We found that 75% of UK workplaces are ‘awash’ with rubbish office coffee – but it doesn’t have to be that way. While Pact at Work can eliminate a lot of potential office coffee disasters; we can’t do it all! Will Corby, our Head of Coffee, shared his top tips for great office coffee.

Keep it fresh.

Coffee is often treated as a store-cupboard staple – found in supermarket aisles with long-life products – but coffee is always best when it’s fresh. Think of it more like fruit and veg, rather than dried fruit or nuts.

Pact send out coffee the day after it’s roasted, so when it hits your office doorstep it’s super fresh and ready to brew.

**Drink up! **

Sure, you can get away with eating that yoghurt lurking in the fridge for a few weeks, but will it taste its best? No! The same goes for coffee. The quality drops over time, and after a month or so, it will begin to taste stale.

A 250g bag of coffee will last you around two weeks – so drink up while it’s fresh and you’ll notice a huge difference in flavour.

Size matters.

Something that’s not often considered when brewing the perfect cup of coffee is the size that the coffee beans are ground. Getting a consistent grind size is the key to getting a really good brew. While small particles will over-extract, making the coffee taste more bitter; larger particles will add a certain acidity.

Worth the wait.

Good things come to those who wait; and good coffee comes to those who wait four minutes for it to brew. If you’re making it in a cafetière like most people in the UK, set your timer then push it down slowly.

Don’t wait around.

Say goodbye to those leisurely mornings working your way through a cafetière! While waiting is important… It’s also important not to wait around for too long. Once your coffee has been brewed, it’s best to decant it into another container straight away to stop it developing a bitter taste.

Don’t mess with it.

At Pact at Work, we’re not fussy about people adding milk and sugar to their coffee, but we do want you to know what it tastes like without it!

A good cup of coffee shouldn’t have any of the bitterness that you need to mask with milk or sugar. When you’ve got your coffee from a good roaster (like us!), you might find you can do without any of the added extras.

**Buzz kill. **

Looking for a caffeine hit? A double espresso is the obvious choice, but it’s doesn’t actually have the highest extraction of caffeine you can get.

Will explains:_ “Caffeine goes into coffee in relation to the time it takes to brew, rather than the pressure and density with which it brews.”_

By that logic, you’d get more caffeine from a cup of filter coffee than you would an espresso.

**For a chat about how your office could be enjoying the ultimate office perk, contact the Pact Coffee for Business team on 020 3936 3316 or by email. Or why not forward this post to whoever looks after the coffee in your office? **