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Keurig – Excellence In Single Cup Coffee Brewing

Keurig is an established coffee machine manufacturer specializing in single-cup rapid-brewing systems for coffee or tea.  The company takes its name “Keurig” from the Dutch word for excellence, and Keurig prides itself on being the leaders in single-cup brewing technology, gourmet single-serve coffee and tea packages and customer service.  The technology for Keurig’s innovative single-cup brewing system was unveiled in 1998, and for over 10 years has allowed coffee lovers to enjoy a variety of perfectly brewed fresh coffee in less than one minute.  There are commercial and domestic models available for purchase, with both systems using the same K-Cup package for brewing single-cup coffee.  One model, the Keurig Mini, is rated for both commercial and household use.  Keurig has received much recognition for its role in inventing the single-cup brewing system, and featured in inc.om’s fastest 500 private companies in 2007.

Keurig is a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc, but has forged partnerships with a number of well-known and gourmet coffee roasters, tea makers and other beverage makers and created K-Cup versions of their products, including Diedrich Coffee, Gloria Jean’s, Van Houtte, Twinings, Tullys, Emeril’s and Bellacinao. All of the coffees offered are gluten and gluten by-product free, and many of these companies also provide fair-trade and organic varieties of their beverages. Van Houtte, Timothy’s, and Emeril’s are among the dozens included in the list.  

By continuing to improve the design of their brewing system and K-Cup package, Keurig has taken the guesswork out of making the perfect cup of coffee, removing the process of grinding the beans, measuring and tamping, handling filters and tidying up the mess afterwards.  The single-cup brewing system eliminates the need to measure either water or coffee, so the consistency of the brew is guaranteed. More importantly, Keurig has given coffee lovers the freedom to enjoy a variety of flavours in one efficient and compact system, as well as changing the way coffee is served – one fresh cup at a time.

 

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Green Mountain Breakfast Blend K-Cup

Description:

A great way to start any day, Green Mountain Breakfast Blend melds the snappy, citrusy notes of a classic Central American coffee with the sweet body and depth of an Indonesian bean. The result is a complex treat for your taste buds with notes of caramel, butter, peach, and walnut. Enjoy Breakfast Blend’s rich taste and medium acidity while mulling over the Sunday paper or as a compliment to your bacon and eggs.

Review Summary:

Those who’ve tasted Green Mountain Breakfast Blend say it has surprising depth despite its light appearance.  The subtle nuances of this New England traditional blend also received great reviews for its alluring aroma, smooth, fresh taste, and ability to stand alone instead of needing a lot of cream or sugar. In the K-Cup size, reviewers also enjoyed its convenience and ability to maintain its flavor from one size mug to the next.

 

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Keurig B145 Office Pro Coffee Brewer

Is the slow-drip, stale tasting coffee that has been sitting in the pot for hours the highlight of your Monday morning at work?  Have you always wanted to take the great taste and freshness of home-brewed coffee to work with you everyday?  Why not consider installing a Keurig B145 Office Pro Coffee Brewer for your office, and get your perfectly brewed cup of coffee or tea whenever it suits you.  Designed to brew six, eight or ten-ounces cups of coffee effortless for offices of up to fifteen, you can enjoy the terrific selection of K-Cups available to get you going in the morning.

Made from strong and durable materials to withstand all the wear and tear of the office environment, the B145 Office Pro is tough yet stylish, and will add a touch of class to the board room, conference room, office kitchen area or even the reception. It is small and compact enough to fit comfortably on a table, light-weight and sturdy enough to move quickly if required.  Main features include a removable 48-ounce water reservoir to brew multiple cups in succession, auto-off function to save energy, diagnostic lights and message for easy operation and a removable drip-tray for painless cleaning.

One of the most popular and best-selling models in the At Work range from Keurig, once you experience the freshness and flavour of a Keurig single-cup coffee, your break-time at work will never be the same again.  With all the time that you can save on waiting on a cup of coffee (the Keurig coffee brewing takes around one minute per cup), you’ll have more time to spend on the more important tasks during your day.  Consistent, efficient, hardworking and always impeccably presented, the Keuirg B145 Office Pro is sure to be the most popular worker in your office.

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Keurig Elite B40 Single-Cup Brewer

The look says it all.  The Keurig Elite B40 Single-Cup Brewer is compact, elegant, efficient and durable.  If you are looking for an upgrade from the Keurig Mini B30 brewing system, then you simply can’t go past the Keurig Elite B40.  While not as portable as the B30 Mini Brewer, the B40 more than makes up for it in the extra performance and features department.  With the B40 you can enjoy a perfect cup of coffee or tea in less than a minute (the Mini B30 takes up to three), plus you have the option of either a 7.25 or 9.25 ounce serving size.  The B40 also packs a removable 48-ounce water reservoir, so you get all the hot water needed for your entire coffee fix in one day.
 
You still have all the convenience of Keurig’s trademark single button brewing operation, now with nice extras like the descale indicator light, removable plastic drip tray and the optional auto-off function for the more environmentally conscious users.  With so many features and options, plus the entire range of K-Cup blends to choose from, you’ll never run out of options for coffee or tea again (choose from Green Mountain Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Timothy’s and plenty more)!  In fact, with the My K-Cup add-on, you can mix different flavours and blends together, or use grounds of your favourite coffee for the most satisfying cup of tea you’ll get in just under a minute.

For those who are truly serious about their coffee, and except the same cup of coffee to be delivered on cue first time, everytime, the Keurig Elite B40 is just what you have been looking for.  When you throw in the fast and simple operation (and simple maintenance), durability and performance and the variety of blends to choose, this product is hard to go past for a budding coffee connoisseur or the most demanding coffee critics.

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Keurig B30 Mini Brewer

Imagine waking up to the perfect cup of coffee anywhere, anytime and everytime!  Imagine the convenience and speed of a single-button operation for the freshness and variety of single-cup coffee that tastes exactly the same every cup!  If this is what you are looking for in a coffee machine, the B30 Mini Brewer will answer your prayers.  The ultimate in portable gourmet quality coffee experience, the petite Keurig B30 Mini Brewer packs Keurig’s famous patented single-cup brewing technology into the space of your suitcase. 

A must for coffee lovers who are always on the move, you’ll never have to miss that coffee you love whether you are going on vacation, business trips or moving locations.  Why leave that perfectly brewed gourmet-style coffee at home when you can simply take it with you?

Small, light (at just 7 pounds) yet tough and robust, the ‘baby’ of the Keurig family of single-serve brewer will make a fresh, hot eight-ounce of coffee or tea in no more than three minutes.  All it takes to operate this little gem is to plug in the machine, fill the in-built reservoir with water and insert your favourite K-Cup selection.  Then, with just one press of a button the B30 will heat up the water and brew a delightfully fresh cup of great tasting coffee.  What the B30 Mini lacks in size and optional features of the pricier Keurig brewing systems it more than makes up for with incredible portability, uncomplicated operation and a very affordable price.

In addition, the stylish looking Keurig B30 Mini Brewer is also available in three sleek colors (black, red and white) to suit all type of interior design and decor.   An ideal gift for those who likes their daily dose of coffee without the hassles, and a fantastic addition to any home or office space.

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K Cups Variety – Taste The Best The World Has To Offer

One of the most enticing points about single-cup brewing systems and coffees is the variety and choice available to you.  With the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing Systems, freshness and variety is as easy as selecting a different K-Cup of your choice.  At Keurig, they have partnered with some of the biggest and best-selling coffee roasting houses to bring you the K-Cup collection of single-serve coffee.  The impressive selection offered by Keurig in their K-Cup variety is second to none, and the quality is assured by some of the most respected roasters including Green Mountain, Diedrich, Gloria Jean’s, Timothy’s, Van Houtte just to name a few.  Selected and prepared from only the finest of the 100% Arabica beans, you can be sure that the quality and consistency of each K-Cup will live up to its full promise.

So if you are after unique and exotic blends of coffee, there are coffee beans produced from all corners of the world, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sumatra.  Choose from a range of Light, Medium, Dark, Extra Bold roasts to cater for your taste in coffee strength.  No matter if you are after just a mild and subtle flavour,  to something more strong and intense, you will always be spoilt for choices with Keurig.  Perhaps you are interested in sampling new and interesting flavours of coffee like Hazelnut, Chocolate Almond, Creme Brule and many other flavours available now and in the future.

For those who are socially conscious but still want to enjoy the very best in quality coffee, Keurig also supply Fair Trade Certified blends, while those who are health conscious, the Organic Certified range of K-Cups are great for your health and even better for the environment.  K-Cups are all gluten and gluten-by-product free, low in fat (for most items), so you can enjoy the rich and wholesome taste while still looking after your health.

Even if coffee is not your thing, the K-Cups range incorporate an extensive range of teas, with brands such as Twinings, Bigelow and Celestial Seasonings providing their famous English Breakfast, Chai, Peppermint, Chamomile, Earl Grey and Green tea.  Why not be more adventurous and try the Lemon Blueberry or African Rooibos tea?   You can even make a cup of refreshing ice tea or a soothing warm hot cocoa – all in the ever-expanding range of K-Cup single-serve system.

With Keurig’s K-Cup collection, the tastes and flavours of the world can be right at your fingertips, and at the touch of a button.  Grab a pack of 5 flavour K-Cup coffee or tea sampler, or the large variety box from your favourite K-Cup roaster, and experience all that the world has to offer with your Keurig Single-Cup brewing system and K-Cups.

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Some Key Questions for the Potential Buyer

What is the difference between Keurig’s Domestic and Commercial Brewers?
Keurig’s At Work brewers are commercial grade, which means that all models come with a UL Commercial certification. This certifies them for use in commercial settings under heavy duty usage because of the difference parts and performance requirement that needs to be verified.  The commercial brewers also come with special options and features for high throughput and low maintenance requirements.  The At Home series of brewers do not need to meet these standards.

What kind of maintenance is required for the brewer?
To ensure that your Keurig brewing system always performs at its best, regular cleaning is essential to prolong the longevity of the appliance.  All external components can be cleaned with a damp, soapy and non-abrasive cloth.  You also need to check with components are dishwasher safe, and these also need to be cleaned regularly. Keurig also recommends de-scaling your Brewer at least once every 6 months (or every 3 months for high mineral content water) to maintain the quality of the brew and the performance of the machine.

How does altitude affect the operation of the machine?
Keurig Brewers have been tested for use at elevations up to 6000 ft., however, in some instances it may be necessarily to release the gas inside the K-Cups first before brewing.  To run the machine at its optimal capacity, and for the best taste and flavour, you can try lowering the brewing temperature in areas of high altitude (the Keurig Special Edition, Ultimate and Platinum models have a temperature control).

Can Keurig K-cups be used for more than one cup of coffee?
If you find that the coffee in the K-Cups is too strong for you, simply make a cup of hot-water first (without putting in the K-Cup), then brew the coffee as usual and then add more hot water to the cup to dilute the concentration.  It is not perfect, but the alternative would be to purchase the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter and adjust the grind amount each time you brew a cup of coffee.

Is there a way to brew stronger coffee with the Keurig one cup coffee machine?
There are two possible methods to achieve this outcome: you can either reduce the amount of water that you add to the reservoir (if it is a single serve model like the Mini), or you can purchase the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter, so that you will be able to dose the exact amount of coffee you want per cup.  This is clearly one of the drawbacks of the Keurig single-cup brewing system, but it is designed to be able to consistently brew the same quality and quantity of coffee, and it does this job very well.

Do you have to attach a Keurig Coffeemaker to your water line ?  Or can you fill it with water? 
All of the Keuirg At Home Coffeemakers use a water reservoir to store the water, and you need to refill it regularly (depending on the model and the amount of water it is designed to hold).  As for the Keurig At Work Coffeemakers, the most advanced models B3000SE and B200 have options for attaching to a water line to automate the refilling process.

Are the K-Cups gluten free?
All of the coffees we offered under the single-serve K-Cups range are gluten, and gluten byproduct-free. Apart from hot cocoa K-Cups and Cafe Escape K-Cups, the majority of the K-Cups range are also certified Kosher Pareve. Please contact the Roaster directly if you would like to obtain more information about a particular brand in the K-Cups rangeFor additional information on a particular K-Cup.

Are K-Cups Recyclable?
The technical challenge of preserving the freshness of roasted coffee using environmentally friendly packaging is a difficult one to overcome at this stage in time.  However, Keurig is continually experimenting with new designs and materials for the K-Cups packaging to ensure that it is creating an environmentally sustainable operation.  This also includes reducing electrical components in our machines, making the brewing systems more energy efficient, and labelling recyclable parts in our products.

How long can K-Cups be stored for?
All K-Cups are nitrogen-flushed, and sealed in an airtight foil impermeable to oxygen, moisture and light.  The Best Used by Date printed on the side of each K-Cup is the recommended optimal freshness period provided by the roaster, and not an expiration date.  To enjoy the freshness and flavours of a single-cup brew, you should order regularly rather than in bulk if you want to use the K-Cups within their Best Used by Date.

Choosing a Keuring Brewing System for your Office

Keurig also manufactures a range of Single-Cup Brewing Solutions for the Office.  These machines are commercial graded, which means that the parts and performance has been engineered and tested to withstand very tough conditions.  All Keurig Commerical/Office brewers are UL approved for commercial use, so you can be sure that your machine will meet the stringent criteria this approval.  As a result, you can expect the Keurig Commercial Grade brewers to brew about 10 times the volume of a typical home brewer, and that it will be much more robust and durable.

Some of the differences between the typical domestic/household and commercial Keurig machines are that some models can automatically remove used K-Cups and store in a disposal receptacle within the machine, rather than the manual replacement required on home brewers. Another key difference is that commercial machines have the facility to be connected to a water supply line so you don’t need to refill the water tanks manually.  This means that there is a much less maintenance and handling, in other words, leads to faster and more efficient throughput.

In a home office or small business, there are two models that are suitable for use in this setting.  The DeskPro and OfficePro are both available for purchase online and through a Keurig distributor, and is perfect for the small office environment where the demand and usage is low to moderate.  The OfficePro will accommodate more cup sizes, but in terms of performance and brewing capabilities it is quite similar to the DeskPro.  These machines are ideal for the conference room or common/shared areas, and can be stored or moved easily as required.  

Since Keurig doesn’t sell its more advanced brewing systems directly, if your office has more tan 20 people, the advice from Keurig is that you speak with one of their distributors.  They will be able to provide the professional set-up and service which is required for the advanced features of the B200 and B3000 series of office brewers that can cater for a very high throughput for large offices.  Some of these features include plumbed water sources, water filtration, vending compatibility and automatic K-Cup ejection plus storage.  The special plumbing and set-up required means that the B200 and B3000SE models cannot be relocated without have to go through the whole installation process again.

You will also need to speak with a distributor in order to come up with the best pricing options for your office.  Factors that will affect the pricing includes the number of employees in the office, the average cups of coffee/tea consumed daily, the range of products you are interested in, and the number of machines that you will require.  Large brewers can be loaned, rented or leased instead of being purchased outright, and it gives more flexibility should your requirements change or discontinue.  Keurig distributors will also be able to deliver coffee straight to your office, so the hassle of ordering and stocking can also be made simpler.

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The Keurig Single-cup Brewing Technology

The two core technologies that enable Keurig machines to brew coffee or tea in less than a minute, without any set-up or clean-up, are the single-cup brewing system and the single-serve K-Cups.  The combination of careful design and innovative engineering results in a simple and error-free process.  Firstly the user inserts a K-Cup, which contains the prepared coffee grounds into the Keurig brewing system of choice.  Secondly, place a mug under the machine and push the start button.  Within 30-60 seconds, a fresh cup of coffee is ready for consumption.

If you take a cross-section of an individual K-Cup, one will find that the grounded coffee sits within a paper filter.  When the machine is activated, a spray nozzle pierces through the foil seal on the top of the plastic K-Cup at the same time a discharge nozzle pierces the bottom of the K-Cup.  A precise quantity of pressurized hot water is then forced through the ground and the filter, channelled out through the discharge nozzle and into the cup or mug.  By default the brewing temperature is set a 192 degrees Fahrenheit, although this is adjustable in some models.

An added advantage of the single-serve K-Cup is that all the flavours of the beverage come in its own self-contained package.  Hence, the machine can easily be used for preparing different beverages without any hassle of carry-over from one user to the next, and indeed from one cup to another.  In fact, the Keurig brewer is so fast and efficient, you can also use it to heat up an exact amount of hot water for things such as oatmeal for breakfast, instant soups at lunch time, and a nice cup of hot cocoa in the evenings!  Simply omit the K-Cup and fill the water tank as per usual, prepare your item or container and press brew.  Quick and easy drinks or meals made perfectly in next to no time.  
 

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All I want for Christmas is a Keurig?

The convenience of being able to press a button, and in less than a minute, pick up and sip a cup of perfectly brewed coffee each morning sounds as alluring as it is impressive.  In fact, it was such an eye-catching fact that the Keurig Platinum gourmet single cup brewer was actually featured in the list of gift items presented to celebrities who participated in the Golden Globe Awards in 2009!  But when it comes down to giving or receiving such a gift, is it really worth putting under the tree?
 
Firstly, there’s the price to consider:  Keurig brewing machines start from around $89 for the Mini (B30) model, all the way up to $200+ for the more expensive domestic versions.  It brews single servings of coffee from proprietary capsules called the K-Cups, so you’ll also find that the cost per cup is somewhat significantly more expensive than just using a press and brew an entire pot.  However, is this worthwhile as a trade-off for the freshness of a single-cup serve each and every time, the convenience of the process, as well as the choice of a variety of brands and speciality blends to choose from?

It is also important to realize that the coffee being brewed comes at a standard consistency and strength.  This means that you will have to tinker with the amount of hot water you add if the coffee is too strong/weak for you, unless you are willing to fork out more money for a re-usable filter provided by Keurig that allow you to dose the exact amount of grind you want in each up.  Basically, the theme seems to be that if you can afford it, then you can enjoy it.

But let’s look at some positives.  Once you have the machines set up, these Keurig coffee brewers can churn out coffee in under a minute, which is almost certainly faster than conventional methods.  Keurig has also made their machines easy to use, so there is very little in the way of fiddling around with controls and parts when you most need a cup of coffee.

Is it a habit that you can keep up with if you receive it as a gift?  That would depend on how much of a coffee aficionado you are (of course this is entirely subjective).  Keurig has such a large range of variety to choose from, and they have astutely collaborated with four major roasting companies (Green Mountain, Diedrich/Gloria Jean’s, Timothy’s World Coffee and Van Houtte among a growing list) to supplement the range of K-Cup flavours.  With the specialty coffee movement expected to gain more momentum and support in the future, it can be expected that the prices will see gradual declines over the years.  

Is it a suitable Christmas present?  The Keurig brewing system definitely has that wow factor, and will not look out of place in any home, and has the right combination of engineering and innovation to delivery on style and practicality.  In short, if you can afford it, then you’ll probably want to try it.

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