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Over the past few years single serve coffee makers have been taking over a larger and larger share of the everyday coffee market. One of the leaders in that field has been Green Mountain (Keurig) and their K-cups which is the leader in the market. Last week they announced a completely new product, Green Mountain introduces Vue Packs. A little further research reveals what maybe there ulterior motive, the patent on K-cups expires in September! Of course the price of the new product is also higher. They've added a couple of features to the brewers (including RFID) which may or may not allow them to make it better coffee. What's everyone's opinion of this change?

Starbucks, never a corporation to shy away from being late to the party, is now offering "Blonde roasts." According to the web site, they're "lighter-bodied and mellow", and they "awaken the senses gently." I haven't tried any of these coffees, and I haven't had a Starbucks coffee in years, because I never liked the roast profile. Will this cause any Starbucks non-lovers out there to give them a try?

Hi there! I am most often found in the pastry section, but i have a small chocolate shop in iowa and am having a hard time coping with what to offer in the summer. besides chocolates and desserts we offer a small traditional coffee bar menu (white, dk choc and caramel for hot or cold lattes) (capps, americano, red eye, mighty leaf teas, brewed coffee, chai, "real" hot chocolate and a blended hot chocolate (what we call an arctic chocolate, or frozen hot choc) well, we don't want to have to get into gelato (or lord, the start up with that!) but thought about going the route of frozen fruit smoothies (no boxed crap) and sadly, my husband thinks frappuccinos are the way to go. do you find that frappuccinos are still "hip" or do you think they are cheesy? to make a frap do you have to buy a powdered mix or whats the big deal with fraps anyway? to do smoothies, we are thinking about going the thermomix route or just getting a blend tec blender...any suggestions are very welcomed! thanks so much-

Greetings, Prepare for a long post. I have been searching all over the internet for an answer to a question and it's starting to appear that I may have to do my own experimenting. Still, I thought to ask someone (you all) who have MUCH more experience with tea than me. I have a doctorate in chiropractic and always got an A in Lab which, like cooking, I love. I also have the equivalent of a doctorate in coffee, yet not for tea....yet. For coffee I use a digital scale, a digital thermometer, stellar water (properly mineralized), make single variations every day over many weeks and record data on a spreadsheet, and incorporate my partner's opinion as well as occasional "outsider's" who say things like "this may be the best cup of coffee I have ever had!" So, here's the tea question, Question #1: Does tea taste better when "fresh brewed" like coffee does? It's well known that coffee that's more than 15 minutes old (20 tops) after brewing is not the same, and is not as good as fresh-brewed. Of course, and as you probably know, there is a LOT more going on than the post brew-time issue (water quality, grind size, type of grinder/mill, brew temp, type of roast, type of roaster, age of roast, weather patterns, dried on earth or wood, wet-dry-hot-cold processes, etc.), still I wonder if the post-brew time is similar with tea? Having just switched to tea from coffee, and while being amazed that I'm not missing coffee, I am learning a lot. How could I have almost 5 decades under my belt and be so clueless about the worlds of tea? I shudder to think of all the tea I have wasted over the decades not having any idea that a second, third or more infusions were possible. My current daily, all-day tea is Ti Kuan Yin. It does not take a Rocket Surgeon to taste the difference between infusion #1 and #5. I lengthen the steep time from the first to last infusions. Aside: I heard that tea gets cloudy when stored in a refrigerator - have not observed that yet. I read that it's a great growth media for micro-organisms. I am not trying to make kombucha - lol. My #1 priority is taste. Since the first infusion has a far fuller taste (some even recommend tossing it and using the first infusion only as a wash), and since the last infusion (#5) is quite thin in the taste department (though still good, just not as...), it occurs to me to mix the five infusions together, and heat what we want as needed over 1-2 days time. Question #2: Is mixing five infusions a good idea? (comments invited) I am mixing infusions now: I am make five infusions of 16 oz, or 2 cups each in an uncovered 4 cup Pyrex pitcher/measuring cup. Since I am using an oolong, my awesome water is heated to between 185 and 190. I am using close to 4 rounded teaspoons of tea, slightly more (a teaspoon) than most recommend. Steep times for each infusion in minutes are 2.5, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This yields a total of 10 cups steeped in 4 teaspoons tea for 20.5 minutes. Question #3: What is the difference between performing five infusions as noted above, or steeping the same amount of tea in 10 cups of water kept at 185 for 20 minutes? {?more tannins released because the tea leaves didn't get a smoke break?} Question #4: What is the effect of over-heating already brewed tea? Asked differently, what effect does taking a couple of cups of the mixed infusion up to 200, or 205, or even 212 degrees have? I'd love to find these answers, and of course, I'd love your input. Thanks in advance, Dr Carl Sir Dr. Carl, DC, OCD, ADD, PTSD, LOL

I saw something today I'd never seen before. A student at Johnson and Wales brought back coffee and iced tea for several people in the bread classroom (including yours truly -- more on that visit later), along with straws for all the cold drinks. However, one of the iced tea drinkers was short a straw, and when we looked around to see why, one visitor was drinking the hot coffee through a straw stuck into the little hole in the cover. I have never seen this before. Does it have some meaning of which I'm unaware?

Here's a link to my review of the pleasures and circus thrills of South Indian Coffee. Enjoy!

I recently saw a reference -in Timeless Tastes ,Turkish Culinary Culture , Ersu Pekin amnd Ayse Sumer (Eds) - apologies for misspellings caused by the lack of a Turkish Keyboard- to mumessek, musk scented coffee , offered to guests at one of the celebratory meals following childbirth. I'd just bought some musk at the Egyptian Market in Istanbul- so i'm planning to give it a go (the musk coffee, not the child birth). Anyone got suggestions on proportions, method etc ? Gethin

http://www.andiamnotlying.com/2008/murky-c...een-your-knees/ Interesting conflict. On the one hand, I applaud the coffee shop for insisting on high standards. On the other hand, it's a coffee shop, not Le Bernadin, and this is an order that they could reasonably predict would be made. It's a bit like a high-end cocktail bar refusing to mix a Cosmopolitan. Maybe you don't like it, but suck it up and figure out a way to make an iced espresso (Cosmo, etc.) that's up to your standards. Thoughts?

I'm trying to make this coffee geletin and creme, and the coffee flavor is too harsh. I am using a Pasquini espresso machine and Starbucks/Costco beans, fresh ground. Is there a way to make strong coffee that is smoother, more suitable for a dessert like this? Maybe instant coffee/espresso?

Just the smell of freshly brewed coffee can help relieve stress, say Korean researchers who studied the effects of coffee aroma on sleep-deprived rats. Interesting, no? Link

I recently dined at a local Indian restaurant and ended the meal with what was titled "Madras Coffee." We all loved it, but had no idea about what it contained. Does anyone have any idea how its made? And can anyone explain the relationship between this and madras curry, which i know to be fairly spicy?

I know I am not the only one who has a favorite coffee cup or who has accumulated a few for a variety of reasons. So show us your coffee cups. One or a hundred. (I am truly afraid that someone out there has a collection of 1,000 in their garage.) I'll take some pics and post some of mine in a few days.

We're not serious coffee drinkers, but occasionally we buy whole beans. We're currently using a small blade grinder. Will a burr grinder make a difference or should we stick with the blade? Is it possible to find a decent burr grinder on a budget in the $50 range?

eG Society member Greg Glancy, who is the owner of Norbutea.com has contributed samples of tea for three tea tastings here on the eG Forum's Coffee & Tea Forum. This first tasting will feature a Chinese Oolong - a Fall Harvest 2008 Tie Guan Yin from Anxi county in Fujian province. Greg sent me five samples of this tea, which will go to the first five members who PM me and who 1) have been a member of the eG Society for at least 30 days, 2) have 5 or more substantive posts in the Coffee & Tea forum, and 3) agree to contribute to the discussion. Please PM me with a mailing address and I will send the samples out this week. Here's some interesting information on this Tie Guan Yin from the Norbutea.com website (used with permission). (In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I have known Greg for two or three years. I originally met him at a presentation he did for The Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club of his travels in the tea regions of China, including Tibet. I have no financial interest in Norbutea.com.) [Edit: criteria changed to five or more substantive posts.]

My local fine teashop, The Cultured Cup, has created a couple of personal blends for me and I have been very pleased with them, especially the one called "Richard's Three Mountain Blend". (I get nothing out of this, but you can call them and order it with a minimum 6 - 8 ounces). But I am interested in learning more about how to do this myself. It appears to be similar to blending coffee beans - you select one solid, smooth tea for the body of the blend and then something for more of a bass note and then a little of something more distinctive. Or something like that. Has anyone else experimented with creating your own blends? What has worked well for you?

I like press pot coffee. Can I just brew the coffee in a stock pot and strain through a chinois into thermoses? Maybe without force it would take too long to filter through the grounds, but maybe with a big enough strainer this wouldn't be an issue. Any thoughts?

Hi everybody- Where can I find a recipe for mit schlage? I would like to make some coffee drinks for the holidays and top them with it. I havent been able to find anything other than a basic whipped cream recipe. Thanks for all of your help.

I'm putting together a gift basket for a couple of people who enjoy cheese. I took my first trip to a real cheese shop last night, and spent over an hour tasting cheeses to get the right ones. I ended up getting five different, strong cheeses: - Cashel Blue - Trou du Cru - L'Ami du Chambertin (tastes like shellfish) - Leyden - Carré du Berry - sweet, with golden raisins instead of herbs Now I'm thinking that, in addition to the cheeses, crackers, and other accompaniments, it would be nice to get some coffee that would go well with the cheese. These people aren't wine drinkers, and they also enjoy having a breakfast of cheese on bread or bagels, with the usual morning coffee on the side. I'm considering searching out a couple varieties of coffee that would go well with some of the cheeses. Is this something I can pull off? Can I find coffee to pair with those cheeses? Any other ideas for accompaniments or pairings are certainly welcome.

Has anyone experimented with this? I've been adding very small amounts of salt to all kinds of recipes (particularly desserts, like ice creams and anything with chocolate) and finding that it often opens up and adds dimension to the flavors, without asserting any actual saltiness. Some experiments that Hervé This reports on confirm this effect. Salt both increases the ion density of solutions, speeding the release of aromatic compounds, and influences our perception of flavors through complex physiological effects. I'm curious to know if anyone has exploited these effects with coffee (beyond the old lore that it removes bitterness from bad coffee ... which may be true, but I'm more interested in good coffee!)

Every Sunday my family "volunteers" to make coffee for our community for 50 to 350+ people. We use those old fashioned electric coffee pots that take forever to brew 90-100 cups and clean-up is a real pain you know where. We are considering modernizing, installing a built in restaurant type coffee machine system that would produce large quantities of coffee in minimum of time. If you use an efficient coffee system you can recommend, would you, please share the information. Thanks in advance.

Since the tea people have been posting interesting shots of their wares, I though it would be interesting to see what everyone is using for coffee. Should be an interesting contrast, since I expect coffee brewing setups to be more industrial and high tech whereas tea brewing setups tend to lean artisanal and low tech -- for the fanatics, anyway. The must obvious comparison would be a tricked out espresso machine versus a yixing teapot. This contrast is not universally true, of course. I'm sure there are some high tech tea brewing setups, and some coffee lovers use a simple cone filter. But it seems more or less accurate in a general sort of way. Speaking of tricked out espresso setups, here is mine. Relatively humble compared to many other machines, but does the trick for me. On the left is a Rancilio doserless Rocky grinder. The machine is a Rancilio Silvia hacked with a dual-setpoint Watlow 96 PID controller that regulates both the brewing and steaming temperatures. This was fairly tricky to install, because you have to partially remove the front panel of the machine to gain access to the steam switch (you also have to remove the front and internal splashplates and the top and back panels, but that is not so tricky). Once installed, however, it's been sweet. All I have to do is turn on the steam switch like normal and the PID automatically kicks over to the higher setpoint for steaming. The other material modification I did on the machine is to replace the regular steam tip with a three-hole steam tip. As it so happens, I have three portafilters. Overkill, I know, but I acquired them at different times. In the machine is a bottomless portafilter with a La Marzocco triple basket inside. That's what I use pretty much all the time. Over on top of the knock box is a regular (with bottom) double spout Rancilio pro portafilter. I got this when I first bought the machine, because it was considerably heavier than the stock portafilter. This was back before people were doing the bottomless portafilter thing. Also on the knock box is the stock portafilter, retrofitted with a single spout. I really never use this for its intended purpose, and keep it mostly fitted with a blank insert for backflushing. On top are some Miscela D'Oro branded espresso and cappuccino cups. I have cups from a number of different brands, but I like the Miscela D'Oro ones the best because they are the thickest. Especially the espresso cups, which are the thickest I have ever found. Down on the tray are my tampers. On the right is the Ergo-Packer from Espresso Vivace (aka "old busted") and on the left is my new C-Ripple tamper from Reg Barber (aka "new hotness"). As you can see, the whole thing is on some Metro Shelving, and I store some sheet pans underneath. This is really convenient when it comes to cleanup, because I can just sweep away any coffee grinds and the fall through onto the sheet pan, where they are easily dumped into the sink. Who's next?

I'll keep this brief, and add/answer questions as relevant: I have a supposedly good Krups espresso machine that we've not taken good care of for the past few years. We stopped using it about a year ago, when coffee stopped coming through the main drip, spigot or whatever it's called. It's also possible that it IS coming through the valve, but not making it through the Basket mesh. Sorry, i don't know the technical terms. Any suggestions for 'unplugging'? Descaling agent? New basket cup? I don't know where to start... thanks everyone/kanga

While I have been drinking more tea these days, I still have coffee first thing in the morning. And use an I-Roast 2 each week to keep supplied. Most of my green beans come from Sweet Maria's plus some from a local Dunn Brothers francisee. I like to buy only a pound or two of each of several green beans. That gives me enough of each to experiment with 150 g at a time, but keeps me from getting into a "favorite bean" rut. I would rather continue to explore than to go for a single type I like a lot. Of course one person's rut is another person's perfect cup of coffee. For me this week it's a cafe and a decafe. A Peru from Dunn Brothers. A Sumatra Lintong Nihuta KVW Decafe from Sweet Maria's. I like both, but like the Peru the best. All you home roasters - what are you roasting this week?

My fiance and I are in the process of building a wedding registry at Sur La Table - and we could really use some advice about espresso machines! Apologies in advance if this is a redundant question - I couldn't manage to uncover any answers in the coffee/tea thread... The question: Espresso I've had in Italy always seems much more concentrated (more flavor and MUCH less liquid) than 'espresso' in the US. I really prefer the Italian style - is achieving that as simple as just putting less water in the machine? Or do I need a machine that is specifically designed to produce that kind of espresso? If so, any particular brands? We're looking to stay in the <$800-or-so price range - this will be the most expensive item on our registry by far and we know that it will be an EXTREMELY generous gift - but we're hoping for a high-quality machine that we'll be able to enjoy for years to come! (Because after all, isn't good espresso an important part of a happy marriage? )

A couple of posts in the Coffee and Tea forum have raised the issue of the importance of water quality to getting the best cup. One by naftal and this by andiesenji. I use a simple Britta filter jug and also have started experimenting with bottled mineral water for my best teas, but am not far enough along to report on that yet. How important is the water you use to your coffee and tea brewing? What do you use to get the best out of your beans and leaves?