Getting the right cup of coffee in the office!
Work and coffee have an unbreakable bond that might transcend time itself. You can’t have one without the other, as a matter of fact; you can’t do one without the other. Having a good cup of coffee motivates us to do even the most boring of tasks. Have an unread email lingering in you notification that you have been ignoring for the past hour? Have a refreshing cup of dark comfort and understanding, and you are ready to tackle it with grace and precision.
But then it happens… You head off to your company automatic coffee dispenser, your fingers doubtingly move over the machines touchscreen to fill out your order. The machine makes some dystopian noises and you are left there with a cup filled with a far-cry representative of coffee. You brace yourself and take the first sip. You return to your desk unsatisfied and distraught. That email never gets finished and that prospect never gets called back.
Having quality coffee at the office does not have be all that strenuous. With some simple appliances and the right coffee beans you can have that cup of warm comfort and focus you deserve.
The bean
It all start with the coffee beans. Having the right beans with the right roast means all the difference. The number one criteria is that these have to be fresh. Luckily, these days it is rather easy to find a pack of good coffee beans. Just head to your nearest coffee specialist, you can look one up using Google. If you don’t have a coffee specialist in your area then you can head towards your favourite coffee shop, you can ask the barista if it is possible to buy some of their beans. Most of the good coffee shops always have some of their beans on sale. This is a good place to start since it’s your favourite coffee shop so you’ll probably also like their roast they’ve got on hand. If you don’t have a grinder you can ask the to grind it for you.
The machine
Now that you have a pack of coffee you can start thinking about how you are going to brew it. Since you’re in the office I suggest the more subtle approach of a pour over method. Pour over is a great way to enjoy coffee since you only need a filter, something to hold the filter in place, ground coffee and some hot water. You’re probably already covered on the hot water part since your office likely has water boiler/kettle. As for the actual appliance that holds the filter in place for you to pour the hot water over the coffee these are made in all shapes and sizes. Here are three methods we recommend for the office-barista
Hario V60
Image: Amazon.com
One of the more popular methods of brewing pour over coffee is with the Hario V60. There is hip and then there is Hario V60 hip. Among coffee connoisseurs nothing beets a well brewed cup of slow coffee from a Hario V60. Slow coffee is brewed by hand and one cup at a time. This method of brewing coffee has been around for decades but only recently gathered notoriety and a cult following. The manual drip method is a great method of coffee extraction. Giving you full control over the pour over method and the waters temperature, practice is required to getting it just right. When brewing you would want a slightly coarser grind compared to your regular filter grind yet not as coarse as a French Press grind. Next comes the filter. True slow coffee brewers wet the filter before putting the coffee in. You don’t need to ho as far but experimenting is encouraged. I’ve even seen people mixing green tea leaves with their slow brews. When you have your V60 loaded and ready it is time to start boiling the water. With slow coffee you would want the water to be around 93 degrees Celsius, you can go lower to the low 80’s to achieve a more fruity flavour. You can roughly achieve this by waiting 90 seconds after the water has boiled.
When you are ready you can start brewing, place the V60 over your favourite mug and start pouring! Here you can get creative again by experimenting with different pouring methods. Most people start of by pouring over the coffee evenly. You do this by pouring in circle like motion to get everything nice and wet to get an even extraction. Pour consistently and when the water is reaching the top of the filter, wait and continue when it has descended. Repeat this process until you filled your cup to your preferred amount and enjoy your cup of slowly extracted love and understanding! You are now ready to tackle your prospects with surgical precision reaching their pain points with deadly accuracy!
AeroPress
Image: Amazon.com
A relatively new way of brewing but has already gathered a large following of fans. It’s a hybrid between the French Press and the classic pour over. It’s small, compact and easy to take with you when traveling. Cleaning is relatively easy as the whole contraption is dishwasher resistant. Because of its strange design you won’t have to worry about co-workers ‘borrowing’ it and leaving it used, miserable, and dirty in the sink.
The AeroPress is a device that is made up of three parts and slightly resembles a syringe. There are two cylinders, one of which fits snugly into the other. Both are flanged at the end. The smaller of the two is the plunger and has a rubber piece at the non-flanged end that creates a water tight seal when inserted into the brewing chamber (the larger of the two cylinders). The third piece is a black perforated filter holder that is about one half inch deep. A filter is placed inside and secured to the brewing chamber with a quick twist. It takes small round proprietary filter so keep that in mind when taking the plunge with AeroPress.
Let’s get the kettle going and start brewing, remember to let the water cool after brewing and settle at about 95 degrees Celsius. If you don’t have a thermometer, that equates to about one minute cooling. You would want to get about 16 grams of your favourite ground coffee and pour it into the AeroPress using the funnel that is included. It’s important to level out the grounds in the chamber so that when your pour your water you’ll be able to evenly saturate the coffee to get the best extraction. This can be done by simply shaking the entire brewer gently from side to side or lightly tapping it with your hand. When you are ready to start and brew start by slowly pouring in water and aim to make a thin stream straight down the side of the brew chamber and slowly twist the entire brewers 360 degrees. When the water level is just about between the two and three marks remove your hand and wait a couple of seconds to let it settle. Once it has, secure the filter holder with the Able Disk inside onto the brewer and at one minute twenty five seconds carefully flip the brewer onto the top of you mug. Wait about five seconds for the brewing coffee grounds inside to rise to the top and begin to press the plunger down. Your total press time should be between thirty and forty five seconds making the total brew time right about two minutes. Now all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the coffee!
French press
Image: Amazon.com
The classic pour over method and still highly popular among purist. The French Press has been around for almost a century but is still to this day a highly viable way of brewing coffee. It names suggest a French origin but it was actually patented by Italian designer Attilio Calimani in 1929.
The method of brewing is straight forward with the French Press. You don’t neet to worry about getting the right filters and wetting them. The French Press has it’s on metal filter mesh that you press down to hold down the coffee grounds. The metal filter mesh is not that fine as a conventional paper filter so you would want a more coarser coffee ground to get a good extraction. With this methods of brewing you get a distinct coffee taste, some people describe it as drinking coffee in its purest form. Others find the taste a bit ‘oily’, so fair warning when your favourite beans surprise you.
To start brewing you grind your preferred amount of coffee, experiment en getting the coarseness of the grind. You start off by grinding the preferred ammo you start a kettle and let the water boil, when it’s done boiling wait a little until the water has cooled to your preferred temperature. Pour the water in the French Press and stir it around to get it a good saturation. When you’re done mixing let it settle for about 5 minutes. Pushing down slowly and until you encounter some resistance, stop and wait about 7 minutes for it to settle.
Pushing down slowly and until you encounter some resistance, that’s when you will feel the filter hitting the coffee grounds. Stop and wait about 7 minutes for it to settle. Now you are ready to pour! Slowly pour into your cup and enjoy some classically brewed coffee!
Now you have no reason to start brewing some caffeinated master pieces! Fair warning though, don’t be surprised when you become the office barista!