July 18, 2017

We finish off our review series of Target’s limited edition single serve coffee flavors today by checking out their Archer Farms Pecan Pie RealCups. While not as inspired as their 2 previous limited edition flavors, Archer Farms are facing more competition with this flavor as just about every major coffee company on the market has come out with their own version of a southern pecan or pecan pie coffee in the past. How does this version hold up compared to those versions? Let’s find out.

Upon brewing, we get a nicely complex mix of aromas that kick off with strong notes of pecans up front blended with scents of caramelized brown sugar, hints of cinnamon and a faint butterscotch tinge hiding in the background which becomes a bit more pronounced as the coffee cools off in the cup. It made for an overall sweet & inviting aroma. Pretty spot-on so far. Flavor yielded more strong notes of pecans in the foreground mixed with some buttery notes in the background.В

May 16, 2017

Sure at over $6k it’s going to set you back a bit - but what are the odds you won’t buy it because it’s so awesome? Never tell me the odds…never!

April 14, 2017

We continue our look at Target’s latest limited edition single serve flavors today with their Archer Farms Hot Buttered Rum RealCups. More common around the holidays, hot buttered rum isn’t a flavor we were expecting to see in a single serve coffee format. Sure, companies such as Marley Coffee have come out with rum-flavored RealCups before, but this is a slightly different take on that and is more in the vein of a dessert-style drink if the packaging is anything to be believed. В

Upon brewing, we get a strong aroma of sweet rum which quickly fills the room. As a matter of fact, the smell is so strong that you even get a whiff of it as soon as you pierce the RealCup in the machine. The aroma was more reminiscent of those old foil-wrapped buttered rum candies your grandparents always seemed to have lying around in their candy dish no matter what time of year you’d visit vs. the traditional liquor-based drink you see pictured on the packaging. It has a much more pleasant candied scent than Marley Coffee’s Spiced Root version.В

March 13, 2017

Bad Larry’s Cold Hard Coffee, a canned alcohol infused product is expected to hit shelves first in Minnesota and Wisconsin and then other states throughout the Midwest. Bad Larry’s combines malted grain alcohol with cold brew supplied by St. Paul, Minn.-based Blackeye Roasting Co. along with sugar sweetener. The beverage is composed of a Brazilian blend that is roasted to a medium profile to accentuate smoothness and nuttiness.

I recently made the mistake of having a Starbucks creamed espresso shot before a marathon only to burp that beverage for 10-15 miles. I think having one of these pre-race is also a bad idea. -)

As we continue to explore new flavors we found during a recent visit to the Keurig Retail Store, we decided to take a look at another new single origin coffee with Peet's Coffee Brazil Minas Naturais K-Cups. Billed as a medium roast that has natural flavors of fresh roasted hazelnuts, this coffee was harvested from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. Naturally sun-dried on patios and even on the branch, the cherries are dried by the Brazilian sun all the way through the pulp to the beans inside. Peet's claims this imparts a sweet, smooth and full-bodied characteristic to the final cup.В

Brewing this coffee resulted in rich, earthy notes which yielded hints of dark cocoa, some faint nuances of cherries along with very subtle spicy notes hiding underneath much akin to gingerbread. Upon first sip, you get a strong hit of sour acidity which quickly gives way to more chocolate notes mixed with some faint tinges of hazelnut with a mild earthy aftertaste. We wouldn't exactly call it sweet, but it did seem full-bodied.В

January 15, 2017

During a recent trip to shop for single K-Cups at the Keurig Retail Store, we noticed some new offerings from Laughing Man and today we’re checking out another one of their new single origin coffees… Laughing Man Ethiopia Sidama K-Cups. Billed as a mix of heirloom variety beans found on various coffee farms from the land known as “the birthplace of coffee”, this light roast promises to yield a delicate floral aroma with citrus flavors of bergamot and lime. The lid topper claims this coffee is aromatic, complex & elegant. Let’s have at it and find out.В

December 23, 2016

As some of you may know, there's a fairly interesting story about the creation of Laughing Man coffee. The company was founded in 2011 by Hugh Jackman (yes, Wolverine himself) after he travelled to Ethiopia and met a young coffee farmer named Dukale. He learned about the struggles that Dukale was facing towards earning a living harvesting coffee and decided to help the young man by creating a coffee company that sources & distributes Fair Trade Certified coffee from struggling coffee farmers so that they can lead better, sustainable lifestyles which might not have been available to them otherwise.

Wolver. uh. Mr. Jackman even helped further the cause by creating Laughing Man Cafe in NYC to sell the farmers' coffees, releasing a documentary film in 2015 (Dukale's Dream) about Dukale's & other farmers' struggles and he often promotes the coffee & cafe during talk show appearances. Hugh even donates 100% of the proceeds towards his Laughing Man Foundation which supports education programs, community development and fostering of social entrepreneurs around the world.

December 6, 2016

You knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, with Starbucks focusing on introducing new flavored K-Cups it was only a matter of time before they’d introduce the drink style they’re known for and they spared no expense. From the new larger cube-style packaging to a newВ Starbucks At Home website. the siren’s song is announcing Starbucks is getting into the at home latte game. If you’re going to create Starbucks Latte K-Cups, you can’t forget to include their famous signature latte and that’s what’s we’re checking out today… Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte K-Cups .В

Known by Starbucks fans simply as the PSL and what can arguably be noted as the impetus for all things pumpkin spice which flood our lives each Fall, Starbucks have decided to make this at home PSL a 2 step process by including a creamer/flavoring packet along with a coffee K-Cup. Billed as a smooth & balanced Caffè Blend, the coffee K-Cup is 3/4 full of ground coffee instead of half full like some espresso blends we’ve seen before. The flavoring packet is comprised of real pumpkin flavoring & spices along with creamer comprised of both powdered milk & cream. Unlike some of the Gevalia Latte K-Cups we’ve seen in the past, the packet does NOT contain any foaming/frothing agents so don’t expect a foamy froth on the top of the final cup as there is most definitely none to be found. You don’t even get the dark orange hue typically found in a real PSL, just a typical beige of a normal latte.

November 21, 2016

A quick foreword before we begin… while we’ve been sticking to the new “Quickview” format lately for most of our reviews, there were so many things in this lineup that we opted to write a bit of a misnomer… a long quickview… a MEGA Review, if you will. Rest assured we’ll be returning to the Quickview format in the coming weeks. Without further delay, let’s move on to the review below.В

As the holidays are quickly approaching, we decided to check out what has become a yearly tradition… Nespresso’s Variations flavored espressos. Each November, the company creates a theme and derives flavors based on it. While the themes seem mostly to revolve around desserts, nuts, candied items or natural flavors (cherry, vanilla bean, etc) there has only been one instance since Nespresso started introducing flavored espressos where they decided to add the flavors to their permanent lineup instead of making them limited editions only available for a few months (Ciocatino, Caramelito & Vanilio were the winners).В

November 14, 2016

Ah, Fall. that time of year where everything edible bows down to our pumpkin overlords as stores and coffee shops quickly fill with everything from pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin cream muffins and just about every form of pumpkin-flavored drink/food you could imagine in between. We're half expecting Burger King to come out with pumpkin spice hotdogs soon given their weird current obsession with everything Cheetos. One thing we weren't expecting, however, was the fusion of pumpkin spice with another popular flavor. chai. Today we check out the brilliant British combination which has resulted in Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai K-Cups .

Brewing these K-Cups result in a rather odd aroma that almost smelled like a cider (Gasp! Hey GMCR, Pumpkin Spice Cider. Y'all get on it, for reals. do it NOW). You could definitely tell there was the typical pumpkin spices of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves but the chai notes seemed buried underneath as we only got the faintest note of cardamon but damn. no kidding, this seriously smells like an apple cider! Checking the box now. hmm. nope, no apple ingredients.

November 4, 2016

Nespresso is launching a new range of 'barista style' coffee machines with brushed stainless steel exteriors. The design comes from Breville - who for the staff at Single Serve Coffee also designed one of the best working and looking K-Cup machines. The machine will be available in Australia first with a range of machines that allow users to choose their preferred milk texture and temperature via multiple milk foam textures. You can select these different milk textures and temperatures via an LCD panel and use an automatic want developed by Breville.В

Here are the key features:

• 7 customisable coffee settings including Espresso, Lungo, Ristretto, Flat White, Latte, Cappuccino and Macchiato
• Adjustable automatic milk texturing to make a Flat White, Cappuccino, or Latte creating ‘micro foam’ which is essential for latte art (8 textures for Creatista Plus, 4 textures for Creatista)В
• Adjustable milk temperature (11 temperatures for Creatista Plus, 5 temperatures for Creatista)
• Cool touch steam wand with auto purge for fast and easy cleaning Intuitive TFT display offering step-by-step assistance for coffee personalisation and maintenance
• Fast heat up (3 seconds for Creatista Plus, 10 seconds for Creatista)
• Automatic power off after 10 minutes of non-useВ

The Nespresso Creatista Plus and Creatista will be available in Australia from October 31 for an RRP of $799 and $699, respectively. You can check out more details at Nespresso's website .

October 19, 2016

TheВ STARESSO - Portable Espresso and Coffee Maker В is great for camping, the office, and even picnics.В

With a handheld Staresso machine, you can prepare amazing espresso anywhere. Staresso doesn't need any special maintenance, and the open design makes the regular cleaning simple and quick. You can also make latte foam with the Staresso so portable lattes and cappuccinos are yours to have as well.

October 17, 2016

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Starbucks come out with a new flavored coffee, so we were surprised to find these new Starbucks Crème Brulée K-Cups a few weeks ago (we’ll ignore the glaring spelling error on the packaging). We also noticed a new line-up of Starbucks Lattes using K-Cups plus powdered creamer packets while we were shopping but more on those in future reviews. For now, lets see if Starbucks has succeeded in creating a new flavored coffee that actually tastes like the namesake or if we’ll be getting another weak-flavored miss.

Brewing these K-Cups result in an aroma which was spot-on with the real deal. The smoky notes of the coffee helped create subtle burnt sugar notes of the caramelized sugar crackle on top while the vanilla custard aroma was the primary focus and quickly filled the room. Aroma-wise, this is one of the best smelling coffees we’ve seen Starbucks produce to date. Upon first sip, you get the strong burnt sugar flavor up front which gives a caramelized tone and this quickly gives way to subtle vanilla custard flavors hiding underneath. As you work your way through the cup, these 2 flavors blend together to form a fairly close representation of the real thing.

October 12, 2016

According to theВ CBC News В out of 80 countries, Canada ranked No.В 1 in 2015 when tallying up how many litres of coffeeВ per capita we gulped down at food service jointsВ like cafes. Canada also scored third highest for the total amount of brewed coffee they consumed both inside and outside their homes. That equates to an average of 152 litres per person.The only two countries that drank more java were the Netherlands, which took the No.В 1 spot, and Finland, which came in second.

October 7, 2016

After our recent reviews of Christmas/Holiday-themed K-Cups which appeared on store shelves in… um… August… we shook our heads, decided to switch gears and thought it was time to review something more seasonally appropriate. Today we’re looking at a flavor which was introduced last year but we’ve only managed to finally track down this year… the “Autumn Release” seasonal (and ridiculously long named) The Original Donut Shop Sweet & Creamy Maple Cream K-Cups .

As with previous releases in ODS’ Sweet & Creamy series, these are “all-in-one” K-Cups which feature the coffee, creamer & sweetener all included within the same K-Cup. If there is one thing on this planet we love even more than coconut, it’s anything maple and we’re pleased to say that these K-Cups were well worth the hunt. (Note to Keurig: If you want to field test a Maple Candied Coconut K-Cup in the future, we’re more than willing to assist ASAP)

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