How to Choose the Right Coffee for Your Workplace
Not sure where to start with office coffee? The Moon Roast team have put together a practical, jargon-free guide to finding the right fit for your team.
Choosing coffee for an office sounds straightforward. That is until you're standing in front of a screen full of options wondering what the difference between a washed Ethiopian and a Brazilian Bossa Nova actually means and whether any of it matters when you've got 30 people who just want a good morning brew.
The good news: it doesn't have to be complicated. This office coffee guide will walk you through the key things to think about so you can make a confident choice, without needing a barista qualification.
Start with Your Brewing Setup
Before you think about which coffee to buy, it's worth thinking about how you're going to make it. The brewing method shapes everything, including whether you need whole beans, ground coffee or pods.
Here's a quick overview of the most common setups in offices:
Bean-to-cup machines
These grind fresh beans for every cup and are by far the best option for quality and convenience. If your office already has one (or is considering one), whole beans are what you need. The difference in taste versus pre-ground or pods is significant and noticeable.
Filter machines
Great for offices that need to make a lot of coffee quickly. You'll want a medium-coarse ground coffee and ideally something with a balanced, approachable flavour profile since filter coffee tends to highlight the more delicate notes in a bean.
Espresso machines
If you've got a proper espresso setup, you'll want beans or a pre-ground espresso roast. Look for something roasted specifically for espresso, like Moon Roast's Moonshot, or Lunar, both designed to pull a great shot with or without milk.
Pod machines
Pods offer ultimate convenience and consistency, which makes them popular in smaller offices or meeting rooms. Moon Roast's Aurora pods are compatible with Nespresso-style machines and are made from recyclable materials; a nice option if sustainability matters to your business (and increasingly, it should).
Think About Your Team's Tastes
Here's the thing about office coffee: you're not just buying for yourself. You're buying for the person who takes their coffee black and strong, the person who drowns it in oat milk and the person who insists they don't really like coffee but somehow drinks four cups a day.
The trick is to pick something versatile. A well-balanced, medium roast tends to keep the most people happy. It's not too intense for the light-coffee drinkers, but it has enough body and flavour to satisfy the serious coffee fans.
A few useful pointers:
If most of your team drink coffee with milk, look for something with natural sweetness and a bit of body. A Brazilian or Colombian tends to work well. Moon Roast's Brazil Bossa Nova and Colombia San Sebastian are both great in this camp.
If you've got a lot of black coffee drinkers, consider something with more complexity. An Ethiopian like Chelbesa or Beshasha will reward people who want to actually taste what's in their cup.
If you want one coffee that genuinely works for everyone, a house blend like Moonshot (designed as a crowd-pleasing espresso) or Stellar (a smooth Brazil-Colombia blend) is a safe and delicious bet.
Don't forget decaf. Moon Roast's Colombia Popayan Decaf is a proper specialty-grade decaf. It actually tastes good, which is more than can be said for most office decafs. Having it available means your team members who avoid caffeine in the afternoon don't have to settle for a cup of hot disappointment.
Roast Level: Light, Medium, or Dark?
Roast level is one of the most confusing things about coffee, mostly because it's been used as a marketing shorthand for so long that the words have lost their meaning. Here's a simple breakdown:
Light roast
More of the bean's natural flavour comes through. You might get fruit, floral notes or bright acidity. Often preferred by specialty coffee fans and great for filter or pour-over. Not always the best choice if you're expecting it to work well with milk.
Medium roast
The sweet spot for most offices. You get balanced flavour, good body and it works brilliantly both black and with milk. Most of Moon Roast's core range sits here, developed to be genuinely enjoyable however you take your coffee.
Dark roast
Bolder and more bitter, with less of the bean's original character. Dark roasts are often used to mask lower-quality beans, which is why a lot of commodity office coffee goes this route. If you're buying specialty coffee, there's rarely a need to go this dark. The beans are good enough not to need it.
How Much Do You Actually Need?
This is the practical bit that often catches people out. It's easy to over-order (and end up with stale coffee sitting in a cupboard) or under-order (and run out on a Monday morning, which is not a good start to the week).
A rough guide based on people having around two cups a day:
Under 5 people: around 1kg per week
10–20 people: around 2kg per week
20–30 people: around 4kg per week
30–40 people: around 6kg per week
40–50 people: around 8kg+ per week
The key word here is fresh. Coffee is at its best between 7 and 28 days after roasting. So rather than buying in bulk and letting it sit, it's worth setting up a regular subscription that delivers just the right amount at just the right time. That way you're never running low and you're always drinking coffee at peak freshness.
Whole Bean or Pre-Ground?
If you have a grinder or a bean-to-cup machine, always go for whole beans. Coffee starts to lose its flavour compounds quite quickly once it's ground. Whole beans keep their freshness much longer and the difference in taste is genuinely noticeable.
If you don't have a grinder, pre-ground is perfectly fine. Just make sure you specify the right grind size for your brew method when you order. Moon Roast can grind to order for espresso, filter or cafetiere, so you don't need to worry about getting the wrong grind.
Does Origin Matter?
It can, but you don't need to overthink it. Different growing regions do produce noticeably different flavour profiles and knowing a little about them can help you narrow down what you're looking for.
Here's a rough guide to the most common origins in Moon Roast's range:
Brazil: naturally sweet, low acidity, chocolatey and nutty. Brilliant with milk. A great all-rounder for busy offices.
Colombia: balanced, smooth, often with a hint of caramel or fruit. Works well as espresso or filter. Very crowd-friendly.
Ethiopia: the birthplace of coffee and it shows. Bright, fruity and complex. Often with floral or berry notes. Brilliant black, particularly as filter.
Peru: gentle and rounded, with mild sweetness. A good option if you want something easy-going that won't divide opinion.
Moon Roast's blends, like Moonshot, Lunar and Stellar, are designed to bring the best out of multiple origins, which makes them reliable and consistent even as harvests and seasons change.
A Word on Freshness (It Really Does Matter)
This comes up a lot, and it's worth repeating: fresh coffee is better coffee. Not marginally better, noticeably, meaningfully better. The kind where you open the bag and the smell alone makes you feel like the day is going to be okay.
Moon Roast roasts in small batches at our roastery in rural Hampshire and ships direct to your office. That means when your delivery arrives, it's genuinely fresh. Not something that's been sitting in a warehouse for six months. A subscription means you get fresh coffee regularly, without having to think about it.
Not Sure What to Go For? Try a Free Sample First
Choosing coffee for a whole team can feel like a bit of a commitment, which is why Moon Roast makes it easy to try before you subscribe. Visit the office coffee subscription page and you can arrange a free sample.
No obligation, no hard sell, just a chance to try the coffee and see if your team loves it as much as we think they will.
Once you're ready to set up a subscription, the process is straightforward: choose your coffee, decide on your frequency and volume and manage everything through an easy online portal. Flexible, fuss-free and starting from just 32p a cup.
Find out more and arrange your free sample at office coffee subscriptions.
