Drinks Machine

[russy01]

Does anybody have a hot drinks machine in their workplace?

Our facilities are not great and we have a cold water dispenser or kitchen for hot drinks...

We have a cafe a few units up from us and our staff love to get a proper coffee or hot chocolate from their machine.

Anyway, I’m considering a hot drinks machine but don’t know where to start or what the costs are. Any recommendation?

I don’t want a machine that simply chucks water into a cup which has a mix at the bottom. I want the drink to be mixed/made internally so it can be dumped in any cup etc...

[russy01]

mmm this is becoming a pain. I dont actually drink coffee at all, so dont understand the ins and outs of it. But some of these machines with their milk and maintenance seems like a pain in the arse.

Maybe we'd be better off with a machine that just chucked some hot water through and into a pre-mixed pod or cup.

Plus its not all about coffee... so not looking to just buy a bean to cup coffee machine.

Thanks.

[russy01]

RizzoTheRat said:

You mention having a kitchen space so is it feasible to have a selection of equipment rather than a dedicated machine? In my experience the machines that can do multiple drink types tend to be pretty poor.

My old employers (40ish people) had a filter coffee machine, nespresso machine, kettle, fridge and microwave, with the company providing ground coffee, milk and teabags. you had to buy your own nespresso pods but someone would always organise a big order.

My current place (office of 20ish in a bigger organisation) has a bean to cup coffee machine (delonghi magnifica), kettle and fridge, and we all bung I think €50 a year in the pot to buy the beans, milk and teabags. This generates enough extra cash to replace the coffee machine when it wears out. Someone else then organises a supply of canned drinks with an honesty box for payment, which seems to work pretty well.

This approach does mean trusting people to be tidy and clean the kitchen are up though.

Nice idea, but we get a lot of temps as we are very seasonal. So ultimately I wanted a machine that is based outside of the kitchen in a more communal area where you can simply grab a drink and go... Plus being temps they are not going to chip in on larger orders - but I am more than happy for them to have a drink on us!