What I Learned Making 3,000 Cups of Coffee at Work

Intro

Hello, this is designer Lee Sang-hyo. Half of 2023 has already passed and it is July. July is the month I joined my current company, and it has already been two years since I joined the company.

I make coffee almost every day at work. I did a quick calculation and it turns out that I brewed about 3,000 cups of coffee over the past two years. As a designer, why do I drink so much coffee at work? I would like to keep a record of the reason and process.

Background

The company I work for adopts a mixed work from home and face-to-face approach. My home and work are close to each other, and I tend to get a better job at work, so I go to work all five days unless something goes wrong. But it wasn't like that from the beginning. In July 2021, when I joined the company, the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing, so most members were working from home. The office was comfortable, but as a new employee, there were relatively few opportunities to meet and talk with other members.

At my previous job, coffee beans and drip equipment were provided in the bathroom as a welfare benefit. On the other hand, the current company was providing capsule coffee instead. Capsule coffee is great because you can get coffee conveniently and quickly, but it was difficult to create opportunities to talk with other members because the time required to brew the coffee was small. I needed a space and opportunity to chat with various people! :D

So, I decided to take advantage of my previous work experience and try brewing coffee beans.

Materials

Preliminary explanation for those who are not familiar with hand drip coffee: To make hand drip coffee, you need the ten ingredients below.

1. Coffee beans
2. Grinder
3. Drip filter
4. Dripper (coffee bean filter support)
5. Drip Server
6. Drip pot
7. Where to store numbers 1~6
8. Where to drink coffee
9. Hot water
10. Ice

For numbers 16, I bought something that wasn't too expensive or brought something I had at home, and fortunately, I was able to use numbers 710 because I already had them at work. Other than the coffee beans and drip filter, once they were prepared, they could be used continuously, so maintenance costs were not large.

Execution

It’s not just about having the ingredients. What actually makes this coffee gathering complete is the people. You will need the following elements:

1. A person who makes coffee
2. 3-5 people to drink coffee
3. Time 20 minutes

I can always meet number 1 because I can do it myself, but the combination of 2 and 3 was difficult. This is because a company is a place to work, and if employees are busy working, they cannot join in drinking coffee. Therefore, I thought there was a set time to find a member with free time.

1. 8-10 o'clock (morning time) when there are few meetings
2. Before work begins, 12pm (lunchmeeting time)
3. 4~5:00 (time zone when major meetings end)

Looking back on the past two years, I ended up making coffee during the three times listed above. The only time it rains almost every day is in the morning. Since the work time is flexible between 8 and 10 o'clock, it is a time when meetings are relatively rare, so I thought that more people would participate if I recruited in the morning. As soon as I get to work, I like to work with coffee.

I think it was difficult for even me to make coffee during times 2 and 3 due to pre-meeting preparations, meetings, lunch appointments, etc. If I got off in the morning, I didn't think about getting off again.

Calculation

To commemorate the second anniversary of making coffee, we estimated coffee-related numbers.

• 4.5 days - This is the number of days you brew coffee in a week. Weekends and occasional stay-at-home and vacation days are excluded.
• 1.3 times - This is the number of times I make coffee when I go to work.
• 2 years is 104 weeks.
• 5 cups: This is the number of cups of coffee produced per brew.

Adding this up, we get the number 3,042 drinks over two years. (This is an estimate, so it may differ from the actual drink.)

Just for fun, I also converted it into virtual sales. Assuming 5,000 won per cup of drip coffee = 3,042 cups → 15,210,000 won came out.

Insights

• Through making coffee, I was able to get to know a variety of members and share everything from light chats to serious conversations. It was nice to chat with the people who came to drink and find out what team each other was on and what they were doing. I think this kind of light communication led to work communication and created positive synergy.
• Colleagues who used to drink coffee are giving coffee beans and coffee filters as gifts. This means there are virtually no maintenance costs after the first year. I think it was better because it felt like it was a coffee time made together with everyone.
• By tasting various coffee beans, I learned little by little about the charms and characteristics of each coffee bean from around the world. I still don't know much about coffee, but I ended up ordering and trying a variety of drip coffees at cafes. Recently, I was shocked to learn that there are coffee beans that can be brewed with cold water.
• Making coffee in the morning has become my own ‘starting work ritual’. It was a time to talk about various things with my colleagues and put myself into work mode. I feel proud that I have created great habits with my colleagues.