Today, coffee in the office is so much more than just a simple perk. As well as the fact that free coffee is now standard in many offices, some studies also suggest that it increases productivity and contributes to a healthy work environment.
Beyond that, however, office coffee culture is also evolving. As specialty coffee consumption becomes more widespread, it’s more important than ever to upgrade your setup and make sure you’re meeting people’s expectations.
To better understand how to improve your office coffee setup, we spoke to Jen Aitchison, operations manager at Climpson & Sons. Read on to find out what she had to share.
Why offer coffee at your office?
Before we look at how to upgrade your office coffee setup, let’s first explore why it’s so important.
Around the world, the consumption of higher-quality coffee is increasing. It’s becoming a growing priority for many people, and as health and wellness rise up the agenda, it’s also gradually displacing sugary soft drinks.
This means that in an office environment, employees are more likely to appreciate a high-quality cup of coffee than ever.
“More considered approaches to the perks you offer your employees help create a better working environment,” Jen explains. “This then has a positive impact for the company more widely.”
The capacity to take a quick coffee break also helps to improve the sense of community at an office, as well as allowing employees to take a few moments to decompress where necessary.
The caffeine in coffee also provides a much-needed energy boost that many of us need during a long day of work. Research shows that caffeine boosts productivity and concentration by stimulating brain activity and promoting wakefulness.
Finally, Jen adds that a good cup of coffee in your office won’t just benefit your employees. She notes that if you’re inviting visitors or prospective clients, “a great coffee can help to impress”
Using high-quality coffee
“Choosing coffee can be daunting if it isn’t your area of expertise, but there are a few tips to help you find good-quality beans,” Jen explains.
She suggests keeping an eye out for the cupping score of the coffee, which you can sometimes find on the roaster’s website or on the coffee bag. A score of 80 points or higher indicates that the coffee is specialty-grade.
Additionally, by reading the label, you can often find out some other useful details about the beans. These can include the roast profile, origin, variety, altitude, tasting notes, and more.
“Look for the altitude at which the coffee was grown,” Jen says. “As a general rule, the higher the altitude, the better the flavour. The fruit of the coffee plant ripens more slowly at cooler temperatures.”
Jen also notes that it’s important to keep an eye on the roast date, and make sure the coffee is fresh. Ideally, you’ll want to make sure your coffee was roasted no longer than a month ago. This is because as time passes, the beans oxidate more and more, which causes the coffee to lose its more subtle and delicate flavour notes.
Just as important as using fresh coffee is making sure you buy it as whole bean and grind fresh for each cup.
“As soon as coffee is ground, its surface area increases exponentially, the aromatics start to fade, and you lose flavour,” Jen says. “If you do have to use ground coffee, try to keep it in an airtight container.”
However, making sure you have a fresh supply of high-quality coffee at the office is easier than ever. Many roasters offer subscriptions, with the option of monthly or weekly deliveries of specific products (such as signature blends).
Getting your equipment right
As well as using high-quality beans, you also need to invest in the right equipment.
Jen suggests that you should take into consideration the size of your workforce when choosing your equipment. This way, you can ensure that the machine you choose meets your capacity requirements.
She also adds that filter coffee machines are often easier for people to use than an espresso machine.
“We recommend Marco a lot with our wholesale customers as they have a great range of filter brewers for different brewing capacities,” she says.
Marco’s Ottomatic® by Chemex® is a great example. This machine can brew up to six cups of coffee in a couple of minutes, and automates key brewing variables to guarantee a delicious cup of coffee every time.
These include preinfusion, total brew time (and weight), and heating the water to the perfect temperature for specialty coffee. It also includes an iced coffee mode for warmer days.
“You may also want to think about whether or not you want the machine to be more permanent,” Jen adds. “For example, it could be plumbed into the main water in a kitchen or amenities area.”
“Insulated urns are also a great option for larger offices as they keep the coffee hot and fresh for longer.”
In particular, the Marco Jet range is an excellent option, with dedicated urns, batch brewers, and a grinder that work perfectly for larger offices. Using these, users can pre-set three brew volumes for different times throughout the day.
The Jet also allows users to input a custom recipe when they’re using packs of ground coffee, or rely on an automatic grinder system that will automatically weigh, grind, and dose whole beans. The Jet Grinder is incredibly easy to use, and urns can be placed at different locations throughout the office.
Decaf, plant milks… What else should you offer?
“Some people can’t drink caffeine or cow’s milk, so it is important to consider a more inclusive offering for staff and clients,” Jen explains.
This is why it’s important to include high-quality decaf coffee in your office setup. Thankfully, this is relatively easy these days. Jen explains that many roasters, Climpson’s included, offer high-quality decaf coffee.
“At Climpson’s, we think decaf shouldn’t be an afterthought,” Jen says. “Just as much care goes into all parts of the supply chain for specialty-grade decaf coffee, so we give it the respect it deserves.”
It’s also worth noting that an increasing number of people are becoming passionate about cold coffee, especially if they’re looking to remove sugary soft drinks from their diet.
As part of this, we’ve seen the meteoric rise of cold brew coffee in recent years. For offices looking to capitalise on this trend, the Marco POUR’D system is a great option.
POUR’D can be installed in a kegerator, and uses coffee concentrate to create freshly-brewed cold (and hot) coffee. It’s a hygienic way to serve high-quality cold brew, and means that the roaster you work with doesn’t have to deal with kegs.
Additionally, you’ll want to offer different kinds of milk to pair with coffee, as an increasing number of people are cutting dairy out of their diets. Beyond that, herbal teas and hot chocolate can be good backup options for those who don’t drink coffee at all.
“This is when you might want to think about getting a boiler installed for hot water at the touch of a button, instead of boiling a kettle every two minutes,” Jen advises. “To that end, I can definitely recommend the Marco MIX range. You can even programme it for different temperatures and volumes for different teas and hot drinks.”
It’s also worth making sure that you have good touchpoints for hot and cold water around the office. Marco’s FRIIA range is a compact, space-saving option which takes up a minimal amount of counter space, and can be used to dispense hot, cold, and sparkling water on-demand.
Improving your office coffee setup might not seem like an easy transition to make. However, if you take the time to find the right coffee and choose equipment that suits your office and your team, you can quickly come up with a winning formula that works for everyone.