Mark Vend

October 1 is International Coffee Day, a day celebrated around the world. Each year, the International Coffee Organization, the founder of the holiday, recognizes a different part of the coffee industry. This year, the holiday is focused on the farmers who produce the beans.   

Farmers go through six different stages before the beans are sent to market: 

1. picking the cherries (what a coffee bean is called when it’s still on the tree); 
2. washing to remove the outer skin of the cherry; 
3. drying the beans; 
4. grading the beans based on size, where and at what altitude they were grown and how they were prepared and picked; 
5. roasting; and 
6. cupping or assessing coffee according to sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel, balance and flavor.

Once the beans make it to Chicago break rooms, choosing the right type of brewer becomes the next step. It is important to understand which types of brewers should be used for different types of beverages and the number of employees. 

There are four types of brewers that are primarily used in break rooms: automatic brewers, drip brewers, single-serve machines and bean-to-cup brewers. 

Automatic Brewers: Never run out of freshly made, hot coffee with an automatic machine. Connected to an incoming water line, an automatic brewer can brew either a single pot or multiple pots at one time. Automatic brewers are built to handle high levels of daily traffic.   

Drip/Pourover Brewers: Built similarly to automatic brewers, drip or pourover brewers can handle high amounts of daily traffic. The key difference is that drip brewers are not connected to an incoming water line. The user is responsible for adding water to the machine each time a new pot is brewed. 

Single-Serve Machines: This type of brewer can meet a different set of needs when compared to the previous two brewers. A single-serve machine requires less physical space in a break room and can cater to employees who have very different coffee preferences, but it works better in areas with less traffic. 

Bean-to-cup Machines: A bean-to-cup machine uses a built-in grinder to deliver freshly ground and brewed coffee. As with traditional single-serve machines, only one cup can be brewed at a time, but Chicago employees have the option to make a variety of espresso-based, specialty beverages.

There’s one other thing to remember when choosing a brewer. It’s important to understand the steps involved to keep your machine in top shape. Not only will regular maintenance extend the life of the machine, but it will impact the taste of everyone’s coffee. 

But don’t worry, Mark Vend can help your facility/office manager choose the best brewer for your organization, perform required maintenance and create a customized refreshment menu that meets everyone’s snack and beverage needs. We offer a variety of office coffee service, micro-market and vending service solutions for your Chicago break room. 

For more information, please call Mark Vend at 847-291-9216. We look forward to celebrating International Coffee Day with you.

Coffee and everything related to it has more of an influence than most Chicago employees realize. In fact, it’s impact isn’t only related to the caffeine boost that comes from drinking the beverage. 

Recent research in the Consciousness and Cognition journal found that exposure to coffee-related cues, without having actually consumed any coffee, can trigger a chemical-response pattern in the brain that increases “concrete, precise thinking and mental arousal, or attentiveness.” It’s sort of like Pavlov’s dogs, but in this case, individuals are exposed to non-chemical but coffee-related cues which then trigger a chemical-response pattern in the brain. 

So what types of coffee-related cues in Chicago office break rooms could cause this effect? The answer is almost anything such as colors, sounds and smells that can be observed. Let’s take a look at one of America’s favorite hot beverages and the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch), and see how each sense can impact alertness and attention.

Taste: While the concept of taste is often associated with the physical act of drinking, taste can can also play a role in a more abstract way. For many Chicago employees, the “taste” of coffee is often the first thing that comes to mind when someone else mentions coffee.

Sight: Seeing a physical object such as an image of a mug, roasted beans or even an actual cup of coffee are just a few of the many different visual cues that can create a response.

Hearing: Understanding which sounds have the ability to trigger the chemical-response pattern is a bit more complicated as sound is unique for everyone. Several popular sounds include grinding beans, the brewer brewing and sounds that are associated with a favorite local cafe.

Smell: The sense of smell is similar to the sense of hearing in that everyone experiences it differently, but freshly brewed coffee, the smell of beans being ground or that favorite cafe tends to elicit almost the same reaction from everyone.

Touch: Experiencing the feel or size of a favorite mug, picking up the container that holds the ground beans, pressing the start button on the grinder or using an espresso machine or favorite French press are all ways to activate the brain via touch without ever drinking a single drop.

Whether it’s by itself or in combination with other senses, the human body takes in many different observations during the day. It’s time to increase the likelihood that more of your employees will benefit from the coffee effect and design your Chicago office coffee service to engage all of the senses.

Mark Vend can help customize a refreshment menu that includes the hot beverages your employees seek out as well as healthy snacks, cold beverages and fresh food. A successful break room is more than just a place to grab a quick snack. It’s a welcoming and relaxing place that encourages employee creativity, collaboration and productivity. To update your current break room menu or design a new break room space, contact Mark Vend at (847) 291-9216. We look forward to enjoying a cup of Joe or tea with you.

Coffee, tea and energy drinks will never look the same. Change up your employees’ energy-boosting beverage routines with three new mashup trends.

A mashup requires at least two separate ideas or, in this case, beverages and combines them in new, unusual and exciting ways. Today’s new beverages include ingredients that appeal specifically to Millennials, the largest generation in the U.S. workforce.

Coffee Plus Sparkling Water, Juice and Plant-Based Water

The first trend highlights how coffee, a popular energy boost, can be combined with unlikely partners to create healthier beverages with new flavor profiles.  

• Sparkling Water: A healthier option than traditional carbonated beverages, sparkling water has been combined with ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee, resulting in a low or no sugar, carbonated and energy-boosting beverage.
• Fruit Juice: Traditional juice has gotten a bad rap over the past few years, but that is about to change. Mix a blend of cold-pressed fruit juice and cold brew coffee with light carbonation and discover a delightful, caffeinated blend that is bubbly and naturally sweet.
• Plant-Based Water: Flat bottled water comes in a variety of options including plant-based waters like coconut water, watermelon water and maple water. Mix coffee with maple water and enjoy a naturally flavored and sweetened RTD coffee.

Tea, Energy Drinks, RTD & Cold Brew

Tea has long been known to be a healthy beverage with long list of health benefits. Unfortunately, tea hasn’t always been at the top of Millennials’ most-favorite beverage list. To remedy that, drink manufacturers are incorporating tea into energy drinks and sparking beverages as well as using new brewing methods.

• Cold Brew: Just as with coffee, tea can be made using the cold brew method. The final beverage packs a punch with 75 percent more caffeine than a typical RTD iced tea.
• Ready-to-Drink: Speaking of RTD teas, new options have been made using sparkling water instead of traditional, flat water.
• Energy Drinks: Depending on the type of tea leaves used, such as guayusa, green tea or matcha, tea has become a viable option to enjoy instead of traditional energy drinks.

“Clean” Caffeine Sources

Just as with clean snacking, many health-conscious, Chicago employees are looking for “cleaner” energy drink options. Several new beverage choices get their caffeine boost from guayusa or green tea plants, offering both the energy benefits of caffeine and the health benefits of tea. To add to the number of choices, another beverage combines green tea with sparkling water and L-theanine, an amino acid, which offers a clean caffeine boost without the crash that happens with caffeine sources lacking L-theanine.

Chicago employers can add any of the above options to the break room beverage menu, and their employees will have one more reason to stay on-site during the workday. Encouraging employees to find their refreshment on-site can lead to an increase in productivity as less time is spent in transit and more time is spent collaborating and working.

Does your break room micro-market or vending machines offer the snacks, beverages and fresh food your employees are looking for? How about traditional coffee and espresso-based beverages? 

It’s time to reevaluate your refreshment services program, and Mark Vend would like to help. We offer a variety of options and will customize the perfect menu that delivers the choices your employees are looking for. For more information or to schedule a sample tasting, please contact Mark Vend at (847) 291-9216.