We love our readers here at the Coffee Magazine HQ! You folks really love your coffee and over the years the questions and requests for information has certainly grown in depth and scope when it comes to your favourite beverage.
So, do you want to know the three most frequently asked questions we get on a weekly basis?
Firstly, people always want to know which coffee/barista/roastery is the best in the city/province/country/world - (that’s why we have the Coffee Magazine Awards every year!)
Secondly, they want to know the technical/ sciencey stuff ...
And finally … they want to know how to get better coffee at home, at work or on the run.
So today’s focus is on door number three. Probably because just this week alone, we’ve fielded calls from several businesses, some huge and some small, asking how they can get better quality coffee at work. So let’s dive in.
Our assumption here is that we’re not considering instant coffee. Though there has been large strides in the quality of this area, I’m going to focus on freshly ground coffee from a reputable roastery and a brew method that currently exceeds what you have in the office or at work right now. So, before we even start asking the logistical questions below, In order to get a better coffee than you have right now at work - start by using better coffee! No matter the method or the volume or coffee, we always say - choose a local coffee roastery, build a relationship with them by buying frequently from them, and they will be your closest ally in the fight for better coffee in your life at work and at home. (Note - most roasteries will also help you down the line with additional products, equipment, water, general advice and support as you grow on your journey - so be LOYAL, and you will get a lot more than just coffee from them!
Ok, now back to the questions that need immediate answering about your place of work:
* How many people are we serving coffee to?
* How many cups a day will each person have?
* Are we choosing the full gamut of a café menu (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, chai, matcha, iced coffee etc) OR are we choosing simple great quality black coffee, maybe with some milk added? (I’ll tackle this later with some simple and easy solutions)
* How much money and time are we throwing at the problem?
* Who’s going to be responsible for the coffee station?
The solutions to the above will fall into the following three broad categories:
1. A full blown cafe solution with a barista/baristas serving the coffee.
If you work for a large company and the Senior Management have tasked you with finding better coffee at work for more than 50 people, and you have a large budget (say upwards of R100k) and a HR department dedicated to employing people - this is the way to go. A good barista in a corporate building is worth their weight in gold. They don’t need a huge area or a full blown kitchen - just a work surface-cum-bar area - an espresso machine, grinder, tamper, tamp mat, knock box, milk jug and cleaning materials. Milk in the fridge and your cups can be takeaway (not environmentally great) or ceramic (needs washing up) - so those are the choices.
If you have a great barista, they will turn out coffee all day for everyone who works there, plus guests and can also prepare your wider range of beverages - which is the ultimate luxury for the work environment and of course, they will maintain and clean the machine and bring a lot of joy to the office.
So yes, the most expensive option, but a very worthwhile investment.
2. A fully automatic Or Super Automatic coffee machine setup.
The technology in this category has come a long way. You don’t need to hire someone to make the coffee, but you do need to appoint someone in the office to maintain and clean the machine. There are a wide variety of very clever and sophisticated machines out there that just require the touch of a button. You will never get the same quality as a barista made cup - but you can get very close, and this gap is narrowing all the time. The downside, they need maintenenace and looking after, and someone appointed in the workplace to make sure the hopper is filled with coffee, the water is topped up, the milk dispenser is cleaned frequently - and again - the machines on the market are very intuitive and will tell you when something needs to be done (like the grounds catcher is full, the drip tray is about to overflow or that you need to pop a de-scaling tablet in - yes they do all that!) But someone has to do it, and likely they are not a coffee person - but a little bit of training will sort that out.
You can spend anywhere from around R30 000 - R100 000 on a Super Automatic Coffee Machine that will serve around 40-50 people a day and there are units that have multiple hoppers for additional coffees, de-caf, hot chocolate etc.
The other option to consider here could be a capsule machine like the Blume 2 that specialises in higher quality coffee than Nespresso and most roasteries or the people at 4WKS can supply excellent artisanal coffee for these little machines - which have a capacity of around 20-30 cups a day over a span of a few years if well maintained.
3. A manual solution -
This is for a small office, where coffees are made one at a time for 2-3 people at a time.
All you need is a kettle, some fresh quality coffee, a grinder (or the roastery can pre-grind it for you) and a brewing method.
This could be a V60 pour-over, Chemex, French Press or plunger or an aero press to name a few.
What’s great about this is that it gives you a break from your desk, it’s social (you can problem solve those tricky work challenges with a colleague while you brew) and it’s easy to clean up, with no maintenance required!
It is a LOT nicer to drink than instant coffee, filter pot or flask stored coffee and you get to make it the way you want it. The downside is you can;t really brew for clients or a meeting and you have to clean up or wash your own stuff afterwards - but that's not a bad thing - at work or at home!
You can also purchase pretty cheap milk frothers from any appliance store - this warms and froths milk in an acceptable way - and you can easily make variations on hot chocolate, chai, matcha, and iced coffees with some simple ingredients from your local roastery, who will be glad to supply you.
To conclude, We hope you enjoy better quality coffee at work in the near future and if you have any specific questions - feel free to drop us an email or to contact any of our advertising and roasting partners who will gladly steer you towards better coffee!
Iain & Mel.
