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Keurig Coffee Makers

RT Cunningham — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:59:35 +0000

Sometimes things just don't click (with me, that is). I wrote about Green Mountain Coffee and mentioned that Keurig was a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, but it just didn't click. It wasn't until I saw something about how the coffee was brewed that it finally registered in my pea brain. Their coffee makers are for gourmet coffee, not the regular kind, and K-Cups are required.

Gourmet Coffee Brewers

The Keurig coffee makers are one-cup coffee brewers designed for gourmet coffee. You have to insert one of the K-Cup packets to start the process, but it seems simple enough. You're not even limited to coffee — you can brew tea or hot cocoa because they have K-Cups for them too. You can even forgo a packet if all you want is a cup of hot water for something else.

There are several Keurig coffee maker models to choose from and they range in prices from $89.95 to $249.95. Ouch! All that and the K-Cups too in order to get the perfect cup of coffee. Of course, this is perfectly understandable from the perspective that people with pay $5.00 per cup at Starbucks on a regular basis. Why not get a perfect cup of coffee without having to go to a coffee shop to get it? It makes sense.

Alas… It's not for me.

Even IF could find one of the Keurig coffee makers locally and even IF I could get a supply of K-Cups, I probably wouldn't pursue that route to getting my daily fix of coffee.

I currently make my coffee one cup at a time, using instant coffee, so it's not the steps toward making a cup that I have a problem with. The problem is the coffee itself.

You see, sometimes I like my coffee strong and WITH sugar and sometimes I like my coffee weak and WITHOUT sugar (I don't use any kind of creamer, except on rare occasions). I kind of like having granular control on how much and how strong my coffee is going to be.

The pre-measured, pre-decided coffee portions that describe K-Cups in a nutshell is the reason I don't like the San Mig coffee products (3-in-1, 2-in-1, etc.).

Of course, I'm only one person. If this is the kind of product that floats your boat, then have at it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using Keurig coffee makers and the K-Cups to go with them. They say there's a product out there for everyone. This one just doesn't happen to be mine.

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Starbucks Instant Coffee? Via Ready Brew is Just Too Expensive

RT Cunningham — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:15:35 +0000

I spotted a news article and read various sources to discover that Starbucks will be rolling out with a new instant coffee called "Via Ready Brew" in the US and Canada during September. The price? While there is no firm price set, they plan to charge USD $2.95 for a "book" of three or $9.95 for a box of 12. Come again? There is no way on Earth I would spend that much for instant coffee, regardless of what brand it is.

A Mistaken Assumption?

Apparently, Via Ready Brew had a successful introduction in Seattle (the home of Starbucks) and some places in the state of Illinois. Each packet is equivalent to one cup of Starbucks coffee, making each cup of "instant coffee" more expensive than people pay for the current top brands.

I personally think they're assuming too much. After the novelty wears off, I'm guessing they'll have excess product on the shelves and will start putting it on sale just to clear their inventories. Even if they sell it in the regular Starbucks coffee shops, I predict sales will be lukewarm at best.

Why do I think this way? Most people who can afford to drink coffee at Starbucks are looking for hot coffee prepared in a unique way. They're not looking for instant coffee which won't be any better than the best instant coffee already on the market. Now, I don't know what the "best" instant coffee brands on the market are, but I'm willing to guess they're the most expensive brands found at grocery stores. I speak of brands like Folgers and Nescafé.

Folgers Coffee Crystals

I don't pay attention too much to names on the labels, but I can't help remembering the commercial advertisements on TV. Things like "it's mountain grown, the freshest kind" and "we've secretly replaced their gourmet coffee with Folgers coffee crystals" readily come to mind.

I don't know what the current price is, but I guarantee you it's a jar for less than $9.95 and a lot more than 12 cups.

Nescafé Taster's Choice

My parents always drank Taster's Choice instant coffee, long before I knew it was a label from Nescafé. They marketed it as freeze-dried coffee to seal in the flavor. Ho-hum, it doesn't taste any better than Folgers, but it's around the same price.

When I buy instant coffee, I buy Nescafé Classic, which is a coffee powder. It's around 30 cups for about $4.25 a jar. One of my relatives gave me a jar of Nescafé Red Cup, which is coffee granules instead of powder, but I really couldn't tell the difference in taste.

A Huge Instant Coffee Market

Who can blame Starbucks for trying to get a chunk of the $17 billion in annual revenue generated by instant coffee sales? I don't, but I think they're going about it the wrong way. Going up against the longtime favorites, two of which I mentioned, is going to be a difficult task at the prices they're planning to charge.

I'm no expert, but I believe most instant coffee buyers are grocery shoppers, not coffee shop regulars. Only time will tell, but I believe we'll see the results of their efforts within six months. Prices will either come down or sales will stop. That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it.

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Is Kona Coffee a Gourmet Coffee?

RT Cunningham — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:57:53 +0000

If Kona coffee isn't considered a gourmet coffee, it should be. An arabica variety of coffee, it has a rich, full taste sought after by coffee connoisseurs like myself. I once spotted a bag of Kona coffee at the Royal Subic store, Subic Bay Freeport Zone (adjacent to Olongapo City, Philippines) and I wanted to buy it, but it was just too expensive for my budget at the time. I haven't seen any there since.

The Kona Coffee Bean Process

A lot of people are unaware that a coffee bean is actually the seed of the fruit from a coffee plant. The very same people that say coffee isn't healthy will go on an on about eating more fruit to stay healthy. Coffee is a fruit! Specifically, it's part of a berry, a form of fruit.

I watched something on TV once about the Kona coffee bean selection process and how they dry them and prepare them for shipping. I think it was either on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel, I can't remember.

I really don't remember the complete process. I do remember that they're sun-dried for a period of time. The Wikipedia article on Kona coffee goes into detail.

Maui Wowi

While I was searching the net for places that sell Kona Coffee, I stumbled across the "Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies" blog, which supports their main website, and simply had to laugh out loud.

I hadn't heard "Maui Wowi" since watching "Up in Smoke" back in 1979. In the movie, Tommy Chong described a marijuana joint that was composed of mostly Maui Wowi and some Labrador (a dog ate the marijuana and pooped it out and he and Richard "Cheech" Marin smoked it).

The amazing part of finding that blog is that the store is located not far from where I used to live in Phoenix, Arizona (59th Ave and Peoria in Glendale, to be exact). The next time I'm in Phoenix, I plan to stop by there and get me a cup of something. I didn't see any prices at their website, but their coffee can't be any more expensive than Starbucks or Seattle's Best.

I need a coffee maker!

What good does it do to buy a bag of gourmet coffee like Kona coffee if I don't have a coffee maker to brew it in? Most people here in the Philippines drink instant coffee, like Nescafé, and don't have anything to brew coffee in and I haven't seen a coffee maker in any of the stores.

I guess I'm going to have to go on a search and find mission to get me something like a "Mr. Coffee" coffee maker or something.

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