Some of you may have noticed that I dropped the ball last week, and there was no coffee column. If you turned up on our blog at 10am, hoping for the latest coffee call to action, I apologise.
We have been so busy creating fresh, creative and interesting content for our clients this week that I just couldn’t find the time to think about the coffee I was drinking. Only that I needed to drink a lot of it to keep churning out the words!
I’ve decided that from now on, I’ll be publishing a new coffee column on a fortnightly, rather than weekly, basis. So at 10am on a Monday, every two weeks, I’ll continue to share my thoughts, knowledge and expertise for better office coffee with old and new readers.
The coffee column isn’t going anywhere! Think of it this way – it’ll give me the chance to plan better what goes into it, and hopefully the time to go out and talk to others in the coffee world about how to improve the office coffee experience.
The road to better office coffee is a long one, and I am committed for the long haul, so if producing an article only every two weeks is what I need to do to make sure that they are high quality, relevant and helpful to all you office coffee lovers out there, then that’s what I am going to do!
Housekeeping out the way, it’s on to this week’s column. Today, I’ll be looking at office coffee machines. Most offices have them, nowadays. Some of us are lucky enough to have machines that produce the best the bean has to offer, while others have just found a way to automate terrible coffee that is no better than the worst instant coffee out there.
There are a few things that you need to bear in mind when choosing your office coffee machine (first, whether you need one at all!), to make sure that it actually leads to #betterofficecoffee!
Choosing an Office Coffee Machine for #BetterOfficeCoffee
So you’ve decided that, for the number of people in your office and level of demand for good office coffee, it’s time to invest in an office coffee machine. Or maybe the one you already have is producing undrinkable dirty dishwater (as a past customer of mine was fond of calling bad coffee!).
Coffee machines help save time, and can produce better and more consistent coffee to keep your team going, day in day out. To make sure that the investment is worth it, there are a few questions you need to answer:
How Many People Drink Coffee in Your Office?
The amount of people you expect to use the machine could dictate the type of machine you go for. It can be a tricky balance, but you’ve got to pitch it somewhere between overspending on a machine that just won’t get used, and buying a machine that can’t cope with demand and breaks within the first month!
So onto the next question….
What Types of Coffee Machine Are There?
There are four main options when it comes to choosing a coffee machine for your office. It all depends on how much coffee you need to produce, how quickly you want to produce it, how good you want it to be and how big your budget is…
Filter
The first is the automated filter machine that you see a lot of in the movies and 90s American TV shows. They are simple, convenient and produce tasty filtered coffee with minimum effort or fuss. If short coffee breaks are your thing…then the filter is for you.
Bean-to-Cup
“Bean to cup coffee machines are the best way to make a delicious cup of coffee in your office.”
I’d be inclined to agree. The quickest, greenest and most convenient way to do it, without compromising on quality, is bean-to-cup. They’ll grind the correct quantity of whole beans, tamp and extract the espresso at the simple push of a button. Most also feature a steam wand for texturing milk, so you can enjoy espresso, latte or cappuccino in seconds. Bean-to-Cup machines are also the most efficient and eco-friendly. That’s why we love ours at Greener Media HQ!
Barista Style
If you’ve got a large budget and a handle on grind size, water temperature, tamping, extraction rates, milk texturing, or have someone on your team that does, maybe you should consider a fully commercial barista-style espresso machine. Better still, why not install a coffee bar and full-time barista…? Just remember, great espresso and textured milk is both an art and a science. It’s very easy to get it wrong.
For me, if I’m truly honest, the simple ways are still the best. Grinding by hand and brewing in an aeropress, cafetiere or stovetop are enjoyable and meditative ways to brew good coffee in the office.
But that’s just me.
If you really want a good espresso or latte macchiato, my suggestion is to head down to your nearest speciality coffee shop, and let the pros do it for you!
Whichever method you choose, your focus should always be quality! For a more in-depth look at choosing an office coffee machine, read Honest Coffees’ full guide, here.
If you have any more questions about office coffee machines, or how to get the best out of yours, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I am now tweeting @Abe_Greener, but also feel free to leave comments in the section below or drop us a line by email.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you all again in a couple of weeks.
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