From Café Grumpy to Everyman Espresso, New York City has more than its fair share of excellent coffee shops ready and waiting to satisfy the caffeine cravings of the millions that filter through the streets each day for work, play and adventure.
The majority of people in our fine city are here to work, like you – and today the team at Corporate Essentials has put together a guide to four of the key things you have to consider when trying to fuel your staff with the best office coffee.
Get the Right Equipment
When you’re aiming to make the best office coffee, it is vital that you start with the right equipment. To figure out which equipment is best for your office, you have to start by looking at your staff. What do they drink, how often do they drink it and, perhaps more important, how much coffee do they consume on a daily basis. The answers to these questions push your break room options in one of three directions:
- Mass brewers: these are coffee makers for no-nonsense workplaces packed with people who enjoy nothing more than regular coffee all day long. Sure, you will want to pay careful attention to the coffees on offer to ensure they cater to the tastes of the staff in the building, but by and large everyone can agree on regular or decaf and be happy for the office coffee service provided.
- Single-serve brewers: the single-serve brewer is a tremendous boon to a break room where the staff are diverse and have a wide variety of favorite drinks. The notion of a single-serve brewer might sound limiting, but it is quite the opposite – with hundreds of different cups and pods available for most compatible machines, a single-serve brewer is a great way to pack tons of function into a small space that serves everyone well.
- Premium brewers: for some businesses, the office coffee service is almost as vital as the staff themselves, in a workplace where everyone prefers espresso to drip, a premium office coffee machine like the De Jong Duke Nio allows users to personalize their office coffee experience, from bean to cup, with a few simple button presses.
The key here is to understand what the consumers in your office want from their coffee experience. The best office coffee can contribute to a great workplace atmosphere, which in turn boosts productivity and overall morale in the office.
So it stands to reason that providing the right equipment in order to produce better office coffee is a solid first step in the process. This means seeking out an appropriate assortment of office coffee makers, but also making sure you have the appropriate accessories – like coffee grinders or water filters – to go along with them.
Choose the Right Beans
The next thing you will need to get right if you are going to support your staff by providing the best office coffee, is making sure you pick the right beans for the daily brew. Buying a bag of fresh, espresso roast from the coffee shop down the street is great – if you have the right brewer to concoct your ideal cup.
The trouble is, when you get back to the office and find a standard drip machine, those espresso roast beans will not yield the sort of refreshing pick-me-up staffers crave. When choosing the best office coffee to brew in your building, consider the following:
- Equipment available: be sure you are getting the right kind of coffee – be that beans, pre-ground, fraction packs, pods or cups – for the office coffee makers you have invested in for your site.
- Beverage preferences: everyone has their own ideal coffee, but there are plenty of popular blends and roasts that people can agree on, and it is important to choose something that caters to a wide audience without alienating those aficionados among your team who may not prefer that exact blend.
- Nature of consumption: is your office coffee an ongoing demand item or just a perk your colleagues enjoy first thing in the morning? Do they prefer a variety of drinks throughout the day or stick to just a couple tried-and-tested favorite brews? It is important to consider how much, how many and how often the types of coffee in your office change so that you can assess how to best order so that the right coffee(s) can be available at the right time for the right people.
Fresh is Best
There is nothing that knocks productivity flat on its back faster than unmet expectations from the coffee at the morning meeting. This might sound like an overstatement, but for many people, coffee sets the tone for their entire day – and a cup made with stale beans satisfies no one.
But how do you guarantee your office has the best office coffee?
Start by working out how much coffee your office uses – how long does it take them to get through a pound of freshly roasted coffee beans? Then work with your office coffee service to establish a suitable delivery of the right coffee products so that your coworkers are able to enjoy coffee at the peak of freshness for maximum refreshment.
Locally Roasted Coffees
One of your greatest allies in the quest for the best office coffee in NYC is the fleet of local roasters our city has to offer, but remembering to stop and pick up the beans yourself can be a tremendous hassle. As can managing the storage during a busy time of year for your office or figuring out how to carry 15 pounds of coffee up two flights of stairs on a wet Wednesday morning.
But have no fear – the best office coffee services in NYC can offer you and your team access to amazing locally roasted coffee, delivered right to your break room.
This unlocks the potential for flavor exploration and enjoyment by all staff, and can allow you to take your office coffee game to the next level.
Whether you are considering making a switch to in office coffee suppliers or just trying to figure out how to get the best out of your office coffee experience, the skilled coffee concierge team at Corporate Essentials is here to help. We have close to twenty years of experience in providing the best office coffee to companies like yours throughout New York City, and we would love to show you how to make the most of your office coffee budget.