We'll there's not much to Ask Aida in this video about single serve coffee, but it's cool to see the Creme Brulee coffee pods and Senseo in a top chef's kitchen from the Food Network. We also like the suggestion of using a peppermint stick as a stirrer to "holiday up' your single serve coffee.
Review: Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin K-Cups for Keurig
S.H. continues his quest to find the perfect K Cup. Will he enjoy the pumpkin spice K Cups from Timothy's World Coffee?
With the opening of their first store in 1975, Timothy's World Coffee set out to become one of Canada's premier coffee houses. The company operates over 100 coffee/bakery restaurants across Canada under 3 distinct brands: Timothy's World Coffee, Mmmarvellous Mmmuffins & Michel's Baguette. In addition, the company operates a 35000 sq. ft. coffee roasting facility in the Toronto region and a bakery commissary; these guarantee the superior quality and freshness of all the coffee and bakery products served both in their retail stores and by co-branded partners.
Timothy's source pure origin coffee from countries around the world that grow specialty grade Arabica beans and only the top 5% of any harvest will meet their strict standards for quality. Over the years, the company has developed over 35 blends, various flavored coffees, teas and decaffeinated coffees. To ensure freshness, all coffee beans are brewed or sold in their retail locations within 20 days of roasting. They also service & supply offices, hotels, theatres and hospitals.
With Halloween just around the corner, I decided to review Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin limited-edition K-Cups. These K-Cups will only be available during the Fall season, so now's the time to grab some if you want to try them out. When brewing, familiar scents of pumpkin pie start to emerge… all-spice, nutmeg & hints of pumpkin are all present. The body is medium with a usual brown/amber color.
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October 29, 2008
Tassimo and Keurig Single Serve Coffee Makers at Target Stores Nationwide
The $99 Bosch Tassimo, $99 Keurig B40, and $79.99 Keurig Mini B30.
We decided to do a little pop in at our local Target, and see what's new in the single serve coffee aisle. Target is offering a pretty decent selection of single serve coffee machines and one cup coffee wonders this holiday season. New to Target is both the Bosch Tassimo priced at $99. This model doesn't include the water filter, but it makes the same amazing single serve coffee and other hot beverages.
The Tassimo $99 model seems to be available only at brick and mortar with no
places to purchase this model of the brewer online.
Also new to Target is the Keurig Mini B30. We love this little Keurig, and are really excited it's available nationwide at Target. They also offer the Keurig B40, which is a bit bigger, and more for household use if you're a daily coffee drinker. Target also had a selection Senseo single serve coffee pod brewers, and of course K Cups, T Discs, and Coffee Pods to choose from for all the options above.
You can find a Target in your area by using their store finder, and if you're looking for a review of the $169.99 Tassimo Suprema available online you can read it here.
Linens-N-Things Closing Stores Nationwide - Good Deals on Single Serve Coffee
Though we've always been a bigger fan of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, it's kind of a bummer not to have more choices when purchasing your single serve coffee maker or refills of K Cups and T Discs for your Keurig or Tassimo. Linens-N-Things also featured Senseo and other coffee pod brewers over the years, and we've also enjoyed their live demos of coffee makers, and other kitchen appliances including the George Foreman line of grills.
Right now you can get a Tassimo Suprema by Bosch online for $152.99 instead of $169.99, and they have a few Keurig models to choose from as well. All sales are final, so know you'll be left to the manufacturer warranty and no returns to Linens-N-Things if you purchase from them.
Update: The Tassimo mentioned above is actually the old Braun Tassimo, although they also appear to have the new Tassimo Suprema by Bosch for $125.99 (RRP $139.99).
Linen-N-Things also featured an entire line of espresso offerings online. We never saw Nespresso in the store, but they have them online. Right now you can save up to 30% off of most items online as well as in the store.
We'll miss you Linens-N-Things. Hopefully we won't see more brick and mortar stores like them close offline and online.
Single Serve Coffee Saucer CD Player With Dockable Cup
If you're looking for music with your one cup coffee we give you the Saucer CD Player. This concept probably won't make it to market, but it does put a little grin on our faces. This mug and saucer is essentially a portable CD player and speakers squeezed into a saucer. You can "dock" your cup and twist it to control the volume. We hope every time we take a sip the volume doesn't need adjusting, and of course you'd better not spill a single serve coffee drop.
Kraft Settles Patent Suit Brought by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Keurig
We ran a story last year regarding this lawsuit, and it looks like things have cleared up in the form of a one time payment from Kraft to Green Mountain/Keurig to the tune of $17 million. This will give Kraft a perpetual license to use the single-serve technology at the center of the legal dispute (which is basically the puncture mechanism). Both sides consider the settlement to be "an efficient and pragmatic way to resolve their patent dispute" and "in the best interests of their respective businesses and shareholders."
Seasonal Single Serve Holiday Coffees - Eggnog and Pumpkin Flavors
It's really getting chilly here at the Single Serve Coffee headquarters, and we just received another set of the seasonal K Cups from Green Mountain. Besides the Pumpkin Spice K Cups we covered a few weeks ago, another favorite for the season is Spicy Eggnog. We're drinking a cup right now, and it's perhaps a little to early for eggnog, but it does get us into the Fall holiday mood.
Green Mountain seems to only have these three blends right now, but expect other online etailers to have them soon as well.
Gingerbread K-Cup - The flavors and aroma of fresh-baked, warm gingerbread.
Holiday Blend K-Cup - An elegantly balanced blend of light and dark roasted coffees. Deliciously rich ...
We also mentioned Pumpkin Spice K Cups and of course Pumpkin flavored coffee pods. You'll have lots of luck at Coffee Whiz, Coffee Giant, and Amazon for pumpkin flavored coffees.
Do you know of any other holiday flavored K Cups, Coffee Pods, or T Discs? Are there holiday coffee drinks that are your favorites? Let us know by telling us in the comments, and we'll do a round up or reader choices and favorites soon.
The Pessimist's Mug - Your Coffee Cup is Half-Empty
These are troubled times. Everyday the stock market is nothing but volatile, people are losing their homes, and the world is warming. You might think the way out of this mess is to pick up your step, put on a happy face, and tell everyone it's going to be all right. We think different.
We think you should join the downward spiral in all it's glory and drink from The Pessimist's Mug. Specifically engineered by the chronically cynical pessimists of Despair Laboratories, this crystal-clear mug will help all who drink from it to Stay Grounded by forever reminding them to see when the glass is half-empty, and things may or may not get that much better. Fashioned by the perpetually miserable using the extremely rare silicon dioxide compound, fused at very high temperatures with borates or phosphates, this is the single serve coffee mug for the 21st century single serve coffee drinker.
Babyccinos - a Single Serve Coffee Drink for Babies
There's a new drink for babies in town - the Babyccino. We first heard about this new coffee beverage for tots about 30+ years ago, when our grandparents in Maine used to make them for us - sans foamy milk - but with 2% milk, a wee bit of coffee, and of course lots of sugar. The current Babyccino is all the rage in a bakery/cafe/lounge called Buzz in Arlington, Virginia. Now the Babyccino doesn't come cheap - it will set you back $4, and their version is milk with a drizzle of chocolate? What no coffee?
We suggest if you want to make one at home get a simple milk frother, or you could use your Aeroccino, Tassimo, or the Dolce Gusto to froth up some milk. Then take a little shot of espresso - perhaps the Handpresso, Tassimo, or Dolce Gusto - but every so little. Then a nice drizzle of sugar should do - yes drizzle - perhaps using sugar shots. We currently are using the milk frother, about 1/8 of a shot of decaf espresso, and then some sugar shot. Whatever you decide - make one for you baby, toddler, or little one, and take some time out of your day for some coffee talk.
It's Monday, and you have a long week ahead looking towards the upcoming weekend. We suggest taking the small bits of time throughout the week to study - hacking the Tassimo single serve coffee maker, and then next weekend hack away. Reverse engineering a problem is always fun, and it looks like someone over at MAKE has posted just how to do this with the Braun Tassimo T1200/T1400 hot beverage system. We're not sure if this hack will work with the new Tassimo - but we expect it will. The hack hasn't been that successful yet, so perhaps you can break the "Tassimo Code".
The barcodes are used to "program" the machine to make a particular beverage using a specific amount of water at a particular temperature and for a certain duration of time. My efforts have been directed at discovering a "map" between the barcodes and how the machine controls its brewing processes. I haven't been entirely successful yet - I've managed to decode the barcodes, and have run some experiments to try and surface some patterns - no dice! Nonetheless, I'd like to put the idea out to Makers to get their feedback and ideas.
Whatever you decide to spend your time on - is your business. But what better business than hacking coffee could there be? None.
Review: Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto Single Serve Coffee Maker
There's a new single serve coffee coffee and hot beverage system in town - the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto. This amazing machine not only makes a perfect cup of single serve coffee, it can also make lattes, cappuccinos, shots of espresso, chococinos (hot chocolate), and even iced cappuccinos. And not only does it make an amazing range of drinks, this is one of the first single serve coffee makers to have a "round water reservoir", and to also look truly different than any other single serve coffee maker we've seen. The unique styling puts it on a path of it's own, and it's no wonder the design is so different.
Nescafe has teamed up with Krups and Nespresso to make this machine. You can see touches of Nespresso innovation, along with truly wonderful design choices from Krups. We also had the opportunity to test both the European and the recently launched US Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto that is now in stores in the US. The differences in the two machines show a revolution in thought on how to make the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto a nearly perfect single serve coffee maker, from an already successful machine designed for Europe.
We're always looking around for the "Next Generation" of coffee mugs to drink our single serve coffee from, and we think the Highwave — Javaa glass coffee mugs fit the bill. The hour glass/ diner mug shape nests securely into your hand, the base is slightly wider and more stable. The mug also features a silicone ring which is also a no slip base - perfect for that soft landing on any surface. Each mug can handle up to 10 ounces of your favorite single serve coffee, and the Javaa coffee mugs are microwave and dishwasher safe.
Review: Van Houtte Apple Crumble K-Cups for Keurig
Our K Cup correspondent S.H. of the wild white north has managed to get his hands on Van Houtte's Apple Crumble K Cups. Does he enjoy them? Do they have the taste of apple with all the crumble?
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Van Houtte have been pioneers in European-style coffee since 1919. Today, they're involved in almost every aspect of the coffee industry. They select and buy their own beans, roast and package their coffees, manufacture state-of-the-art single cup vending machines and market a wide range of unique products to retail, office, café and online customers. They even operate the largest coffee services network in North America serving more than 71000 workplaces in most major cities.
When brewing these Apple Crumble K-Cups, you're greeted with the warm aroma of cinnamon & apples plus very subtle undertones of dark chocolate. The body is medium, with a somewhat dark color usually seen in most flavored coffees but if held in front of a light source, hints of crimson red shine through. At first I thought this was the natural color but later learned some K-Cup manufacturers color their coffees to match the flavors (something I hadn't been used to with Tassimo T-Discs).
We don't think this desktop coffee maker we found over at Firebox really fits the single serve coffee profile, but it does make one or two cups of coffee using - yes - ground coffee. Firebox calls this a "fabulously compact, fuss-free Desktop Coffee Maker", but we know better. Grounds lead to a mess you can't clean up easily in an office environment, and that's why we think the Keurig Mini B30 wins hands down in the single serve coffee office arena. And the Keurig Mini B30 also can use ground coffee, but we prefer our mess free K Cups.
Still, we like the design of this little number, and it does make two cups of coffee and include 2 black mugs. We think they didn't have us at "mugs" or "two cups", but the idea is a solid one. We only wish it used the power from our USB port or something more interesting, because right now it's only available in the UK.
If you didn't know, Van Houtte not only makes K Cup coffees for the Keurig single serve coffee maker, but they also have many cafe locations you can visit. Since we're US based, we've never had the pleasure of visiting one of Van Houtte's coffee cafes in Canada, and this past week that all changed. We were in Montreal on a trip of eating, coffee drinking, and just walking around the beautiful city of Montreal, and found Van Houtte cafes throughout the city. The cafes are both spacious, well designed, and they feature some really good coffee and pastries.
We settled back for a Cafe Romano, and our single serve coffee accomplice had a very rich and interesting "Chaud" Chai Tea Latte. Great stuff. If you're in Montreal, or around other cities in Canada that have a Van Houtte Coffee Cafe, we think you'll enjoy a visit or two.
Do you know of a cool Van Houtte location? What's your favorite Van Houtte coffee cafe? Are there any US based Van Houtte coffee cafes? Let us know.
Top 10 Best Selling Single Serve Coffee Makers - October 2008
October is a game changer on the Top 10 Best Selling Single Serve Coffee makers list. We're still not seeing some of the newer models like the Bosch Tassimo Suprema Hot Beverage System make the top 10 yet, but we are seeing the older still in the top 10 due to a price cut. The Keurig B30 also makes the list for the first time this month, and the big news this month is the Keurig B60 has dethroned the Aeroporess as the top selling single serve coffee maker. Also not on the list for the first time in months is the Braun TA1200 Tassimo - [SSC Review].
Do you think these coffee makers represent the best selling or the best? What single serve coffee makers do you think should make a best of list regardless of sales? Sound off in the comments and let us know.
EZ Fill Liquid Level Alarm - Pour Your Coffee in the Dark
The EZ Fill Liquid Indicator is a small bright red device that buzzes to indicate a liquid has reached about 1 inch from the top of a your single serve coffee cup, or whatever container your choose to use it on. Meant to help the visually impaired, we think it would also work perfectly for non-automatic shut off Nespresso, and espresso systems. It uses three 1.5 volt LR44 batteries (included).
Amazon.com has the Bosch Tassimo Single-Serve Coffee Brewer (read our full review of the Bosch Tassimo here) with FREE supper saver shipping, and the brewer is in stock. Now if you want to get FREE two day shipping, you can sign up for a month trial of Amazon Prime. We use prime for all of our shopping, and find being able to order replacement T Discs, and other coffee gadgets and wonders with TWO day shipping to be the way to go. You'll also be able to get your holiday shopping done with ease if you're a member of Amazon Prime.
Key Features of the Bosch Tassimo:
Single-serve coffee brewer brews at the touch of a button in about a minute
Uses T-Discs with barcode technology; beverages pour directly from T-Disc into cup
No measuring, no fuss, and virtually no cleanup; customizable size and strength
LED user interface; 67-ounce removable water tank; 2 MAVEA water filters included
Measures 13-1/4 by 8 by 11 inches; 1-year parts-and-labor warranty
Pumpkin Spice and Autumn Harvest K Cups from Green Mountain Coffee
It's that time of year again, and the pumpkin madness in the coffee world is upon us. Each year we really do enjoy the two seasonal coffees from Green Mountain - Autumn Harvest K Cups and the Pumpkin Spice K Cups. Both have a ton of flavor, and we find the Autumn Harvest Blend to be a very interesting morning cup of coffee, and the Pumpkin Spice K Cups to be the flavor of choice for later in the day.
Autumn Harvest Blend - Boasting a palette of light and dark roasted coffees nearly as colorful as the Autumn leaves, this special blend offers brisk and smoky flavors perfectly attuned to the season.
Pumpkin Spice - A delicious coffee enhanced by the creamy pumpkin spice flavors of autumn.
Unboxing the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto Single Serve Coffee Maker
We've been using the US version of the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto over the past few weeks, and we have to say we're really impressed. Impressed enough to share just about every step we've had with this single serve coffee maker. One thing to note is Nescafe is owned by Nestle, which in turns is part of or shares in some business with Nespresso. So, you can really feel some of those influences in the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto, from the box, to the materials, and to the coffee this machine produces.
If you like to drink coffee, and you like to take pictures we have a coffee mug for you. The camera lens coffee cup will fulfill both you caffeine habit, and waiting to get the perfect photo. It's not a reality yet, but we expect this idea to makes it's way into a coffee cup soon.
Apple Crumble K Cups from Van Houtte - Dessert Single Serve Coffee
Dan C. has written in to tell us Van Houtte is now shipping Apple Crumble K Cups. We're not sure what to think, but you can expect this blend to be medium/light, and to have a Fall classic flavour: baked apple with a touch of cinnamon and the sweetness of crumble topping.
September 2008 Monthly Round-Up for Single Serve Coffee
September was a big month for new products and reviews including the much fabled Bosch Tassimo Suprema Single Serve Coffee Brewer and Hot Beverage System. We'll have more reviews this month including our full review of the Nescafe Krups Dolce Gusto, and we'll have news of more coffee pods, k cups, and T discs in the weeks ahead.
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. We use prime for all of our shopping, and find being able to order replacement T Discs, and other coffee gadgets and wonders with TWO day shipping to be the way to go. You'll also be able to get your holiday shopping done with ease if you're a member of 
September was a big month for new products and reviews including the much fabled 
Review: Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin K-Cups for Keurig
