Review: Nescafé Taster's Choice Single Serve Instant Coffee Packs

With the recent arrival of some new Nescafé Taster's Choice Single Serve Instant Coffee Packs, it can only mean it's time for another one of our "mega reviews". Apologies in advance to our readers if this article seems rather long, but we're reviewing over 6 different flavors at once, so keep that in mind.

As we had previously noted, we always thought of Taster's Choice coffees as being something along the lines of our parents' bland freeze-dried crystals and the brand itself has been around since forever, but it appears they've taken a new competitive approach towards Starbucks' VIA instant coffees as they claim the samples they sent us were made from 100% pure coffee beans and their marketing is obviously aimed against Starbucks.

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Review: MyPressi Twist Portable Single Serve Espresso and Coffee Maker

Portable and easy to use espresso machines are all the rage, and the MyPressi Twist is the latest in this growing category of single serve coffee and espresso. The folks behind MyPressi Twist lent us one for just over a week to try and use for this review. It's very much like the Handpresso, except it uses N02 cartridges instead of a built in pump. We've been big users of our Handpresso over the past year, and having seen the MyPressi was hoping for an improvement over the Handpresso or perhaps something different that it would offer. What did we find?

The MyPressi is on the left and the Handpresso is on the right.
The MyPressi is much heavier and larger.

What we found compared to the Handpresso is a much more complicated device that essentially does the same job. There are 5x the amount of parts and things to make the same shot of espresso and the Handpresso is much lighter and more environmentally friendly requiring only a little muscle to pump it versus using NO2 cartridges in the MyPressi Twist - but more on that later.

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Review: EZ-Cup for Keurig Single-Cup Machines - Make Your Own K-Cups and Use Your Own Coffee

The EZ-Cup and EZ-Cup Filters allow you to make refillable K-Cups with a filter sleeve that fits inside the EZ-Cup, and then fits into the brewing slot in your Keurig Brewer. Unlike the Perfect Pod Holster which allows you to use coffee pods in your Keurig brewer, the EZ-Cup allows you to use any ground coffee in your Keurig Brewer.

The EZ-Cup filter paper.

Update: Many readers have written in asking if you could use your Perfect Pod Holster with the filters. We have tried this and the spring inside the two different products is well - different. The Perfect Pod Holster has a very strong longer spring and the EZ-Cups is shorter to make room for the filter sleeve. We recommend buying the EZ-Cup and not trying to make the Perfect Pod Holster work. We did not get good results if we used the Perfect Pod Holster - it's for coffee pods not for use with the new EZ-Cup filter sleeve.

It's different from the My K-Cup reuseable K-Cup because you don't have to wash out a filter basket, after you're done filling the EZ-Cup and brewing, you simple open the top and pop out the spent filter basket made of paper. This makes disposing of the coffee grounds really easy, and the entire popped out coffee filter and coffee are able to be composted.

We've had the EZ-Cup now for a few weeks thanks to the folks at As Seen on TV Products sending us one to review, and we have tried a variety of coffee grounds with various success - all of the coffee produced being really quite good. We find the darker finer ground roasts to be our favorites.

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Review: Nespresso CitiZ Automatic Espresso Maker and Milk Frother

Nespresso has continued to expand it's single serve espresso and coffee offerings this year with the CitiZ line, and we're kind enough to send us along a test unit to review here at Single Serve Coffee. CitiZ Nespresso machines are sleek and have modern colors along with exceptional design lines that enhance not only your kitchen, but your coffee morning. We reviewed the CitiZ stand alone machine earlier this year, and we we're impressed. How much does the milk frother add to the equation and footprint?

We think if you're going to be using the Aeroccino a ton for making lattes and cappuccinos, having it integrated with the machine gives you a larger footprint, but the aesthetic is killer. It was hard to let this one go off the test kitchen counter, and the powder coated black frother blends nicely into the landscape of the coffee base.

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Review: Van Houtte Winter Blend K-Cups for Keurig

Van Houtte decided to follow-up their Pink Ribbon K-Cups with another unflavored variety, this time it's their Winter Blend K-Cups which were recently released last month. Billed as a "rich and flavorful blend, with intense woodsy notes and subtle acidity", we decided to give this flavor a try and purchased a box during a recent trip to Tweed & Hickory for the purposes of this review.

Upon brewing, we noticed typical earthy Arabica aromas common with a medium roast & a quick glance at the packaging confirmed this was indeed a medium roast. As noted earlier, this is not a flavored coffee nor is it considered a single origin. Flavor was more on the smoky/hickory side (maybe that's what they meant by "woodsy"?) and we couldn't help but imagine brewing a pot of this stuff over a campfire.

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Review: Van Houtte Candy Cane K-Cups for Keurig

Van Houtte is back in the flavored K-Cup market with a rather unique entry for the Holidays... candy cane. Yes, you read that correctly. On a recent trip to a local Tweed & Hickory store, we decided to purchase a box of Van Houtte Candy Cane K-Cups for the purpose of this review (although we have to admit, our curiosity was the main reason of purchase)

Upon brewing, you get a scent of peppermint and oddly enough, hints of chocolate. Flavor is definitely "minty" & even lingers throughout the finish while hints of chocolate are again present in the taste. We won't exactly call this a bold blend, but rather more like a medium roast which was left in the roaster a bit too long. We found the experience rather surprising as the minty sensation made it feel like we had just munched on some candy canes after each sip. Some people might be put off by this, but we found it was a rather cool feature, literally. Bonus points to Van Houtte for making this coffee somewhat "feel" like you're eating actual candy canes.

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Review: Nespresso Variations 2009 Ginger, Apricot, and Chesnut Cream Coffee Capsules

As Nespresso Club members are aware, each year around this time marks the release of 3 flavored espresso varieties known as the Nespresso "Variations" collection. These flavors are available for a limited time only and once Nespresso stops selling them, that's it... they're gone until further notice, sometimes never to be seen again. So we decided to order a bunch this year, and try and review them before they're gone.

This year's flavors are apricot, chestnut cream & gingerbread. The coffee base for each flavor is the Livanto capsule which ranks in at a strength of 6 on the packaging sleeves. We have to admit, we went into this order thinking that we'd only love 1 flavor while hating another & "maybe" liking the 3rd. Little did we know how surprised we'd be by what would emerge as our favorite & least favorite flavors of the bunch.

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Review: Indian Mysore Coffee Pods from The Coffee Artisan

In August the Coffee Artisan launched its own house brand of premium 10-gram coffee pods, and we have to say we're impressed. Owner Chad Elliott has gone to great lengths to use high-quality beans roasted in small batches so as to showcase the unique character of each variety. The full line-up includes an Italian Roast blend, the Dark Side, along with excellent and affordably priced 100% Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain light roasts, but we'll save those for future posts. To begin with, we'd like to focus on the more exotic single-origin coffees that Chad has brought to market, in particular the Coffee Artisan's Indian Mysore pod.

Indian coffee is not well-known in the U.S. Nevertheless, coffee has been grown in India since the 17th century, when it was imported from Yemen. The beans used in the Coffee Artisan's Indian Mysore pods are 100% Arabica, harvested in the Mysore district of Karnataka state in southern India, and almost certainly wet-processed. Generally speaking, Indian coffees are often described as having "pronounced body, low acidity, and subtle spicy notes" (e.g.). The official description of this pod hits similar notes: "Exceptionally well balanced with moderate acidity, full body, and a fruity-nutty flavor."

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Review: Tassimo T65 Single Serve Coffee Maker - T-Disc Brewer

Tassimo has launched a new Tassimo T65 Single Serve Coffee Maker that features a new Multilingual LC display. The multi-lingual display will help Tassimo launch into new and existing markets without the need to localize the machines for each market thus saving money. There's also a new set of lights for cup stand illumination.

The illuminated cup stand of the Tassimo T65 Brewer.

After a few weeks with this Tassimo model what stands out? Is it a better brewer overall? We have to say the addition of the illuminated cup stand and the LCD display does set this brewer apart but at a cost.

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Review: Van Houtte Pink Ribbon K-Cups for Keurig

Van Houtte recently decided to promote breast cancer research & awareness by releasing their new Pink Ribbon K-Cups. Billed as a medium roast "with good acidity, slight floral flavor & no bitterness", Van Houtte goes on to note that all funds raised through the purchase of these K-Cups will go towards their goal of donating $50,000 per year to breast cancer research. Logos in promotional material have even been redesigned to replace Van Houtte's white ribbon with a flowing pink ribbon design.

We decided to support the cause & purchase a box for the purpose of this review from a local Van Houtte supplier and although we're sure most coffee roasters have some sort of charity donation program in place, this is the first time in recent memory we've noticed a K-Cup dedicated solely for this purpose. Hats off to Van Houtte for taking this initiative.

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Review: Timothy's Winter Carnival K-Cups for Keurig

We recently dug through our K-Cup stash and decided to revisit some Pumpkin Spice K-Cups we had left-over from a previous season, so we figured why not review another seasonal K-Cup which has been hiding in our ever-growing repertoire? This time around, it's Timothy's Winter Carnival K-Cups which grabbed our attention. We purchased these K-Cups for our own review purposes last season during a trip to Tweed & Hickory, and since Timothy's has yet to officially announce this flavor's re-launch this year, we decided to review what we had on-hand.

Upon brewing, you're greeted with a refreshing aroma of maple syrup and butter toffee which lingers in the room. Tasting notes yielded hints of caramel as well and had us wishing we hadn't ravaged our Spring supply of maple candies earlier this year. We can only imagine this coffee + a slice of maple butter pie would be nothing short of pure bliss. Please pardon us as our minds wander for a bit... mmm, maple butter pie (insert Homer Simpson drooling sound here). Timothy's also notes some "custard notes" in the flavoring, but we didn't really notice any during our tests.

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Review: Senseo 10 Percent Kona Coffee Blend Pods

Senseo was kind enough to send over a sample bag of their new 10% Kona Coffee Blend coffee pods to review, and we're glad they did. We've been anticipating how good these coffee pods would and could be, and are pleased to say up front - pretty darn good (think Larry David saying that). Kona Coffee tends to be milder and easier on the stomach and palette, and the 10% Kona Coffee blend coffee pods are no exception.

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Review: Jacobs Monarch T-Discs for Tassimo

We’ve been sampling some of the European T-Discs which started appearing on www.tassimo.com these past few months and decided to continue our tour of Europe with one of Austria’s preferred brands of coffee: Jacobs. As a result, today we’ll be reviewing the new Jacobs Monarch T-Discs which you’ll see are not that different from their previous Kroenung T-Discs.

Upon brewing, faint hints of caramel start to emerge from your typical aroma of medium-roasted Arabica beans. Billed as having an irresistible “verwohnaroma” (aroma) with “citrusy notes”, we can’t say we found any of that present except for the taste which had the characteristics of your average medium roast with the exception of the faintest caramel notes and, we could be mistaken here, perhaps a tiny hint of lemon as well. It seems most European T-Discs have profiles that are becoming more and more identical, so we had a bit of a difficult time differentiating this T-Disc from its Kroenung counterpart or other competitors such as Kenco’s medium roast and Carte Noire’s Petit Dejeuner had it not been for some key factors such as acidity and aroma.

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Review: Timothy's Kahlua Original K-Cups for Keurig

A sector which had only casually been explored in the past by other manufacturers has now seen full-fledged acceptance in the single serve coffee scene with the introduction of Timothy's Kahlua Original K-Cups. The sector in question is of course liquor-flavored coffees and this marks the first time a brand-name liquor flavor is introduced on the K-Cup market (previous versions only alluded to the brand, but never had its logo displayed). Seeing as how Kahlua is coffee-flavored liquor, it only makes sense to add it to coffee itself. For those of you who are still wondering, no... there's no alcohol content in this product.

Timothy's was kind enough to send us these K-Cups for our review, but despite them describing this as a K-Cup that combines "delicious notes of rum, vanilla and caramel", we were hard pressed to find any presence of vanilla and only noticed faint traces of rum in the aroma. It reminded us somewhat of Kahlua's scent, but the one note which stuck out above all else was the strong & unexpected scent of toffee. It filled the room and was quite pleasant. The same could be said of the taste which once again, yielded strong toffee & caramel flavors rather than the namesake taste of Kahlua coffee liquor.

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