Pod coffee makers are becoming more common in stores today as they have some pretty compelling advantages over traditional drip machines. If you are someone who likes a variety and drinks your favorite blend on the go then they could be the right choice for you. Do you find yourself throwing out most of the pot you brew every morning? If so you should look at a single cup machine, or perhaps one that uses pods. However, it can be difficult finding the best pod coffee maker with the sheer number of brands and models offered today.

Look For A Brand You Can Trust

With any new product, especially one that you hope will last for many years, it is important to buy from a company that you recognize and trust will stand behind it. When buying a new coffee maker, you really are investing in something that will become a big part of your daily routine so it makes sense to find the right machine. Keurig is one of those companies that has a large following and it’s easy to see why. Their coffee makers are always rated high by consumers as they have the features people want and are built to last for many years.

The Special Edition Keurig B60 Coffee Maker

The Keurig B60 is perhaps the most popular machine in their lineup. While it is not the cheapest in terms of price, it is not the most expensive as well. It brings together many of the features you would like in the best pod home brewer but not more than you will ever use. With the Special Edition you can brew one K-Cup at a time without the normal setup and cleanup required of other machines. The Keurig One Touch technology makes it easy for anybody to get their favorite flavor in no time, including tea or hot chocolate.

A Machine With A Lot To Offer

With the B60, you can choose from three different brewing sizes from a normal sized coffee cup to a large sized travel mug. A variety of temperature controls will appeal to many different tastes, and an LCD programmer gives you the modern feel that you expect from a new coffeemaker. It’s pretty easy to get going with it as you simply insert the desired coffee pod, make sure the water reservoir has enough water, and press the brew button. There are no paper filters to mess with and no grounds either. And the huge variety of k-cups and pods means that you will never tire of drinking the same flavor every day.

Positive Consumer Reviews Are Telling

If you do any research on the Keurig B60 you will quickly realize just how highly rated it is. Reviews are very positive from all over the web and for good reason. The company stands behind this quality coffee maker and it really appeals to most coffee lovers in terms of features and value for the money.

If someone on your gift list is a self-proclaimed coffee lover or coffee gourmet, then coffee gifts are a no-brainer. They are perfect for any holiday or special occasion, including birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, and Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. Do you know a coffee lover who could use a gift? Any coffee lover would appreciate gifts of various blends and so on. You have a lot of options when it comes to these gifts, so let’s examine what’s available.

Just like with any other gift, you should think about the recipient before buying anything. So we’ve established that they love their coffee. What else do we know about them? If they have something like a Keurig instant coffee machine, then you have a perfect gift. You can get them an assortment of various cartridges for the machine. There are also a lot of necessary accessories. What does the person like to eat with their coffee? Some commonly chosen accompaniment foods include biscotti, chocolate, cookies, and biscuits. This article is starting to make me very hungry… and thirsty!

When giving gifts, think hard about presentation. If the gift doesn’t look nice, it won’t have your intended effect on the recipient. If you’re going to buy the gifts online, only buy items with a picture and not just a text description. You want to be sure that you’re happy with the result. If you’re getting chocolate to go with the coffee, the best choice is dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is not only filled with healthy antioxidants and makes a lovely complement to a cup of hot coffee, it also has a long shelf life and you don’t need to worry about it spoiling.

Holiday gift baskets including coffee gifts are great for the holidays. During the Christmas season, giving the gift of coffee is always a safe bet that is sure to please your recipient. Valentine’s Day is another day to show love to your special lady by giving her chocolate with the perfect complement of coffee. If you want to cover all your bases, include some gifts in a basket of fruit and cheese. The sheer variety of gifts to give are dazzling, and it’s a little easy to go crazy-especially if you love it yourself. If you want to buy them that will be sure to make your coffee lover’s holiday, search online for all your options and think about personalizing the gift.

Legend has it that an Arabian shepherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect. The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world. Coffee was born.

Despite the appeal of such a legend, recent botanical evidence suggests a different coffee bean origin. This evidence indicates that the history of the coffee bean began on the plateaus of central Ethiopia and somehow must have been brought to Yemen where it was cultivated since the 6th century. Upon introduction of the first coffee houses in Cairo and Mecca coffee became a passion rather than just a stimulant.

History has it other Africans of the same era fueled up on protein-rich coffee-and-animal-fat balls-primitive PowerBars-and unwound with wine made from coffee-berry pulp. Coffee later crossed the Red Sea to Arabia, where Starbucks noticed. Coffee as we know it kicked off in Arabia, where roasted beans were first brewed around A.D. 1000. By the 13th century Muslims were drinking coffee religiously. The “bean broth” drove dervishes into orbit, kept worshipers awake, and splashed over into secular life. And wherever Islam went, coffee went too: North Africa (map), the eastern Mediterranean, and India Arabia made export beans infertile by parching or boiling, and it is said that no coffee seed sprouted outside Africa or Arabia until the 1600s-until Baba Budan. As tradition has it, this Indian pilgrim-cum-smuggler left Mecca with fertile seeds strapped to his belly. Baba’s beans bore fruit and initiated an agricultural expansion that would soon reach Europe’s colonies…

STARBUCKS KNEW IT !!!!

If you are starting your own coffee shop then you know that your main purchase is going to be your coffee makers and your espresso machines. The espresso machine will get more use than the coffee maker, simply because so many of the drinks you sell will be espresso based. This is not a piece of equipment for you to cut corners on, go for the gusto. It is an investment that will pay for itself many times over during the life of your business.

As you are looking into commercial espresso machines you also need to decide if you are going to need a one-group or two-group machine or more. It is not likely that you are going to have more than two shots being pulled at one time and so a two group will probably suffice.

There are basically three types of commercial machines to choose from and then within those choices are features or additions you can pick from. Your choice will probably boil down to how much money you

Types

Semi-automatic, automatic, and super-automatic are the espresso machine types you should be looking at.

Semi-automatic machines require the user to shut the steam off manually. This can make producing a consistent shot of espresso difficult.

Automatic espresso machines have a cut-off timer and produce a more consistent espresso. They can be programmed to cut off at anytime.

Super-automatic espresso machines do everything for you. They grind the beans, tamp them, pull the shot, shut off when ready and even discard the coffee beans. While they do make pulling a great espresso super easy, they take the pleasure of watching the shot be pulled. Espresso enthusiasts enjoy knowing that the barista took great pains to make sure their espresso was just right. The super automatic maker removes that element. In addition to being super-automatic, they are super expensive.

Other Considerations

In addition to what type of machine to get, you need to consider some other important factors, after all this is for your business which in turn is your livelihood.

Boiler Capacity: The boiler capacity of your machine should be large enough to get you through the largest rush you could have. You don’t want to have to tell your customers that it will be a few minutes due to lack of hot water or steam. This is of course going to take some guesswork, however a 9-14 liter capacity should be large enough.

Warranty and Parts Availability: First you definitely want to make sure your warranty covers all the parts of the machine for at least five years. If offered, buy an extended warranty. Before your purchase the machine, ask about repairs. Is there a local repair shop that sends someone out? How long does it take to get parts shipped in if necessary? Do they offer same day repair service?

These questions are very important. Not having your espresso machine can cause you to lose a lot of money. Make sure there is a way to have repairs made as quickly as possible.

Grinder Hopper: You should make sure the grinder hopper is large enough to accommodate a large amount of coffee beans. You might also want to consider a machine that offers two hoppers, one for decaf beans and one for regular beans.

Water Softener: This option doesn’t apply to everyone, but if you live in area where you know the water is hard, you should opt for a water softener. This will keep you from having to have your machine de-limed due to build up. De-liming a machine is an expensive task.

Buying a commercial espresso machine is a huge investment that should be done with careful consideration to every aspect of the machine and to all the aspects of your business. The right decision can bring you years of great income and happy customers while a wrong decision can bring you years of grief and a loss of money. Choose carefully and wisely for the best espresso bar in town.

When it comes to drink a cup of coffee, most of us will settle for lower quality if we absolutely have to. What do I mean by lower quality? Some of the popular inexpensive brands that you may find at your local grocery stores. Many people have grown up with these brands, and aren’t aware of what’s available. Some people drink coffee just to get a caffeine boost, but don’t care about enjoying the cup. I am speaking to those who really would like to know what a good cup of coffee should look like.

Let me provide some guidance:

1. Rich Flavor

2. “Cream Factor”

3. Smell

RICH FLAVOR

This is extremely important to me as a coffee connoisseur. When you pour a cup of coffee, you should not be able to visibly see the bottom of the cup. If you do, you do not have a cup of coffee, but coffee flavored water; there’s a difference. Texture and lack of visibility demonstrate richness, and high quality.

SMELL

A great cup of coffee should not smell very earthy. Again, a very earthy odor is very common with a lower quality of coffee. It may also be related to a lack of maintenance with the dispensing device.

CREAM FACTOR

I always judge a cup of coffee by how much cream is required to make it into a nice cafe au lait complexion. If very little cream is needed to do so, this demonstrates lower quality.

WHERE TO BUY A GREAT CUP OF COFFEE

Aside from the usual places like Starbucks, Caribou, Gloria Jean’s, etc., a great cup of coffee can be found at your local grocery store. I first want to suggest getting a coffee pod machine of some sort, like Senseo or Tassimo. There a 4 main reasons why: they are very cost effective, efficient, do not overheat the coffee, and require low maintenance.

The coffee discs required for coffee pods are relatively available at most supermarkets and are priced very competitively to the coffee used for regular drip pots.

If you opt to continue to use the standard drip coffeemakers keep a couple of things in mind. Step up the quality of your selection, within reason, and be aware that most coffeemakers will scorch or burn any coffee that has been turned on too long. This usually creates the “bitter factor;” a huge turnoff for me in my quest for a great cup of coffee.

Researchers are discovering some magical properties in coffee: that ordinary, delightfully arousing morning cup of caffeine filled coffee that at least 54% of Americans can’t start their days without. Can you believe it? Coffee, a drink that recently seemed to be inferior to green tea and thought of as unhealthy for years, has been given a clean bill of health. And not just one cup!

A few recent large-scale studies, sited by RealAge.com, have found that even a few cups may indeed improve our health by warding off various diseases.

· A Japanese study, conducted over a 13 year period, found that for both men and women, drinking one or more cups of coffee every day lowered the likelihood of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus compared to people who drank no coffee.

· Another study, conducted over 24 years with women subjects, found that women who drank 2-3 cups of coffee every day had a 19% lower risk of having a stroke than women who drank less than one cup of coffee per month.

· Middle-aged men and women who drank 3 cups of coffee or more every day were 65% less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s by age 60 or 70.

· Men may have up to 40% reduction in risk for Parkinson’s disease by drinking only one cup every day.

· Excessive coffee drinking, which may cause different health problems, has been linked to lowered risk of type 2 diabetes.

· Coffee drinking may also reduce the risk of liver cancer caused by cirrhosis,

But not everyone benefits from coffee, and certainly not 2 or 3 cups or more. The benefits seemed to apply, at least in the study conducted with only women, to those with no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. However, although coffee drinking does not seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, it may increase aortic stiffness and unfiltered coffee my increase the level of blood fats.

How does coffee do all these health promoting and protective actions. Researchers suggest that the coffee bean’s polyphenols, inflammation-fighting antioxidants, may be the key. Roasted coffee residues seem to retain their antioxidant ability, even after processing.

The question that concerns me is that I had read, for many years, that coffee drinking could actually deplete the body of vitamins, especially vitamin C. I also read that coffee could interfere with the body’s need for adequate fluids, creating intestinal and bowel problems. Current research does not seem to even mention these concerns that had been common knowledge for decades.

So, why bother with messy fruits and vegetables when I can have my aroma filled, smooth tasting cup of coffee, and then another cup, and another cup - and keep getting healthier. It doesn’t quite work that way. And the results of these studies are not showing other factors that may be involved, such as the types of diets, the amounts of exercise, the emotional health, and the overall lifestyles of the study participants.

But these studies are helping many of us to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, we can sit back, relax and enjoy our morning or lunchtime or late afternoon cup of coffee without guilt or worry. One less thing to worry about in our stress filled lives.

The cappuccino commercial machine is a design that has become an extremely popular choice over the last several years. Almost every store that you go into makes it very easy for you to be able to find this unique item. It is one that can be found in just about every single quick stop, convenience store, and restaurant that you choose to visit. As there are more and more individuals who have started to demand the delicious and mouthwatering flavors that can be found in this popular hot drink, a large number of businesses realized the benefits that they could enjoy simply by making the important purchase of a cappuccino commercial machine. As the needs of each of the stores began to climb higher and higher, several different name brand manufacturers also realized the importance of being able to meet these high demands. Because of this fact now there are many store owners who can easily find several different varieties to choose from in the specific brand names that they like the best. This makes it much easier to find the specific unit that has the most ease of being able to stay up with the consistent use that is so often needed commercially.

With a majority of these businesses they need to feel comfortable that they have chosen a product that can be depended on for extremely high levels of use, and the durability in which these units are made is a very important factor to them as well. A number of name brand manufacturers of these popular units have come to enjoy the name that they have made for themselves simply because they have made it an important point to only use high quality made materials in the cappuccino commercial machine designs that they provide. They know the level of importance of being able to take advantage of the durability and dependability that can stand up to the test of a high level of usage.

A large majority of the units that are available on the market today are carefully designed in such a way that is very easy for the customers to use. They are made in styles that feature separate convenient compartments that are made to hold the required amounts of water that will be needed, and another compartment that is made to hold the special premixed packages that are made available for these very popular units.

In the last couple of decades Coffee has steadily become a multi-billion pound business. The sight of a main street littered with coffee drinkers sitting out on pavements or enjoying their caffeine hit in boutique style coffee houses is now very common in most cities. Big chains like Starbucks and smaller cafes all strive to provide their customers with the latest tastes, the best beans and now too, offer to jazz up your coffee with a range of specialty coffee syrups.

In fact the menus in some cafes can read like extensive wine lists, with flavors ranging from coconut, vanilla, hazelnut, toffee, nutmeg, and even banana or berry flavors making an appearance in your favorite cup. These coffee syrups transform coffee into a real experience. Of course you probably usually have your regular style of coffee which you reach to as a matter of habit, but sampling a new flavor of syrup takes your brew to the next dimension. Something to enjoy over a couple of hours while indulging in a bit of people watching at your local cafe. Besides, it’s much more fun to ask for an Alpine double shot cinnamon machiato than a plain old filter coffee!

If you’re a dedicated coffee enthusiast who prefers to experiment at home, there are so many ways you can use your coffee syrups. How about adding different flavors to a variety of other drinks - cocktails, milkshakes, to spice up hot festive drinks, cold summer ices, or simply added to soda water as a fun drink for children without the high sugar content found in most soft drinks. It’s easy to mix up new concoctions and you might discover some surprising but delicious results. Coffee syrups are a particularly good choice for those who are watching their weight but still want to enjoy something indulgent, as most syrups are fat and cholesterol free. Some varieties are even sugar free and certified vegetarian, so check the small print.

Of course, you get what you pay for, and quality ingredients are reflected in higher prices. Brands such as DaVinci, Monin and Dolce all subscribe to this philosophy by making sure their coffee syrups contain a higher percentage of base ingredient compared to the syrup itself, striving for natural flavors wherever possible and less additives. Premium ingredients distilled down make for a smoother and more authentic taste. If you’re looking to sample some for home use, don’t be tempted to buy cheaper syrups, as these do not keep as well in the long run.

Do also watch out for syrups that separate when heated to high temperatures or those that curdle when milk is added. Obviously a bad quality syrup is not worth the trouble. After all, coffee enjoyed in this way becomes a small luxury and it’s all about experience per cup.

tisfy your craving without going over your calorie limit.

If you aren’t counting calories, but love the idea of coffee and chocolate after dinner, you should also try the decadent recipe below:If your relative or friend is a morning person who loves breakfast, a breakfast coffee gift basket is a great idea. If so, you will probably want a breakfast blend or other coffee that the person would want to drink at breakfast. Know if the gift recipient prefers whole beans, ground beans or K-Cup coffee

Ingredients:

* 3-1/2 oz. best-quality milk chocolate, very finely chopped

* Few grains of salt

* 1/4-cup heavy cream

* 1-cup water

* 2 tsp. instant coffee

* Optional garnish of lightly sweetened whipped cream

* Shaved or grated milk chocolate

Method:

In small microwaveable bowl, combine finely chopped milk chocolate and salt. Microwave at 50 percent (medium) power for thirty-second intervals, stirring well after each, just until chocolate is almost melted, then stir until completely melted and smooth. On high power, heat heavy cream until it is very hot. All at once, add hot cream to melted chocolate. Stir or whisk briskly until smooth (if you absolutely cannot get this mixture smooth, process at high speed in a food processor fitted with steel blade just until smooth).In two-cup liquid measure, heat water on high power until very hot. Add instant coffee to hot water and stir in well. Gradually add about half of hot coffee to milk chocolate mixture, stirring or whisking well after each addition. Add this mixture back to the remaining hot coffee in the two-cup liquid measure.

If necessary, heat beverage in two cup liquid measure at 50 percent (medium) power until steaming hot. Divide between two mugs (8 ounces each). If desired, garnish as suggested above. Serve immediately.Next, hit the supermarket, gourmet food store or Internet to fill the basket. You can choose a mix for pancakes, scones or waffles - if the person has a waffle maker. How about some gourmet maple syrup? Good maple syrup makes a plate of pancakes or waffles even better.

If you want a socially responsible gift, choose organic coffee and an organic foods store or section.