Review: Nespresso Variations - Flavored Coffees for Nespresso

In time for the launch of the Nespresso Boutique in New York, Nespresso has created a set of flavored coffees. We fired up our Nespresso C90 and made both Lungo - 3 oz cups of single serve coffee and shots of espresso of the new flavors.

The Nespresso Variations come in the following flavors:

• Absolute Vanilla Smoothness
• Fruity, Spicy Apple and Cinnamon Fusion
• Cool Aniseed Sensation

Pricing will be $.55 a capsule or $5.50 per 10 capsule sleeve and we received 6 sleeves total to taste. What do we think? What does the licorice coffee taste like?

Continue reading: "Review: Nespresso Variations - Flavored Coffees for Nespresso"

Simple Better Trade Organic Coffee Arrives for Review

Want to purchase an organic coffee from a company that pays its growers more than Fair Trade does? Meet Simple Coffee. Steve, Josh, and Mike from Simple Coffee have pledged to provide consumers with the freshest, more organic, and socially conscious coffee on the planet.

We've received a set of the coffees fresh from the Simple roasting facility to try with our Keurig reuseable Filter and also with our T-Sacs in the Bunn My Cafe. We'll have a full review soon.

From Simple Coffee: Some of the best coffee in the world is grown by small growers in third world countries who need the help of organizations like Fair Trade, but Fair Trade isn’t for everyone. “Why can’t Simple Coffee be Fair Trade?” We think a better question is, “How can we help growers who can’t be Fair Trade?”

In order to be Fair Trade, these growers would have to sign contracts pledging to produce a certain volume of coffee each year. Small, family-owned farms simply can’t afford to produce this much coffee and still grow food to eat. Other growers live in countries where it is illegal to sign Fair Trade contracts. Does this mean that these growers don’t deserve fair pay? Simple Coffee doesn’t think so. That’s why we pay better than the Fair Trade price per pound for all of our coffee. It’s just the right thing to do.

At Simple Coffee

Java Juice Coffee Extract Arrives for Review

The staff at Single Serve Coffee is always open to the world of coffee concentrates and extracts. Recently we hit pay dirt with the Stomping Grounds line of coffee concentrates, and look forward to trying out Java Juice. Now extract is a bit different than concentrate, but we sure Java Juice will give us a good showing. What is Java Juice?

Java Juice is a single-serving pouch of liquid coffee concentrate. A pure coffee extract, Java Juice is made from 100% premium, organic coffee beans and triple-filtered water, nothing else. No additives or preservatives. Java Juice® is a pioneering coffee product designed for hundreds of different uses. Use Java Juice® for making superior organic coffee on the go, at home, for cooking, camping and much more. Rip it, drip it, and sip it.

Expect a full review soon.

At Java Juice

The Ultimate Vacuum-Sealed Cordless Coffee Canister

We don't have a ton of whole bean coffee around, but we often have packs of Senseo coffee pods and other coffee pods lying around that could use a little fresh help. All you have to do with the The Ultimate Vacuum-Sealed Cordless Coffee Canister, is clamp down the lever to activate motorized vacuum pump. Keeps more than 1 lb. of coffee beans or nearly 2 bags of Senseo coffee pods perfectly fresh. It runs on 4 AA batteries, not included.

At The Ultimate Vacuum-Sealed Cordless Coffee Canister

Cost Per Single Serve Coffee Cup: Coffee Pods, Keurig K Cups, Tassimo T Discs, and Nespresso Coffee Capsules

Readers are always writing in asking the Single Serve Coffee staff how much the different single serve coffee systems cost to own and operate and especially how much each cup of single serve coffee will cost. We think the questions "what's best", or what's "cheapest," or what's "least expensive" all fall under this category of question as well, but starting with what type of coffee you'd like to make and how much it will cost is a good way to find out which single serve coffee maker is the least expensive to own and operate.

Are Senseo Coffee Pods, Tassimo T-Disks, K-Cups or Nespresso Coffee Capsules the best option for you? Which system falls in your price range? Does the single serve coffee maker or system match your coffee drinking habits? These are all good questions that go hand and hand with the price per cup.

The guide below should give you all the detail you need to know on what coffee system may be right for you. Depending on which type of single serve coffee maker you choose, be it coffee pods, k cups, t discs, or nespresso capsules, you'll be choosing the type of coffee you can get per system and also how much per cup your single serve coffee will cost, and how flexible that cost can be, and what types of coffee the single serve coffee maker can prepare.

If you look at the four major type of single serve coffee you can purchase there are essentially 4 main types:

1. Coffee Pods - work with a variety of single serve coffee makers including: Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, Grindmaster, simplehuman, and Krups Home Cafe. Coffee pod brewers are the "open standard" of single serve coffee makers, with the largest variety of coffees available reaching over 250+ varieties of coffee pods.
2. K Cups - work only with Keurig brewers. Models include: Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, and the newly released Keurig B70 Brewer. You can expect to get in the 150+ variety range for K Cup types of coffee as well as tea.
3. T Discs: works only with the Tassimo line of single serve coffee makers. You can expect to get 30+ different coffees and teas for your Tassimo brewer.
4. Nespresso Coffee Capsules: works only with the Nespresso line of single serve coffee makers. On average there are 12 regular varieties and 3-4 unique varieties per year.

Given the run down of each of the different types, how much does each cup of single serve coffee cost per system?

Continue reading: "Cost Per Single Serve Coffee Cup: Coffee Pods, Keurig K Cups, Tassimo T Discs, and Nespresso Coffee Capsules"

Get $70 Off Tassimo TA 1400 Premium Hot Beverage System and FREE Shipping

It's the Tassimo deal of the century! Amazon.com has the Tassimo TA 1400 for $122.88. That's $47.11 or 28% off the standard price of $169.99. You can then send in a mail in rebate for $20.00 and the item qualifies for FREE Shipping. That brings the price after rebate for the Tassimo to $102.88. So if you're looking to get a Tassimo for a holiday gift, nows the time.

Tassimo price after price reduction, rebates, and FREE shipping $102.88

• Brews: A variety of hot beverages via patented T DISC technology
• T DISC Varieties: Fully compatible with each brewer
• Water Tank: Extra-large 68 oz. water tank
• Filter: Built-in water filtration system included, filters sold separately
• Design: Sleek exterior with gold accents
• Cup Stand: Adjustable cup stand to accommodate cups, mugs, travel mugs, etc.

At Tassimo Premium Hot Beverage System Deal

Aloha Island Coffee: Get $10 Off a Future Purchase at Amazon.com

From November 19 to December 15, 2006, every order of $50 or more of products offered by Aloha Island Coffee will earn you a gift certificate for $10 off a future Amazon.com purchase. Restrictions apply. Please review the Fine Print below. Thanks to Terry for sending this in.

To take advantage of this offer

1. Browse for products offered by Aloha Island Coffee.
2. Add to your Shopping Cart products that are sold and shipped by Aloha Island Coffee until the total amount before taxes, gift-wrap, shipping, and other promotions is $50 or more.
3. Click the Proceed to Checkout button and purchase your products.
4. Important: All purchases must be made in a single order to a single address.
5. Limit one gift certificate per order.
6. Limit of three gift certificates (for a total of $30) per customer.
7. Between December 30 and January 13, 2007--provided you don't return items that qualified you for the promotion--Amazon.com will e-mail you a gift certificate redeemable for $10 off a future Amazon.com purchase. (Canceled orders are excluded from the offer.)

At Aloha Island Coffee Offer

Holiday Gift and Shopping Guides from Around the Blogpire

Our editors have been hard at work coming up with the latest products to give as gifts this holiday season. Each of our different sites has their own holiday gift guide on various topics including: shaving, hdtv, gps, gaming, coffee and espresso, kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, and more.

Tassimo Model Comparison: Tassimo TA 1400 Premium Hot Beverage System vs. Tassimo TA 1200 Hot Beverage System

Often there are several models of a single serve coffee machine like the Tassimo and it can make it difficult for you to decide which model to pick given the price and features. Recently, Tassimo introduced the Tassimo Hot Beverage System or TA1200 at a price point $40 cheaper than the Tassimo Premium Hot Beverage System or TA1400.

Yeah - getting confused yet? Well, the big differences are where they are sold, the water tank size, and a few gold accents on the Premium Tassimo. See the details and judge for yourself. We've been testing the two machines side by side, and we can't tell a difference in the coffee they make, however we do like the larger reservoir on the Tassimo Premium.

Continue reading: "Tassimo Model Comparison: Tassimo TA 1400 Premium Hot Beverage System vs. Tassimo TA 1200 Hot Beverage System"

Revisiting the Aerobie AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker

Recently we've been using our Aerobie AeroPress Coffee and Espresso maker to sample various coffees we've been receiving in the dreaded whole bean form! Yes - even the staff here at Single Serve Coffee have to slug through grinding up a few blends now and then of whole bean coffee, and we find the AeroPress to be one of the easiest and quickest ways to sample both the single serve coffee side and the espresso side of things. What's also amazing is how popular the AeroPress has become. Over at Gizmag, they've got the AeroPress ranked as the #1 tech find by readers.

Read our full review of the Aerobie AeroPress Coffee & Espresso Maker to see the magic, and it's also now available at Amazon.com for purchase, and you can even buy Aeropress Filters as well if you run out.

Billiards Coffee Table

What's not to like when your coffee table can hold a snooker game along with a few magazines? Nothing. This is not a dining table, pool table, desk or a game table. But all of these at once. We love the simple idea of making the coffee table fun and engaging instead of just a door mat for you to put things on. Brilliant.

Via The Thrillist at BILLARDS CHEVILLOTTE

Keurig B70 and Free K Cups

This deal ran in the Sunday Newspaper. The Keurig B-70 is a favorite of ours and is new in the Keurig line up. We like it for its felxibility and the incredible variety that you can get in K-cups.

This deal gives you:

• Free Shipping
• Free 24 K-Cups with Purchase, and
• the ability to try the B-70 free for 30 days.

Use Promo code: ISFS01-2074 at checkout.

See Green Mountain for purchase and enter code at checkout.

Thanks to Scott for sending this in.

Review: Creative Pods Coffee Pod Sampler Pack

We've recently been introduced to an amazing coffee pod from Creative Pods. The mission at Creative Pods is to provide their customers with the finest possible quality and variety in single serve coffee and tea pods, and a major component of this effort is the quality of the raw materials (coffee, tea, mate, etc) and the fact that they grind to order. Coupled with this goal is their pledge to use eco-friendly/organic materials whenever possible and to clearly identify any necessary deviations from this policy.

Creative Pods is a small cottage business formed by two people (Carol and Tom Maziarz) that love coffee, tea and mate as well as traveling and meeting interesting people that grow or drink these hot beverages. Creative Pods has developed equipment and methods that allow them to package to order. This means processing very small (sometimes less than ¼ pound) batches that would be impossible with commercially available equipment.

“None of our pods are prepared ahead and stored. We want to ensure that our customers experience the same wonderful aroma and taste that they can receive from their local barista.”

Creative Pods has 5 main components to their philosophy of coffee pod creation for amazing single serve coffee:

1. Pods are custom made for each machine based on individual grind and quantity of coffee for each machine.
2. Highest quality coffee for the price.
3. Freshness is the key
4. Eco-friendly - unbleached cardboard boxes, work with native growers - foils are their only departure from "eco-friendly" and they plan to give customers a choice
5. innovation - tea pods, mushroom pods, mate

How do they stack up in the Creative Pods sampler pack? How good are their pods compared to shelf stored coffee pods for Senseo or Krups Home Cafe?

Continue reading: "Review: Creative Pods Coffee Pod Sampler Pack"

Single Serve Coffee Holiday Gift Guide - The Coffee Lovers Holiday Shopping Guide

It's that time of the year again. Knowing what to buy for the single serve coffee drinker in your life, and knowing what single serve coffee maker to get them can be daunting. Don't worry. We've got an entire line up of the latest single serve coffee makers, coffee pods, k cups, coffee gadgets, coffee cups, and other super cool items to make your holiday single serve coffee gift buying much easier.

Update: Check out the 2007 Single Serve Coffee Holiday Gift Guide

Over $500

We also like the combination of the Lavazza Blue from Cafe Razzi. We just recently reviewed the Lavazza Blue and think the coffee produced is amazing and superior to most of the higher end single serve machines we've tried.

We also think the Nespresso Romeo is a very interesting and expensive single serve coffee maker we'd love to have in our kitchen (hint - hint). We reviewed the Nespresso Romeo last year and we often think back to how cool it is and how amazing the coffee was.

$350

We recommend the Nespresso Le Cube -. The design is sharp and interesting and you'll have your hands full of espresso and single serve cups of coffee.

200-$350

We like the Bunn My Cafe and the Keurig B70. You'll be entering the world of K Cups with the Keurig B70 and the world of coffee pods with your Bunn My Cafe single serve coffee maker. They are top shelf as far as we're concerned and some of the best single serve coffee makers you can buy.

$150
Here's the world of the Senseo Supreme single serve coffee maker and also the Nespresso Essenza C100 . We love both of these. The Senseo Supreme will allow you to use the largest variety of coffee pods for your single serve dollar, and the Nespresso Essenza will get you in the Nespresso club on the cheap, but the espresso and single serve coffee will be very god.

On the Keurig front, the Keurig B60 has recently been reduced and is now only $149.99. It will get you into the Keurig club for a great price with almost all the features of the more expensive Keurig B70.

Under $100

We love the classic Senseo for the price. It's only going to set you back ~$50-60 dollars and it can use a large variety of coffee pods. We also think the Keurig B40 will get you into the world of Keurig and K Cups for the right price. At $99 bucks the Keurig B40 can't be beat for ease of use and variety in single serve coffee.

We also recommend the Krups My Cafe. This little number can make two cups of single serve coffee using coffee pods at a time and bang for the buck - it makes an excellent cup of single serve coffee.

Under $50

We recommend the Aeropress single serve coffee maker. It's not one you plug in, but you can hand craft and make perfect cups of single serve coffee every time. The best part - you can use whatever coffee you like and the coffee produced is amazing.

Coffee Pods

Aloha Island Coffee continues to impress with great coffee pods. Also we recommend Cool Beans Pods - always a solid coffee pod and with a large variety. Want to get something very fresh and super creative? Creative Pods makes hand crafted coffee pods for your Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, Grindmaster, and Krups Home Cafe single serve coffee pod brewers. You can also always search in Amazon.com for the latest coffee pods for your single serve coffee maker.

K Cup Coffee

If you're looking for the latest K Cup coffee you can always visit Green Mountain Coffee.

And if you're looking for more K Cups than just those from Green Mountain Coffee, you can check out CoffeeWiz.com. They have the largest assortment of K Cups around, and offer K Cups from Timothy's and others.

There's also always Amazon.com. They offer all the K Cup varieties and have a huge assortment of 2 packs and other special offers.

Coffee Cups

We love the Bodum Pavina Double-Wall Thermo Glasses and we think you will too. This is a perfect gift for the coffee lover looking to be different and have their coffee look interesting while they drink it.

Coffee Accessories

How can you go wrong with the BonJour Primo Latte Frother with Stand? For less than $30 bucks, you can have your milk frothed and enjoy a little more texture in your single serve coffee.

We'll be adding to the gift guide over the holidays, so stay tuned for more products and updates for the holiday shopping season.

Flavia Fusion Deluxe Drinks Station Coming to Bloomingdales

Flavia is unveiling its latest addition, Flavia Fusion(TM) Deluxe, a premium version of the award winning Flavia Fusion. Launching exclusively at Bloomingdale's in mid-December, the Flavia Fusion Deluxe will feature new upgrades including a stainless steel finish, which make it a perfect compliment that stainless steel kitchen we all seem to have.

Flavia Fusion Deluxe will be in Bloomingdale's stores nationwide in mid-December and includes the following upgrades:

• Blue LEDs on the drink selection panel
• Separate hot water button
• Visible water level
• Stainless steel handle around the back of the water tank (for easy refilling and cleaning)
• Additional stainless steel accents throughout the design including on the cold tank lid and head adjust panel

We've enjoyed our Flavia Fusion Drinks Station and if you'd like to get our thoughts and impressions, you can read our full review here. We'll also have a full review of the new Flavia Fusion Deluxe when we receive the new model later this month.

Sleeve Coffee Cups

Imagine drinking a steaming hot cup of single serve coffee from these mugs! Ian Walton's Sleeve design fancies up the to-go cup for use in your home. Hot beverages stay hot without scorching your fingers thanks to a removable plywood sleeve. The curved sleeve fits snugly around the cast ceramic cup for a seamless, modern look worthy of any design-concious decor.

Via Core77 at Sleeve

Organic Fair Trade Holiday K Cups from Green Mountain Coffee

Organic HolidayBlend, Spicy Eggnog and Gingerbread coffees are back on store shelves, but only for a limited time. All four Limited Edition Holiday coffees are Fair Trade Certified™, which means small-scale farmers were paid a fair price for their crop. Fair Trade Certified and organic coffees are a great way for consumers to share the joy of the season with friends, and with farmers around the world.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ Limited Edition Holiday coffees are available nationwide from November 13-December 29, 2006. These K-Cups will work in your your Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, and the newly released Keurig B70 Brewer.

At Green Mountain Coffee

Espesso - Single Serve Coffee You Can Eat

Espesso (without the “r”) has been out in Europe and major cities in the US this Fall and we can't wait to try it. Espesso is a form of solid espresso coffee and eaten with a spoon. Espesso consists of espresso, an ingredient the company won’t divulge, and then it's combined in a pressurized canister and left to set for 12 hours to "gel" up. The result is a mousselike, cold solid sprayed right out of the canister. The Espresso is solid enough that you can apparently turn the cup upside down and the espesso won’t fall out as it sticks to the sides of the coffee cup.

Via Energy Fiend at Lavazza.com

Nestle to open luxury Nespresso coffee shop in Brazil

We've been following the growth of Nespresso over the past two years, and really think the high end boutique concept is dead on for such a high end brand. We also know that soon in New York, Nespresso will be adding a boutique as well. But in the mean time, if you're in Brazil you can check out what the Nespresso coffee boutique is all about.

Nestle has picked Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the location for its first store in Latin America dedicated to selling its Nespresso brand coffee and gourmet coffee makers, business daily Valor Economica reported Monday. The first shop will be opened in December in Jardins, a wealthy Sao Paulo neighborhood, Nestle's Brazil foodservice director, Jurg Blaser, told the newspaper. The gourmet coffee used in Nespresso represents roughly 2% of Brazil's specialty coffee production, the newspaper reported. Specialty coffee represents 10% of Brazil's total coffee production, or around 4 million 60-kilogram bags. Nespresso is made with special coffee makers to inject various types of small, flavored water capsules into the coffee. The machines sell for at least $200 and as high as $2,500.

Read More

Save $50 on the Keurig B60 Single Serve Coffee Brewer

We love our Keurig Special Edition B60 and think the price reduction from $199.95 to $149.95 makes it still a total steal and a hot deal. With the release of the Keurig B70 at $199.99, if you want to get most of the features of the Keurig B70 in a model that's $50 bucks cheaper at $149.99, the Keurig B60 is a great choice.

If you're looking for a good comparison of the B40, B50, and B60 brewers we've got a great article we put together last year. And if you have that extra $50 bucks lying around, you may want to read our review of the Keurig B70 and see what you're missing.

Keurig B60 Features:

Three brew sizes:
* 5.25-oz. more intense cup
* 7.25-oz. regular cup
* 9.25-oz. travel mug
* Adjustable brew temperature
* Blue backlit LCD display and water reservoir
* Digital clock, Programmable on/off timer
* Ready to brew three minutes after turned on
* Descale indicator for long life
* Removable 48-oz. water reservoir
* Removable stainless steel drip tray
* Chrome handle and faceplate
* 11" wide, 13" deep, 13.5" tall
* 16.5" tall when opened

At Green Mountain Coffee

What's Happening Over at SingleServeEspresso.com

More news and reviews on the Espresso side of things: see what’s happening over at SingleServeEspresso.com. We posted our review for one of the hottest espresso makers on the market – the Breville Café Roma. We also have a high end DeLonghi Super Automatic machine in for review. Two words on this one “Pushbutton Lattes”. Wow. We’re also highlighting a very affordable retro style maker that looks hot – the Villaware Moderno Prima Espresso Maker. Not to be left out, the Preva xSport went for a sail recently in the San Juan Islands where it cranked out a few shots.

Espresso Machine News and Reviews

Gourmet Café Limited Edition Tanzania Peaberry Coffee Pods

We've just received the very limited edition Gourmet Café Tanzania Peaberry Coffee Pods from BetterCoffee.com. What we can say from drinking the wonderful rich cups of coffee using our new Senseo Supreme coffee maker - that this is great coffee. We like the full body and unique nose the coffee has with a very interesting and yummy finish.

The Gourmet Café Limited Edition Tanzania Peaberry Coffee Pods will work in your Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, and Krups Home Cafe single serve coffee pod brewers. Get them while they last!

At BetterCoffee.com

Nespresso C100T Essenza Single-Serve Automatic Espresso Machine