January 2007 Monthly Round Up for Single Serve Coffee
It's hard to believe it's 2007 and it's been 3 years of single serve coffee fun and news here at Single Serve Coffee. January was another fun month with lots of news from Europe on single serve coffee machines to come and also a bunch of news regarding Keurig and new coffee pods.
Nespresso C100T Essenza Espresso Machine Arrives for Review
We're really excited to say we've finally received the upgrade to our Nespresso C90 from Nespresso - the Nespresso C100T Essenza espresso machine. With one push of a button, the Nespresso Essenza Flow Stop in the C100T will automatically make a pre-programmed espresso or Lungo 5 ounce cup of coffee. The older C90 we have does not have the automatic features and we're excited to have this feature built in so our "espresso cup does not runneth over" when we forget to stop the flow. The Nespresso C100T Essenza also features a 34 ounce water reservoir, 19 bar high-pressure pump, and automatic ejection of used capsules on lifting the handle.
We think bang for your Nespresso buck, this is the most affordable Nespresso machine at just over $200, and one of the most attractive. We love the footprint of the Nespresso C100T Essenza we'll have full review soon.
Single Serve Coffee.com brings a focused and influential
audience to brand advertisers. Click
here to find out more about sponsorship
opportunities.
Single Serve Coffee.com posts continue below...
January 29, 2007
Hot Deals: Bed Bath & Beyond K Cups and T Discs 20% Off
We've gotten word of 20% coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond. We often stop by our local Bed Bath and Beyond when we're out of K Cups or T Discs and need them right away, so it's not surprising you can get some really good deals if you save those coupons.
Danny in Denver sent in this tip:
"Bed Bath & Beyond stocks a bunch of T-discs, and a limited supply of K-Cups. With the amount of 20% coupons they mail out, it would be a shame not to go into your local BBB store and purchase a box or two. Specific to the K-Cups, they have the 18 packs for $9.99, after the 20% off, you're paying less than 32 cents a K-cup!!"
Update: This makes it .44 cents a cup - not the above .32. The cups are packed in 18 and not the larger 25 packs. Still a good deal making it .11 cents less per cup. Thanks to Cheryl for pointing this out.
We've been getting ton of write ins from Keurig owners on how to get access to more K Cups, and what they can do to stop running out of their favorite K Cup coffee. Green Mountain has just the thing for Keurig owners - the Café EXPRESS program. You can have your favorite K Cup coffee delivered to your door —automatically and save $2 on every box of K Cups.
Just wanted to stop by and highlight what’s up over at SingleServeEspresso.com. It’s finally turned cold up here near Boston, and we’re looking at more and more espresso every day for warmth and enjoyment. We’ve got a few things in for review now including the Nespresso C100T capsule based machine; loving it! Also taking a look at Espressione ESE Espresso Pods. They come in a couple of varieties, including a “Classic” that has a bit of a robusta full bodiedness to it and a cleaner, lighter 100% Arabica pod.
Highlighted a few things to brighten up the drab winter months:
It's not just about coffee tables. The coffee side table is just as important as the coffee table. Our current living room has 3 such side tables and we love them. This Aunt Bea Side Table from Skram (we are really unsure how the name is Aunt Bea) has a rigid sculptural quality that makes it feel not only hand-crafted, but also artistically rendered (and from the movie the War of the Worlds). Made from natural beech and a mixture of an ebonized base and a rosewood top, the table is finished with hand-rubbed shellac and polyurethane, and it stands 18" x 18" x 18".
The Senseo Store now carries the Brabantia Stainless Steel Coffee Pod Canister with a Senseo logo. We love our coffee pod canisters and first picked them up at Amazon.com sans the logo. But if you need to keep the Senseo branding full and strong in your kitchen, the Senseo Coffee Pod canisters will keep things air tight and your single serve coffee pods fresh. The Senseo Coffee Pod Canisters hold up to 18 coffee pods and cost the same as their unbranded counterparts at just $11.95 a canister.
The Sidamo growing region is in the southern part of Ethiopia, bordering Kenya. When brewed, these coffee pods produce a coffee that has a bright acidity and fruity flavor with berry notes. Slightly floral in character, it is full-bodied and complex.
What do we think? Are the Gourmet Café Limited Edition Ethiopia Sidamo coffee pods worth buying? We fired up our Bunn My Cafe to find out.
Newly-sprouted French design studio Anna Gram has released their newest concept, Ceramic for Mix. The included ceramic ball replaces a traditional spoon to mix milk and sugar into hot beverages such as tea and coffee. How does it work? You spin or rotate the hot glass while the ceramic ball mixes it up inside. We can only hope this doesn't result in your single serve coffee spewing forth from the top. The bottom of the clear glass is indented to hold the ball when it is not in motion as well.
Here's an interesting concept - heat the spoon and not the mug to keep your single serve coffee warm. We can see this being a great addition to our single serve coffee arsenal when and if it ever ships. So far the Smart Beverage Coffee Heater is just a concept, and a disposable one at that. We'd take this in a rechargeable form any day.
Smart Beverage Heater solves a common problem for coffee drinkers: reheating the cup with available methods often heats the mug and not the liquid. Smart Beverage Heater is a molded plastic, single-use device that can be clipped to the side of a mug. It employs flameless heat technology and its thermographic ink changes color to indicate when the beverage is hot.
Get this extra bold and very dark yet sweet set of K Cups from Timothy's World Coffee for your Keurig single serve coffee maker and save big. Packed in 2 - 25 count boxes for just $17.99, you'll get a coffee blend created to harmonize the body, and sweetness of top quality Arabica coffee and the spiciness of the West Coast style of roasting in one extra bold K Cup. We love out Timothy's Coffee and this is a total steal at less than 36 cents a K-Cup.
Looks like someone on the K Cup packing line needs to have a few more cups of extra bold coffee before running the K Cup presses. If you want a killer deal on Earl Grey Tea K-Cups - look no further. At just $6.99 a box, these mis-labled K-Cups are half off their regular price for a 25 count box.
We accidentally labeled a batch of Earl Grey Tea K-Cups as Mandarin Orange Spice. Coincidentally, the recipe for the original Earl Grey Tea was passed along to the British in China, by a Mandarin man! But coincidence aside, you get a deal on this true classic! Delight the senses with this charming combination of aromatic Assam and floral Kenyan teas richly scented with natural bergamot flavor. Our Victorian Earl Grey tea whispers of a bygone era, yet speaks to the palate of today's most discerning tea drinker. So capture a timeless moment and express yourself... elegantly.
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 now we've hit pay dirt again with Java Juice Coffee Extract. What is Java Juice Coffee Extract?
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.
What do we think? Is Java Juice worth trying? Where does it fit into your overall single serve coffee lifestyle?
Quick Coffee Picks: Winter Classic K-Cups from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
The Winter Classic Blend brings together both Indonesian coffees and coffees of Central and South America. We've been drinking the Winter Classic K Cups over the past week and really like this blend. Besides a warmer tone than the Holiday Blend K Cups, the Winter Classic K Cups have a very firm straightforward taste that reminds us of a very subtle breakfast blend with a bit of brightness in the flavor. The coffee is very smooth and we love the round mouth feel as it goes down.
We love a good travel mug and often change ours out after 6-12 months of use for something a bit better. The Bodum Stainless Steel Vacuum Travel Mug is the way to go if you want to consume 16 ounces of coffee while you drive to work. We also like the large rubber grip on this travel mug and the entire travel mug is dishwasher safe.
Vacuum-sealed thermal mug for hot or cold beverages
Made from dishwasher-safe stainless steel
Keeps drinks hot for up to 1 hour
Fits most single serve coffee machines - Bunn My Cafe, Keurig B40-60, and others
We often wonder how to display the different K Cup choices when we have a dinner party, and now we know. The K-Cup spinning carousel displays 27 assorted coffees and teas and is chrome-plated. The unit features a lazy-susan base for simple rotation and fits easily in a regular kitchen cabinet to store when not in use.
Europe: MyCafé Finnish Single Serve Coffee Maker Video
Want to see what all the rage is with the MyCafé Finnish Single Serve Coffee Maker? Check out this video we found on their web site. Pretty spiffy! Enjoy!
The Kenya AA coffee is grown in the rich fertile soils of the Mount Kenya Region know for beans that produce superior balance and body with fuller more intense flavors.
We've had the Kenya AA and really like it. It has a bold flavor that lingers with a longer finish than most Kenyan coffees we've had.
We've gotten word over the last few weeks that many online K Cup retailers will soon no longer be able to sell K Cups direct to consumers. Some of the online etailers affected include CoffeeForLess.com, CoffeeGiant.com, and others. We'd like to say these and other etailers have only lost the ability to sell K Cups online - not all single serve coffee products and K Cups will still be available to purchase online at Keurig.com and other online stores. The online retailers affected will continue to sell coffee pods, coffee, and other single serve coffee makers.
The reason for the K Cups no longer being able to be sold at these online stores? Many reasons. Some of which include the issues in the Keurig office coffee market and also Keurig refocusing the selling of K Cups online in a more centralized fashion at Keurig.com. We're not going to speculate at the moment (though there's plenty of speculation in the Single Serve Coffee forums), but we do know Keurig is here to stay and a great choice for single serve coffee.
What do we think? In the short term, you won't have the variety of K Cup online stores to choose from, but you will still be able to get any K Cup you want online from Keurig.com, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Van Houtte, and others. We don't have specifics on how the change will affect sale of K Cups at Amazon.com or other consumer online stores. We'll let you know more as we find out.
Senseo HD7820 Deluxe Single Serve Gourmet Coffee Maker
We've been checking out the new Senseo HD7820 Deluxe Single Serve Gourmet Coffee Maker and we like what we see. With a few less features than the Senseo Supreme and a larger standard water tank than the Senseo Standard edition, it's a nice middle sibling to the Senseo line. Plus the price is right for a larger water tank (typically costing $19.99 more for the larger water tank for the orignal Senseo) and adjustable spout for just $88 dollars - only $18 dollars more than the Senseo standard edition.
Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe Arrives for Review
We've just received the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe which is currently an exclusive offering at Bloomingdales. The new Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe has a slew of improvements over the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station we reviewed earlier last year.
Check out the following new features:
Stainless Steel Accents
Separate Hot Water Button
Blue LED Lights
No Cleaning Between Drinks Required
Visible Water Level Indicator
Adjustable cup height
Water filter for purification
Large Capacity Water Tank
We've also received a set of the new Flavia Intense Dark Roast to sample along with our review of the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe. We'll have a full run down soon. The Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe retails for $169.99 and is currently only available at Bloomingdales. You can however purchase the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station at Amazon.com and other online retailers.
Keurig Sues Kraft Foods Inc. For Patent Infringement
In a nut shell, Keurig has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt infringing sales of Tassimo T DISCS by Kraft. From what we know, Keurig has held a patent on "puncturing" coffee like capsules for quite some time (2001), and has vigorously defended it. What's odd is the fact Tassimo has been out in Europe for more than a couple of years, so perhaps this lawsuit is more for US based sales of the Tassimo T Discs. If you'd like to read more about the patent yourself you can find the full patent here. We also know the patent being defended may or may not be the K Cup patents, but may have more to do with how the Keurig system "pierces" the K Cups.
Here's what the patent says:
A beverage filter cartridge comprises an outer container with an access opening. A filter element is received in and configured and arranged to subdivide the interior of the container into first and second chambers. A beverage medium is stored in the first chamber. A lid closes the access opening. The lid has a first section overlying the first chamber and a second section overlying the second chamber. The first section of the lid is yieldably piercable to accommodate an inflow of liquid into the first chamber for infusion with the beverage medium to produce a beverage. The filter element is permeable to accommodate a flow of the beverage from the first chamber into the second chamber, and the second section of the lid is yieldably piercable to accommodate an outflow of the beverage from the second chamber to the exterior of the cartridge.
We're not going to speculate too much, but getting the piercable part of the patent approved - oucher. This really gives Keurig something to stand on.
From the Press Release:
Keurig, Incorporated, a pioneer and leader in gourmet single cup brewing in the United States, and a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), today announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Kraft Foods Inc., Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and Tassimo Corporation in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Keurig asserts that Kraft’s T DISC single-serve beverage cartridges infringe upon Keurig’s United States Patent Number 6,607,762. Keurig is seeking injunctive relief preventing further Kraft Foods T DISC sales as well as damages for past infringement. Keurig’s patent family which covers its K-Cup® line of single serve beverage filter cartridges is not involved in the lawsuit.
We'll keep you posted on how things are turning out. But not to worry too much - these things always take a ton of time and we would imagine they'll settle before you see Tassimo disappear. Heck - we might even see a countersuit. Our best advice? SIt back, relax and enjoy your cup of coffee.
Magic Mug for your Car Keeps Bevarages Hot or Cold
Please welcome the McDLT of coffee cup warmers - it's got both the hot side and cool side of coffee covered. If you sit in traffic or just have a long commute, the Plug-In Commuter's Warming/Cooling Mug can keep a can of soda cold at 40F, and it can keep a cup of coffee 140 F hot. The device fits in to a cup holder and gets its power by plugging in to the lighter and retails for $24.98.
We're not sure how this can help us on the single serve coffee front (as we often pack up our coffee in a travel mug), but if you must have coffee on the road from the likes of Starbucks or others, this might be a great gadget to have.
One of the things to note about Sidamo coffee is how close to Kenya the coffee is grown, which makes for a very complex coffee with a bit of acidity to it. We also remember a bit of the "floral" note thing but mostly how similiar yet different the the coffee was from a typical Kenyan blend. These coffee pods will work in your Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, Krups Home Cafe, and other single serve coffee pod brewers.
Europe: MyCafé Finnish Single Serve Coffee Maker and Coffee Pods
We just stumpled upon this Finnish coffee pod brewer called MyCafé. It launched in May 2006 of last year and is only available in Finland. The odd thing is - all the coffee pods are produced in the USA for this machine. Could this be the first coffee pod machine with US pods as an export business? Wild. We'll have more as we find out about this machine and coffee pods.
The MyCafé concept has been developed in Finland, where coffee consumption per capita is the highest in the world. MyCafé organisation designs, OEM manufactures, imports and markets all the MyCafé products. This way the products can be offered at affordable price without compromising the high quality.
Better Coffee For Everyone - Always MyCafé coffee is ground, handled and packed in USA using 100% Arabica coffee beans. Ingredients: MyCafé "Talon Paahto" and Parisienne: Arabica coffee with natural flavours. MyCafé Gourmet Hazelnut: Arabica coffee with natural and artificial flavours (hazelnut). Flavoured MyCafé coffee has always, in addition to natural flavours of coffee beans, artificial flavours such as hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate, kahlua crème or cinnamon.
Keurig and Caribou Coffee Announce Single Cup Coffee Partnership
Keurig, Incorporated and Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. announced a partnership today to market Caribou’s gourmet coffees in Keurig K-Cup® portion packs. Keurig coffee lovers will now have eight Caribou coffee varieties to choose from both at home and in the office. We're pretty excited to see another K Cup coffee partner be available for your Keurig B-40 Elite, Keurig B50, Keurig B-60 Special Edition, Keurig B70, and office Keurig brewers and can't wait to try these K Cups as soon as possible.
Caribou Coffee K-Cups will begin to be available in Q2 of calendar year 2007 in the following varieties:
Caribou Blend: This signature blend balances a big-bodied, syrupy taste with a clean, snappy finish. The secret is a rich, hearty Indonesian bean, perfectly proportioned with Central and South American varieties for lively fruit tones.
French Roast: A combination of coffees from Costa Rica, and Papua New Guinea is blended and brought to a traditional French roast for a decadent, bittersweet flavor with a smooth, heavy body.
Daybreak Morning Blend: A blend of coffees from the Americas and some fantastic East African beans are roasted to chocolate brown for this light, fruity blend that has a slightly nutty finish.
Sumatra: Coffee is collected from small landholders throughout the beautiful island of Sumatra, one of the nearly 14,000 islands that make up the Indonesian Archipelago. This coffee has a syrupy, sweet rich body and cedarwood spice notes.
Fair Trade: Caramel sweetness with deep grape and pecan notes and a note of a crisp, chardonnay finish characterize this sustainable blend.
Colombia: This coffee is full of sweet caramel flavors, smooth roasted nut notes, and delicate floral nuances.
Caribou Blend Natural Decaf: (all natural, no chemical decaffeination in our process)
Decaf Sumatra:(all natural, no chemical decaffeination)
Is a Tea Pod revolution afoot? We're not sure we'll replace our coffee pod drinking habit wiht tea pods any time soon, but if you want an invigorating cup of Earl Grey during the day, these Bigelow Tea Pods may be for you. The Earl Grey Bigelow Tea Pods come packed 18 tea pods per box for $6.95 and each pod will make 1 - 8 oz cup of tea. Camomille, Earl Grey, Green Tea and English Breakfast tea pods are available.
Note: Most Pod brewers come with more than one brew basket. You're going to want to devote one brew basket to tea exclusively. If you used a brew basket that has been used for coffee, please clean and rinse basket to remove coffee residue before brewing. These Tea Pods will work in your Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, and Krups Home Cafe single serve coffee pod brewers.
January 2007 Monthly Round Up for Single Serve Coffee
It's hard to believe it's 2007 and it's been 3 years of single serve coffee fun and news here at Single Serve Coffee. January was another fun month with lots of news from Europe on single serve coffee machines to come and also a bunch of news regarding Keurig and new coffee pods.
We've gotten word of 20% coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond. We often stop by our local Bed Bath and Beyond when we're out of 
Continue reading: 
We just stumpled upon this Finnish coffee pod brewer called MyCafé. It launched in May 2006 of last year and is only available in Finland. The odd thing is - all the coffee pods are produced in the USA for this machine. Could this be the first coffee pod machine with US pods as an export business? Wild. We'll have more as we find out about this machine and coffee pods.
Is a