In most offices, the coffee station is the first stop for incoming employees. Before they begin socializing, and long before they begin working, employees auto-pilot their way over to the kitchen, where the sweet scents of java warm their insides. As more people filter in, and grab their morning mochas, the office transforms. What was once a still, dreary room of silence is now alive with a booming buzz of celestial energy.

We are made up of 90% water when we are born, but our bodies slowly dehydrate through the years. If we’re not replenishing by drinking a sufficient amount of water, our bodies will dehydrate that much faster. You can be 35 and look 50 if you’re not drinking enough water.

Many people skimp on their water intake. Many people also negate their water intake by ingesting just as much salt or starch, or working out too hard and not rehydrating enough. The recommended daily water intake is 8 glasses a day, but you may need more depending on other factors, like exercise, weather conditions, and diet. You’ll know you’re not consuming enough h20 if..

Can We Save Our Coffee?

We should all be familiar with the devastating drought that’s hounding Brazil’s and Central America’s coffee crops right now.. but what would happen if every coffee field on earth started drying up, until there was no.. more.. coffee. Ever. Well, that may be what is happening. *Gasp!*

If you’ve tasted one, you’ve tasted them all.. This couldn’t be less true for coffee and the infinite variation contained in it’s rich, flavorful blends. Java scientists and tastebud technicians are constantly reconfiguring coffee blends, adding swirls of spice and dashes of ideas, like it’s a goblet of witches brew. The diversity contained within, and available for, coffee blends has grown substantially, and the alchemists behind the scenes are continuing to churn out deliciously different blends of mocha.

Employees spend an estimated average of $1,092 a year on coffee. It’s easy to point to the need to “wake up” in order to work well, but there is far more to how coffee impacts an employee than the benefit of “waking up.”

Would an office without coffee be a far less productive workplace? Are there benefits beyond productivity that a coffee service would provide?

Here are the five key facts you need to know about how coffee impacts your workplace.

Did you know 59% of Americans drink a cup of coffee every day, and it often plays a big role in the working person’s world. It’s no surprise that its benefits have been studied over and over again. Not only does coffee help you be more productive at the office, but it’s also been proven to help fight against the risks of heart conditions, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Every company seeks to make a good impression on potential clients. There’s usually a warning for employees to be on their best behavior, a tidying up of the conference room, a straightening of ties, clearing of throats. But what about pleasant, unexpected surprises, like fresh coffee and juice? Or a variety of snacks for your clients to munch on? These things make a huge impact on people whether it seems “huge” or not.

In the past, the coffee station at a typical office consisted of regular coffee, decaf coffee, tea and maybe hot chocolate if you were lucky. There were no Interactive Cup™ Brewers 5 years ago so whatever the office manager ordered, the employees were stuck with. However, thankfully, times have changed and now employees can preapre their favorite caffiene beverage with an array of choices and choices and flavors without ever leaving the office.

With the cost of an average cup of coffee soaring at over $1.85  (just for a tall coffee at your local corporate coffee shack), having a coffee setup at the office provides another type of employee benefit much like a company cellphone. However, an old school, single coffee pot, single falvor, stale coffee staion isn’t exactly going to convience employees to stick around for a coffee break in the office. If you do the math, at $1.85 a day for an average of 20 work days a month it comes out to $37.00 a month spent on coffee which is assuming you only get a tall plain coffee once a day. Offering an alternative to the outdated coffee station can be a huge costs savings to both the employee and the employer.

As the love for coffee has evolved so has the variety of choices to add to make your cup of joe just the way you like it. The traditional coffee station at the office has transitioned in many work places to a coffee bar with endless possibilities to make your coffee or hot beverage. Now a coffee bar may not sway a new hire in choosing your company over another, but it certainly sends a message that your company cares about its employees and their happiness.

You’re probably familiar with the phrase “water cooler talk:” leisurely conversation and friendly exchanges between colleagues that take place around the office water cooler. Why the water cooler? It could be because the bathroom is too awkward. Your desk- too obvious that you’re not working. The kitchen- you’re too busy looking for munchies. But the water cooler is perfect. It’s against the wall, away from it all, providing a purified fountain of deliciously cooled h20. And the best part? There’s nothing to do while drinking your water but hang out. Talk. Chat. Laugh. Share.