We thought we'd take a look at what's happening in Flavia land this morning. We recently received a set of their Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees, and we found the Kona Blend to be quite good. 10% of this Kona Blend originates from the volcanic slopes of Hawaii. These trees thrive in a combination climate of sunshine, rainfall, location and volcanic soil only available in Kona, thus creating a balanced flavor ranging from a medium to full body, with some acidic notes. We think this coffee is quite smooth, and it's nice to see Flavia offering some interesting and new blends for the Flavia line of single serve coffee makers.
The Kona Blend coffee packets will work in any Flavia machine.
Flavia Has New Name, New Drinks, and a New Office Drinks Station
Flavia is moving under the new brand from the Mars Family - Mars Drinks. So you can expect to start seeing the Flavia line of drinks station looks a little more like this - The Flavia Drinks Station from Mars Drinks. Oh, and we did we mention - there are two new Flavia drinks coming out: Kona Coffee and Malawi Garden Tea - a sustainable black tea. There's also a new Creation 200 single-serve drinks station designed for office environments with 15-40 people. The current line of Flavia Fusion Drinks Stations and the Creation 400 (read our visit to Mars Drinks) will continue to be sold throughout the US as well. Good news and we like the name - Mars Drinks. Though we live on a blue planet, it's nice to see the people from the red planet making a very interesting update to the single serve coffee world.
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September 12, 2007
Mars Swirl Flavia Fusion Filter Packs
We've been moving into our fall/winter single serve coffee drinking habits, and one of the new flavors from Flavia - the Mars Swirl filter packs are making quite an impression here. A rich choco and creamy caramel swirl that is an ideal topping for your Cappuccinos and Mochaccinos, Mars Swirl is also quite good just as a stand alone cup of hot milky swirl goodness. You can also add some hot milk and get quite a delicious hot chocolate drink.
We like red drinks, green drinks, and especially blue drinks. If you own a Flavia Fusion Drinks Station or the Flavia Fusion Deluxe Drinks Station, or the SB100 is at your office, you will have the ability to create the Blue Hawaiian, a delicious blueberry and pineapple drink that will give you a wave of Echinacea and Vitamin C.
You will need:
red arrow 1 Blueberry Balance Filterpack
red arrow ½ cup pineapple juice
Preparation in your FLAVIA FUSION or SB100:
Turn the FUSION volume control knob to the smallest dot. For an SB100, press the Espresso Button (the one with the half-filled cup icon).
Place the Blueberry Balance Filterpack in the pack holder, close and press the coffee/tea button on the FUSION, or the Start button on the SB100, to brew.
We love anything Green Apple tasting - martinis especially. If you own a Flavia Fusion Drinks Station or the Flavia Fusion Deluxe Drinks Station, or the SB100 is at your office, you will have the ability to create different type of FUSION drinks by combining different filter packs. This month's offering is Green Apple Tea and it looks delicious.
You will need:
1 Japanese Green Tea or Green Tea with Jasmine Filterpack
½ cup Apple Juice
Glass of Ice
Preparation Notes:
Preparation in your FLAVIA FUSION or SB100:
Place Ice and ½ cup of Apple Juice into a large glass.
Insert the Green Tea Filterpack in the pack holder and close.
For FUSION, set the Volume Control Knob to the smallest dot, then press the Coffee/Tea button to brew.
For an SB100, select the Espresso button, then press the Start button to brew.
We recently took a trip to Philadelphia to visit the folks that make Flavia. We've enjoyed the Flavia line of single serve coffee products since it's launch in the US way back in 1996, and had our first Flavia single serve coffee in 1999 at an office we worked at.
Since then, Flavia has launched a line of single serve coffee makers for the home and office with the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station, Flavia Fusion Deluxe Drinks Station, and the Creation 400 for the office. On our trip we really wanted to get behind the scene and talk with Flavia about what they're doing, and how they see growing single serve coffee as a consumer offering, and see how they make the Flavia filter packs for the Flavia Drinks Station.
One of the more interesting benefits of owning a Flavia Fusion Drinks Station or the Flavia Fusion Deluxe Drinks Station is the ability to create different type of FUSION drinks by combining different filter packs. We had no idea before our visit to Flavia (full article coming next week), that each month they put out different coffee drink recipes. This month's recipe is a Milky Way Swirl. We really liked the hot chocolate/Milky way drinks and think this recipe sounds pretty yummy.
Here's what you'll need:
1 Milky Way Swirl Filterpack
1 FLAVIA Gourmet, Single Origin, Flavored or Decaf Coffee Filterpack Ice
Whipped cream (optional)
Here's what you do:
Insert the Milky Way Swirl Filterpack and press the Frothy 2-Pack button to brew. divider
Insert your favorite Gourmet Coffee Filterpack and press the Frothy 2- Pack button to brew. divider
Pour over ice or place in blender with ice and top with whipped cream.
We recently traveled to the fabled land of Philadelphia to visit the people who make the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station and other Flavia products. We were treated to an entire four hour tour, but we actually have returned. What's happening at Flavia? What's new? There's too much to tell today, but we did see the new FLAVIA® Creation 400™ drinks station, and we got a tour of the plant. Yep - we got to see how they keep the coffee fresh before it's packed into the Flavia filterpack.
We've even got a shot or two of the amazing user interface/experience of the FLAVIA® Creation 400™ drinks station.
The new Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe has a slew of improvements over the Flavia Fusion Drinks Station we reviewed earlier last year. We've been testing the machine over the past few weeks and unlike other one cup coffee makers we've reviewed recently, it's managed to stay there for the entire time and have quite a bit of Flavia coffee run through it.
Flavia Fusion Drinks Station Deluxe 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
What do we think of this new Flavia? How is the Flavia coffee on a revisit? Do the new features make the new price of $169.99 a bit too high or too low?
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.
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.
Yes - we know we picked the winner last month, but we also know people tend to go on vacation in August and it can really wreak havoc on getting the winner to respond in a timely fashion. Would you even check your email on the beach to see if you'd won a FLAVIA FUSION? WE WOULD!
I visit the site to keep abreast of trends in the single cup OCS market. I'm excited to win it because it will let me evaluate one of the many delivery systems available to consumers.
Thanks again to the folks at FLAVIA for providing us with a machine to give away. Stay tuned for more giveaways this Fall on SingleServeCoffee.com
From FLAVIA:
"FLAVIA® has been satisfying the individual tastes of coffee and tea drinkers for over 20 years. FLAVIA was the first to introduce Brew-by-Pack to the home and office, and has the only single cup system with authentic cappuccino and mochaccino and chai latte. The FLAVIA filterpack technology is the only system that brews directly into the cup with no cross-over of flavor from the previous drink. FLAVIA® is a registered trademark of Mars, Incorporated, known for brands that include M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, UNCLE BEN’S®, and MILKY WAY®. For more information and an online demonstration of the system and the patented filterpack technology, visit www.myflavia.com. "
Europe: FLAVIA FUSION Drinks Station Heads to the UK
The Flavia Fusion will be out in the UK in September. Having hailed from Europe (that's our understanding) it's a surprise the FLAVIA FUSION hasn't been available in the UK. We're sure our UK cousins will enjoy the new FLAVIA Fusion this Fall and as far as we know - they're not going to making any major adjustments to the FLAVIA FUSION or coffees and teas available at launch.
No, its not a mini power station to back the government’s nuclear policy, but a drinks station that’ll let you whip up 30 different beverages. Flavia claims its latest bit of kitchen kit cuts the hassle of making anything from a cappuccino or latte to its own range of hot cocktails. The bit that really appeals is the lack of cleaning the unit needs. Flavia says its filterpacks mean no mess and no soggy tea bags or spilled coffee beans to sort out. The Fusion will cost £79.99 and be available in red, black or ice blue.
Review: FLAVIA FUSION Drink Station from Single Serve Coffee
We've been using the new FLAVIA FUSION Drinks Station for over a month now and we have one thing to say, "This machine really does make a ton of different hot drinks." It's nothing short of mind blowing the amount of different combinations you can make with the FLAVIA FUSION. After a month of trying all the drinks we have to conclude - some are very good while others are okay and nothing special, however, we feel any system that can take on single serve coffee, hot teas, iced teas, espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, and other deserves some kudos right out of the box.
It's also important to note that FLAVIA has been making single serve coffee machines for the home and office even before Senseo came to the United States. Having had coffee from the Flavia S350 and the FLAVIA sB100 Drink Stations, everyone here was really excited to try the home offering, as the coffee we've had from FLAVIA in the past has not been bad at all.
What can the home FLAVIA machine make? The FLAVIA FUSION can make Coffees, Fresh Leaf Teas, LATTES, Cappuccinos, Hot Chocolate and other drinks. They even have a Wellbeing line of teas with vitamins in them. You can even mix up your own "hot cocktail" by Mixing and Matching from they're entire line of syrups and sprinkles you can purchase along with the coffee and teas. We really enjoyed the syrups to accent many of the coffees we've had over the past month. We found a little flavoring in a cup of hot Sumatra to be refreshing.