It seems as if a great many workplaces have kitchens or break rooms where you just can’t get a cup of decent coffee. This is especially true for offices with long working hours and strict deadlines where people rely on coffee to keep them alert and awake. The coffee you can drink there is mediocre at best, and you’re left to daydream about a cup of freshly roasted coffee from your favorite coffee shop. There is no need to deal with bland and undrinkable coffee anymore – here’s how you can prepare a perfect cup of coffee at the office.

Keep it fresh

You wouldn’t believe how much better your coffee will taste if you simply use freshly ground coffee beans? This is the simplest and easiest way to get delicious coffee in your office – just get a bag of coffee beans and try not to keep it open for too long. When you buy pre-ground coffee, it’s much more convenient, but the difference in taste is too great to keep doing it if you really want to upgrade. When you grind coffee beans yourself, you can be sure that they will stay fresh and retain their flavor much longer. Invest a few dollars and get yourself a decent grinder.

Water element

The water you use for your coffee is equally important, and if you can, always use filtered water. If you’re using tap water, on the other hand, make sure it’s cold. While it might seem wiser to use warm or hot water because it will boil faster, you want cold water. Even though you can freely drink your tap water, when it comes to coffee making, you want to filter out minerals because these might interact poorly with your coffee. If you’re using a drip coffeemaker in your office, set a specific temperature. The machine should be set at a maximum of 205 Fahrenheit because higher temperatures will likely burn the coffee while colder water (less than 195 F) will under-brew it.

Trial and error

Practice makes perfect, and if you want to drink perfect coffee in the office, you must first understand the way the coffee machine works. It’s important to familiarize yourself with your office coffee machine because it’s the only way to actually understand the way it works. Not all coffee machines are the same even if they work the same way, and if you allow yourself to experiment and try preparing coffee in a few different ways, you will soon be able to distinguish different tastes based on the program you choose. Even if you aren’t happy with some of the results, keep experimenting and trying different things until you ‘hit the jackpot’.

Bring your own cream

If you love adding cream to your coffee, you probably already have your favorite one. Settling for the cream you have at the office might be ok, but wouldn’t it be better if you could use the product you actually love? It’s incredibly easy to improve the flavor of your cup of office coffee when you use half-and-half cream instead of plain powdered milk. What is more, you can try something else: use the microwave to heat your cream (or milk if you want an alternative). This will give your coffee superior taste and add a bit more warmth.

Get the best product

This might be a bit more expensive than you would like, but getting your hands on some quality, organic, imported coffee beans will completely change the game. Of course, such products cost a pretty penny (and for a good reason too), but you can always ask your coworkers to chip in and make it a small office project of yours – drinking excellent coffee every day. You will soon forget all about those bland, flavorless cups of Joe you used to drink because quality coffee you enjoy drinking will brighten your day.

Sadly, none of us is lucky enough to have a barista at work, which means that the coffee we drink is probably going to be less than perfect, but with a little bit of practice, you’ll be able to brew your coffee just the way you like it. There’s no reason why you should settle for mediocre coffee from a drip coffeemaker when you can sip something delicious by keeping a few tricks up your sleeve.