Best Office Coffee Brands

Not all coffee palates are built the same. Some office workers will crave a naturally delicious single-origin coffee with subtle tasting notes of, say, caramel or dark fruit. Others will want a hint of coconut flavor in their coffee to whisk them away to the Caribbean while they edit a spreadsheet.

Thankfully, subscriptions and coffee vendors for the office offer a slew of options. And whether you want a coffee to deliver an island experience or winter-cabin-retreat vibe, all it takes is some careful planning to keep everyone happy.

Best Office Coffee Flavors & Tips For Choosing The Right Variety For Your Team

No matter how much of a team you are, each member of your office squad will have their own preferences when it comes to their morning coffee cravings. Some people may crave the sweet-yet-hearty flavor of a hazelnut coffee. Others may want (or need) some decaf in their life.

Consider this a when to keep a focus on while selecting beans, grinds, and pods to stock the break room cabinet. Here you’ll find popular must-have varieties to stock in your breakroom and tips for why they’re so popular with the office crowd.

• Light roasts. There’s a reason you’ll find most “Breakfast Blends” or “Morning Blends” are on the lighter side: conventional wisdom says that these varieties pack a bigger caffeine punch. Whether this is true is a point of debate (and brew methods have a lot more to do with caffeine extraction), but the fact remains that a cohort of people will associate their morning coffee with the acidity of a light roast. Give them what they want and be sure to include a smooth light roast for your coworkers to start their day off right.
• Colombian. An Arabica coffee—read: grown in Latin America, the Pacific, or Africa—with a rich flavor but modest acidity, this is an all-day coffee and, for that reason, Columbian coffee is one of the best coffees for the office.
• French. A common instant coffee, this is grown in the Eastern hemisphere and generally associated with darker roasts. French roasts are among the darkest available and tend toward bitter flavors over acidic ones; some might even say it tastes like burnt toast. Which is an entirely enjoyable—and demanded—flavor profile for some coffee drinkers. These roasts will taste similarly to Italian roasts.
• ‘Donut Shop.’ Another Arabica coffee known for its all-day appeal, there’s good reason these typically medium-roast coffees are associated with donut shops: they tend to be slightly sweeter and blend well with milk—a perfect accompaniment for a donut. There’s also a more moderate caffeine kick, making it ideal for an afternoon pick-me-up. With or without donut.
• Nutty flavors. Hazelnut is a mainstay of flavored coffees and will surely be requested by someone, so make sure to keep it around. Other popular flavors include a toffee nut in the fall months or a macadamia nut during warmer months. Others may simply crave the subtle peanut butter notes found in some single-origin coffees; so, keep an eye on those roasts when available.
• Dessert flavors. For some, coffee practically is dessert—and there’s no shame in that! This category of coffee varieties can lean toward the aforementioned coconut-flavored coffee meant to transport to the tropics or the caramel macchiato imitation that delights with a blast of vanilla and caramel. Try keeping a rotation of these in the office. You’ll keep your coffee-drinking coworkers on their toes, checking back for new flavors. (Pro tip: Be sure to pair these coffees with appropriately matched creamers and milks for maximum flavor.)
• Decaffeinated. Yes, decaf. Because caffeine does make up some of coffee’s flavor profile, coffee enthusiasts rarely grade these as premium coffees—but scientists have made vast improvements in making them more enjoyable in recent years since the first decaffeination process was reported in Germany in 1903. Many modern decafs boast tasty dark chocolate or fudge notes but can vary just as widely as a caffeinated coffee. It is, after all, still a coffee bean—just with the added variables of potential flavor infusions from the decaffeination process, plus a much more finicky roasting process that tends to make for darker beans and grounds. Either way, keep some decaf coffee for the office on hand for those take pleasure in the taste of coffee without the effects or the coworker who wants the minimal buzz that accompanies decaf but not a whole cup of the fully caffeinated alternative.
• Variety Packs. They say variety is the spice of life. We tend to agree. We’ll take that one step further and say that having a variety of coffee to choose from during the 9-to-5 grind is all-but life-sustaining. In a day and age where we’re presented with endless options, choosing a variety pack from your coffee vendor makes it easy to please the most people with the least amount of effort. From light roasts to dark roasts, flavored dessert coffees and more — variety packs can satisfy your office crew with familiar favorites and give them a chance to find a new type of coffee to look forward to for their afternoon pick-me-up.

Deciding what combination of coffee varieties to choose with gets a lot easier with Victor Allen’s flexible coffee subscription service. In addition to satisfying bagged roasts that include organic, single-origin, flavored, and other specific options, also find variety packs that will perk up any coffee-eager colleague with a treasure trove of different flavors to suit all palates!