As recently discussed, the Senseo pods garner high marks for the ability to easily recycle them – they are coffee grounds and a filter. Senseo must, however, compete with the highly popular Keurig (dominating the single-serve market) as well as Tassimo and traditional brewing solutions.

Telling, even more, is that Google AdSense ad in this story for Tassimo! So while competition is admittedly steep for Senseo, Sara Lee does look to continue to expand into different coffee/tea market segments. Sara Lee also recently acquired CoffeeCompany, a Dutch Coffee House chain with over 60 cafes in the Netherlands.

So – your picking a single-serving brewer because it makes sense for you? What is the overriding factor? Environmentally friendly waste or variety of selection and freshness of product? And if you want variety and freshness how far out of your way would you go to recycle the coffee pods?

If working at a place that helps you and everyone else get a morning fix of coffee is appealing, then check out their openings! www.gmcr.com/careers.html

Gov. Bob McDonnell in October announced that Green Mountain Coffee Roasters would establish a production and distribution site at the Shirley T. Holland Intermodal Park on Route 460. The company plans to employ 800 who will be paid an average of $40,000 a year.

Katie Gilroy, manager of corporate communications, said Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is currently hiring for 45 positions and plans to add an additional 20 over the next month.

“Given we’re still in the process, we can’t comment on exactly what positions have in fact been hired at this time, however, we are hiring for a variety of manufacturing positions including engineering, maintenance, safety and quality assurance, as well as some general IT and HR positions,” Gilroy said.

There will be additional openings for procurement, scheduling, distribution, operations and maintenance.

Green Mount Coffee Roasters makes single-serve portion packets for its Keurig brewing system. Further, the company would take care of the grinding, roasting and packing locally.

Once operational, the plant is expected to be open 20 to 24 hours a day. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the country will be served.

Is working for a place like Keurig your dream job?

Penelope does make a lot of sense with her comments, and echos the feelings of probably lots of coffee drinkers about single-serving coffee. It does seem wasteful. Then you have the argument about wasted pots of coffee and the energy needed to keep the coffee warm, but we aren’t going to address that angle right now.

She talks about the Senseo Pods, and how these pods are made to be biodegradable. I was in Wal-Mart tonight, scouting the different kinds of single-serve coffee they stock and did notice that some Sara Lee Senseo Coffee Pods were being sold. The package touted that the pods could be used in any single serving coffee machine. I didn’t think about it too much at that moment, but now I am. I’m curious about this!

I do see some products out there, namely this Perfect Pod Holster “as seen on tv” (lol). It is an adapter for Keurig Machines that lets you insert a pod into the reusable plastic shell and put it into your Keurig and brew a single cup of coffee and then toss just the pod. Novel concept. At the moment I’m using the Ekobrew reusable to see how well that works and honestly I’ve brewed more cups in it than I have prepackaged K-Cups.

The big thing about the K-Cups is that they are packaged well, plastic and aluminum and paper filters. It makes sure that you get a fresh cup of coffee. But the downside to that is that it isn’t extremely environmentally friendly. Green Mountain Coffee, to their credit, is working on both ways to recycle their K-Cups as well as how to make them out of other materials. More, we are sure, to come on that in the future.

Excellent letter Penelope! It is a thought that many of us have so you are not alone. It’s just that at that time of the morning, the primary concern seems to be getting coffee inside you and not so much about what to do with the leftovers. Anyone else have thoughts on reusable K-Cups or recycling them?

Irish Coffee is basically coffee with a shot of Irish Whiskey and a teaspoon of brown sugar added to it. Then you top it all off with a dollop of whipped cream! (yum).

Jen Wielgus, on phillyburbs.com, reminded us over the weekend that it was going to be National Irish Coffee Day today – January 25. And had the great idea that you should have celebrated over last weekend, as it might not be the best decision to wake up and pour yourself some Irish coffee before heading in to work tomorrow! But, even if you can’t participate today, you can surely hold your own Post-National Irish Coffee Day this weekend, and why not do it Saturday and Sunday to make up for the fact that you missed out on the actual day.

You can also follow these handy directions from the Web Holidays website of food festivals. Take a standard 8 ounce cup of coffee, a shot (1.5 ounces) of Irish Whiskey, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix all this in a mug. Top with a tablespoon of whipped cream.

Want some variations? Try using scotch for Scotch Coffee, Bourbon for Kentucky Coffee, Vodka for a Russian Coffee, Rum for Jamaican or Calypso coffee. Etc. Experiment!

Who thinks up these holidays, anyway?

While you may not care too much what their earnings per share is, or what increases in sales are expected, you probably care more about the quality of the coffee. The good point is that while “business” goes on, Starbucks remembers that it is not only serving a quality product, but also customers with convenience, as well as a status symbol.

Fortunately for investors, selling coffee is not just what Starbucks does. One can buy coffee almost anywhere, but Starbucks has become the place to buy coffee. Carrying around a cup of coffee with its logo on it says something about who you are. It says you are cool and in the know, that you appreciate the finer things in life. Along with each cup of coffee, Starbucks is selling an image that is in demand.

The New Year will also see the introduction of Starbucks K-cups in stores, grocers and online. A K-Cup is a single serve pack used with a Keurig Single Cup Brewing System marketed by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Starbucks is predicting the K-Cup “will grow to be a greater than a $1 billion business over time.”

I take several things from these statements.

1. Starbucks wants to continue to provide you with quality, quick and easy coffee in the way that is most convenient to you.
2. K-Cups, and K-Cup machines will be around for a while to come – they aren’t a passing fad.

How do you feel about your Keurig or other Single-Serving coffee machine investment – has it made your life easier?

In just a minute you can quickly see how super easy it is to make yourself a cup of coffee. And the flavor you prefer! There are currently over 200 varieties of K-Cup Coffee available, and just the other day Keurig announced that Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa would be available as well.

You know the drill, you wake up, your sleepy and you just want some coffee! What could be easier than inserting a k-cup, filling with water, pressing “brew”, and moments later enjoying your coffee. If your like most, and slightly zombie in the morning, then fill the water and insert your chosen K-Cup the night before – then you just need to stumble into the kitchen and push “go” in the morning.

These two new coffees are the first new permanent additions to Caribou’s lineup since 2009. And Caribou wanted to be sure to treat consumers at both ends of the spectrum by making something to please both of them.

According to Caribou’s press release, the lighter coffee – Starlight – has already been awarded a score of 96 by coffeereview.com. I checked coffeereview.com’s website and was unable to validate this rating as the coffee is not listed. Perhaps the rating is too new to appear on their site. Anyway, the blend does sound tasty:

a well-rounded blend with elegant hints of maple candy and ripe berries, grounded by a heavy body and notes of toasted grains and nuts for a rich, robust flavor. It proves that when roasted with expert precision a light roast can be rich, creamy and offer a medley of flavors.

I’ll have to try and get my hands on some of this to review it for you.

Not to be outdone, Eclipse, the darker roast:

A bold, robust roast, Eclipse hits your palate with an immediate burst of bittersweet chocolate and cherries. But the real treat of this roast is the finish, with subtle spice notes reminiscent of cardamom and cloves.

And that reads like it’ll be tasty, too! I’ve never been to a Caribou Coffee location, but my Keurig machine did come with a sample of Caribou and it is a brand I plan to go back to sometime soon!

One of the things I like about Caribou Coffee is that all of the coffee they make and sell is 100% Rainforest Alliance Coffee and Espresso. Read about their commitment here.

How about you — have you had any experiences with Caribou coffees, perhaps using the ground coffee in your own k-cup? How’d it taste?

It’s always really cool when doctors and scientists say good things about a habit you already have. Isn’t it?

This latest bit of news is a comprehensive story from the Harvard Health Letter in its January 2012 issue.

As reported by the HealthNewsDigest.com here, there are a number of ingredients in coffee that impacts and/or benefits coffee drinkers. Here are a few:

Caffeine. Caffeine probably has multiple targets in the brain, but the main one seems to be adenosine receptors. A part of the brain affected by Parkinson’s disease, called the striatum, is loaded with adenosine receptors. By docking on them, caffeine may have some protective effects against the disease. Caffeine has some negative short-term effects on the cardiovascular system, raising blood pressure and perhaps making arteries stiffer. But habitual use may cause some of those effects to wear off.
Cafestol and kahweol. Coffee contains oily substances called diterpenes; the two main types are cafestol and kahweol. They may have anticancer effects, but they also have a downside, increasing cholesterol levels. Coffee filters trap most of the cafestol and kahweol so they don’t wind up in the beverage that people drink.
Antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances that sop up reactive molecules so they don’t harm sensitive tissues like those that line the inside of blood vessels. Coffee contains a fair amount of antioxidants, including a powerful one called chlorogenic acid.
Vitamins and minerals. Coffee isn’t a great source of vitamins and minerals, but it does contain small amounts of magnesium and potassium.

Now it is important to note that I am not giving you health instructions here, just passing along this good news story, but at the same time you should not go overboard and swill coffee like it is going out of style. All things in moderation, you know?

Stay tuned for more great news coming soon from doctors and researchers about how coffee can help with protective effects against diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, and some forms of cancers!

Take today’s example, Kraft Company’s Tassimo machine. They’ve evidently sent out emails to customers letting them know that if they’ll register their coffee maker they will give them 2 Free T-Disc packages. According to this Consumerist article Tassimo’s website isn’t allowing anyone to register their coffee maker. So while it is a sweet deal, if no one “can” register – what’s the point.

Tassimo, a Kraft brand, is probably best known as the “those single-serve coffee brewers that aren’t Keurig.” Anita has one, and she received an e-mail from Kraft offering two free packages of coffee if she registered her brewer. Yay, free coffee! So she did just that, only to hit a brick wall of customer disservice. Not what you expect after buying a coffeemaker that retails for $140.

You can still read some of the posts on Tassimo’s Customer Service Wall, and you can also see the offer for the free coffee on Tassimo’s US Website. Incidentally, their facebook page would like to know “How’d you discover TASSIMO?”

Timothy’s Coffees of the World learned a tough social media lesson after a Facebook promotion spiralled out of control.

For simply “liking” Timothy’s on Facebook, the company would send fans four free 24-pack boxes of single-serve coffee, according to a Dec. 16 post.

As the boxes of K-cups for use in Keurig coffee machines retail at about $17.95, customers flocked to the promotion, sending in their addresses and posting thanks on Facebook.

The promotion seemed like a “great idea” at the time, said Timothy’s spokeswoman Marie-Claude Dessureault in an apology video posted one month after the social media fiasco began. It was meant to be a gift for those who were loyal to the brand during the holiday season, another spokesman added.

But Timothy’s received an overwhelming response when the deal was posted onto contest-aggregating websites, Dessureault said in the video.

It only took three days for the stock to be depleted, according to a company post on Facebook, but by then it had already sent an email to everyone who signed up saying their free coffee was on the way. It was a “technical glitch,” Dessureault said.

Timothy’s waited till Jan. 4 to say that the promotion was “first come, first served” and those who didn’t get the samples would receive a “great email offer.” The company’s next post was more than a week later – and it was the first time Timothy’s apologized for its mistake.

By this time, hordes of Facebook fans were commenting on the page. Some defended Timothy’s for the generous promotion, but others were furious that they’d sent out their personal information and got nothing in return.

In the video apology, Dessureault said all private information will be deleted and that those that signed up for the promotion will get a coupon for a free 12 pack box. The coupon will “most likely” come via regular mail.

There is a post on Timothy’s Facebook page now saying that anyone who had signed up will be mailed a coupon for a free 12-count box of K-Cups of their choosing. All’s well that ends well?

It was generous of them to offer such a great incentive to “like” them, and it is good that they did finally make some gesture towards those who did what they asked, but the Internet is so fast these days, they waited a little too long to be honest and communicate with their customers.

Looking over Timothy’s website it does look like it is a coffee worth trying and I believe I’ll try and find some to see what its like!

You can read the full article on the Toronto Star. And if you want to you can “like” us on Facebook as well!