Office coffee · Sizing
What size coffee machine does your office need? 10, 20 or 50 staff
Short answer: size on cups a day, not headcount. Most offices make about 1.5 coffees per person per day, plus visitors. Up to 20 cups a day, a Jura E8 copes. 20–50 cups, a WE8. 50–100 cups, an X8. Beyond 100, or anywhere the public helps themselves, a Giga X – ideally plumbed. Undersize it and the tank runs dry by ten and the grounds bin fills twice a day; oversize it and you pay for capacity nobody uses.
- Rule of thumb: staff × 1.5 = cups a day. Add visitors, and add 30% if the office is busy in peaks (tax season, month end, Monday mornings).
- Capacity is set by three things: the machine’s duty cycle, its water tank and its grounds container. Office-grade models are bigger in all three.
- A WE8 holds about 3 litres of water and 500g of beans; an X8 about 5 litres and a kilo. That is the difference between one refill a day and three.
- Above roughly 50 cups a day, plumbing the machine in removes the tank refill entirely.
Step 1: count cups, not people
Headcount misleads in both directions. A 30-person warehouse where half the crew drinks instant needs less than a 12-person accounting firm in July. Count the coffee drinkers, multiply by 1.5, add visitors and clients, and add a margin for the busiest day of the week. That is the number to size on – the peak day, not the average.
| Office | Typical cups a day | Machine | Refills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 staff | 10–20 | Jura E8 (or ENA 8 if the kitchenette is tiny) | Water daily, beans every few days |
| 10–30 staff | 20–50 | Jura WE8 | Water once a day, beans every couple of days, grounds once a day |
| 30–60 staff | 50–100 | Jura X8 or X6 | Water once a day or plumbed, beans daily, grounds once or twice a day |
| 60+ staff, reception or showroom use | 100+ | Jura Giga X3 or X8, plumbed | Beans daily, grounds twice a day |
| Multi-floor or spread-out office | Any | Two smaller machines rather than one large one | People will not walk two floors for coffee |
Step 2: the three capacity numbers
Duty cycle
How many cups the machine is built to make in a day, every day, for years. Home models are rated for household use; office-grade models for continuous duty. An E8 making 40 cups a day will do it, but its seals, pump and grinder wear faster than designed, and manufacturer warranties on home models usually exclude business use. Above 20 cups a day, buy office grade.
Water tank
A 20-cup day uses roughly 3 litres including rinses. A home machine’s 1.8-litre tank means two refills; a WE8’s 3-litre tank means one; an X8’s 5 litres covers a 50-cup day. Or plumb it in and forget the tank exists.
Grounds container and drip tray
Every cup leaves a puck. A home machine holds 15–16 pucks; office models 25–40. A full grounds bin stops the machine until someone empties it, which in an office is the moment nobody wants to be that person.
Step 3: milk and menu
Offices drink milk coffee. One-touch milk on every model above is essential; a machine where someone has to froth by hand becomes a long-black machine within a month. Above 50 cups a day, add a milk cooler so the milk stays fresh beside the machine all day. If the office is mostly black coffee – some workshops and depots – a machine without milk automation is cheaper and simpler.
Step 4: where it sits
- Near a sink for refilling and emptying, and near a power point.
- Not in a corridor where the grinder noise carries into meeting rooms – though Jura grinders are quiet.
- With clearance above for filling beans and water.
- If two machines are better than one, put them where people already gather.
When to plumb it in
Above about 50 cups a day, or wherever nobody can be relied on to fill the tank. Plumbing needs a water point within a few metres and a plumber’s visit; the X8 and Giga X are designed for it. Below 50 cups, the tank is fine and avoids the fit-out cost – see domestic vs commercial coffee machines.
Common sizing mistakes
- Buying a Breville-style semi-automatic because it looks the part. See why semi-automatics fail in offices.
- Sizing on today’s headcount for a business that is hiring.
- One machine for two floors.
- Buying the biggest machine for a ten-person office because it was on special. It is louder, bigger and more to clean.
Tell us your headcount, we will size it
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Frequently asked questions
What coffee machine do I need for 20 staff?
A Jura WE8. Twenty staff make about 30 cups a day plus visitors, which sits in the WE8’s 20–50 cup range with one water refill a day.
What coffee machine do I need for 50 staff?
A Jura X8 or X6, ideally plumbed – 50 staff make 75 or more cups a day, above a tank-fed machine’s comfortable range.
Can a home coffee machine handle a small office?
Up to about 20 cups a day, yes – a Jura E8 copes. Above that, home models wear early and their manufacturer warranties usually exclude business use.
How many cups a day can a Jura WE8 make?
It is built for 20–50 cups a day with a 3-litre tank and 500g hopper, meaning about one refill a day in a 20–30 person office.
Do I need to plumb in an office coffee machine?
Only above roughly 50 cups a day, or if nobody will fill the tank. Below that, tank-fed office models are fine.