In my short work career so far, I have had the chance to work in quite a few offices. The number is not anywhere near the dozens of offices and clients that my friends and colleagues have been to.

But, I have always wondered and even been amused by the different types of coffee breaks that I have been introduced to at these places. I am attempting to categorise some of my coffee breaks here.

I am sure most of you out there have your own types of coffee breaks. For those who don’t like their java, it could be a break for any other beverage or even a smoking-break. Please feel free to drop in your 3, 30 or 300 lines about it, in the Comments section here

The break could be from any kind of work - from office-work, from house-work. It could be a break from your desktop PC, or a break from your kitchen PC (which is the ‘Pressure Cooker’) or a break from working at the Dixons or Circuit City store …. or even a small break from barista duties at ‘Cafe Coffee Day’

Here goes …
“At the Desk + Brainstorming” Coffee break
You are so deeply drowned in some critical task at work - like, say, something that you were supposed to complete and send yesterday. You don’t have time to un-glue yourself from your seat. But you still need the dose of caffeine to keep you going. What do you do ? You pick up the phone, dial the small pantry facility that your office has, and request the chap (Nandu) to bring you a cup of hot ‘Kaapi‘
He puts on his usual talk about desktop coffee only being given twice a day and that for the rest, you need to go yourself & get it. But since you are one of Nandu’s “Frequent Foodie” customers, he obliges to your request. “Only this last time. Next time you will have to walk over and get it”, he says as he places the cup right next to your mouse-pad.

“Deadline-meeting celebration” break
This usually happens the day following the above mentioned situation. The previous night, just as the on-duty security guard was about to drive you nuts with his long story about the time he met Sachin Tendulkar and Pravin Amre at some Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav celebrations, you managed to complete the work and send out a  mail. You managed to get the last Autorickshaw waiting near the office gate - to reach home, just a couple of hours before the “Good Morning India” show on TV started.
And now, today to describe your brave midnight ordeal to two of your colleagues, you take them for an extended morning tea-break, over to the neighbouring Indian Coffee House

“Long-weekend stories” break
I saw these type of breaks on one of my overseas assignments.
Its the Monday after a long weekend. Everyone on the project team had either gone to some exotic vacation spot, or had gone to the hot & happening pubs, clubs in town. And now, each person is eager to share his story with the team. So, at sharp 10-30 AM, the whole team decides its coffee time. All take the Lift (Elevator - if you prefer that way) down the twenty odd floors, walk over to the Starbucks across the street. Everyone buys their stuff - Latte, Mocha, No-sugar-no-cream Coffee. Some grab a muffin or two. And the whole point of going all the distance is to get enough time to exchange weekend stories.

“Oops-I-broke-the-machine” break
At one particular office, I did’t have to walk too far to get my perfect coffee.

The office has a shiny, techno-smart vending machine. Press 5 buttons in the right order, keep your favourite coffee mug in place (or the disposable plastic cup will also do) and press ‘START’. Voila ! Hot & sleep-defeating coffee is ready in 15 to 150 seconds !
You also get to meet one or two new people in the office, while you are waiting in queue for Miss Jane to get her coffee from the machine.
All this on the better days. On the bad days - when you sat on the wrong seat on the train, and when you had actually managed to put a layer of polish on your shoes - the machine will give out a grawky noise and suddenly spray the coffee over the floor - and all over your shining shoes.  B!**)y Hell !!!  The bad day just got worse !

So … what kind of a break do you like to take every day ?