If you have noticed that your employees lack their usually sunny disposition during these dreary winter months, or perhaps more than one of the guys in the two o’clock meeting was nodding off last Tuesday, it might be time for your company to consider pulling out all the stops in your quest for great office coffee.
But where exactly do you start on this epic journey for ultimate refreshment? That can be tricky, even in a city that boasts some of the most unique and exceptional coffee vendors on the planet – a city whose residents on average consume seven times more coffee each day than their counterparts across America.
Lucky for you, the team of experts at Corporate Essentials is well versed in providing guidance to travelers on the road to coffee enlightenment.
To help you on your way to providing great office coffee for all who seek it, we have put together this whistle-stop tour of four key points to consider along the way. Tuck those elbows in – your hostess will be pushing the snack trolley through the aisles shortly.
Find the Right Roast
Some of the biggest office coffee mistakes start with great intentions. Someone is out and smells an amazing bag of coffee beans, picks them up and rushes home ready to whip up a pot of what they hope will be great office coffee for all to enjoy. The trouble is, if the beans you choose are not the right sort of roast for the equipment you are brewing on, it is difficult to get the best results.
Real coffee geeks can tell you what “crack phase” their beans are roasted to (coffee beans snap, crackle and pop their way to roasted goodness). However, most normal people just need to know that darker beans are roasted longer – generally this means they look a little oily, have a less acidic flavor profile and less caffeine.
Conversely, lighter beans retain more of their natural acidity, and a wider variety of their nuanced flavors based on the region and climate from which they came. Detailed descriptions of popular categories of roast coffee are as follows, from dark to light:
- Dark: these are the black, shiny beans you might be familiar with from the “bag your own” section of the supermarket coffee aisle. Continental, Espresso, European, Viennese, Italian and French are some of the most popular names for dark-roast coffees. Dark roast beans reach an internal temperature around 464 degrees, the end of the second crack phase.
- Medium/dark: very dark brown with the slightest hint of oily sheen, these are the beans you will find labeled with names like “Full City Roast”. Medium/dark roast coffee is roasted through the middle of the second crack.
- Medium: a strong brown shade with no real shine to the bean, medium roast coffees are commonly called American, Regular, Breakfast or City roast. Medium roast beans hit an internal temperature of about 420 degrees, generally considered the beginning of the second crack, and enjoy pride of place as the favorite roast in the USA.
- Light: a light brown color with no obvious oils on the bean at all, light roasts present with the flavor of toasted grain and rounded acid profile. The bonus of light roast coffee for many is the fact that light roasts retain the most caffeine.
Darker roasts are more suited to immersion brewing methods and lighter roasts tend to produce better pour over brews.
Keep it Fresh
The next stop on our great office coffee tour is the freshness outpost. It’s so important to understand what “fresh coffee” really is, according to the National Coffee Association of the USA, “exposure to air is your coffee’s worst enemy.” The top advice from coffee professionals around the globe is that coffee is best when purchased in smaller quantities that will be used up within two weeks at a maximum. The longer beans are in contact with the air, the more their flavor will degrade.
Grinding beans at the point of use is essential to maintaining an ideal balance of flavor, as grinding allows more of the bean’s surface to contact air. Beans should be stored in airtight containers that are kept safe from the hazards of both light and warmer temperatures – this is not always easy in an office, but the beauty of joining forces with a superior team of office coffee distributors is the pantheon of options on offer.
Flexible delivery offerings paired with a variety of coffee roasts, grinds and formats to meet the demands of even the most discerning office coffee snobs.
Utilize Local Coffee Roasters
Something that coffee fans the world over are more than willing to do is travel for a good cup of coffee. Sampling from roasters in different cities and neighborhoods around the globe becomes more than a hobby for many, it becomes part of their overall lifestyle.
While this is not practical during normal business hours, the beauty of having an office in New York City is that there are scores of great local coffee roasters peppered throughout the city. Wherever you happen to be the odds are there is an excellent place to score fresh-roasted coffee nearby.
The benefits of tapping into the local coffee roasters on your doorstep are numerous – for one, your team will never have far to go in the event of a coffee shortage or other caffeine-related catastrophes, but more importantly, you will be investing in the neighborhood your company calls home. And that speaks volumes to the people who interact with your firm on a daily basis as clients, customers and passers by.
A great office coffee relationship starts with the best office coffee – and an office coffee service like Corporate Essentials has key contacts in some of the most popular local coffee roasting establishments throughout NYC, making it even easier to bring the fresh roasted local flavors right into your break room.
Choose the Right Machine
The last port of call on this great office coffee cruise is the one most often ignored by our coffee-crazed colleagues – the equipment shed. Picking out the right office coffee maker for your team is a daunting task, but choosing wisely can make all the difference between having the great office coffee your staff deserve and the mediocre coffee that leaves everyone with a case of the Mondays.
The variables that go into choosing the best office coffee equipment for your office include:
- Workforce size: the number of staff in your office drives the type of equipment the office needed to meet their thirst.
- Beverage preferences: the variety of beverages your teams consume is another key factor.
- Available space: in some offices, space is at a premium, a great office coffee distributor can help match equipment footprints to the space you have.
Making an informed choice about the office coffee machines available to your team makes it easier for everyone to truly enjoy their office coffee experience.
If you are ready to get onboard the great office coffee express, contact the team at Corporate Essentials – we have close to two decades of office coffee experience at the ready.
