One of my coworkers recently bought a Keurig coffee machine for our lab at work. He also bought a variety of K-cups. So far, I have tried two of the flavors. I have enjoyed several cups of Caramel Vanilla Cream from Green Mountain Coffee. I do not think that the vanilla and caramel combination is quite as good as plain French vanilla, but it is much better than the combination of butter toffee and coffee.
I have been trying to cut down some on consuming caffeine, so I tried a cup of the decaffeinated version of Donut House coffee which is also by Green Mountain. I think decaf coffee is somewhat pointless, but the Donut House brew was quite drinkable.
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Another Random Coffee Post
I was running low on K-cups again. I had two gift certificates for Target, so I swung by my local Target store yesterday to pick up some coffee. I decided to stick with flavored coffee and bought a box of Millstone Hazelnut Cream and a box of Van Houtte French Vanilla. I am currently enjoying the Van Houtte. While it has a nice flavor, it does not seem as flavorful as the French Vanilla Supreme which was my favorite from the Gloria Jean's variety pack. Or perhaps this is a case of time making the taste buds grow fonder.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Next in Line
Since I started this site last year, I have occasionally played with the "Next Blog" link located in the Navbar at the top of the page. The "Next Blog" link specifically and the Navbar in general seem to be more of the hotly debated features of Blogger. According to the Blogger help page, the "Next Blog" link "takes you to a random, recently-updated Blogger blog." According to other sites, pages linked by "Next Blog" are grouped by common topics. Still others say that the list of other sites linked as "Next Blog" from a specific site is limited and the same sites repeatedly cycle. I have found that to be the case with the "Next Blog" sites linked from my site.
When there was less content on this site, the "Next Blog" pages seemed to be more random. Recently, my site seems to be grouped with mostly beer-related sites, particularly sites of bars of the brewpub-variety and a long list of guys (and a surprising number of ladies) that enjoy beer. (Although I am not religious myself, I am happy to see the Catholic folk are enjoying their beer.) Home brewing is another frequent topic, and more recently, the sites of people who enjoy coffee have been appearing.
As one would expect from the Internet, links can be from far-flung locations. I know a west coast-style brewpub in Brooklyn which I assume is quite similar to these two pubs in the Seattle area. I also know where to find beer in Baltimore. There is a brewpub in Flossmoor, Illinois (it's just south of Chicago), that has its own Mug Club. A few times, the "Next Blog" has been the Local Taphouse Blog which is blog site for two bars in Australia. One of the pubs is in St. Kilda, Victoria, which is a suburb Melbourne. The other is in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, which is a suburb of Sydney. I have never been to Australia, but when I get around to visiting that fine country, at least I will know a couple of places where I can stop for a beer.
Some unrelated sites do appear as the "Next Blog". There is one repeated site that would seem to be either about beer or coffee based on the word "brew" in its title but actually seems to only focus on electronics. Another site is by a guy who enjoys tattoos and cycling. The only thing that he and I seem to have in common is that we have both visited Oregon and Colorado, although for completely different reasons (outdoor sports for him, friends, family and beer for me). This guy also like bicycles, but he is also into beer.
I will end my little tour of "Next Blog" sites with a visit to this site by a Gonzo journalist.
When there was less content on this site, the "Next Blog" pages seemed to be more random. Recently, my site seems to be grouped with mostly beer-related sites, particularly sites of bars of the brewpub-variety and a long list of guys (and a surprising number of ladies) that enjoy beer. (Although I am not religious myself, I am happy to see the Catholic folk are enjoying their beer.) Home brewing is another frequent topic, and more recently, the sites of people who enjoy coffee have been appearing.
As one would expect from the Internet, links can be from far-flung locations. I know a west coast-style brewpub in Brooklyn which I assume is quite similar to these two pubs in the Seattle area. I also know where to find beer in Baltimore. There is a brewpub in Flossmoor, Illinois (it's just south of Chicago), that has its own Mug Club. A few times, the "Next Blog" has been the Local Taphouse Blog which is blog site for two bars in Australia. One of the pubs is in St. Kilda, Victoria, which is a suburb Melbourne. The other is in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, which is a suburb of Sydney. I have never been to Australia, but when I get around to visiting that fine country, at least I will know a couple of places where I can stop for a beer.
Some unrelated sites do appear as the "Next Blog". There is one repeated site that would seem to be either about beer or coffee based on the word "brew" in its title but actually seems to only focus on electronics. Another site is by a guy who enjoys tattoos and cycling. The only thing that he and I seem to have in common is that we have both visited Oregon and Colorado, although for completely different reasons (outdoor sports for him, friends, family and beer for me). This guy also like bicycles, but he is also into beer.
I will end my little tour of "Next Blog" sites with a visit to this site by a Gonzo journalist.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Random Coffee Post
I have been running low on K-Cups. Yesterday, I ventured to the store, and I bought some Kahlúa-flavored coffee from Timothy's Coffee. Unfortunately, the coffee is non-alcoholic, or fortunate since I do have to go to work this morning.
Monday, May 30, 2011
A Different Type of Brew
Today is Memorial Day which is a great day to kick back and relax with a nice cold beer. However, today's post is about a brew of a different type. I drink a good bit of coffee. I enjoy both the regular stuff and the coffee-based drinks that were invented in the cafés of Europe and made famous here in America by Starbucks and the like. My particular guilty coffee pleasure is the café mocha, but I have tried many of the other crazy drinks flavored with caramel, white chocolate, peppermint, and even pumpkin. I also enjoy hanging out in the local coffee shop and taking advantage of their free wireless Internet connection.
Last year, my mother gave me a Keurig coffee machine (a.k.a. K-cup machine) as a Christmas present. My sister and her husband have had a K-cup machine for awhile. They enjoy it, so they gave my mother and stepfather one as a present a couple of years ago. My mother and stepfather have found their machine to be convenient. I also learned to appreciate the machines during my visits to my sister's and mother's houses, so I was glad to receive a machine myself for Christmas. My machine is a Keurig Elite Brewer. Despite being "Elite", it is one of the simpler brewers that the company offers.
As much as I am not an expert on the different types of beer, I am even more of a neophyte in regards to the different varieties of coffee. I am working on my knowledge of beer, and the K-cup machine will help in regards to my coffee education. There are quite a few different brands of coffee available in K-cups with the list continuing to expand. Of course, each brand offers multiple different varieties. It seems that everybody has their particular favorite variety. My stepfather likes the Green Mountain Nantucket Blend. He and my mother also had most of a box of Caribou Daybreak Morning Blend K-cups. Since neither of them care for that brew, they gave the rest of the box to me along with my brewer. I liked both the Nantucket and Daybreak brews. My sister and brother-in-law prefer Newman's Special Blend Extra Bold which they buy in bulk from their local Costco.
The K-cup brewer came with a sampler pack of K-cups. I do not remember all of the varieties included in the sampler pack, but it included decaffeinated coffee, Half Caff, and even some tea. After finishing off the sampler pack and the leftover box of Caribou Daybreak, I bought a box of Green Mountain Breakfast Blend K-cups at the grocery store. I later decided to buy a few K-cup boxes from Green Mountain's webpage (Keurig is subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee). My first purchase included Caribou Colombia, Diedrich Coffee Sumatra, Timothy's Coffee Kona Blend, and Millstone Breakfast Blend. I just noticed that Millstone and Diedrich Coffee products are no longer offered on Green Mountain's site. Also, the Sumatra is not offered on Diedrich Coffee's webpage, and the Timothy's Kona is no longer being produced.
I recently ordered a second round of K-cups from Green Mountain. This order included Timothy's Coffee Breakfast Blend, Tully's Coffee Breakfast Blend, Donut House, and a flavored variety pack from Gloria Jean's Coffees. The variety pack included French Vanilla Supreme, Swiss Chocolate Almond, Butter Toffee, and Mudslide flavors. Surprisingly, my favorite of the four is the vanilla with the chocolate almond being a strong second. I think vanilla is a great flavor complement (as opposed to compliment) to coffee. I do not care for the butter toffee which has a really buttery taste. I do not find that buttery taste goes well with coffee. For me, it is just not a pleasant combination. I also do not find the mudslide flavor to have a very good taste.
I have a friend who puts cinnamon in her coffee which I have also found to be interesting. Perhaps with my next order, I should try Donut House Cinnamon Roll or Timothy's Coffee Cinnamon Pastry.
Last year, my mother gave me a Keurig coffee machine (a.k.a. K-cup machine) as a Christmas present. My sister and her husband have had a K-cup machine for awhile. They enjoy it, so they gave my mother and stepfather one as a present a couple of years ago. My mother and stepfather have found their machine to be convenient. I also learned to appreciate the machines during my visits to my sister's and mother's houses, so I was glad to receive a machine myself for Christmas. My machine is a Keurig Elite Brewer. Despite being "Elite", it is one of the simpler brewers that the company offers.
As much as I am not an expert on the different types of beer, I am even more of a neophyte in regards to the different varieties of coffee. I am working on my knowledge of beer, and the K-cup machine will help in regards to my coffee education. There are quite a few different brands of coffee available in K-cups with the list continuing to expand. Of course, each brand offers multiple different varieties. It seems that everybody has their particular favorite variety. My stepfather likes the Green Mountain Nantucket Blend. He and my mother also had most of a box of Caribou Daybreak Morning Blend K-cups. Since neither of them care for that brew, they gave the rest of the box to me along with my brewer. I liked both the Nantucket and Daybreak brews. My sister and brother-in-law prefer Newman's Special Blend Extra Bold which they buy in bulk from their local Costco.
The K-cup brewer came with a sampler pack of K-cups. I do not remember all of the varieties included in the sampler pack, but it included decaffeinated coffee, Half Caff, and even some tea. After finishing off the sampler pack and the leftover box of Caribou Daybreak, I bought a box of Green Mountain Breakfast Blend K-cups at the grocery store. I later decided to buy a few K-cup boxes from Green Mountain's webpage (Keurig is subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee). My first purchase included Caribou Colombia, Diedrich Coffee Sumatra, Timothy's Coffee Kona Blend, and Millstone Breakfast Blend. I just noticed that Millstone and Diedrich Coffee products are no longer offered on Green Mountain's site. Also, the Sumatra is not offered on Diedrich Coffee's webpage, and the Timothy's Kona is no longer being produced.
I recently ordered a second round of K-cups from Green Mountain. This order included Timothy's Coffee Breakfast Blend, Tully's Coffee Breakfast Blend, Donut House, and a flavored variety pack from Gloria Jean's Coffees. The variety pack included French Vanilla Supreme, Swiss Chocolate Almond, Butter Toffee, and Mudslide flavors. Surprisingly, my favorite of the four is the vanilla with the chocolate almond being a strong second. I think vanilla is a great flavor complement (as opposed to compliment) to coffee. I do not care for the butter toffee which has a really buttery taste. I do not find that buttery taste goes well with coffee. For me, it is just not a pleasant combination. I also do not find the mudslide flavor to have a very good taste.
I have a friend who puts cinnamon in her coffee which I have also found to be interesting. Perhaps with my next order, I should try Donut House Cinnamon Roll or Timothy's Coffee Cinnamon Pastry.
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