The Keurig B50 Single Cup Home Brewer

The Keurig B50 Single Cup Home Brewer uses cartridges called K-cups engineered to protect the coffee from all of the elements that cause it to become stale (oxygen, light, moisture). Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (makers of the Keurig B50) offers more than 20 varieties of coffee in K-Cups including light and dark roasts, flavored coffees, organic and Fair Trade coffees, and signature blends. In addition, Celestial Seasoning Teas offers six black, herbal and green teas through Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Plus, the B50 Single Cup Home Brewer brews coffee in less than one minute without the hassle of grinding beans, measuring coffee, handling filters, or cleaning up. The B50 is smaller than Keurig's first single cup brewer (the B100), offers two brew strengths, and has a convenient removable water tank. Available at www.coffeegiant.com for only $149.00 and comes with 1 box of Green Mountain Regular Variety pack so you can start your Keurig expirience the moment your machine arrives.

Green Mountain enters China

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. will now be importing and distributing their coffee throughout Hong Kong and Mainland China. Green Mountain will supply coffee to Granco International, d.b.a. Green Mountain Coffee Company, Ltd., which will open five hundred branded retail outlets in greater Shanghai under the name “Green Mountain Café GMC Ltd.” is authorized to distribute Green Mountain coffee to institutional accounts and other existing coffee shops in Hong Kong and China.

Coffee and Tea Trade Journal, Vol. 177/ No. 3 - March 20, 2005

CoffeeGIANT.com is proud to present the full line of Green Mountain K-cups and Coffee Pods for your Keurig and Pod machine needs.

What makes different coffee taste differently?

While tasting the coffee, you should try to discern whether the flavor, body, acidity and aroma of the coffee are pleasant. Here are the criteria that most tasters use to judge coffee:

ACIDITY
Acidity is a desirable characteristic in coffee. It is the sensation of dryness that the coffee produces under the edges of your tongue and on the back of your palate. The role acidity plays in coffee is not unlike its role as related to the flavor of wine. It provides a sharp, bright, vibrant quality. With out sufficient acidity, the coffee will tend to taste flat. Acidity should not be confused with sour, which is an unpleasant, negative flavor characteristic.

AROMA
Aroma is a sensation, which is difficult to separate from flavor. Without our sense of smell, our only taste sensations would be: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The aroma contributes to the flavors we discern on our palates. Subtle nuances, such as “floral” or “winy” characteristics, are derived from the aroma of the brewed coffee.

BODY
Body is the feeling that the coffee has in your mouth. It is the viscosity, heaviness, thickness, or richness that is perceived on the tongue. A good example of body would be that of the feeling of whole milk in your mouth, as compared to water. Your perception of the body of a coffee is related to the oils and solids extracted during brewing. Typically, Indonesian coffees will possess greater body than South and Central American coffees. If you are unsure of the level of body when comparing several coffees, try adding an equal amount of milk to each. Coffees with a heavier body will maintain more of their flavor when diluted.

FLAVOR
Flavor is the overall perception of the coffee in your mouth. Acidity, aroma, and body are all components of flavor. It is the balance and homogenization of these senses that create your overall perception of flavor.

At CoffeeGIANT.com we feature our own in house coffee roaster, Sonora Roasters. Sonora Roasters takes pride in offering a full array of fine coffees created to meet the tastes of every coffee lover. All of their coffees are roasted to perfection. Whether blended or single-origin, these premier coffees are made with the finest Arabican beans for flavor.

Sonora Roasters' Cafe Italiano

Sonora Roasters has added a new dark roast to their line of coffees. They are calling it "Cafe Italiano". This dark roast is roasted to compare to Starbucks French Roast. With the demand for dark coffees rising, this should be a good seller for Sonora. You can find it on the www.coffeegiant.com website under Fresh Ground Coffees.

What are the different types of coffee?

There are about 25 major species of coffee beans within the Coffea genus, but the typical coffee drinker will probably be familiar with the arabicas (species Coffea Arabica) and robustas (species Coffea canephora var. robusta).

Arabica coffee is a high-grown coffee with medium body, good acidity and a mild taste; it is produced primarily in Central and South America. Robusta coffee has good body, moderate acidity and a more aggressive taste; it is grown in tropical regions around the world such as West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of South America.

How are coffee beans decaffeinated?

The green (unroasted) coffee beans are placed into a rotating drum and softened by steam and water. They are then repeatedly rinsed with a decaffeinating agent, which removes the caffeine from the beans. Typically 97% or more of the caffeine contained in the green coffee is removed. The caffeine-laden solution is drained away and the beans are steamed a second time to evaporate the remaining decaffeinating agent. Finally, the beans are dried to remove excess moisture from the decaffeinated coffee.

What are the new Pod Coffee makers all about?

Pod coffee makers are fairly new to the market place, and the concept is great, a universal one-cup coffee maker. By using a small filter pack you can make a single cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea quickly and conveniently. The goal of the machine and pod manufactures is to make a universal pod that will fit all of the different machines to give the consumer the choice that they currently have with the 12 and 4 cup coffee makers but the luxury of the one cup coffee maker. The development has been a slow process and the machines lag behind the pods themselves but it’s starting to all come together and it’s really a great single cup option.

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.

Keurig v. FLAVIA

Which single cup coffeemaker is right for you?

Three of the most widely popular single cup coffee brewers are the Keurig B-100, Keurig B-50 and the FLAVIA SB100. Choosing the one that best fits you and your needs can be a daunting task. They are all three solid machines backed by solid companies so lets dig a little deeper into the pros and cons of each to help you make the best choice possible.

FLAVIA
FLAVIA Beverage Systems introduced the FLAVIA Brew-by-Pack to North America in 1995 and the popularity has sky rocketed ever since. The ease of use and wide selections of gourmet coffees, leaf teas and hot chocolate has kept the demand for this unit high.

The FLAVIA SB-100 uses a patented filter pack technology to brew its proprietary coffees, teas and hot chocolate. Each foil filter pack is a sealed packet with a sealed nozzle. When placed in the FLAVIA Beverage System the seal on the nozzle is pierced and water is injected into the pack. After a few seconds of infusion the bottom of the packet pops open and the coffee pours through the micro-perforated filter built into each packet into a cup. A small quick “puff” of air pushes any remaining water from the pack and you have an 8 oz. cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Currently FLAVIA offers 16 flavors of gourmet coffee, three of which are decaf, 9 are leaf teas including the “Wellness tea” line up and 1 hot chocolate. All beverages and packaging are completely proprietary to the FLAVIA Beverage System and are only available through FLAVIA distributors. www.coffeegiant.com offers the FLAVIA packet both by the rail as well as by the case. Each rail holds 20 packets of coffee and tea or 18 packets of hot chocolate and Creamy Topping. There are 5 rails in a case of coffee, 7 rails in a case of tea and 4 rails in the Chocolate and Creamy Topping due to the size of the packet. Choice and convenience are the advantages to this particular product line.

The FLAVIA SB100 brewer itself is a dark, grey brown in color and stands 14.5 inches tall, 9 inches wide and 13.5 inches deep. The water tank has a large opening when the lid is lifted, and holds 0.8 gallons of water or 14 – 8 ounce cups of water. Initial heat up of the water when first turned on is 3 minutes before you can brew a drink. After initial heating is finished, brew time per packet is 35-40 seconds.

Keurig B-100
The Keurig launched B-100 in September 2003 to give the users of the larger Keurig commercial models the opportunity to have a have a Keurig machine in a home or small office setting. The B-100 uses the same patented “k-cup” that the commercial models use. Keurig has partnered with Green Mountain to offer the full line of Green Mountain coffees in the k-cup for use with the B-100. However, Keurig has also allowed other roasters to package their individual lines of coffees and teas in the k-cup packaging allowing for not only a variety of flavors but also a variety of roasters. Besides the Green Mountain you can get Diedrich, Gloria Jean’s, Timothy’s and Van Houtte coffees along with Celestial Seasoning and Bigelow teas. K-cups come in a standard size box and have 25 cups per box.

The K-cup is a small plastic cup that is sealed on the top with a foil covering keeping the coffee fresh until used. When the cup is dropped into the Keurig machine, and the door is closed, a large needle pierces the top and hot water shoots into the top of the cup. The water is allowed to sit for a moment before the bottom needle pierces the bottom and allows the coffee or tea to flow through the enclosed filter into a cup.

The Keurig B-100 is a high tech looking unit in black and silver with a neon blue light showing through the water level indicator. It stands 15 inches high, 17 inches deep and 8 inches wide. The water tank is accessed from the top and holds 80 ounces of water or 8 – 8oz cups. It takes 8 –10 minutes to heat the tank when first turned on after which it has a brew time under 60 seconds. The Keurig B-100 has proven itself to be a solid machine and the wide choices of coffees and teas make this a convenient and popular machine to use.

Keurig B-50
The B-50 is the newest machine in the Keurig line, designed for home use only. Keurig presented this machine to the market place the end of 2004 for the holiday season. Using the same k-cup options it is also designed in the high tech black and silver design. The B-50 stands 13 inches high, 13 inches deep and 11 inches wide.

With the option of cup size the large cup setting brews a 7.25 ounce cup and the small cup brews a 5.25 ounce cup. The water reservoir holds 48 ounces of water or 6 large cups/ 9 small cups. It takes approximately 3 minutes for the initial heating of the water and 15 seconds to reheat between cups. Lower in price than the B-100 it is a great choice for the home use.

Now with a bit more knowledge of each of the three machines it may not be any easier to make a choice. The biggest differences in the three are pricing both initially and going forward. Keurig while slightly higher in price offers a wide variety of coffee and tea choices from various manufacturers. FLAVIA is less expensive but you are limited to their coffee and tea flavors, so it’s nice that they offer so many choices. Both companies have tea options but only FLAVIA offers hot chocolate, this may be important to you. Keurig has wider distribution and is easily ordered online, FLAVIA has limited distribution and it can be difficult to find a supplier.

CoffeeGIANT.com believes all 3 machines are well built single cup solutions that offer convenience and easy use, with no waste. That is why we offer all three to our customers.

Error 303 message on your FLAVIA beverage system

If you experience an error 303 on your FLAVIA beverage system. Then most likely it was moved or bumped with a full water tank triggering the over full sensor.

In most cases this can be corrected by first turning off the machine.

Second drain about 1 quart of water from the tank using the left side drain hose behind the main door. Replace drain hose and turn machine back on and allow it to refill normally.

Green Mountains supply of Sumatran coffee following tsunami devastation

Good news from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters regarding the supply of coffee from Sumatra. Despite the massive earthquake and tsunami that recently devastated the region, their partners at the Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers Association are making fast progress towards rebuilding their capacity to produce high quality coffee for Green Mountain, and their customers.

As you can imagine, life is far from back to normal in Southeast Asia. With approximately 5 million people left homeless in the region, it will take years to recover from this disaster. Green Mountain is doing what they can to help stabilize the area and get their partners back to their livelihood of growing coffee. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and its employees have thus far donated over $45,000 to relief efforts and will continue to work with non-profit organizations such as Coffee Kids to offer emergency assistance.

Green Mountain thank everyone who purchases their fresh roasted coffee and wants to let you know that with every purchase of Organic Sumatran Reserve coffee you will help the people of Sumatra to rebuild their homes and communities.

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