The short version
You need about two feet of counter and a power outlet. No water line: the machine runs from its own tank.
Put it where a short queue won’t block a door or a desk, with a fridge for milk right beside it.
Keep mugs, sweeteners, stirrers and tea within reach, and let the service visits look after the machine itself.
Start with the spot
Most New York offices don’t have a big kitchen. They have a pantry, a stretch of counter and a lot of people passing through it. A bean-to-cup machine needs about two feet of counter space and a normal power outlet, and nothing else fixed to the building.
There’s no water line to plan for. The JURA X10 and GIGA X8 both run from a 5-liter tank, which makes about 40 to 50 cups before it needs topping up. A sink nearby makes refilling quicker, but it isn’t required.
Pick a wall, not a corner by the door. At 9 a.m. three or four people will be standing in front of the machine, and you don’t want them blocking the way in or leaning over someone’s desk.
Plan the milk
Most of the drinks people queue for at a café are milk drinks. The fridge that sits beside our machines holds up to two kinds, so most offices keep one dairy and one plant milk. Barista-style oat is the one people ask for most right now, because it steams and foams like dairy.
The milk comes from your office, which is usually easy: add it to the grocery order you already have. Whoever places that order should know it’s theirs, so the fridge doesn’t run dry on a Monday.
For hot chocolate, the machine froths real milk and people stir in their own chocolate powder. Our machines don’t use powder cartridges at all.
What goes around the machine
Keep these within arm’s reach of the machine:
- mugs, plus a few cups for visitors and meetings
- sugar and a sweetener or two, in one small tray
- stirrers or teaspoons
- tea bags, since the machine pours hot water too
- a cloth and a small bin for used stirrers and tea bags
If the office already has a hot water dispenser, keep it: it gives a stronger pour for tea than the coffee machine does.
Where the queue forms
Every office has a rush. For most it’s the first hour of the day, and for some it’s straight after lunch. Size the station for that, not for the quiet afternoon.
JURA rates the X10 for up to 100 cups a day, which suits most small and mid-size offices. The GIGA X8 is rated for up to 200 and makes two drinks at once, which is what keeps a morning queue moving on a busy floor. Walter recommends one on your first call, based on your headcount and what your team drinks.
Keeping it clean
With a managed machine, which is what our office coffee service is, the machine itself is our job: we restock and clean it on every visit, weekly or every two weeks depending on how much your office drinks. Your team keeps the counter wiped, the water tank topped up and the milk in the fridge.
Closing for a holiday or a long weekend? Tell us the dates and we’ll move the service visits around them.
Before install day
When the station is ready, installing the machine takes 5 to 10 minutes. This is the list we’d go through with you, and our FAQ on install day answers the rest:
- two feet of clear counter and a free power outlet
- room in the fridge for two kinds of milk, and milk bought
- mugs, sweeteners, stirrers and tea on the counter
- someone in the office to let us in
- a busy day, if you can, so we can show as many people as possible how it works
- a word with building security: most Manhattan buildings ask for a certificate of insurance (COI), and we send a sample to pass on
Questions
Where should the coffee machine go in a small pantry?
Against a wall, on a stretch of counter about two feet wide, near a power outlet and away from the door, so a short queue doesn’t block the way in. A fridge right beside it keeps the milk where the machine needs it.
How do we keep an office coffee station tidy?
Keep sugar and stirrers together in one tray, put a small bin and a cloth beside the machine, and make one person responsible for the milk order. The machine itself is cleaned on every service visit.
Still choosing a machine? Our comparison of Nespresso, Keurig and bean-to-cup machines covers what each is like to live with, and the two machines we install are compared side by side. Moving into a new space? See planning coffee for an office move. Or set one up in your office for two weeks.
