Eversys Cameo. It’s the closest thing to a Mastrena II that a civilian can actually buy. It’s incredibly fast and produces amazing milk foam.
- The "Budget Commercial" Route: Check out the Nuova Simonelli Aurelia Wave. It’s the official machine of the World Barista Championships (or has been in the past). It’s a workhorse that costs half of what the boutique brands charge.
Before you drop $20,000 on equipment, check your water quality. You can buy the most expensive machine in the world, but if your water is "hard" (full of minerals), you will ruin the internals of your Starbucks-style machine in less than a year. Invest in a reverse osmosis system with a remineralization cartridge first.
Also, consider the "bench strength" of your local technicians. Before buying a machine, call around and ask: "Who in this city services Thermoplan or Eversys?" If the nearest tech is four states away, don't buy that machine. When your espresso maker goes down on a Saturday morning, you're losing hundreds of dollars every hour.
You need a machine that can be fixed by someone local. That’s the real secret to the Starbucks success story—it’s not just the machine, it’s the massive infrastructure of parts and people behind it that keeps the coffee flowing.