Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has announced the official return of the Golden French Toast k-cup. This Fair-Trade Certified, seasonal kcup roast is released by Green Mountain Coffee for a limited time every year. The Golden French Toast k cup is roasted to taste like homemade French Toast with hints of cinnamon and maple syrup.

Every year, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters releases seasonal flavored k-cups. Other seasonal k-cups currently available are Spicy Eggnog and Gingerbread. The release of the Golden French Toast k-cups probably means that one or both those flavors will be ceasing production (or have already ceased production) until next winter, so stock up on those holiday flavors if you enjoy them as well. Green Mountain Coffee’s Golden French Toast kcups are available at www.greenmountaincoffee.com and www.keurig.com; they will be available from www.greatcoffee.com mid-January.

Fans of both the Keurig single-cup coffee brewing system and Starbucks Coffee can celebrate this new year because Starbucks k-cups are now available online. The k cups are available at starbucks.com for $19.95 per 24-count kcup box and at keurig.com for $22.49 per 24-count k-cup box (20.24 for club members). You may also be able to buy the Starbucks kcups online at Amazon and the websites of big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Starbucks and Keurig are offering five different roasts in k cups: Pike Place, Sumatra, House Blend, Breakfast Blend, Caffé Verona, and French Roast. Unfortunately, Tazo Tea fans have to wait until Fall 2012 for the Awake and Zen blends k-cups to be available online by Keurig or Starbucks; however, those Tazo Tea kcups are sold at grocery and big-box stores.

December 6th, 2011

For those interested in how coffee gets from the coffee plantation to your mug, the New Yorker magazine has an interesting article on El Salvadorian farmer Aida Batlle. Batlle moved from Miami to El Salvador in 2002 to begin growing coffee on family land and quickly obtained a following from a variety of major independent coffee roasters throughout the United States.

While the single-source coffee that Batlle specializes in producing for her customers hasn’t made its way to single-serve brewers like Keurig and Tassimo, Nespresso’s Pure Origine line of Grand Crus — Dulsão do Brasil, Rosabaya de Colombia, and Indriya from India — has taken advantage of the increasing demand for single-source coffee with those single source roasts.

November 29th, 2011

Recently Green Mountain Coffee Roasters — parent company of the Keurig one-cup brewing system — released their fourth quarter and fiscal year numbers, and these numbers show the increasing popularity of the Keurig single-cup coffee maker and Keurig k-cups.  In 2011, Green Mountain Coffee saw an increase of 104% in kcup sales (76% of this due to an increase in sales volume and 18% attributed to the rising cost of coffee and k cups), and an increase of 59% in the sales of Keurig brewers and accessories. We keep you updated as we hear more about the 2011 sales of the Nespresso, Tassimo, Flavia, and Senseo systems.

If you have a Senseo machine, consider either the Eco-Pad or CoffeeDuck. However, check to make sure that your Senseo single-cup brewer is compatible with product. The Senseo machines have gone through many design changes, and these products don’t work with every Senseo brewer.

On the other hand, Keurig has developed their own MY K-CUP for use in the Keurig one-cup coffee brewers. The My Kcup consists of a plastic assembly and a mesh filter. You pack your favorite ground coffee into the filter and then run it in your Keurig single serve brewer like a regular k cup. Over time, the mesh filter wears out, but replacements are available. And, since the MY K-CUP is manufactured by Keurig, it is compatible with all Keurig one-cup home brewers.

Unfortunately, there is no current similar system for the Flavia, Tassimo, or Nespresso single cup brewers. We’ll keep you posted if that changes.

November 3rd, 2011

Mr. Coffee K-Cup Brewer

Mr. Coffee and Green Mountain Coffee have reached an agreement to expand Mr. Coffee’s line of k-cup compatible, single-serve coffee brewers. Currently, Mr. Coffee manufactures the KG-1 one-cup coffee brewer. The water reservoir on the KG-1 holds enough water to brew one k cup at a time; the new agreement allows Mr. Coffee to manufacture single cup kcup brewers with a water reservoir large enough to brew multiple k-cup servings before needing to be refilled. Neither company has released further details about these new Mr. Coffee one cup brewers, and release dates are unknown. We’ll keep you posted. For more information about the Mr. Coffee KG-1 or other non-Keurig companies licensed to manufacture k cup compatible single-serve coffee brewers, please take a look at the Keurig Brewers section of quick-cupcoffee.com.

November 2nd, 2011

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Keurig’s parent company, is expanding it’s roasting and packing facility in Essex, VT and is building a new roasting and packaging facility in Virginia. These two new facilities should help Green Mountain Coffee keep up with rising demand for k-cups — the one-cup coffee plastic cups designed for use with the Keurig single-cup brewing system. Green Mountain Coffee claims that over 2.5 million cups of coffee are brewed daily in homes and offices throughout the United States and Canada using Green Mountain’s k cup one cup system. The new facilities are being built to help meet projected demand as the Keurig system increases in popularity.

November 1st, 2011

In recent years, coffee has become more than just a drink that wakes you up in the morning. Coffee review websites like coffeereview.com have identified quality roasts from a wide-range of roasters. For a quick introduction on how to use your five senses to experience the joys of one of America’s favorite beverages, take a look at this article at theatlantic.com. Take advantage of your new-found knowledge and try a variety of roasts from your favorite coffee shop — also ask around and see if your local coffee shop offers any cuppings. Remember that although you may not have enough time to grind and brew coffee every morning, you can always get a great cup of coffee using a single cup system like Keurig K Cups, Nespresso Capsules, Tassimo T-Discs, or Senseo pads. Coffeereview.com has reviewed a variety of one cup coffee Keurig k cups, Nespresso Capsules, and Tassimo T-Discs.

For all you Keurig one cup brewer fans looking for an easy way to create lattes at home with your k-cup coffees and hot chocolates, consider a Keurig Frother. In the 90 seconds, this cordless frother steams and froths up to 8.5 ounces of milk (including skim milk), enabling you to make multiple café-style coffee drinks. Check out Keurig’s website to find various recipes (click on the books on the counter) for drinks you can make using the Keurig single cup coffee brewer, kcups, and the Keurig Frother. The Frother is available directly from Keurig, Green Mountain Coffee, Amazon, and other online retailers. If you have any recipes of your own, please leave them in the comments.