How to Make Better Coffee at the Office

Online Sales & Marketing, Kendon Shaw and Head Roaster and Green Buyer, Dennis Peseau

Any tips for improving a cup of coffee when you are stuck making it in a Mr. Coffee at work?

Here’s how you can make the perfect cup of coffee at work:

1. Make sure all your equipment is clean; the filter basket, the carafe and the shower head. Nothing ruins coffee quicker than dirty equipment. Pro tip: run descaler through the coffee maker to address mineral build-up.
2. Always use fresh, cold, filtered water
3. Wet the filter first. Pro tip: Run two cups of water through a cycle before brewing. The water will wet the filter and heat the carafe.
4. Check that the heated water temperature is between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the range required for proper extraction and the ‘bloom’.
5. Use quality coffee and be sure it is stored correctly. Use air-tight containers for whole beans and store in cool temperatures.
6. Use a quality, adjustable grinder for the beans. Grind to a kosher salt consistency for most filter coffee situations.
7. Determine your coffee-to-water ratio; ideally 1:15-1:18 by weight. Our favorite ratio is 1 gram of coffee to 16 grams of water.
8. The shower heads on standard coffee makers are notoriously unpredictable. Physically turn the funnel during initial 30-45 seconds of extraction. This will help evenly distribute the water and extract the coffee.
9. Use a carafe that stabilizes temperature. Don’t leave coffee sitting on a warmer tray.
10. If you try, try again and if the equipment conspires against you, BYO French press to work!

Our unscientific research shows that sharing good coffee makes better work possible. Hope these tips help increase the productivity in your office.

We’d love to hear about your coffee quandaries. Please write in to info@victrolacoffee.com, or DM us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and we’ll answer either on the show or via e-mail. We’ll send you a free t-shirt if we answer your question on the show!