Brew Hot Chocolate

You know we love to get creative with our coffee. In fact, you know that we know that you love to get creative with your coffee, too. Some days you just feel inspired to mix it up – maybe add a little cinnamon to your Nantucket Blend®, throw a dash of whipped cream in your French Vanilla, or maybe even scoop a little pistachio ice cream into your French Roast. And then there are days that you take a look at your Keurig® brewer and think, “Caramel Vanilla Cream would make a great mocha…” Fast as a flash you’ve brewed a Caramel Vanilla Cream and then a Café Escapes® Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa into your favorite mug – and with that you’ve just become a K-Cup® mixologist.

Here are a few favorite combinations from our team to get your mind perking on the mixing possibilities:

• Dark Magic® + Mocha Nut Fudge = Dark Nutty Mocha
• Double Black Diamond® + Hazelnut = Aerial Hazelnut
• Fair Trade Wild Mountain Blueberry™ + Café Escapes® Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa = Blueberry Mocha Delight

What coffees do you mix for your perfect cup?

With Fair Trade Island Coconut® now officially our new summer seasonal flavor, it seems like a good time to share our recipe for a tropical treat.  Three words: Chocolate and coconut.  Yes, please!

Mocha Coconut: Bagged

• Brew a pot of Fair Trade Certified^™ Island Coconut.


• Fill a large mug ¾ full with hot Island Coconut coffee.


• Fill the remainder of the mug with hot chocolate (we love Lake Champlain Chocolate’s Fair Trade Organic Hot Cocoa).


• Add sugar to taste and stir.


• Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings (optional – but very tasty).

Mocha Coconut: K-Cup® portion pack

• Brew a portion pack of Fair Trade Certified^™ Island Coconut into a large cup.


• Brew a portion pack of Dark or Milk Chocolate Café Escapes® Hot Cocoa into the same cup.


• Add sugar and half & half to taste. Stir.

• Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings (optional).

Simple and oh-so delicious on a chilly summer night … or day.  Really, we’ll sip on this drink any day of the week! If you make this at home, remember to take a picture and share it on our Facebook page!

What would March be without a coffee recipe dedicated to St. Patrick's Day?  Thankfully, our fabulous team at our at our Visitors Center and Cafe in Waterbury, Vermont offered us not one, but two coffee recipes that sing of the Emerald Isle: An Irish Cream and a Mudslide.  Of course, the classic versions of both of these drinks (like this one from our own Doug) involve whiskey or Irish cream, but we thought you'd all appreciate a little non-alcoholic version to share with the family.

Irish Coffee:

• Brew or pour six ounces of hot, fresh brewed coffee (like Fair Trade Vermont Country Blend) into a large mug
  
  
  
  • Use an Irish coffee glass for a traditional feel
  
  
  
  


• Add 1 ½ ounces of your favorite Irish cream syrup, such as Monin, and stir.


• Add steamed heavy cream until it reaches the top of the mug.


• Take a sip through the cream, check for a milk mustache, and enjoy!

Waterbury Mudslide:

• Pour one (or even two or three) shots of Dark Magic® Espresso Blend into a mug
  
  
  
  • For a Keurig: Brew a Dark Magic Espresso Blend K-Cup® portion pack on the smallest brew setting
  
  
  
  


• Add 1 ½ ounces of your favorite Irish cream syrup, such as Monin


• Add steamed chocolate milk and stir.


• Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings!

TOP TEN OFFICE GIFTS

#10 Small Revelation Travel Mug $2.95

We here at Business Coffee Express are often asked, "What is the best way to take my Green Mountain Coffee wakeboarding?" The answer is this cute little 12-oz. Revelation Travel Mug with a spill-proof, screw-on lid. It features a beautiful scene of the Vermont Green Mountains, and is the perfect size to grab and go whether you are free soloing, sky surfing, or even wakeboarding.  At this price you should buy one for everyone in the office!

#9 Logo Backpacker Thermos $19.95

The sleek, slender shape looks like you after the holidays, thanks to all the wakeboarding you've been doing! This compact, no-leak Thermos®, made by Nissan™ is so stylish it might just put mugs and tumblers out of style. Features an easy-to-open, spring loaded lid. Completely leak proof perfect for backpacks and travel. Double Insulation means your coffee stays hot for hours.

#8 Stoneware Logo Mug $14.95

Perfect for the boss who needs to be reminded on a daily basis that every office deserves great coffee! Each is individually hand-thrown by American master potters. Slight color and size variations showcase the unique properties of each one-of-a-kind mug. Solid and sizable, each of these mugs can stand on its own, but two make a nice pair.

#7 Bodum Milk Frother $19.95

The next time someone in your office tells you not to get worked up into such a lather, say "Why Not?" and show them this! This easy-to-use, battery-powered frother is perfect for foamy milk for your coffee without the hassle of an espresso machine. You will probably decide to keep it for yourself so buy two.

#6 Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Truffles $22.95

Lake Champlain truffles— on the list because it's made in VT of course, and because they are the best Truffles I've ever had. Sorry Belgium, but cheer up, GMCR will probably never make a $25 raspberry beer aged in oak. Lake Champlain Chocolates has reached new heights with this collection of 15 all-natural, preservative-free truffles. Includes Ethiopian Coffee, Honey Fig, Ginger Lemon, Aztec, Mango, and Vanilla.

#5 Better World Gift Bag $59.95

Isn't dreaming of a better world what the Holidays are all about? Our exquisite chocolates, cocoa, coffees and tea help actually make it happen— plus they taste amazing. Includes 7 fabulous products contributing to a better world and a reusable shopping tote.

#4 Organic Breakfast Crate $37.95

Why a Crate? Because "Crate" just sounds cool, and who wouldn’t rather have a "crate" of something they love rather than just a box? Besides, it doubles as an "In" box. Filled with Fair Trade Organic coffee and Cocoa and Organic pancake mix and maple syrup, all from Vermont.

#3 K-Cup Ultimate Gift Basket $44.95

C'mon, "Ultimate" is right there in the name, of course it has to be in the top 10! The perfect gift if their office already enjoys a Keurig® Brewer. If not, get them one of those too! Our K-Cup Gift Basket gives you great coffee right away, and wonderful sustenance for the rest of the day. Includes 24 Green Mountain Coffee Sampler K-Cups.

#2 The Ultimate Office Gift Basket $49.95

Is it possible for two Green Mountain Coffee gifts to be called "Ultimate" at the same time? Yes, it's a holiday miracle! Packed full of delicious treats, and there’s more than enough to share. Brew up a pot of Breakfast Blend or French Roast while everyone in the office digs in to sweet granola, delicate shortbread, maple candy, or chocolate indulgences. It’ll be the most memorable Holiday coffee break ever!

#1 Keurig Office Pro Coffee Brewer $129.95

Not only the greatest invention in the history of humankind, but perhaps the greatest gift since frankincense and myrrh. (Gold is still hard to beat.) Even small offices deserve great coffee and the B145 Office Pro delivers. Designed for offices with 15 or fewer people, its small footprint makes it a perfect fit for conference rooms, board rooms and reception areas. Guaranteed to ward off office revolts, palace coups, passive-aggressive behavior and Monday sick days. They should rename it "Ultimate."

People tell us they can’t wait for fall…and then they stock up on Fair Trade Pumpkin Spice like little squirrels. The cinnamon and nutmeg flavors are even better when you add a touch of hot chocolate.  Try this yummy Fair Trade recipe:

Pumpkin Mocha Supreme

• Brew a pot of Fair Trade Certified™ Pumpkin Spice or get a K-Cup of Pumpkin Spice


• Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg in the bottom of the coffee cup


• Fill the cup halfway with hot coffee (either from your pot or your Keurig machine)


• Fill the remainder of the cup with hot chocolate.  (We recommendFair Trade Organic Hot Cocoa from Lake Champlain Chocolates)


• Top with whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon and/or shaved chocolate

Have another coffee recipe you want to share with our caffeinated crew?  Leave us a comment and we may share your recipe!

Happy (Fair) brewing!

I love everything about coffee- the smell, the taste, the nice buzz it gives me after my morning cups. So as soon as I began my internship with Green Mountain Coffee this summer, I knew I wanted to know everything I could about it! Luckily, Lindsey Bolger and her team of happy cuppers in the Coffee Lab let a group of us “Green Beans” sit in on one of their daily cuppings.

The smell of coffee was so strong in the cupping lab that I felt that we were walking into a giant vat of coffee. It took me a minute to process what exactly was going on: there were three or four professionals zooming around on stools, their noses poised dangerously close to hot cups and every once in a while leaping up to jot down notes. They were just starting the cupping process, and I already wanted to join in!

The Coffee Lab does blind cuppings, so they only identify each coffee’s country of origin and apply a numerical code to it. This is a play-by-play of what goes on at a cupping:

1. Separate beans into bowls , label each one with its origin country and numerical code, and then  grind the beans.

2. Set up 6 cups for each coffee to be tested. They use these cool circular tables that have tops that swirl around, making it easier to get to each cup. I had a lot of fun with these tables!

3. Hot water is then poured over the grounds to brew.

4. The cups need to cool for 4-minutes. This gets them to the optimal temperature, the one that brings out the aroma and flavors of the beans.

5. Time to smell! The water added to the grounds brings out the aroma of the brewed coffee, and you can actually smell the difference between the fragrance of dry beans and the aroma of these brewed grounds.

6. We then “broke” the grounds by sticking our noses mere centimeters away from the cup, placing our special cupping spoons into the cups, and swirling. This released more gases and got the cup ready for tasting, which was good because I was not about to slurp up coffee grounds!

7. Taste time! We were equipped with aprons, spoons, and mugs to spit out each sip, if we liked. Some people do not spit out; it depends on personal preference. We dipped our spoons in sideways, slurped as hard as we could but still couldn’t match the amazing slurps of the professional cuppers, but that will be a goal for my next cupping! After slurping, we spit  or swallowed.

Cuppers use a special form to evaluate each coffee. The evaluation is based off of the fragrance of the bean (how it smells before it is brewed), aroma (how does it smell the cup? Woody? Smokey?), flavor (does it have chocolate undertones? Is it spicy or nutty?), acidity (does the flavor burst in your mouth or lay flat?), body/mouthfeel (is it a ‘heavy’ coffee? Does it stay in your mouth or leave right away?), and finally aftertaste (is it dry, bitter, sweet?). This is on a 1-10 scale, with 6 being the baseline for quality. After these points are added up, special “cuppers points” can be given or taken away. Add up the total points, add 50, and there is your score! Green Mountain Coffee only uses coffees that have a score of 80 or above.

The most interesting part of the cupping was the discussion afterwards. These guys are true professionals, they could instantly describe a coffee they had cupped and understand all of its idiosyncrasies. The most amazing thing was that they put aside personal preference to evaluate each cup for what it was. During the evaluation, they found out which farm each one came from, whether or not it was organic or Fair Trade, and what its intended use is, that is if flavoring will be added, if it will be part of a blend, etc. The cupping team is extremely knowledgeable, and it was awesome to learn more about the process.

A big round of applause and thank you to the Coffee Lab, seeing exactly how a perfect cup of coffee is created was so fascinating, and now I think about that process every time I drink coffee, which is frequently! I don’t know whether it was from the amount of caffeine I accidentally consume or the fact that I LOVED the cupping experience, but I was definitely buzzing from it for rest of the day!

-Gaby

Fair Trade Month Quiz:

Question 22: What is Max Havelaar?

Answer: The name of the first Fair Trade certification initiative and a fictional Dutch character who opposed the exploitation of coffee pickers in Dutch colonies.

Haven’t answered our Fair Trade Quiz question of the day, yet? Well, why not? The answer’s right there! If that isn’t enough for you, the first 100 participants* get a sample of Green Mountain Coffee’s Fair Trade Certified™ Organic House Blend and all answers get entered to the grand prize drawing of 12-months of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified™ Coffees. Go here to enter: http://www.eatdrinkandbefair.com/quiz.php.

*Sorry, employees and their immediate family members of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. are not eligible. But keep an eye out for our internal Fair Trade quiz.

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While there’s no way to really know, we’d like to think that Max Havelaar would approve of our Fair Trade efforts at Green Mountain Coffee. Or, at least that he’d enjoy one of our most popular seasonal Fair Trade coffees, Pumpkin Spice.

Pumpkin Mocha Supreme

People tell us they can’t wait for fall…and then they stock up on Pumpkin Spice like little squirrels. The cinnamon and nutmeg flavors are even better when you add a touch of hot chocolate.  Try this yummy Fair Trade recipe:

Pumpkin Mocha Supreme

• Brew a pot of Fair Trade Certified™ Pumpkin Spice or get a K-Cup of Pumpkin Spice


• Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg in the bottom of the coffee cup


• Fill the cup halfway with hot coffee (either from your pot or your Keurig machine)


• Fill the remainder of the cup with hot chocolate.  (We carry Fair Trade Organic Hot Cocoa from Lake Champlain Chocolates in our catalog and on our web site.)


• Top with whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon and/or shaved chocolate

Enjoy!

-Ken

Here's the scenario; you've got this great new OfficePRO™ Brewing System that appears to be a complete hit.  You've noticed more smiles in the office, a more vibrant workplace, and you've even been nominated to receive "Boss of the Year" award!  However; deeper exploration turns up a dark secret - not everyone in your office enjoys coffee!  What to do?

Assuming there must be a solution for this K-Cup conundrum, you run to your terminal, type www.BusinessCoffeeExpress into your browser (why don't you have this bookmarked yet?) and click on your Office EXPRESS account.  After a quick scan of K-Cup flavors, you exclaim, "YES! There is a solution: their new Cafe Escapes!"

Adding one box each of Cafe Escapes Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa and Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa to your next order, your grin widens - you are a shoo-in for the Boss of the Year award.  And, you just saved $2.50 per box and received free shipping.

Be sure to try out our new Cafe Escapes on your next Cafe EXPRESS order and let me know what your office thinks.  We are also going to be launching three new Escape flavors soon;  Cafe Mocha, Chai Latte and French Vanilla Cafe-au-Lait.

From small offices to large corporations we have an office coffee brewer to meet your needs.  Be sure to sign up today!

People tell us they can’t wait for fall…and then they stock up on Pumpkin Spice like little squirrels. The cinnamon and nutmeg flavors are even better when you add a touch of hot chocolate.  Try this yummy Fair Trade recipe:

Pumpkin Mocha Supreme

• Brew a pot of Fair Trade Certified™ Pumpkin Spice or get a K-Cup of Pumpkin Spice or Pumpkin Spice Decaf.


• Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg in the bottom of the coffee cup


• Fill the cup halfway with hot coffee (either from your pot or your Keurig machine)


• Fill the remainder of the cup with hot chocolate.  (We carry Fair Trade Organic Hot Cocoa from Lake Champlain Chocolates in our catalog and on our web site.)


• Top with whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon and/or shaved chocolate

Enjoy!