Coffee is the quintessential office beverage.  The caffeine that it contains has been proven to increase worker productivity.  It tastes good (at least after you take the time to acquire a taste for it or when you jam pack it with enough sugar to make a small child go crazy for hours).  It has become a right of passage for a young people to begin to start to drink coffee as they enter the workplace.  Because of all these factors, finding an office coffee maker that fits the needs of your office can make a significant impact on the overall happiness of your staff.

There are three main types of coffee makers that you can choose from: single cup brewers, pot brewers, and espresso machines.  Each of these machines is going to offer your office a unique coffee experience.  Each has its own strengths and weaknesses from an administrative perspective as well as from a coffee quality perspective.  Finding the right balance for your own staff can be anything but easy.

Below is an examination of some the relative strengths and weaknesses of each type of office coffee maker:

Coffee brewers are the traditional office coffee machine.  If you watch any movie about any time period that is relatively modern you are going to see people pouring coffee out of a coffee pot.  These are the same type of contraptions that you see at breakfast restaurants like Denny's, IHOP, and The Original Pancake House.  These machines have a lot going for them when it comes to corporate coffee making, they include:

• Easily brew multiple cups of coffee.
  
• Coffee can be of uniform strength and depends on the blend used by the coffee maker.
• Easy to pour and distribute throughout the office.
• Relatively inexpensive.
  

But there are also some downsides to this type of brewing:

• Extra coffee becomes stale when not consumed quickly.
• Specialty coffee drinks cannot be made without additional equipment.
  

Single cup coffee brewers are quickly becoming a strong contender for the office coffee maker of choice among modern businesses.  Speciality coffee shops like Starbucks have made a lasting impact on how American's consume their caffeine.  Now drinks must be strong and deliciously sweet - sometimes hot and sometimes cold - but always extremely good and made to order.  This is where single cup brewers shine.  They can provide a custom drinking experience for each and every person who wants to use the machine.  This can be the ultimate in coffee drinking experience.

Here are some of the main reasons why people would want to make this their office coffee machine:

• Allows a high level of coffee customization for your workers through a coffee packet system.
• Creates specialty coffee drinks like mochas and espressos with ease.
• Very little daily administration.
  

Despite these very strong points there are some downsides to the single cup brewers:

• Expensive - coffee packets are not cheap nor are the speciality packets that make speciality drinks possible
• Requires some employee training so they understand how to make coffee for themselves

If you can afford it, these single cup coffee makers provide an awesome coffee drinking experience in the office environment.

Espresso machines are the third option for those interested in finding a good office coffee machine that is going to fit the particular needs of their staff.  These machines provide a lot more flexibiilty than the single cup brewers in that they generally use cheaper bulk coffee that is ground in the machine itself.  This means that your coffee is just as fresh as if you had ground the coffee beans at home yourself to brew your own coffee. 

Espresso machines also let you play with steam and can even have an attachment that lets you dispense steamed milk.  This is essential for making coffee house style drinks that are very true to form.  I have personally had some hot chocolate made with some whole milk from one of these machines and I would have the say that the experience was heavenly!

As with the other machines, the espresso office coffee maker has several advantages:

• Provides the ultimate in a customized coffee drinking experience.
• Ability to steam milk offers a much wider range of coffee drinking experiences.
• The experience of being your own barista.
  

There are also several downsides to this type of coffee maker as well:

• Needs regular care and maintenance.
• Staff need to be trained on how to use the maker.
• Require a many more types of supplies than a pot brewer or a single cup brewer.
• Expensive with moderate reoccurring costs.
  

Making the right decision about what coffee maker to buy can be very difficult.  In my office experience I saw no less than 5 different office coffee makers being used and I only worked there for 2 years!  Luckily they had a higher turnover rate for coffee makers than they did employees. :)