In search of the "perfect cup"

Why is it that no matter how fancy your coffeemaker or expensive your coffee, every pot you brew tastes different?

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a small Vermont coffee shop that grew into a national coffee wholesaler and mail-order company, thinks it’s because you have to deal with the hassle of grinding beans, measuring coffee, handling filters and cleaning up. So it’s taken all those chores out of the process of brewing the “perfect cup of coffee.”

The company’s Keurig Single Cup Brewer uses microprocessor technology to precisely control every step of the brewing process to deliver a consistent taste profile with every brew. Just insert the Green Mountain K-Cup, which contains the right grind and amount of coffee specific to each variety, into the brewer. The patented engineering of the K-Cup protects coffee from oxygen, moisture, light and temperature changes — all elements that cause it to stale. Because the K-Cup acts as a self-contained mini-brewing chamber, there is no residue left in the brewer to taint the next brew.

Ideal for the office that wants to keep its employees from nipping out to Starbucks twice a day, the Keurig B100 Single Cup Brewer has an 80-ounce water tank. It costs $255.00 and comes with 100 K-Cups. The new, smaller B50 model is designed for home use. It offers two brew strengths, has a convenient removable water tank and has an introductory price of $149.95 with 24 K-Cups.

Based on its performance, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been recognized for the past five years as one of Forbes magazine’s 200 Best Small Companies.