The coffee that jolts you awake first thing in the morning is not the one you need to keep focused and productive throughout the working day. Award winning B Corp coffee specialist Roast & Ground has five tips for making sure your workplace drinks beat the best on the high street.
Americano or flat white? Dark roast or decaf? Everyone has their own preferences, and with speciality coffee, it might even change during the course of the day.
Family-run business Roast & Ground has been hand-picking high-grade coffees to suit office bean-to-cup machines since 2002 and offers a stunning range of speciality Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance certified beans.
The secret of their success? Making it easy for staff to enjoy superb coffee in every single cup. If you are thinking of ditching instant coffee at work and trading up to a bean-to-cup office coffee machine, here are five points to ensure your coffee set-up is best in class.
1. Choose a coffee that suits all-day drinking
This is especially important if your machine only has one bean hopper, according to Roast & Ground founder and chief coffee taster Richard Gray.
“If you only offer one coffee at work, it needs to be one that people are happy to drink over and again throughout the day,” he advises. “That often means a medium or medium-dark roast with a crowd-pleasing flavour, whether that be rich and complex, or smooth and chocolatey.”
Even within those parameters, you will still have plenty to choose from. Roast & Ground, for example, offers classic Italian-style Forza for luxuriously creamy espresso; bold and energising Revival, with its crowd-pleasing smoothness; and the intense yet well-balanced flavour of Washed Bourbon, a chocolatey premium blend featuring the prestigious Bourbon arabica varietal.
Choose a machine that has two or three bean hoppers and your options expand accordingly. You might want to add a decaf or a lighter tasting coffee such as Roast & Ground’s Pick Me Up, or a charity blend such as Fuel Their Day.
2. Choose a supplier who carefully selects Speciality Grade beans
When it comes to coffee beans, the term Speciality Grade is an objective global standard, not a mere claim.
The Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) scale is the international benchmark which grades beans based on their distinctive sensory attributes, consistency and sustainability. Higher grades mean farmers can earn better prices, encouraging quality over quantity.
Look for the SCA score on your coffee supplier’s packaging – if it’s good quality, they will display this score prominently. Every Roast & Ground coffee scores 80 or above on the SCA scale and their highest scoring coffees include:
- Lot 84: a smooth and chocolatey single estate coffee from the celebrated Daterra farm in Cerrado Mineiro, Brazil. SCA score 84+
- Pick Me Up: a single origin Colombian coffee that’s light and naturally sweet with gentle acidity. SCA score 85+
- Pura Decaf: made from fully washed, organically-grown Pache beans, as well as Bourbon, Catimor and Caturra beans, with caffeine removed by the esteemed Swiss Water Process. SCA score 83+
Your coffee packaging may also highlight the altitude at which the coffee was grown, often noted as MASL (Metres Above Sea Level). While there is no right or wrong elevation, it does affect flavour.
At high altitudes (1800+ MASL), the coffee cherries are slow growing and therefore have time to develop sweet, complex flavours like jasmine, honey and apricot. At mid-altitude (1000-1800 MASL), the coffees will be balanced and versatile with caramel sweetness and rounded acidity. Low altitude coffees (below 1000 MASL) tend to work best in traditional espresso.
3. Make sure the beans are freshly roasted in the UK
Freshly roasted coffee provides peak drinking enjoyment. It has the strongest, most complex flavour and aroma, and produces the best crema. As coffee beans age, they oxidise and start to taste stale, musty or flat.
Roast & Ground roasts its coffees to order in the UK, holding no more than six weeks of stock at any time, and offering next day delivery on all orders.
“This means freshness is guaranteed,” says Richard Gray. “And because your bean-to-cup machine grinds the beans to order, this will be highly apparent. The delicious aromas, distinct flavours and the full expression of what makes each coffee special will be right there to taste in each cup.”
You also want your supplier’s coffee beans to be fully traceable through the supply chain.
“When you know where a coffee comes from and how it’s been handled every step of the way, you can trust both the flavour in the cup and the impact it has beyond it.”
4. Choose certified eco-friendly coffees with a story behind them
The premium coffee revolution has made people much more aware of iniquities in the coffee supply chain and coffee drinkers now want to know their daily brew does some good in the world, whether that be supporting fair prices for farmers, or addressing environmental concerns.
All Roast & Ground coffees are fully traceable and certified either Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade. These are fully independent guarantees that the farmers and communities behind the beans are treated and paid fairly, and that growing practices protect biodiversity and natural ecosystems. As a certified B Corp, Roast & Ground is also held to the highest standards of social and environmental performance across its entire business.
Want to go a step further? Consider a charity coffee; it encourages teamwork, morale and contribution. Roast & Ground’s Fuel Their Day coffee supports Only A Pavement Away, which helps people facing homelessness find employment in the hospitality trade. For every pack sold, Roast & Ground customers donate 25p to the charity; Roast & Ground then matches the donation so that 50p per pack goes to Only A Pavement Away.
5. Make sure the coffee is calibrated to your machine
The best coffee to serve at work is one designed and calibrated to work perfectly in your bean-to-cup machine. In fact, it’s this attention to detail that ensures your workplace coffee is as good as that made by a barista. It is a mistake to buy any old beans you fancy at the supermarket and tip them in the hopper.
“Every coffee is different,” Richard Gray explains. “There are many factors to consider that influence the final result – bean choice, roast level, coffee machine equipment and set up, including optimal grind and brewing time. And when you work with Roast & Ground, we handle all those tiny details on your behalf.”
Roast & Ground’s expert engineers calibrate every machine ordered to bring out the best qualities of each client’s preferred coffees. The Roast & Ground team will also check your espresso is on point every time they visit, too, so you can rest assured your office coffee will keep tasting wonderful day after day.
The key to perfect office coffee
Enjoying great coffee at work doesn’t start with the beans, it starts with the right coffee machine partner. Look for a real expert who will advise on the best machine for your needs, handle the installation, keep it running well year-round, and deliver a superb choice of eco-friendly, freshly roasted speciality coffees promptly, too.
Roast & Ground’s handpicked coffee machines come from leading brands including Rex-Royal, Jura and Coffetek, and their fully comprehensive service plans have earned them a reputation for 5-star customer service. Visit roastandground.co.uk to find out more.
To see the full Roast & Ground range of speciality coffees, visit: roastandground.co.uk/consumables-coffee
About Roast & Ground
Since 2002, Roast & Ground has been changing the way people experience coffee at work with its high-end commercial machines and hand-picked coffee beans freshly roasted in the UK. Combining a passion for speciality coffee with a dedication to exceptional customer service, the company supplies businesses and other organisations throughout London and the South East, as well as national accounts. It is strategically-located near the M25 in Chessington, Surrey, with an additional London showroom in Farringdon, and offers next-day delivery on orders from its 24-hour online shop.
Contact information:
- Telephone: 020 8397 8676
- Email: [email protected]
Website: www.roastandground.co.uk