“You can get your caffeine fix without taking off your ski gear,” said Amelia Richmond, Squaw Valley spokesperson. “We went to Starbucks and said ‘We’d really like to make this happen’ and they bought into the idea.”

See the entire story on CBS 13 Sacramento. One of the people commenting, David, mentions that there have been ski-thrus on the East Coast before. Be interesting to find out where.

What do you think? Good idea? Would you buy a coffee and ride the chair lift, even if you weren’t skiing just to be able to say you have?

In this story by Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler tells us about the contract dispute and how Raley’s stopped buying one of the contracted brands led to this suit being filed.

Where is the love?

The results of Dunkin Doughnut’s coffee/Valentine’s Day survey are here! And over 70% of people say that coffee will factor into their Valentine’s plans. French Vanilla flavored coffee is considered to be the most romantic and almost 1/3rd of the females would rather ditch their boyfriend than have to give up coffee!

Well, turns out that Dunkin Doughnuts is running a contest today on Twitter, if you Tweet to them (@dunkindoughnuts) and just tell them who it is that you’d like to spend Valentine’s Day with and include the hashtag #CupiDD in your tweet. At the end of the day they promise to randomly select 3 different winners and give each of them two (2) $25 gift cards to (imagine!) Dunkin Doughnuts!

Not to be leave you dejected if you might not be selected, Dunkin Doughnuts has heart shaped doughnuts for you to share with that special someone! They are new and they look scrumptious. So, if you can stop by a Dunkin and try out the new treat and while you are at it tweet them and enter the contest. See if you can score the $50. Check out Dunkin Doughnut’s Facebook page here.

What are your Valentine’s Day plans?

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf announced today that their coffee/tea/espresso/cocoa machines will soon be in Target, Macy’s, and Dillard’s.

The introduction of the product at Target also brings with it a new product, the CBTL Briosa machine. I checked Target’s website but there are no results for the Briosa machine yet. I’ll keep my eye on it and let you know!

The Briosa is targeted towards Target’s more budget conscious patrons and should be the lowest cost entrant into the line of coffee machines.

You can also check out CBTL on facebook.

Mark Henderson discovered that one of his local restaurants tossed out about 22 pounds of coffee grounds per day, a restaurant open all year would end up discarding almost 8,000 pounds of coffee over that year.

So he has started Espressogrow with the express intent of purchasing the coffee grounds and turning it into fertilizer.

Excellent idea and an excellent story by Lisa Cox. The company hopes to have the slow release fertilizer available in the last half of this year.

Sad story, for sure, and I really hope the little girl doesn’t carry scars along with her the rest of her life – that’d be even more sad. But, I think we should all be aware, and cautious of the fact, that coffee makers make coffee by heating the water. So there will be hot water, potentially boiling, in the coffee machine, whether it is a drip machine or a high powered espresso or a single-serving Tassimo. And because there is hot water the machines should be treated with care as they are not a toy. That being said, a machine that just sits there and spews its hot water out is not properly designed. Innocent bystanders, such as this little girl, can get injured through no fault of their own. Reportedly there is over 150 reports of this kind of incident and that has prompted the recall.

If you own a Tassimo machine or would like additional information about the recall, then please see their website: Tassimo Safety Recall. You can also call their hotline at 866-918-8763 Monday-Friday 8am – 8pm and on Saturdays from 8am – 1pm.

Bob Hansen, of KNSD, reports on some of the problems that these little capsules can cause.

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.

I think it is interesting that while Keurig is working on a solution no one has yet offered some type of solution even if it is temporary. What do you think? Should more places offer to collect items like this? Things that are recyclable but just need to be separated? What if you could take them to the gas station or the local fast food restaurant?

Check out the complete story on NBC San Diego.

Another interesting bit that Oliver brings out in his article is how it appears to be a generational shift that is driving the coffee market towards single serving. Single serving is now the second most popular way to brew coffee in the US, behind drip makers. And to further accentuate the pricing difference, single serving coffee represents less than 10% of the coffee consumption but accounts for about 25% of its costs.

How you like to make and drink your coffee is your decision, really, and as you buy the equipment and the supplies its a decision that you have to be happy with. If you are going the single serve coffee maker route, then you are here because you want the convenience and variety. But regardless, when you buy the coffee you are going to drink you have to buy it knowing that you are “ok” with that cost per serving of coffee. If you view it (as many do) as under $1 for prepared coffee and that they are saving so much off the coffee shop prices, then be happy with that decision. If you are solely in it for the lowest cost cup of coffee, then grind your own beans from the large bags from the wholesale clubs. Be happy with your choice and enjoy your coffee!

Oliver leaves us and ends the article, tantalizing, as he details rumors that there may be price wars on the horizon!

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?