Some would argue that having the best office coffee machine is the most important factor in a happy and productive workplace; people will feel better and work harder if they've got a cup of something warm on their desk.
Not only that, but doing a drink run is a valuable way to step away from the screen and do some serious thinking - depending on your job, this time can be super useful.
But with so many coffee machines on the market, both personal ones and giant lumbering behemoths designed to hydrate huge crowds of people, it can be hard to know which is the best to buy for your office.
Well, that's why we came up with this list of the best coffee machines that you should consider for your workplace. These will be just as useful as the best standing desk or best office chair for keeping people happy.
Sure, your office needs lots of tech, like the best fax machine, scanners, shredders, copier and more, but coffee machines are the most important - trust us, here at TechRadar, we've got some experience with good and bad bean-to-cup brewers!
We haven’t included prices as, especially for the brands that do commercial coffee machines as well as consumer devices, it’s often easier to ask for a quote depending on the size of your company than buy individually - and not every entry on this list can be bought individually, and some are only sold to businesses.
You’ll see below our top five picks of the best office coffee machines for big and small offices, but below that are five more options if the top slots don’t work for you - the world of coffee dispensers is a large one and different picks work for different people.
Our favorite office coffee machine 2022
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Some of the most top-end coffee machines on the market come from Jura, and its Giga X line represents that more than anything. The Giga X8c is the most top-end of that line at time of writing, although some other options exist for people who don’t need all the premium bells and whistles.
The Giga X8c takes coffee beans and turns them into 32 different types of coffee, with a built-in milk system, the ability to put out two coffees at once as well as just hot water for those who want tea.
It’s designed to output up to 200 coffees per day so it’s perfect for large offices (or small offices of coffee-holics), and you can also customize the temperature of the coffee and the milk, so it’s designed to let you indulge yourself if you love caffeine.
On the downside, it’s a big and pretty expensive coffee machine, maybe too much for some offices. Not everyone needs a huge beast with a touchscreen that they can swipe through for days to pick their perfect pot, although if you want your staff to feel fantastic maybe this is a good option.
Check out the Giga X8c at the Jura website here
Keurig has a wide range of coffee machines designed for businesses - there are Small Business and Large Business versions as well, but we’ve picked the Medium Business option because it has the option to output different sizes of coffee, so no-one’s stuck with too much drink or left wanting more.
As the name suggests, the K150 Medium Business is designed for mid-sized organizations, so if you’re going to have plenty of workers looking for a quick brew it might not hold up, but otherwise it’s golden. This coffee machine takes standard-sized pods, so different people can all have different brews and blends depending on their taste.
There’s no milk options for the K150, so this machine will only put out black coffee, but that’s easily solved if you leave a jug of milk next to the machine for those who like their cups white. It also has an optional direct water line, so you don’t have to keep refilling it after every few cups.
It’s worth checking the whole Keurig Commercial line to see which of its machines properly fits your office, but the K150 seems most diverse.
Check out the Keurig K150 Medium Business model by clicking here
If you want a coffee machine that puts out more than just black drinks, but you don’t need the huge diversity that some of the pricey machines on the market offer, perhaps one of Philips’ many options is right for you.
The Series 3000 HD8829/01, which we picked for this list, only puts out espresso, cappuccino and straight coffee, but it makes it from beans with a built-in grinder which is something you can’t say about all the machines at its price point. That makes it great for people who love the taste of a freshly-ground coffee, which you don’t get from pods or store-bought ground coffee.
You can also make two coffees at once, which is great for speeding up production if plenty of people want drinks at once (or if one person is making coffees for loads of people).
As with the Miele coffee machine, this Philips model (as most) has an external milk jug, which could potentially get knocked over or take up space on a tight kitchen counter, but otherwise it’s a dainty model that’ll fit in many spaces. It can also make two brews at once, perfect for during rush periods. It’s not big, but it’ll work for medium and small offices.
While we’ve sounded down on external milk jugs, they do plug in to the coffee machine so it saves you the hassle of steaming the milk yourself, so it is useful for some.
Check out the Series 3000 by clicking here
Some offices just need a coffee machine that eats pods and puts out drinks - if this is yours, then there are plenty of such options for you, but we’ve chosen a DeLonghi model made for Nescafe’s Dolce Gusto range.
The Colors Automatic looks pretty appealing, and its minimalist design will fit well in many office kitchenettes and even on desk. There’s no milk input, multiple coffee types or varying options here - instead, the coffee pod you use dictates the coffee you get, so everyone can have the perfect brew for them.
There are plenty of other options in the range, if the Colors Automatic doesn’t appeal to you in terms of looks, although they all seem to function fairly similarly.
If you don’t need a machine that’ll be pumping out coffees all day, but just want an option in the kitchen for those who like to start their mornings with a kick, a simple and easy option like this pod machine is all you need.
Check out the Colors Automatic at the Dolce Gusto website here
If you don’t need a coffee machine that can churn out cup after cup all day long, but still need a sturdy model that can work hard when you need it and put out decent brews to boot, this Miele model might be a great fit for your office.
The Miele CM7550 is a mid-sized machine that can put out over 20 different types of drink, thanks to the external milk jug that attaches to the machine, and it has a coffee ground input as well as a bean grinder that lets you use decaf or a different type of coffee as well as the primary one. This versatility can be really useful for offices where people often have divergent tastes, or if not everyone wants a caffeinated drink.
You can make two drinks at once with the CM7550, as with other Miele coffee machines that’d work well in offices, but this model is the most top-end the company makes that you should consider.
It’s not too big, so it’ll fit in a range of offices, and other than the external milk jug (which can sometimes fall over or spill, and you have to manually check the fill yourself), it has quite a solid and aesthetically pleasing build too. The price of it is mid-range compared to others on this list, as it’s more affordable than the Jura Giga, but still a lot more than the budget entries lower.
Check out the CM7550 at the Miele website here
Alternative office coffee machines
What is an office coffee machine?
An office coffee machine isn’t necessarily the same piece of kit you’d find in a personal kitchen, as it needs to be easy to use for a wide range of people (no matter their barista background) and cater for different tastes as well. Also, you don't want someone taking 10 minutes to make a cup of joe, when they could be at their desk.
The right one depends on office size, how easy it is to use for all the team, what it takes and puts out, and much more.
Similarly you don’t want your office to tout the same ware you’d find in a coffee shop or restaurant, as those are huge pieces of machinery designed for a range of artisanal creations - your office workers just want a quick cup of something good tasting, and they don't need Starbucks-tier drinks.
Do you need an office coffee machine?
While it seems a coffee machine isn’t technically as vital for a work environment as, say, a computer, router or printer, an easy way for workers and employees to grab a cup of something warm can do wonders to productivity and morale.
A nice coffee and make people alert, wake them up if that’s needed, and give them the energy to keep working - in addition, having a machine for people to use gives them an easy way to take a break now and then. Having such a machine in the office makes people happy, and stops them disappearing to a nearby coffee store to get their drinks.
You might not need a huge coffee machine though, depending on how many people work in your office. If many workers are remote, or only pop in to the office now and then, you might find a large coffee machine doesn’t get used as much as you’d expect.
The question of renting or buying a coffee machine is a big one too, and if you’re just starting out, or feel you don’t want to commit to a certain machine if it might quickly become too small for the office, it can be better to rent to save you from wasting your money.
Saying that, buying outright can be a more affordable strategy in the long term, so if you feel you’ll be using a certain coffee machine in the long run, it may be worth splashing out on the up-front cost of the best coffee machine for you.
Who uses an office coffee machine?
Since most coffee machines can be used for decaf coffees, teas and other hot drinks, as well as just coffees, you might find plenty of people make use of an office coffee than just the hardcore coffee drinkers.
In fact, you might be surprised by how many office workers will turn to a coffee machine if one is readily available, as the drink is more interesting to have regularly than water but much healthier than constant soft drinks.
How to choose your office coffee machine
There are a few key factors to consider when buying the best office coffee machine for you.
Firstly, how big is your office? If there are only a few workers, you don’t need a pricey beast that can put out hundreds of cups a day of different kinds of drink. On the other hand if you’ve got plenty of people, you don’t want queues to form behind a tiny espresso machine, or a pod-based thing that takes ages to create coffee, so picking an appropriate-sized machine is key.
Secondly, how skilled are your workers at making coffee? Espresso machines using ground coffee can be a bit more fiddly to use than pod-based machines, or larger builds with touch-screens and all the components built in. If people like milky coffees, machines with wands to steam milk can sometimes take a lot of getting used to, which might not be great for everyone.
Next, what input is right? Pods are very easy to use, and let one machine create loads of different types of coffee, but they can sometimes be a little expensive, especially for bespoke types from companies like Nespresso, and they don’t always taste as good as fresh coffee. Ground coffee can taste pretty good, but it’s a bit fiddly to use as machines that take it tend to be pretty manual, which isn’t great for people who want an easy drink. Coffee beans can be put in some of the top-end machines, and they taste pretty good, but using beans locks all users of the machine into one type of coffee, and typically you’ll have to put the beans in yourself (whereas your workers could bring in their own pods) making it a bit pricier for the office manager.
There are some other factors to consider too: do your workers want milk or is black coffee fine? Will a large machine fit in the office or will you have to settle for something smaller? Do you want a touch-screen device or just a button-based system? Are you okay with re-filling the machine constantly, or is a direct line better to avoid this hassle? Understanding all these factors will make choosing the best office coffee machine a lot easier.
How did we come up with the options on this list?
To create this list, we looked at over 100 different machines from various large and small brands on the market.
We didn't test them all - that would be an incredibly unhealthy way to spend a weekend - but instead we researched into the specs, prices, input and output and extra features of these options.
We made sure a trained barista was the person doing the research too, to ensure they could see past the marketing fluff and really gauge the value of each option.
We considered all the models from the brands you’ll see on this list, and plenty others too, ensuring that a range of coffee machines were covered, from large and pricey devices that’ll cater to large offices or those with a diverse taste in coffee, to smaller pod-based or espresso machines for people who just want a quick boost.
- Check out the Smeg ECF01 Espresso Coffee Machine
