You Get What You Pay For!

Sometimes you can really see the wisdom in the saying, “You get what you pay for” When it comes to single cup coffee makers, you will find that saying is certainly true. There’s quite a variety of brewers available now and as their popularity continues to grow, you will see even more. When you are trying to decide which one to buy, read the reviews on-line, visit a store that carries several and talk to the sales personnel as you look at each. Here is a report on two different brewers which may be helpful.

The first is the Keurig Elite:

Special Features Of The Keurig Elite B40

• Automatic Brewing System
• Brews a cup in less than a minute
• Has Auto-On Off
• Brews coffee using a K-Cup
• Brews 2 cup sizes – 8 ounces, 10 ounces
• Has a 48 ounce removable reservoir
• Has water level sensor
• No delay in re-heating water for second cup
• Makes up to 6 cups before re-filling reservoir
• Price $99.95

A review of the Keurig Elite brewer by Single Serve Coffee, at www.singleservecoffee.com , says that its speed in brewing “…makes it a welcome addition to the fast paced work environment.” In comparing the Elite to the more expensive Keurig Special Edition model, the reviewer continued, “The coffee it produces is of the same quality as the Special Edition. We couldn’t tell a bit of difference….The coffee produced by the Elite is just as hot and good as a cup brewed by the Special Edition.” The water in the reservoir remains heated after that first cup and there’s no delay in brewing a second cup. The machine turns off automatically after 2 hours so there’s no worry about damage from prolonged heat.

The second brewer, the Melitta, costs a little less than the Keurig.

Special Features Of the Melitta One:One

• Brews coffee using a pod
• Brews in one minute
• Has 2 pod holders – 1 for tea, 1 for coffee
• Brews 2 cup sizes – 5ounces, 8 ounces
• Has 28 ounce water reservoir
• Available in black, red, chrome, green, and yellow
• Price $59.99

Commenting on the Melitta, one customer at Single Serve Coffee said, “We had purchased a Melitta One:One about a year ago and enjoyed the coffee and convenience at first. We always had some small leakage of water (about 1 ounce) each time we made a cup of coffee. A few weeks ago, I purchased Melitta pods at the supermarket and the packaging indicated that the Melitta pods ‘now fit all pod brewing systems’. But guess what, they no longer fit the One:One well at all. I would say we lost 3-4 ounces of coffee with every brew and it was making a mess of the kitchen counter. If you want a good one-cup system, save yourself the aggravation and get a Keurig. The coffee is great, there is no loss of water while brewing, the reservoir holds enough water for a morning’s worth of coffee, and the Keurig Elite isn’t too expensive at $100.”  There have been numerous complaints about the One leaking. Some think this may be due to the pod size and there is a universal pod holder available at Melitta Customer Service which may make a difference. Others complain about the machine’s short life or gradually decreasing output along with constantly flashing warning lights. There were numerous comments of “Useless”, “Disappointing!”, “Don’t waste your money!” one viewer summed it up saying, “I was very disappointed in this product. I wasted $60 for a leaky machine with very few choices of coffee. Just save up a few more bucks and get yourself a Keurig.”

Smaller Single Cup Coffee Makers – The Keurig Mini And The Cuisinart 1 Cup

Great for the office, college dorm, an RV or boat, the smaller sized single cup coffee makers fill a niche in more ways than one. Their small, compact size allows them to slip easily into a backpack or suitcase and they don’t require much room on the kitchen counter or a desk. They brew up a hot cup of coffee quickly and this certainly reduces the amount of stale coffee that is dumped down the drain.

When you get down to the bare essentials of coffee brewing, the smaller machine doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. It is basically a water reservoir and a brewing mechanism that turns out the coffee. Evaluate these two machines and you will see numerous similarities.

Special Features Of The Keurig Mini

• Brews coffee within 60 seconds of heating
• Brews an 8 ounce cup
• Has 8 ounce water reservoir
• Refill water for each cup
• Has Auto-Off feature
• Brews K-Cups of coffee, tea, or cocoa
• Available in 3 colors: red, white, black
• Has travel tote bag
• Price $79.95

Special Features Of The Cuisinart One Cup Coffee Maker

• Brews in less than 3 minutes
• Brews an 8 ounce cup of coffee
• Has 8 ounce water reservoir
• Refill water for each cup
• Uses standard 1 cup sized coffee pods
• Has illuminated power button
• Has Auto-Off  feature
• Available in black
• Price $29.70 to $43.89

So when you are trying to decide on a single cup brewer, evaluate how well each works. How good is the coffee that each one brews? After all, that’s why you are buying it.

The Keurig coffee makers, from the top of the line to the smallest machine, use the identical brewing mechanism. These coffee makers have all earned #1 ratings for their reliability and durability – and also for making a great cup of coffee. Says one user, who has the larger Keurig Special Edition for home use, “ The B30, Mini, is perfect for my desk. It’s attractive…makes coffee just as well as my full-sized machine. I plan to use it regularly…I think the design is nice and sleek overall.” Another user comments, “The coffee tastes just as good as with my larger K-Cup brewer, though, with the smaller water volume the darker roasts have more ‘punch’ –especially darker ones like the Coffee People’s Black Tiger and Caribou Coffee’s Mahogany. I’m sticking mostly with medium roasts like CP’s Donut Shop and Green Mountain’s Nantucket Blend with good results.”

A user of the Cuisinart 1 Cup says, “The coffee that comes out of this little maker is very weak. If you like the flavor of a strong cup of coffee, this isn’t the unit for you. What I do like about it is the small size. I bought it for my desk…it fits perfectly…easy to use. The instructions say not to use more than one pod at a time but I think I may have to. I’m a little disappointed.” That solution will depend upon the pod space in the machine – some will hold only one standard sized pod.

Evaluate the single cup coffee makers well so you are not disappointed with a bad cup of coffee or a sputtering brewer that won’t brew.

Mocha Java – History in Your Coffee Cup

Mocha Java is a world famous blend which has been delighting coffee drinkers for centuries. It is believed that the first species of coffee Arabica was grown in southwest Arabia well over 1000 years ago. The coffee bush was indigenous to Ethiopia and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. Virtually all Yemen coffee comes from these ancient “heirloom” varieties of Arabica, which first appeared there centuries ago. All are grown at elevations above 5,000 feet.

Coffee from Yemen is very distinctive and beans are produced in several different growing districts. Each area’s coffee has different qualities and characteristics.

• Mattari is  full-bodied, fragrant with a very hard, oval bean that is grown at high altitude. It is known, too, as Adeni.
• Hirazi is thought by some to be Yemen’s finest coffee, and it comes from the area’s second highest mountain range.
• Full-bodied, heady, and powerful are descriptive terms for this coffee.
• Dhamari comes from the mountains surrounding the provincial capital of Dhamari. It is a  rounded bean, brews coffee with excellent flavor and is also known as Anisi.
• Ismaili is more famous for its great flavor and produces small, round, pea-like beans.

The name ‘Mocha’ has become permanently attached to all of these coffee beans, which could more accurately be described as Yemen or Arabian.

Much of the Yemen Mocha coffee is raised under primitive conditions, just as it has been for hundreds of years, without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. All Yemen coffee is dry-processed. The ripe coffee cherries are harvested by hand and dried in layers on the rooftops of ancient stone houses. They are husked by millstones, which, in some areas, are still turned by camels or donkeys.  Then they are winnowed, screened, and cleaned by hand.

Historians speculate that Mocha Java could be the very first coffee blend, made from a mix of beans from Yemen and Java, an Indonesian island. How it happened, no one is sure. Some say that it was an accident – a delicious one- it has turned out. It occurred in the ancient Yemen seaport of Al-Makha, when coffee beans from Yemen or a nearby area in North –East Africa were mistakenly combined with Javanese coffee. Recognized now as the oldest blend in the world, it became extremely popular with Arabs and everywhere ‘Turkish style’ coffee was drunk. Saudi-Arabians especially loved it and were willing to pay premium prices then, just as today.

The first coffee in Java was introduced by the Dutch in the late 1600’s and it was later exported to Europe. Here the beverage brewed from the Java beans became the drink of the wealthy. When the Europeans got a taste of the coffee made from the mixture of beans from Yemen and Java, it became the big favorite. Kegs of coffee beans made the voyage on sailing ships through the Red Sea to Europe. During the long journey, the beans mellowed and aged to make the fine coffee we know today as ‘Mocha Java’.

There is no chocolate in this blend and the name often is misleading for those who don’t know its true origins. One fan added a bit of cocoa to her brew and thinks the result is delightful. Here’s her comment: “I find it irresistible when adding one-half teaspoon of cocoa powder (unsweetened) to the medium sized cup (7.25 ounces). It adds another layer of taste that brings it up to a more sophisticated level”.

For more information about coffee and K-cups visit www.greatcoffee.com

Mocha Java – A Blend of the Ages

This coffee blend is the oldest in the world, made with beans that first appeared thousands of years ago in Yemen and Ethiopia. The native beans of the “coffee shrub of Arabia” or Arabica coffee was first cultivated by the Ethiopian highlanders. As the Arab world began expanding its trade horizons, the beans traveled to Northern Africa, where villagers started crops.

Around 1454, the Sheikh Jarnal-al-Din al-Dhabhani, mufti of Aden, was the first to adopt the use of coffee. Its popularity spread to Mecca and Medina and then to Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Istanbul. From there, the coffee beans entered the Indian markets and the popularity of the beverage brewed from them grew.

The Dutch began growing coffee from beans in their forts in India and took the first young plants to Java in Indonesia. The plants flourished, usually grown in the highlands, and large coffee estates developed. Within a few years, the Dutch colonies in Java became the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Their beans were often aged three years or more, which increased the flavor, producing a brew that was deep and full-bodied.

The coffee we know today as Mocha has been grown for centuries in the mountains and high hills of Yemen, in the southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula. It has been called Moka, Mocca, and Moca and was once shipped from the ancient sea port of Mokka, sometimes called Al-Makha. Legend has it that in this seaport, Mocha beans were accidentally mixed with the larger coffee beans from Java. This unexpected blend was a big hit when introduced in Europe and became known as Mocha Java.

Today, the Mocha coffee is grown on the same trees that cling to the dry mountainsides, without pesticides or fertilizers, and are processed as they have been for centuries. In the fall, the coffee cherries are harvested by hand and then spread out in the sun to dry on the roofs of the ancient stone houses. During the winter, if it rains, water is collected in little reservoirs and used to keep the small coffee trees alive.

All Mocha coffee beans from Yemen are dried with the bean left inside the coffee cherry. After it has dried, it is removed by millstones that are often still turned round and round by donkeys or camels. You may notice that many beans have a rough, jagged appearance due to this process. The husks of the cherry are usually broken neatly in half by the millstones and are used to make a sweet drink called ‘qish’.

Today, many roasters use between 25% to 50% Mocha beans in their blends. The addition of Mocha to an espresso blend significantly increases its body and aroma. Coffee drinkers, often confused by, ‘Mocha’, in this blend’s name, expect a brew with chocolate overtones. You won’t find that but you will get a smooth, mellow cup of coffee, full of flavor and steeped in history.

The Ten Best Selling Single Cup Brewing Systems

In December 2008, Single Serve Coffee (singleservecoffee.com) released a list of the Ten Best Selling Single Serve Coffee Makers, which included three machines made by Keurig. The most popular brewers are:

1. Keurig B60, the “Special Edition”, was the top seller.
2. Keurig B40, the “Elite”, captured second place
3. Aeropress Single Serve Coffee Maker
4. Keurig B30 Mini introduced in 2008
5. Braun TA 1400 Tassimo
6. Hamilton Beach Brew Station
7. Keurig B70, the “Platinum”model
8. Braun TA 1400 Tassimo
9. Bosch Tassimo Suprema
10. Breville Gourmet K- Cup Brewer.

This is made by Keurig and is a high-end, single cup coffee brewer.

Single Serve Coffee listed the Braun TA 1400 Tassimo in 5th place as well as 8th place.  The Tassimo brewer was first made by Braun and there were some complaints about the machine. The new model, Tassimo 1400, is made by Bosch and it appears to be an improved, single cup brewing machine.

All of the Keurig brewing systems win consistently high reviews and rating for durability and reliability. They all use the same brewing mechanism so the tiny Mini B30 will produce as good a cup of coffee as the larger, Platinum B70 model.

Keurig also gets universally high marks for turning out delicious hot coffee, cup after cup. All of the Keurig brewing systems make coffee using a K-Cup. These patented little containers hold an exact measure of vacuum packed coffee from Keurig partners, all top notch coffee roasters, who are respected for having consistently good products. Users of the Keurig single serve machines can choose from over 200 different types of coffees, teas, and cocoa. There are flavored coffees from Emeril, Bellaccino, Gloria Jean, and others as well as Newman’s Own Organic coffee. Green Mountain Coffee, Timothy’s, Tullys, Caribou Coffee, The Coffee People, and Diedrich all package a variety of roasts in K-Cups. There are teas from Bigelow, Twining’s, and Celestial Seasonings,, as well as Timothy’s White Hot Chocolate and other cocoas.

The Tassimo markets itself as a hot beverage system and it can turn out everything from an espresso to a latte or cappuccino. There is less variety of coffee packaged in T-Discs, which the brewing machine uses. There have been complaints about the coffee’s quality and freshness. This may have improved recently with the appearance of Starbucks and Seattle’s Best in T-Discs.

Don’t Miss These Extra Bold Roasts

Green Mountain K-cups

Green Mountain Roasters has packaged several varieties of coffee in K-Cups, ideal if you want a fresh cup of coffee that’s full of bold, robust flavor. These Extra Bold Roasts are vacuum packed in K-Cups, containing 30% more ground coffee than the regular size.

Extra Bold Roasts Available In K-Cups
There is no difficulty finding K-Cups as they are now available in department and specialty stores. They will soon be in certain grocery chains and can be ordered from several online sources, including Amazon.com, as well as individual coffee roasters.

Green Mountain Extra Bold Kenyan AA
The beans for this full-bodied coffee come from the slopes of Mt. Kenya and a lush valley near Lake Victoria. Raised by Kenyan farmers on tiny plots of land, the beans are hand picked, sorted, and sold in small individual lots at auction in Nairobi. These coffee beans, some of the finest in the world, are graded according to guidelines of the Coffee Board of Kenya. The largest beans are generally Kenya AA and the theory is that they contain more of the special oils which give coffee its aroma and flavor. This Green Mountain Roast is balanced and delicious, with a medium to heavy body.

Green Mountain Extra Bold Double Black Diamond
This is Green Mountain darkest Extra Bold blend and is a heavy bodied coffee with a robust flavor. Reviewers call this a REAL cup of coffee and rate it on a darkness scale of 1 to 10 as an 11. If you crave strong coffee, you won’t go wrong with this one.

Green Mountain Hazelnut Dark Roast Extra Bold
This popular flavored coffee is intense with a buttery, sweet taste and  the rich aroma of toasted hazelnuts. This darker roast gives this coffee a more deep, satisfying flavor. It’s a favorite with many, and even coffee drinkers who aren’t fans of flavored coffee, ask for a second cup.

In addition, these blends are also available in Extra Bold Roasts in K-Cups:
Newman’s Own Special Blend Extra Bold – Certified Fair Trade Organic
Sumatran Reserve Extra Bold – Certified Fair Trade Organic
Green Mountain Extra Bold Espresso Blend – Certified Fair Trade Organic
Green Mountain Extra Bold Dark Magic
Green Mountain Extra Bold Kona Blend
Green Mountain Extra Bold Dark Magic Decaf

These Extra Bold Roasts are full of exciting flavor and make a great cup of coffee in less than a minute with the single cup Keurig machine.