Author: Katie Waxman

Americans love coffee. But when it comes to the rest of the world, tea ranks as the top choice. While black teas are often preferred over green teas throughout the world, there are still many delicious green tea options available.

Green tea as well as black and oolong all come from the same plant, the Camellia sinensis. Growing times and methods, processing methods (steaming, roasting, drying, etc.) and place of origin all play a role in the creation of the final product. Of the different types of tea, green tea is picked the earliest and undergoes the least amount of processing resulting in a beverage that goes well with many other flavors.

Before brewing a cup of green tea, Orlando and Central Florida employees should think about four things: water, temperature, leaf portion and steep time. 

The quality of the water used to brew tea plays a big role in the taste of the final product. Filtered water is the best option as the impurities are removed before the water touches the leaves. When it comes to the temperature of the water, using water that has come to the boiling point is okay, but it’s also okay to use water at around 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, cooler water results in a sweeter, lighter tea.

Many Orlando and Central Florida employees use tea bags instead of loose leaves at work, but it is important to know, if using loose leaves, that a bigger portion of leaves will result in a stronger beverage. The strength of the beverage is also affected by the amount of time the leaves or tea bag are left in the water, the longer the steeping time, the stronger the flavor. 

RAVE Reviews, a resource for independent recommendations, recently published a Top 10 list highlighting the best green teas. The following factors, in descending order of importance, were used to rank the teas: overall quality, taste, packaging and price. Here are their top five choices including three special awards, Best Overall, Most Exotic and Best for Everyday Drinking.

Best Overall and #1: The Tao of Tea Jasmine Pearls Green Tea from Portland, Oregon is both affordable and presentable with the ideal balance of green flavor and floral jasmine aroma.

• Quality: 100% 
• Taste: 100% 
• Packaging: 100%
• Value: 100%

Most Exotic and #2:  Marukyu Koyamaen Premium Ceremonial Grade Matcha is from Kyoto, Japan. A ceremonial tea, this nutritious and grassy-flavored beverage is made from the entire leaf, which has been ground into a fine powder. This Matcha is the priciest and most ancient option.

• Quality: 100%
• Taste: 100%
• Packaging: 100%
• Value: 85%

#3: Babingtons In Tè Veritas from Rome, Italy is an elegant beverage best served at small social gatherings where English afternoon tea traditions would be most appreciated.

• Quality: 100%
• Taste: 100%
• Packaging: 100%
• Value: 79%

#4: Rishi Sencha Green Tea from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a high-quality Sencha. This beverage is an opaque, dark green savory brew with a sticky aroma.

• Quality: 100%
• Taste: 100%
• Packaging: 85%
• Value: 85%

Best for Everyday Drinking and #5: The Republic of Tea People’s Green Tea from Novato, California is affordable, a quality beverage and, best of all, can be found everywhere. 

• Quality: 80%
• Taste: 90%
• Packaging: 95%
• Value: 100%

Which teas do your Orlando and Central Florida employees ask for in the office break room? 

The Vending Station is here to help your organization create a customized refreshment menu that includes a wide variety of coffees and teas as well as fresh food, snacks and beverages. Access to delicious and refreshing options at work encourages Orlando and Central Florida employees to stay on-site for a quick break or a meal with colleagues. For more information about updating your current menu or redesigning your entire break room, please give us a call at (407) 891.7632.

It’s no secret that coffee plays a big role in many Orlando and Central Florida individuals’ daily routines. But the draw to one’s daily boost of caffeine may not just be a habit or the need for a pick-me-up. Recent research performed at the University of Portsmouth in England found that coffee drinkers can recognize the odor of small amounts and can do it faster than non-coffee drinkers.

Dr Lorenzo Stafford, lead researcher and olfactory expert, explained that the more caffeine an individual consumed, the faster that individual recognized the smell of coffee. The researchers also found that consumers who regularly ingested higher amounts of caffeine could smell an extremely diluted coffee solution at lower concentrations when compared to other participants. As cravings increased for these individuals, so did their ability. 

Enjoying a cup of coffee really is a multi-sensory experience. Given how much there is still to learn about our favorite cup of Joe, let’s look at eight interesting and random facts.

• A third of all the tap water Americans drink is first brewed into coffee. Now this is a really good reason to offer filtered water to Orlando and Central Florida employees in their break room.
• Coffee, as we know it today, wasn’t enjoyed as a beverage until 1000 CE. Before then, the berries from the Coffea plant were ground together with animal fat to make energy bites.
• Finland drinks the most coffee in the world at 26.5 lbs per inhabitant followed by Norway (21.8 lbs), Iceland (19.8 lbs), Denmark (19.18 lbs) and the Netherlands (18.5 lbs). The United States comes in at number 26.
• Coffee is the world’s second largest traded commodity after crude oil with over 2.25 billion cups of Joe consumed daily. 
• Only the states of Hawaii and now California produce coffee in the United States. Hawaii’s weather matches other parts of the world that are located along the equator.
• Breaking an old record and winning the 2019 Guinness World Record for the largest cup of coffee, the Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná in Colombia poured 6,007.04 U.S. gallons of Arabic brew into a single cup.
• Today, Beethoven would likely be considered a difficult customer at his local cafe. The story goes that each cup of brew that he enjoyed had to be made with exactly 60 beans; no more, no less.
• The final fact is an unusual one. A cat named Crème Puff holds the title for “the oldest cat ever” at age 38 years and three days old. It wouldn’t be so odd except Crème Puff enjoyed coffee, bacon, eggs and broccoli every morning and took the record from Grandpa Rex Allen (age 34). The two cats were owned by the same individual and were fed identical diets.

As the new year approaches, we’d like to make one prediction about what employers could offer in their Orlando and Central Florida break room to keep coffee lovers happy. Our list would include a variety of delicious options including espresso-based drinks; a full selection of supplies including dairy and non-dairy creamers and sweeteners; and a variety of hot teas for the tea lover.

For more information about upgrading your current office coffee service, customizing a new one or adding healthy and delicious options to your break room micro-market or pantry service, please call The Vending Station at (407) 891.7632.

Today’s tea market is experiencing exciting changes. Innovative new beverages with a variety of unique ingredients have found their way to Orlando and Central Florida consumers. Rather than seeing tea and other similar beverages as separate from all the different foods individuals eat, those beverages are now being measured by the same standards. 

A white paper recently published by the World Tea Expo examined several industry issues that are projected to impact the future of the industry. According to the document, Orlando and Central Florida consumers want the following:

• convenience: hot and cold options, easy to consume on the go, anytime and anywhere
• nutrient density and health potential: organic farming, regenerative agriculture and zero waste
• consciousness: supporting a system that that has a positive impact; sustainability and Fair Trade
• ingredients: no sugar, organic, nutritious and functional

While all these characteristics are important, functional ingredients stand out as a smart way to combine the enjoyment of drinking tea with positive health benefits such as an increase in energy or relaxation. 

With at least 80 percent of Americans experiencing stress daily and struggling to relax their bodies and calm their minds, the chance of illnesses occurring increases. But a reduction in stress can help combat many of them including heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain and poor sleep. 

Relaxing with a cup of tea can reduce stress on its own, but when it’s combined with practicing mindfulness, the health benefits grow to include a reduction in stress and anxiety, improved attention and memory and better self-regulation and empathy. 

What exactly is mindfulness? It’s the ability to be fully present or being aware of what’s going on without becoming overwhelmed. A different way to look at it is noticing all one’s thoughts and emotions without making judgments about them. 

Incorporating mindfulness opportunities into the workday is beneficial for both employees and employers. Orlando and Central Florida employees who are healthier and have less stress not only develop better connections with others including their colleagues but are also more productive. 

To increase the likelihood that employees can practice mindfulness (and enjoy hot beverages from the office coffee service), employers need to step up and provide a variety of relaxing environments from quiet corners to break rooms with comfortable seating options. Healthy snacks and fresh food in the break room will also help employees manage their health. 

As the 2019 ends and 2020 approaches, how will your organization help employees reduce stress, improve their diet and find small moments to practice mindfulness? We here to help design a break room that encourages mindfulness and to create a customized refreshment menu with everyone’s favorite choices. For more information about our other break room services, please contact The Vending Station at (407) 891.7632.

Have you ever tried a new flavor of coffee and discovered it didn’t taste like you thought it would? If you’ve had that happen, you aren’t alone. The processes of growing the plants, harvesting the beans and turning the beans into delicious beverages are quite complex. There are many different factors that can positively or negatively impact the quality and flavor of coffee. 

The National Coffee Association explains how part of the farming process is complex. “Everything from the variety of the plant, the chemistry of the soil, the weather, the amount of rainfall and sunshine, and even the precise altitude at which the coffee grows can affect the taste of the final product.” 

Add in the roasting process and there are an endless variety of new beverages to try, especially since the number of ways to roast beans is almost as varied as people are different. Celebrate this year’s International Coffee Day on October 1 by encouraging your Orlando and Central Florida employees to try a new roast or two.  It’s also a great way to bring everyone together and boost company morale.

Why roast the beans?

Coffee beans are stored raw or kept green until it’s time to roast them. Once beans are roasted, they need to be used quickly in order to prevent a decrease in quality. Unlike roasted beans, raw beans are spongy to the touch and smell of grass. The roasting process causes raw beans to reach very high temperatures where chemical changes can occur, resulting in brown, crunchy beans with varying degrees of oiliness on the outer shells.

Unfortunately, when it comes to knowing which roast is which, things get a bit more complicated as there are no uniform roasting standards. However, there are four “general” categories that all roasts fall into: light, medium, medium-dark and dark.  

Light Roasts: Light brown in color with no oil on the beans’ outer surface, light roasts are usually used to make milder coffees. Common names: Light, Cinnamon

Medium Roasts: Medium brown in color with a non-oily surface, medium roasts are sweeter and have a more balanced flavor, aroma and acidity than light roasts. Common names: City, American

Medium-Dark Roasts: Rich and dark brown in color, medium-dark roasts have some oil at the surface and a slightly bittersweet aftertaste. While the acidity in this roast decreases, the flavors and aromas increase.

Dark Roasts: Dark brown to slightly charred in color, a dark roast has an oily surface and a bitter flavor but is the least acidic of the four roasts. Common names: Viennese, Italian, and French

Not sure which of the four roasts your Orlando and Central Florida employees prefer? 

Instead of just asking them, make it fun and plan a taste-testing event. Rather than telling everyone which beverage is which roast, keep that information hidden until the end. Ask everyone to rank their preferences and guess which beverage is which roast. Once everyone has had a chance to try everything, announce the winners. Some employees might be surprised to learn which roasts they truly like.

Now that office coffee service (OCS) menu is almost done, don’t forget to include healthy snacks, beverages and fresh food in your Orlando and Central Florida break room menu. For more information about OCS and a variety of additional refreshment services, please call The Vending Station at (407) 891.7632.