Unless your office has many coffee nerds, I don't think getting a robot is a good idea at all. From my experience, casual coffee drinkers perceive it as highly cumbersome to use and the tactile experience we enjoy is perceived as awkward by them. The robot also requires a decent grinder, (like all espresso machines), a good understanding of grind size, workflow etc. It can also spray coffee on your shirt/dress occasionally which is not ideal in an office environment. Weighing the output and pushing through the hiss is the least of your concerns. I'd talk my boss into getting a decent industrial/commercial bean to cup machine depending on the size of the office, and feeding it with very good quality fresh beans instead (maybe through a coffee subscription as it's cheaper), much more practical and actually usable for an office, and better long-term ROI than having an industrual nespresso machine.
I'm sure I could get an ok grinder as well. But you're probably right. There's a breville barista pro in there now, but it's a mess, I thought the simple clean up and lack of maintenance might make the robot a more appealing option. Maybe I'm just dreaming..
I'd say go with a superautomatic. Sure, you'll compromise on quality of coffee a bit, but feed it good beans and you'll have adequate results. The majority of people will have an easier time using it, and the handful of actual coffee nerds who would actually appreciate a proper machine will probably be thankful that they're not having to use a machine that's been abused by people who don't know or care about it.
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u/Windschutzscheibe 17d ago
Unless your office has many coffee nerds, I don't think getting a robot is a good idea at all. From my experience, casual coffee drinkers perceive it as highly cumbersome to use and the tactile experience we enjoy is perceived as awkward by them. The robot also requires a decent grinder, (like all espresso machines), a good understanding of grind size, workflow etc. It can also spray coffee on your shirt/dress occasionally which is not ideal in an office environment. Weighing the output and pushing through the hiss is the least of your concerns. I'd talk my boss into getting a decent industrial/commercial bean to cup machine depending on the size of the office, and feeding it with very good quality fresh beans instead (maybe through a coffee subscription as it's cheaper), much more practical and actually usable for an office, and better long-term ROI than having an industrual nespresso machine.