Single serve coffee and good design go hand and hand. This concept of a "Single Serve Coffee Spoon" from Hye-Yeon Choi is a good example. With this concept you can get both a fresh cup of coffee, and a fast cup of coffee. Intended to be a simple solution for diners and less service oriented restaurants, this all in one tubular design holds both the instant coffee and the sugar/creamer in one neat package. When the contents are poured out, you simply use the package itself as a spoon to stir your brew. We're not sure if instant coffee will hit the mark for great coffee, but we could also see this working for tea, cocoa, and other hot beverages.
Bosch TASSIMO Hot Beverage System - Models, Pricing and Launch Date Info
Our good friend SH has written in to tell us more about the launch date and details of the new Bosch Tassimo single serve coffee hot beverage system that's coming to the US later this year. Two models of the TASSIMO hot beverage system by Bosch will be available in the U.S. in September 2008 with a MSRP of $139.99 in select specialty and department stores, and $99.99 in select grocery and mass merchandise stores. Both models will also be available online at www.tassimodirect.com.
There's also confirmation the new model will not have the messy overflow water, and will feature an LED user interface. Bosch's flow-through water heater ensures virtually no pre-heat time, since it only heats the water needed per beverage, and requires just a brief pause between uses. The removable water tank is easily accessible now, and the unit is simple to clean with a de-scaling maintenance disc. The two-step height adjustable and removable cup stand means that this unit is suitable for most cups, including travel mugs and heat-proof glasses.
We really hope they come out with different Tassimo colors like they have in Europe. The full details are after the jump and check out our earlier coverage of the Bosch Tassimo. While your waiting you can also read our review of the Tassimo Braun model available now.
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March 27, 2008
Quick Coffee Picks: Donut Shop Blend Mega Coffee Pods from Baronet
We've got to get the word out on the Donut Shop Blend Coffee Pods from Baronet. We've almost used the entire sleeve of coffee pods, and we really like this light blend with a bite. It's got the Columbian nose you expect, and the flavor is round, easy to sip, and delicious. One of the things that makes a great coffee pod is the size and amount of coffee. These coffee pods weigh in at 12 grams! Typical larger coffee pods besides these mega pods (formerly called Monster Coffee Pods) weigh in the 9-11 gram range. Trust us - you can taste the difference the extra gram makes in the Donut Shop Blend cup of single serve coffee.
Starbucks Buys CLOVER - The Best Single Serve Coffee Maker for Cafes
It is indeed an exciting, but sad day here at Single Serve Coffee. Having just reviewed the Clover single serve coffee machine for cafes less than a month ago, it's hard to part ways with the Clover so fast. Parting ways you say? Well, parting ways in a small cafe sort of way. It seems Starbucks has announced it will buy the Clover single serve coffee machine and with it we imagine the ability for competing small cafes that feature the Clover now will become a thing of the past.
Still, the bright side is more micro-roasted small batches of really good coffee could be seeing their way to Starbucks around the globe. In the end, bad for the innovation and difference a Clover could bring to a small coffee shop or cafe, but great for the coffee farmers who focus on single origin or unique coffees probably to be offered to Starbucks Clover drinkers, and most likely profit from Clover's purchase by Starbucks.
Bloggle has a really great article on the subject, along with some great business article links. And of course you can read and join the discussion in the Single Serve Coffee forums. Please write in and tell us when you see or find a Clover at a Starbucks in your area.
Timothy's Coffees of the World Inc. has announced the introduction of White Hot Chocolate K-Cup single serve portion packs. This is the first white hot chocolate K-Cup developed for use in Keurig single cup brewing systems, but not the first Hot Cocoa or Hot Chocolate K Cup. White Hot Chocolate K-Cups are now available online at www.Timothys.com.
Creampad - Make Cappuccinnos with Coffee Pods and Milk Video
Just last week we featured the Creampad - a disk that allows you to add milk and then place a coffee pod on top to create a cappuccino using your single serve coffee pod brewer. We have had several readers write in with details of a video showing how the Cream pad works from YouTube. A special thanks to Bob and Mark for sending this in. Given the video we bet the Creampad will work in your your Senseo, Bunn My Cafe, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, Krups 1010 , GPOD, Home Cafe, Cuisinart SS-1 Cup-O-Matic, Melitta MES5B Javapod, and other single serve coffee pod makers. We do think the original Senseo though will be your best bet.
Review: K Cup Injector for Keurig Brewers - Reuse Your K Cups
The Handmade K Cup Injector and reused K Cup.
The K Cup Injector allows you to reuse your spent K Cups by refilling them with ground coffee, and then using the K Cup Injector top to seal the K Cup make a cup of single serve coffee. We've been testing out this home-made device for the last week purchased on Ebay, and it works surprisingly well. "Well" however means - a bit of a mess when making a cup of single serve coffee, because with each use you have to clean out coffee grounds, rinse the spent K Cup, and also wash the K Cup Injector.
Now we understand mess for the sake of being a little more eco-friendly, and the K Cup injector does hit the spot. In a way, it's very much like the My K Cup Reusable Coffee Filter, allowing you to just use ground coffee, and now throw out plastic K Cup after plastic K Cup. But there is a price, as we said mess and also cross-contamination of the coffee from the previous cup. Unlike the My K Cup Reusable Coffee Filter, you'll be using the same paper filter with the K Cup, and you'll also have to match the extra-bold K Cup filter or the regular K Cup filter with the grind you want - etc.
We've just found this rather interesting device called the Creampad that supposedly can be used in any coffee pod machine to make a cappuccino. How do you make a cappuccino using coffee pods? You start by pouring non-fat milk in the disc, putting a coffee pod of your choice on the Creampad, and starting the single serve coffee pod maker. We really have no idea if this thing works, and in what single serve coffee machines it does work, or where to get it. If you have one or know where to get one - let us know by sounding off in the comments.
We recently spent two days at Green Mountain Coffee's Java University (we'll have a full story soon), and found a very interesting K Cup supporting a worthy cause. What was really surprising about the Heifer Hope Blend K Cups is the fact we had no idea the Heifer Hope Blend actually supports livestock sharing, and you'd think we would given the fact we grew up in a dairy farming area in Northern Maine.
The Heifer Hope Blend is from the La Voz cooperative near lake Atitlan in Guatemala, which is one of the coffee communities served by Heifer International. Green Mountain Coffee made this coffee to support Heifer International's goal of providing a sustainable source of income through livestock and training. Heifer International has given millions of families the gifts of self-reliance and hope in this way.
Kona coffee is a very mild and interesting cup of coffee. It has a smooth texture with a rich full-bodied flavor. Each KONA-POD is individually sealed for freshness, and 100% Pure Kona Coffee is naturally low acid and pesticide free. These Kona coffee pods are packed 18 to a box.
You can read our review of the Aloha Island coffee pods here and here.
One of our readers Beth S. sent this in, and we have to tell you our initial impression - WOW. Spring and Summer is coming, and we can imagine ourselves drinking a very nice iced cup of single serve coffee with a little something in it from this Tiki-Mug. Each one of the mugs is handcrafted, and as of this morning going for a little over $245 at Ebay.
The mug is a whopping 9 and 1/4 inches high and weighs 6 pounds 8 ounces.
It is entirely hand-crafted out of glazed high-fire ceramics with porcelain teeth and details.
This is a one-of-a-kind sculpture, never to be repeated.
Signed and dated with the day it was made - You can celebrate its birthday!
We want one, but hopefully we'll be able to get it a bit cheaper than $245. They should have auctions all the time off of the main site, so keep checking.
Use a Sandwich or Single Serve Coffee to Give Thoughtful Answers
This cup of single serve coffee is your
key to success in the business world.
Want to know how to get ahead at work and use a single serve cup of coffee to do it? Web Worker Daily tells the tale of a an senior manager at HP.com that knows how to give the impression of always being considerate and listening to all of his employees thoughts and wishes. His secret? Keep his lunch sandwich nearby to immediately bite into upon being asked a question, along with a soda for quicker but still-important questions.
We're pretty sure this would work with a cup of coffee as well - especially single serve coffee. Imagine this - employee walks in, and you grab your piping hot cup of single serve coffee and sit back for 10-15 seconds. Now you can remain silent for most of the time the employee tells you something interesting, and then have a sip or two of coffee to seal the deal, and of course let it all sink in thoughtfully.
Nespresso has just announced their limited edition coffee for 2008 - Goroka. Goroka is described as precious, sophisticated, chiseled, and unique. The coffee is from East Papua New Guinea, and made from Arabica beans grown in a very humid and warm tropical rainforest. Goroka gets its name from the Mountain town where all coffee harvests are sent to be hulled before being sent all over the world.
We recommend visiting the Goroka site, as Nespresso always pulls out all the stops in presenting their limited edition coffees. We'll have to see if we can get some Goroka capsules for our Nespresso before they sell out.
Spring is here and so are Fair Trade Island Coconut K-Cups. We're not sure what they put in these coconut wonders, but the flavor is incredible. With a nose of coconut, and the lightly roasted taste of grated coconut, you can be sure to enjoy a cup of something different in your single serve coffee cup. We look forward to this coffee each spring, and the Fair Trade Island Coconut K-Cups are available now. We'd also like to note the Fair Trade Spring Revival Blend K-Cups are also now available, and we'll be ordering some for a full review soon.
K-Cup Injector Lid - Reuse Old K Cups to Make Coffee
The K-Cup Injector is the latest invention we've found for your Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, Keurig B70 Brewer, Breville BKC600XL Gourmet Single Cup Brewer, and other Keurig K Cup brewers. Currently only available on Ebay, the K-Cup Injector lid allows you to fill your used K-cup with your favorite grind and then inject it with water during the brewing process. The idea behind this gadget is the redirection of the water flow to improve the extraction from your K-Cups. The K-Cup Injector sprays the water in 5 different directions to improve the coffee extraction process.
We have one of these on order to try, and it will hopefully arrive soon so we can see if it works well. We're not sure about re-using our K Cups over and over, but the eco-friendly idea is one of the better ones we've seen here at Single Serve Coffee.
We've just gotten word about the Cuisinart Two Cup Pod Brewer and one cup brewers. You can get the brewers in either stainless steel or black. They also has a very small footprint, making them perfect for offices, RVs, or apartments. They can also brew two cups at once using coffee pods or one cup with the smaller model.
Approved for commercial use
Uses standard coffee pod (not included)
Brews one cup at-a-time or two cups simultaneously
Brews 8-oz cup of coffee in less than 3 minutes
Illuminated power button Easy-to-fill water reservoir
Auto Shutoff - unit shuts off when water reservoir is empty
Uses any standard size cup or mug (not included
We also had reader Helaine write in about purchasing the new one cup brewer brewer:
I just purchased this great little single serve coffee maker from the Coffee Whiz. It uses pods and makes a wonderful cup of coffee. It is very compact so I'm able to keep it on my desk at work. It comes in silver or black and cost me about $35.
Sounds good to us and the price is definitely right for both models at $32 for the one cup and $40 for the two cup. We'll try and round the one cup and two cup Cuisinart brewers for review soon.
Americano Capsules for Lavazza Blue Home and Pro Single Serve Coffee and Espresso Makers
Lavazza just introduced a new line up to their popular single serve espresso capsules, and Café-Razzi was kind enough to send along a some samples for us to try here at Single Serve Coffee. For traditional American coffee style drinking, Lavazza now has Americano capsules so you can enjoy a long 12 oz cup without sacrificing taste.
We've been drinking the following new Lavazza Blue coffee capsules:
BUONGIORNO Amabile - Full bodied to get your morning started
BUONLAVORO Delicato - Pleasant and aromatic to accompany your working day
BUONASERA Soave - Decaffeinated to enjoy later in the day)
All of these capsules are considered Americano Capsules made for the Lavazza Blue Espresso system. These newly available coffee selections are the same great coffee blends as the LavazzaBlue Dolce, Intenso and Decaffeniato, but with a coarser grind that will easily pour a 12oz cup. In your office or home, use either the Lavazza Blue Pininfarina Pro (LB2210), or the Pininfarina Home (LB1010) machine.
How good are these new Americano capsules? The crema on a 12 oz cup is nearly as good as on a short espresso. Café-Razzi also makes a 10% donation to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer cure foundation on all sales of Amabile Americano Capsules.
We've been looking for a rounder coffee table, and this one is not only a bit round - it also reminds us of ski goggles or binoculars. The curves are nice, and they allow you to stuff lots of magazines and other reading materials in them. You can have this coffee table in three colors : Dark (£95) ,White (£105) and Oak Veneer on birch ply (£120 ).
Green Mountain Coffee Announces Price Increases - K Cups and Coffee Prices to Rise
It looks like the price of coffee and K Cups will be on the rise this year for the single serve coffee world. The Financial Times has recently published an article on the subject of the rise in coffee prices, and it's not surprising that this cost will be passed onto consumers. We had hoped that Kraft and Folgers (who had announced price increases earlier in the year) would be the only companies, but the trend looks to continue with Green Mountain Coffee.
Green Mountain Coffee says the increase in pricing is in response to several factors affecting the coffee industry in general, including a sharp escalation in the price of coffee, increases in prices of other raw materials, and higher energy and transportation costs. In addition, costs for the high-quality coffees used by Green Mountain Coffee have risen even more than the general commodity (“C”) price. The price increases will affect all of Green Mountain Coffee’s packaged coffees as well as its K-Cup® portion packs used in the Keurig® single-cup brewer, and will include streamlining the packaging of its K-Cups® into 24-count sleeves. Previously, K-Cups were packed in a mix of both 25- and 24-count sleeves.
In addition, Keurig, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., has notified all licensed roasters that it is raising its per K-Cup royalty rate by $0.01 effective August 1, 2008. It is Keurig’s first ever royalty rate increase and reflects the rise in the Consumer Price Index since March 2000. This increase in royalty income will support continued growth in advertising and market development of Keurig’s single-cup gourmet brewing system. Nick Lazaris, President of Keurig, said: “Given Keurig’s leadership role in the single-cup category, we will continue to invest to build our brand awareness. Our intent is to reach gourmet coffee lovers, support our retail partners and build our installed base of brewers.”
Expect higher prices all around in the coffee world. We're also think this will start to hit coffee pods, T Discs, and other single serve coffee products, along with coffee beans and ground coffee. But the price increases shouldn't result in K Cup, coffee pods, or other single serve coffee products being priced out of reach for most consumers. Given a cup of coffee at Starbucks or even Dunkin Donuts is $1.50+, it's nice to know you can stay home and make a better cup of single serve coffee for a 1/3 of the price of either option even with the price increases.
Yuno - Get the Weather On Your Single Serve Coffee Mug
It's got to be one of those weeks for amazing coffee mugs, because the amazing coffee mug factor just keeps going, and going, and going. If you haven't heard of Yuno (you-know), then you haven't been combing the blogosphere for the latest in not really available technology that makes you yearn for the future. Yuno is a finalist in Microsoft's Next-Gen PC Design Competition, so you won't be able to purchase it anytime soon.
Yuno is perfect for anyone who checks their e-mail before their first cup of single serve coffee in the morning, or during the checking of said email. The Yuno let's you get your caffeine fix while you check your e-mail, see a traffic report, or check your stocks with its touchscreen. It measures 6.25 x 3.75-inches and has a detachable CPU bottom so that you can pop it in the dishwasher.
Comparison - Bunn My Cafe and Cuisinart SS-1 Single Serve Coffee Brewers
We've found an amazing comparison of the Bunn My Cafe and the Cusinart SS-1 single serve coffee pod brewers at the Single Serve Coffee Forums. We really like both of these machines here at Single Serve Coffee, but it's always nice to get a direct comparison. There's lot of interesting temperature and feature comparisons along with insights on longevity of both machines. We've also reviewed both of these machines and you can read our review of the Cuisinart SS-1 and the Bunn My Cafe as well to round our your thoughts on these two single serve coffee makers.
Well, I’ve had my Cuisinart SS-1 for a few weeks and have gotten used to it. On Tuesday my replacement Bunn My Café arrived, a week earlier than Bunn said it would ship, but still over two and a half months after I sent in my old one. In an earlier email I had suggested that the delay might be due to an engineering redesign to fix the leaking water problem that appears to have plagued these units. I don’t know if they did a redesign of the guts, but I did notice that the Bunn button you press to release the pod holder is now rounded and projects out a tad from the housing, making it easier to press. On my old model it was flush. So, they did do SOMETHING. It remains to be seen if this new unit will last.
So, since this crowd loves comparisons and numbers, and since I am a scientist by training, this morning I spent some time doing a side-by-side comparison between the two units. I know this has been done before (and probably better) by others, but this forum has been a wealth of information for me, so here’s my meager contribution back.
Perhaps you live in a neighborhood where the combination of brass knuckles and a coffee cup could come in handy, or perhaps you just want to look tough with your cup of coffee. Whatever you decide may be the reason for needing a set of brass knuckles with your single serve coffee is probably best left up to you, and you alone. This cup is the work of Simone Brewster who tends to get violent while drinking, anything, or it would seem so by his convergence of brass knuckles and coffee.
Brew-Yet Coffee Disc Maker - Make Your Own Coffee Pods
We've just received the Brew-Yet Coffee Disc Maker here at Single Serve Coffee. We prefer to call our coffee discs - coffee pods, but calling them discs or pods will work. The Brew-Yet is a Coffee Disc Maker that allows you to make your own Coffee Discs at home, instead of buying prepackage coffee pods, to brew your favorite coffee or blend of coffees. How does it work? You simply use coffee filters that you would normally use in a drip coffee maker, and with the Brew-Yet gadget, fold up the coffee into coffee pods.
Use your own favorite coffee or blends of coffee without having to be restricted to the prepackaged coffee pod varieties
Easy clean up - no holder to clean coffee grinds out of - after brewing your favorite blend - just dispose of the Coffee Disc like you do your coffee pods
Economical - Coffee Discs are a fraction of the cost of coffee pods
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