Coffee at work

IntoxNitram

What is the set up for you guys when having coffee at work?

We have a filter coffee machine and brew some decent local coffee (ManCoCo), however the guys who make the coffee before I get in aren’t too interested in weighing out, just tend to do a couple of scoops so we get varying levels of success. Also we buy the coffee pre ground and in bulk so after a while you can definitely notice the deterioration. Do find myself having to drink instant coffee in the afternoon also once the filter machine is out as I’ve made one or two in the afternoon before but most people don’t tend to drink any in the afternoon.

Beverast

At my work this is the only coffee the company provides…absolute rubbish. I usually bring my own in, or if I’m lazy go to the coffee shop around the corner and get a generally disappointing flat white for £2.05. Unfortunately the majority of the staff have no idea how to steam properly - the flat white usually comes out looking and tasting like a latte. However, I do get the occasional good flat white from them, but this heavily depends on who is on duty. In short, my coffee at work life pretty much sucks…unless I bring in my own coffee 😁

DavecUK

I used to take chilled espresso shots and add boiling water for Americanos, until they banned kettles

Beverast

DavecUK I’m curious…what did you put your shots into? We do have a water boiler at work so this sounds like a good idea.

Baldrick

DavecUK guess what I’ll be trying out next week! Great idea!

PortafilterProcrastinator

DavecUK I’m going to give this a go. Did you chill quickly, or just leave to cool?

The beans in the B2C machine at work are months old, I just can’t bring mys of to drink it any more.

DavecUK

I’m cheap, so anything I had available. This type of thing with about 100 or 250ml volume….

DavecUK

I meant to say, I intend to experiment with smaller 40 ml pots with lids and freeze espresso double shots…just have not got around to doing it yet…meaning to do it for a long time. I think they would store well in the freezer, for americanos, or iced coffee on demand.

dutchy101

DavecUK Your workplace banned kettles? Wow. Toasters I get, but kettles?

IntoxNitram

dutchy101 yeah also interested to know the reasoning behind this. Seems a little bit excessive.

DavecUK

dutchy101 Your workplace banned kettles? Wow. Toasters I get, but kettles?

The complaint was from the company running the canteen…they put in rules to prevent people eating their own food in the canteen space (all provided by BT of course), then removed the kettles. People started eating at their desks…threy banned that. We were in a business park, nowhere to eat…People started eating in the seats at reception when it was raining. The company moved to ban that and the management union got involved. Stated they had to provide employees an eating area and access to hot water…and threatened to take them to court. We were then allowed to eat in the canteen area, all vending machines had to give hot water free (it tasted awful) and when the canteen was open, they were forced to give us hot water for free if we asked. I was not very senior in those days…

In later times, the stupid rules like that didn’t affect me or my teams

dutchy101

I could understand if the office was in an igloo, but otherwise I’m scratching my head on this one.

dutchy101

DavecUK

It wasn’t Adastral Park, was it?

dfk41

Luckily, I am retired now but when I did work, I worked from home for many a year, so coffee at work was always top notch!

DavecUK

dutchy101 It wasn’t Adastral Park, was it?

No lol, or Martlesham as it was. In the early days I went a few times to Bletchley, where in those days they had a load of mouldering wartime huts :)

Pompeyexile

The Clever Dripper was my go to coffee maker and I would use coffee ground for that, from Rave. On a floor that held several hundred people, as far as I could see, I was the only one that made ‘proper’ coffee. Everyone else used instant.

If I got a phone call just as I was brewing, to keep it warm I used a beany hat which worked a treat…

DavecUK

Pompeyexile I know what you really have under there…

Giphy - Creature Feature Monster Movies GIF

JahLaza

So,I’m back in on site in about a month after a couple of years working from home and starting this journey a year ago buying my first espresso machine!! Had been thinking aeropress and bring an airtight jar of coffee each day as freshly ground as possible. Starting to think premade espresso and top up with water might be the way. @DavecUK you’ve listed this above, I think I’ll do some testing in the coming days. Would you prepare your 3 or 4 or whatever espressos the night before, cool in sealed container then refrigerate until leaving for work? Probably bring a shot glass or something to measure the coffee each time in work then. What’s your experience keeping the flavours as intact as possible once the espresso is prepared in this kind of scenario?

DavecUK

JahLaza Would you prepare your 3 or 4 or whatever espressos the night before, cool in sealed container then refrigerate until leaving for work? Probably bring a shot glass or something to measure the coffee each time in work then. What’s your experience keeping the flavours as intact as possible once the espresso is prepared in this kind of scenario?

Exactly this, although I put them straight in the fridge…..I used to use a syringe in work…I’m convinced they thought I was shooting up….I’d give it a good swirl then draw up about 20 ml into a syringe, or whatever, depending on strength required.

The flavours seemed good as an Americano….which is ho I would drink it.

Sham

Some guys in my office have put up a poster saying they want to buy a coffee machine for the office kitchen (as pods are bad for the environment…), currently they have a picture of the delongi dedica. I would give them some advice but I fear I would be too picky 😂 I would propose we stick a lever machine in there but I think the safety office wouldnt allow that.

DavecUK

Sham I would propose we stick a lever machine in there but I think the safety office wouldnt

That would be a really dangerous thing to do….you need to persuade them to stump up for something a little better….