Despite the fact that I am a 23-year-old college graduate, I can't deny the fact I still possess a boyish love of games. Throughout my undergraduate career, my friends and I tore through just about every board and card game in the book during our weekly family game night (which we lovingly abbreviated to FGN) - Monopoly, Sorry, Uno, Risk, The Game of Life, Scrabble, Blockus and Taboo among many more. We even developed our own official/unofficial FGN rulebook in order to settle the inevitable disputes that would arise among our extremely competitive group of friends.

I bring up this particular aspect of my life because I recently got together with my remaining group of college friends to breathe some new life into the old FGN. We dusted off the Monopoly board and instantly it was like a junior year Wednesday night all over again. We started snatching up properties like it was going out of style.

I have to say, even though it wasn't the exact same crew that we had back in the day, it was great to reconnect in the name of  family game night. Before long, the same semi-good natured arguments had broken out, the old jokes were being relived (like when my friend Carlo famously threw Taboo across the room and stormed out of the apartment) and the refreshments were flowing free.

In fact, one of the most memorable aspects that reappeared during our update on FGN was brewing lots and lots of coffee. Back in college, family game night often crossed the midnight mark into the wee hours of the morning, so we made sure to keep our Keurig® brewer handy at all times. This time was no different - I was prepared with several Green Mountain Coffee® K-Cup® packs of Dark Magic® Extra Bold, French Roast and Colombian Fair Trade Select so that we could all get our favorite caffeine fixes.

And wouldn't you know, the rebirth of FGN once again crossed into familiar late night territory. After all, as anyone who has ever played Monopoly knows, it's not a game that goes quickly or easily - everyone was making deals and trades that prolonged the outcome well into the evening. Pretty soon, we had completely abandoned our other drinks in favor of cup after cup of coffee. Tired, yet still wired, we kept FGN going until my girlfriend Lena had emerged victorious - at 3:30 a.m. It was just like old times.

 

You may have heard, but today it was announced that the line of Keurig^® Single Cup Brewers is expanding with the addition of the Keurig^® Vue^™ brewer, a premium new platform designed with the ability to brew stronger, brew bigger, and brew hotter.

 

The new Vue^™ brewer, paired with new Vue^™ packs*, comes with all the ease and convenience of the existing Keurig^® K-Cup^® system with added customizable features so you have control over the strength, size, and temperature of your coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and iced beverages, as well as new frothy café beverages.

 

Pretty nice, right?

 

To say the least, I can't wait for the Keurig® Vue™ Brewer to be available for purchase in the coming weeks.  It has a lot of options that I’ve been dreaming about in a single cup coffee maker:

 

• Stronger Coffee: The Vue^™ brewer adjusts water pressure, timing, and airflow so I can have the stronger brew I love in the mornings – at any size.
• Bigger Coffee:  I can now brew into my large, stainless steel travel mug with new Vue^™ packs specially formulated to brew a bigger cup up to 18-oz.  I’m ready to fill my travel mug with a strong cup of my favorite Green Mountain Coffee® variety, Breakfast Blend.
• Hotter Beverages: Now, we can choose a temperature range between 187 and 197 degrees Fahrenheit to really customize our cups.  My wife Natasha enjoys drinking Celestial Seasonings Green Tea and always likes the water to be extra hot to let the tea seep. It’s like the designers had her in mind when they created the new Keurig® Vue™ Brewer!
• And much more:  A few Sundays back, I was enjoying some Dark Magic Extra Bold with Natasha with a plate full of crêpes (I like to think I am an expert at making crêpes).  We decided to add some homemade whipped cream to the coffee and crêpes – just to mix things up. Suddenly, Natasha looked at me and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if our Keurig® brewer could make a cappuccino?” Good news: The Vue™ brewer can!  With exclusive two-step Barista Prima^® Café beverages, I can now enjoy a cappuccino on the weekend when I am eating my crêpes with the family.

 

The Keurig® K-Cup® Brewer and the Keurig® Vue™ Brewer complement each other so well!  Deliciously simple and brewing what I like, the way I like it – what a pair!

 

*Just a reminder: The Keurig® Vue™ Brewer is not compatible with K-Cup® packs; they use Vue™ packs.

I always hear about pairing coffees with certain things.  Do some coffees taste better with certain foods?

-

I was at a lecture years ago with the great Ken Davids, coffee genius, and he said he thought that people sort of over-did the  whole idea of pairing coffee with food and they end up feeling locked in and not being creative and spontaneous. That said, he thought that heavy foods went better with heavier coffees (like Dark Magic® or any of the extra bold coffees) and lighter food should go with lighter coffees. That should give you some broad ranges to work in, right? According to Ken, coffee works best with desserts.

That same conference, I attended another lecture by Timothy James Castle, a foodie and writer. He thought that were two best ways to pair: Contrast and resonance. Here are some examples right from my notes:

• Dark chocolate goes with acid-y coffees like Guatemalans


• Milk chocolate goes with  Sumatrans or Konas


• Chicken Curry goes with a light roast coffee


• Ribeye steak goes with dark roast Sumatran


• Fruit compote goes high acid coffees

My favorite coffee and food pairing is taking a fresh cider donut and dipped into a cappuccino. It’s not exactly fine dining, but try it.  What do you like to pair?  So go forth and be creative and tell us what you find!

I enjoy dark, bold and intense coffees and Green Mountain Coffee’s Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Reserve Extra Bold is just about as perfect as it gets.  No cream, no sugar.  Just the deep, natural Indonesian mountain treat in its purest format.

For me, when I drink Fair Trade Certified™ coffees,  I know our coffee partners and farmers are getting a fair price.  This is better for them and their families - and is simply the right thing to do.  I like knowing my choice as a consumer makes a direct impact.

You all know we have brewing down cold, but did you know the same can be said for barbequing?

A few months ago, as the Green Mountain Coffee and the Brew Over Ice teams were ironing out a schedule for our current sampling tour, it was decided that we couldn't pass up the opportunity for Brew Over Ice to sponsor the Safeway Barbeque Battle in Washington, D.C..  This is one of the top barbeque events of the summer, shutting down Pennsylvania Avenue with games, music, and lots and lots of barbeque.  Perfect for iced coffee and iced tea, right?  As excited discussion around the event ensued, it surfaced that Derek, Green Mountain Coffee brand manager, is a certified Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) competition judge.  It turns out that not only is he a judge, but at the time Derek was finalizing plans to enter a team in various BBQ competitions around New England.  We put two and two together, and decided to enter our own team for the D.C. event, and compete alongside some of the most decorated teams on the competitive BBQ circuit.

Now it’s time to put our BBQ where our mouth is.

So, at the end of this very week, members of the Brew Over Ice and Green Mountain Coffee teams are traveling to our nation’s capitol to take part in this exciting contest on June 25^th and 26^th.  Derek, who moved to Vermont from Rhode Island by way of Massachusetts several years ago, lovingly dubbed his team “Flatlander BBQ”, playing off the word that Vermonters tend to call folks from outside of the Green Mountain state.

Technically, the Flatlander team consists of Derek and his wife Meghan, but for this weekend’s event, the team will temporarily expand to Extra Bold levels to include Kristen from Public Relations, Chris from Brew Over Ice, and Tyler and Roger from the Green Mountain Coffee team.  Together we're competing in all four competition categories – chicken, beef, pork ribs, and pork shoulder (for pulled pork).  We are also entering the “America’s Best Sauce Contest” to really put it over the top.

We hope to add to Flatlander’s recent success (Derek and Meghan took second place for pork and fifth place for chicken at the recent Cape Cod BBQ contest) by utilizing the special rubs and recipes that Derek concocted … oh, and did I mention that all of our entries will feature our bagged coffee and/or tea from Brew Over Ice K-Cup® portion packs? For additional authenticity, we will even be going so far as to use green coffee beans in the smokers, hopefully imparting the winning essence for all our entries.

So, as you’re doing your own backyard grilling this weekend, think of us as we attempt to smoke the competition (bad pun intended) at this national showdown!  Or if thinking seems like too little, follow our progress on Twitter (search for the #BBQBattle hashtag) and Facebook – or even come down to cheer us on (and try free Brew Over Ice samples in the Sampling Pavilion, too)!  Just remember, low and slow is the way to go, so let’s hear it for Flatlander BBQ!!!

April 18^th is soon upon us, and you know what that means: Tax Day. While we’re sure that most have had their taxes done for a long, long time, we thought that some may need a few revelations to finish this annual ritual on time.

And what revelation is better than the kind you get with Green Mountain Coffee?

Without further ado, here are our top 5 picks for the best Tax Day, revelation ready coffees:

5. Fair Trade Island Coconut – The Fair Trade coffee that reminds you of the trip to beach you’ll take after you’re done!  Plus, the coconut aroma is sure to spur you forward.
4. Harvard Blend – A blend that invites studied contemplation and may give you the smarts to take care of those line items.
3. Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Reserve – Extra Bold, Fair Trade, and ready to propel you to the finish line with this fierce cup!
2. Breakfast Blend Travel Mug: A classic, go-to coffee to help you out.  Plus, this travel mug size is packed with more coffee, so you can keep your eyes open to crunch those numbers.
1. Dark Magic® – Really, a little abracadabra never hurt.

Here’s to getting to the post office before 11:59 PM!  And remember: You can do it!

What is happening to all of the Fair Trade K-cups, I heard they are being discontinued? -Karen

--

Good news: Our Fair Trade K-Cups are not being discontinued.  Right now, Fair Trade and Organic certified and Colombian green bean supply is low due to weather conditions in Latin America and other unexpected circumstances, so we’re temporarily cutting back on a few blends until supply is up again.

Since we learned of this shortage, our coffee team has been working hard to identify and purchase as much of a supply of Fair Trade and Organic certified green coffee as possible.  This situation only galvanizes our commitment to the development of more certified farms to ensure that farmers live a better life and that you can get the double certified coffees you love.

The great news is that since our team has been working on this night and day, we expect that these coffees should be back in stock come late spring of this year.  In the meantime, we do have some suggestions to get you through until your favorite Fair Trade Espresso Blend or Fair Trade Organic Vanilla Cream returns:

Newman’s Own Organic Special Blend (K-Cup)	Green Mountain Coffee Sumatran Reserve Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend (not extra bold)
Newman’s Own Organic Nell’s Breakfast Blend (K-Cup)	Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend (not extra bold)
Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend	Green Mountain Coffee Dark Magic Green Mountain Coffee Double Black Diamond
Green Mountain Coffee Colombian Fair Trade Select	Green Mountain Coffee Our Blend Green Mountain Coffee Kenyan AA
Green Mountain Coffee FTO French Roast	Newman’s Own Orangics French Roast Green Mountain Coffee French Roast Green Mountain Coffee Dark Magic Green Mountain Coffee Double Black Diamond
Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Organic House Blend	Green Mountain Coffee Vermont Country Blend Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend Green Mountain Coffee Harvard Blend
Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Organic Rain Forest Blend	Green Mountain Coffee Dark Magic Green Mountain Coffee Double Black Diamond
Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Organic Vanilla Cream	Green Mountain Coffee Caramel Vanilla Cream Green Mountain Coffee French Vanilla

Thank you all for your patience!  We’ll be brewing these coffees again shortly!

“I read that Green Mountain has or will stop making all Kona K-cups …This makes me very sad…”

“… I cannot believe that you are discontinuing Kona Coffee.”

“Disappointed that you won't be making the 10% Kona Blend any longer!”

“Why was 10% Kona Blend discontinued?”

- From a team of Kona fans across the Internet, social media channels, and our own Customer Care.

--

Many of you know, we have discontinued our Green Mountain Coffee Extra Bold 10% Kona Blend.  We’re sad to do it – it’s a wonderful coffee and a favorite of many – but unexpected circumstances were not kind to Kona this year.

As you may have heard, coffee crop yields from Kona are down 50% due to natural crop cycles and unusually dry weather. This significant shortage has forced coffee roasters across the country to make changes to their Kona offerings, which, in our case, means discontinuing our Kona coffees.

We can’t tell the future, so we don’t know when/if 10% Kona will return.  But be sure of the fact that we are keeping an eye on news around the Kona crop and will be sure to blog again if anything changes.

In the mean time, our coffee team recommends that Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend or Extra Bold Kenyan AA may fit your Kona tastes.

Are you a part of the perfect pair on Valentine’s Day?  Like peanut butter and jelly? Like ham and eggs? Like chocolate and coffee?

Oh, yes: you’re just like chocolate and coffee.   I can see it in your eyes – that’s an extra bold, deeply roasted love with hints of sweet cherries and mocha!  A love like that deserves a little chocolate paired with the right coffee.  Maybe something like:

Lake Champlain Chocolate Organic Truffles and Dark Magic Espresso Blend (regular or decaf)

Velvety smooth, dense ganache centers, rich and whipped Vermont cream and butter, hand decorated ... and now organic!  Take a sip of Dark Magic with a bite of a truffle – and you have a dark mocha mélange in your mouth!

King Arthur Flour Lava Cake Mix and French Vanilla (regular or decaf)

When we tried this chocolate lava cake mix, it took three ingredients and five minutes to make. After 14 minutes in the oven, we had an oozing chocolate treat worthy of a full-page photo in a fancy cooking magazine. The buttery and sweet qualities of our French Vanilla pair perfectly with this rich dessert.

Colts Chocolate Covered Marshmallows and French Roast (regular or decaf)

Colts wrap petite, fluffy pillow puffs in demi-dark chocolate and snuggle them inside a lovely gift canister. They’re perfect as an après-dinner treat, or for tossing into a hot mug of  French Roast.

Sound good enough for the other half of your heart?  Let’s make it sound a little more perfect: Free Shipping for Valentine’s Day! Use keycode LOVE-DAY at http://www.GreenMountainCoffee.com for FREE STANDARD SHIPPING within the contiguous U.S. until 2/7/11.  Remember: Offer valid from 2/1/11 – 2/7/11. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Café EXPRESS members are eligible and the offer applies to one-time orders only.  Cannot be applied to recurring Café EXPRESS orders.

Over the past few months, many of you have responded to our blog posts about the return of your favorite seasonal coffees, asking why our seasonal blends have been retired from the the K-Cup® Portion-Pack line-up.

Trust us: It was not an easy decision to make.  We know how much some of you love these blends and brewing them in your Keurig® brewer, so the retirement was not one we took lightly.

Discontinuing items from our product lines not new -- as a company, it's standard practice for us to evaluate our products' performance to see how well they're doing, for better or for worse.  At a recent review of our Seasonal coffees, it was shown that the Flavored Seasonal coffees in K-Cups outselling the Seasonal Blends in K-Cups 4 to 1.  We also saw that Seasonal bagged coffees are strong overall, for both flavors and blends.

It's never easy to have to break news like this to our customers--we realize that decisions like this can be disappointing to those who develop a fondness for the products that are discontinued.

But there is are a few options for those of you who adored our Seasonal Blends in K-Cups.  First, Seasonal Blends are still available in bags - so you can pick up at My K-Cup adapter and still brew your favorite.  Second, while the Seasonal Blends are no longer available in K-Cups, our coffee team has worked to find some great recommendations of other coffee blends that you may enjoy:

In place of Holiday Blend, try Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend or Newman’s Own Special Blend Extra Bold.




In place of Wicked Winter® Blend, try Green Mountain Coffee Lake & Lodge®.




In place of Spring Revival® Blend, try Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend.




In place of Summer Safari® Blend, try Green Mountain Coffee Colombian Fair Trade Select.




In place of Autumn Harvest Blend®, try Fair Trade Vermont Country Blend.

Some days you just feel dark. Dangerously dark.  You look for thrills around every corner.  Never mind the path less traveled, you want to seek out places nobody’s dared to go.  A new trail?  In!  Fugu for lunch?  Done! Organizing the office supply cabinet? …well, we’ll see.

Point is, when it comes to finding a thrill during your coffee break, there’s no doubt you’re reaching for some Double Black Diamond^™ Extra Bold.  It's a heavy-bodied coffee with a dark and toasty flavor. On a darkness scale of 1 - 10, this one goes to eleven all by itself – add a little coffee mixology to the mix and we’re at twelve.

K-Cup^® Sweet Edge Recipe:

• Brew a K-Cup® portion pack of Double Black Diamond Extra Bold into a large mug.


• Brew a K-Cup® of Caramel Vanilla Cream into the same mug.


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


• Live on the edge-- add whipped cream and enjoy the thrill.

So, will the Sweet Edge be your coffee break drink of choice today, National Coffee Break Day? Or are you feeling so extreme that you’re going to mix up your own brew?

It’s the first week of November, and you know what that means: time for another edition of Ask the Coffee Lab.

This week’s question is a grouping of a number of inquiries from the Twittervesere and Customer Care:

“I've heard of coffees from Africa and South America, but why not North America?”

--
Great question! This is one that we get quite a bit.

First, some background: Coffee comes from a plant that grows in over 100 hundred different countries around the planet, generally between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. If you don't have a map in front of you, those are the two lines on the globe at 23.5 degrees North and 23.5 degrees South of the Equator. As a refresher back to grade school, the Equator is where the days and nights are the same length, they never vary, and it's pretty hot.

Coffee is a tropical plant that needs plenty of sun and water, but it also is a bit of a "Goldilocks" plant. It doesn't want to be too hot, not too cool, not too rainy, and not too dry. It does terribly with frost and hates drought.

With all of that in mind, coffee does actually does grow in North America. Mexico is one of the top ten largest producers in the world and is (another refresher from school) part of North America.

But what I think you may have really meant is if coffee grows within the United States.  Yes, coffee does grow in the United States, in the country’s 50^th state specifically!  Hawaii is a great place to grow plenty of coffee like the Kona coffee in our Extra Bold 10% Kona Blend.  It’s tropical, hot, and has weather patterns that make coffee plants quite content.

Vermont is not tropical, hot year-round, and tends to have weather patterns that change hourly; however, in our coffee lab here in Waterbury, Vermont, we have a coffee plant sitting inside by a big window. There's also a nice older lady who lives 30-minutes south of here and has a number of coffee trees on her patio, but only in the summer. Plenty of people grow coffee trees in the continental United Sates, but no one is doing it commercially to our knowledge.

Hope that helped to answer your coffee quandary!

I hope it doesn’t surprise you, be we love coffee here at Green Mountain Coffee.  We love it from bean to cup: from the faint ‘snap’ of coffee cherries getting plucked from the tree in source all the way to that first cup in the morning to help us focus and get the day started at home.  We love what coffee can do and the joy it can give. But sometimes, just sometimes, we wonder if we’re going overboard in our adoration for this little bean, and then...well, we see things like this:

We’re pleased to introduce Morgan, a Green Mountain Coffee fan who, in her own words, “absolutely LOVE[s] Green Mountain Coffee, so I thought that I would dedicate a video to my fondness of it.”  We spotted this on YouTube and knew that we had found a coffee fan that had as much love for great coffee (and good deals) as we do! Our caffeinated thanks to Morgan for sharing her extra bold passion with us and the coffee-verse!  Keep your java passion percolating!

Of course, I know you all have a joy for java - feel free to tell us about what you love about coffee!

The sun is shining, the lawn mowers are roaring, and we in the United States have a 3-day weekend ahead of us to celebrate Independence Day with family, BBQs,  and icy cold beverages.

Like iced coffee.  (What?  You thought we meant something else?)

In the spirit of this weekend, our Coffee Lab tackles a question asked by many, many coffee fans via Twitter, our Facebook page, and to our Customer Care team:

“How do you make iced coffee? Mine tastes horrible!”

--

I know I'm stating the obvious, but it's hot in the summer (in most places). It's probably hot where you are right now, too? But, even when it’s 99-degrees, you need coffee everyday (I know I do). So, why not have your cake and eat it too and drink coffee that is cold on purpose.

I can still recall when I made some amazing iced coffee one hot, sticky summer when I was building my house and falling behind schedule. One morning when I made a French press of something Fair Trade Organic and dark roasted, I made two servings in two separate mugs, added half and half, and some raw, whipped honey - yum. I drank one and put the other mug, hot coffee and all, in the fridge, for later. Lunch time came around, and I had heaven in a chilly coffee mug. I got a lot done that summer, needless to say.

Of course, that's an alternate way to make iced coffee – there is an official answer. When customers call and say that their iced coffee is horrible, it's because they are usually using someone else's coffee. Just kidding. Truth is, what usually happens when people hate their iced coffee is that the coffee brewed regularly and then got watered down with iced cubes when they melted, resulting in a watery, cold coffee as opposed to the refreshing iced variety. The way to make really good ice coffee is to make it bold.

Here's what we do in 3 easy steps -

1) Double brew a pot of your favorite Green Mountain Coffee - (Usual amount of water, twice the amount of coffee.)

2) Ice it - pour hot coffee into a pitcher of ice (Tip: If you like, make ice cubes a head of time out of coffee for an extra blast of flavor) and chill until the ice melts. (Remember: Brew in smaller batches to keep it fresh.)

3) Add more ice, cream, and sugar to taste.

Toddy Brewers are also the classic way to make iced coffee. You make a concentrate with an overnight cold brewing method and then add water and ice. It's great for camping: make a batch of concentrate, then bring it with you with your mug and you don't even need to bring a brewer or the coffee.

Lastly, another ways to get great iced coffee is to use Green Mountain Coffee’s Brew Over Ice K-Cups®  for iced coffee and use your Keurig® to brew right into a cup of ice. A few seconds later you walk away with a great cup of iced coffee with minimal effort.

And like that, horrible iced coffee is gone forever!

6/1/10 Update: Back in the spring, many of you responded to the blog post below, asking Green Mountain Coffee to add more 80-count boxes to our product selection.  And we heard you, loud and clear!  Although we do not have plans of doing any major expansion to our offering of 80-count boxes of K-Cups, we are pleased to announce one new arrival:  Caribou Daybreak Morning Blend.  For those of you who are already fans of this coffee in the 24-count box and are looking to buy more and save, then this new 80-count is for you!

---

If you are a serious coffee drinker like me who goes through boxes of K-Cup® faster than the weather changes here in Vermont, or if you're just looking to stock up and save, we have the perfect solution for you: 80-count K-Cup boxes of your favorite coffees from our family of brands.  As of June 1, 2010, we're pleased to be adding a new 80 count box to the mix:

• Green Mountain Coffee® Colombian Fair Trade Select


• Green Mountain Coffee® Hazelnut


• Tully's® French Roast


• Tully's® Kona Blend


• Newman's Own® Organics Nell's Breakfast Blend Extra Bold


• Newman's Own® Organics Special Blend Extra Bold


• Caribou Coffee® Caribou Blend

The 80-count box not only gives you more coffee, it makes your wallet happier, too.  It takes over three 24-count boxes to equal 80 K-Cups, so buying one 80-count box instead of 3+ of the 24-counts saves you almost $3; not to mention you get free shipping (within the contiguous US only) when you order from our site. And if you're a Café EXPRESS member, you'll save even more!

Someone once said, "Everybody should believe in something. I believe I'll have another coffee." With the 80-count K-Cup box, you will have more coffee on hand and you'll save money—which makes having another coffee easier than ever!

Check out the members of the 80-count family by clicking on the K-Cup lid of your choice:

Ready for a question the puzzles even the most die-hard coffee fan?

“How can you have an Extra Bold Light roast?”

--

Sometimes it’s a little confusing reading all the different names and styles of coffee we offer. In the best of all possible worlds, you could sit around with a little book and taste coffee all day and make notes, with elegant sketches of apricots and blueberries to remind of the fruit notes in that Ethiopian you liked.

But back to reality and the confusion…

The longer the coffee is in the roaster (basically a big oven that keeps the beans moving and hot), the darker the coffee gets. A lighter roast is in the roaster for less time than a darker roast. The darker the coffee gets, the more intense it gets, but it also gets less complex. Some people say the longer the better; some say not so much. To each his own – that’s why we offer more than 100 different coffees.

Now, let’s talk about the boldness of your coffee.  When you open up a bag of dark roast coffee, people say, “Whew, that’s strong coffee!”

That’s not an untrue statement, but when we say strong, we’re referring to the amount of coffee to the amount of water – we call that brew strength. When we say “bold”, we also referring to the amount of coffee to water – and in this case – the amount of coffee in the K-Cup. Extra bold K-Cups have more coffee in them (around 30% more coffee to be exact).

If you’re up for an Extra Bold light roast, try our Extra Bold Kenyan AA or Donut House Coffee.

That’s another month of Ask the Coffee Lab. If you have questions to ask our Coffee Team, leave a comment here, on Twitter (Follow us: @Coffee_Lab), or Facebook.

-Winston

Your K-Cup^® favorites are now ready for your morning commute! We’re launching three coffee varieties in a new Travel Mug K-Cup^®, made just for coffee lovers who can never get too much of a good thing.

Travel Mug K-Cups^® are specially designed portion packs that create perfectly-brewed coffee on the largest brew size setting of the Keurig^® Single-Cup Brewer. New technology allows more coffee to be packed into each K-Cup, which means the coffee is as strong and rich when brewed at 10- or 12-ounces as a conventional K-Cup is when brewed at 6- or 8-ounces.

Travel Mug K-Cups are available online at www.GreenMountainCoffee.com in three varieties:

• Green Mountain Coffee^® Breakfast Blend


• Green Mountain Coffee^® French Roast, and


• Donut House™ Extra Bold

And they are $1 off per box until 6/17/2010 with the key code TRAVEL-MUGS.  (Cafe EXPRESS members will automatically save an additional $1 in addition to their $2.50 per box savings)

Can’t wait to fill your travel mug?  Neither can we!  That’s why today Wednesday, March 17 through Friday, March 19 we’re giving away a box of not one, not two, but all three varieties of Travel Mug K-Cups (plus two Green Mountain Coffee Travel Mugs) each day to one of our Twitter followers that has a travel mug ready to be filled.

Here’s how it works:

• Follow @GreenMtnCoffee on Twitter.


• Between 8 and 11am EST, @reply us with a picture of your empty travel mug and the hashtag #FillMyTravelMug.
  
  
  
  • Example Tweet - @GreenMtnCoffee #FillMyTravelMug http://yfrog.com/ev3f9j
    
    
    
    • And no, you can’t use my picture ;-)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • The daily winner will be randomly drawn and announced on @GreenMtnCoffee and our Facebook page.
  
  
  • For Official Rules, see below:
  
  
  
  

  Travel Mug K-Cup Sweepstakes

  OFFICIAL RULES

  NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE THE CHANCE OF WINNING. INTERNET ACCESS NECESSARY TO ENTER AND WIN.  RESTRICTIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED.

  ENTRIES POSTED TO THE GIVEAWAY ACCOUNT ARE NOT EDITED BY SPONSOR AND ARE THE VIEWS/OPINIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ENTRANT AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF SPONSOR.
  ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia ("U.S.") who are 18 years of age or older as of March 16, 2010. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. This Sweepstakes is subject to the laws of the United States and Vermont and all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Employees of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., and Keurig, Incorporated and each of their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, sweepstakes and fulfillment agencies, and members of the immediate family or household of each of the above are not eligible to participate.

  SPONSOR: The Sponsor of this Sweepstakes is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., 33 Coffee Lane, Waterbury, VT 05676 (“Sponsor” or “GMCR”).

  ENTRY PERIOD: The Travel Mug K-Cup® Portion Pack Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”) runs daily from 8:00:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST) to 11:00:00 AM EST  on each of  March 17, 2010, March 18, 2010 and March 19, 2010 only (the "Sweepstakes Period").   Entries must be received no later than 11:00:00 AM EST March 19, 2010.  No entries will be accepted outside of the 8:00:00 AM EST to 11:00:00 EST daily entry period.

  HOW TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE THE CHANCE OF WINNING. To enter, visit www.twitter.com and log-in or create a free Twitter account. Then become a follower of @GreenMtnCoffee and reply to @GreenMtnCoffee with a link to a picture of an empty travel mug and the given “hashtag” (#FillMyTravelMug).  Winner will be notified from the @GreenMtnCoffee page (or as otherwise determined by Sponsor in its discretion).  All entries must be received by 10:59:00 AM EST to to 11:00:00 AM EST daily from March 17, 2010 until March 19, 2010.  All entries must be uploaded via a Twitter Image Sharing Service (suchas Twitpic or vfrog) for posting to a tweet via tinyuri.   NO OTHER FORMATS OR METHODS OF ENTRY ARE ACCEPTABLE.

  ALL ENTRIES BECOME THE PROPERTY OF SPONSOR.  BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, ENTRANT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HIS/HER ENTRY (INCLUSIVE OF THE PHOTO) WILL BE OWNED BY SPONSOR, AND MAY BE POSTED ON SPONSORS' WEBSITE OR DISPLAYED ON SPONSOR’S OTHER PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS IN ANY MEDIA THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IN PERPETUITY IN SPONSOR’S DISCRETION WITHOUT ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION TO ENTRANT. Sponsor reserves the right to, but may or may not, monitor or screen entries and may or may not edit any entry in its sole discretion. By entering, you acknowledge that Sponsor has no obligation to use or post any entry or any entry in its entirety.  You assign all rights in the entry to Sponsor, its successors and assigns in perpetuity.  You waive any moral rights in your entry.  You warrant that your entry is your original work, has not been previously published, is not defamatory, scandalous, offensive or unlawful, and does not infringe on the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party.  Your entry does not endorse any commercial product or service other than Sponsor’s products and services.   You entry does not disparage Sponsor or any third party.

  Limit one (1) entry per person/twitter address/day.  No person/twitter address can win more than one time for the duration of the Giveaway. No mechanized, programmed or robotic entries are eligible, and use of illegal entry mechanisms may result in disqualification of the entrant.

  All entries are subject to verification by Sponsor.

  PRIZE: Three (3) twenty-two (22) count boxes of Travel Mug K-Cup® portion packs and two (2) Green Mountain Coffee-branded travel mugs (each a “Daily Sweepstakes Prize”); ARV of each Daily Sweepstakes Prize is $72.  ARV of all prized to be awarded hereunder (collectively, the “Prizes”) is $216.  All Prizes will be awarded. Prize includes shipment to winner’s address in the US.  Taxes are the responsibility of the winners.

  ALL PRIZES ARE AWARDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE EXCLUDED. WINNERS AGREE TO ACCEPT THE PRIZE “AS-IS.”

  ODDS OF WINNING: Odds of winning are dependent upon the total number of eligible entries received.

  RESTRICTIONS: No assignment, transfer, cash redemption, or substitution of prize is permitted, provided that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any listed prize for one of equal or greater value if the designated prize should become unavailable for any reason.

  Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of that provision.

  DRAWING: The three (3) Daily Sweepstakes Prize winners will be selected by Sponsor in a random daily drawing from among all eligible entries received in the day prior to such drawing. Daily Sweepstakes Prize drawings will be conducted on or about Wednesday, March 17, 2010; Thursday, March 18, 2010; and Friday, March 19, 2010 by GMCR.

  Winner notification will be by Twitter or any other method chosen by Sponsor.  Potential winner will be required to contact Sponsor by direct message to Green Mountain Coffee via Twitter or as directed within forty-eight (48) hours of winner notification (the "Response Period").   Return of a prize notification as undeliverable or failure to respond within the Response Period will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected. If the winner chooses not to accept a Prize, an alternate winner will be chosen. In the event of a dispute, entries will be declared made by the authorized account holder of Twitter account submitted at time of entry. Unless otherwise noted, allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of a Prize following completion of notification and prize acceptance process. Prizes will only be delivered to addresses within the United States.

  PUBLICITY: Except where prohibited, participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes the winner's consent to Sponsor's use of winner's name, photograph, image, voice, opinions, biographical information, hometown and state for Sponsor’s purposes in any media in perpetuity without further payment or consideration.

  GENERAL RELEASE: By participating and/or submitting an entry in this Sweepstakes, entrants agree: (a) to these Official Rules and all decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final in all respects relating to this Sweepstakes; and (b) to release and hold harmless Sponsor, and Keurig, Incorporated and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers and employees and agents from and against any claim, cause of action, liability or expense (including attorneys' fees) arising out of participation in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use of any Prize.   SPONSOR MAY REQUIRE EXECUTION OF A SPECIFIC RELEASE PRIOR TO AWARD OF ANY PRIZE.

  LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, DISPUTES: If, for any reason, the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, whether due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes. In the event of termination, a random drawing to award the Prizes will be conducted from eligible entries received up until the time of termination, if such a drawing can be fairly conducted in Sponsor's judgment.

  Sponsor is not responsible for (i) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software, printing or typographical errors or lost, illegible or incomplete entries; (ii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any providers, transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iii) unauthorized human intervention in or unauthorized alteration to any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (iv) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; or (v) any injury or damage to persons or property, including but not limited to entrant's computer, hardware or software, which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant's participation in the Sweepstakes.
  
  CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS SWEEPSTAKESIS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

  Entrant agrees that as a condition of entering the Sweepstakes: (i) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Sweepstakes, or prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the state and federal courts of the State of Vermont; (ii) by participating or submitting an entry in the Sweepstakes, entrant consents to the personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction of such courts for such purpose; (iii) the parties waive any right to trial by jury; (iv) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred by entrant, including costs associated with entering this Sweepstakes but in no event entrant's attorneys' fees; and (v) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain award for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and further waives any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE RESTRICTIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

  GOVERNING LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Vermont, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law Official Rules.

  ENTRY INFORMATION: Entry information becomes property of Sponsor subject to Sponsor's privacy policy as posted on its website at the following Internet address: www.GreenMountainCoffee.com.

  WINNERS LIST: For a list of winners, mail a self-addressed stamped envelope by May 1, 2010 to: Travel Mug K-Cup Portion Pack Sweepstake Winners List Request, 33 Coffee Lane, PO Box 370, Waterbury, VT 05676-9927. Limit one request per envelope. Vermont residents do not need to include return postage.

  COPY OF RULES:  For a printed copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Travel Mug K-Cup Portion Pack Sweepstakes Rules, 33 Coffee Lane, PO Box 370, Waterbury, VT 05676-9927. Limit one request per envelope.  Vermont residents do not need to include return postage.

  ©2010 Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.  K-Cup® is the registered trademark of Keurig, Incorporated.   Green Mountain Coffee is the registered trademark of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.

If you're one of our Café Express members, we’ve got a great limited time offer for you. Purchase any Donut House ™ Coffee K-Cup® with a delivery date before 3/5/2010 and get an extra $1.00 off your existing discount. Sign in to your account or join Café Express today to receive great member benefits.  Share the Donut House discount with a friend when you Drop a Donut House on a friend.

Our Donut House™ coffees  are good, straightforward coffees that remind you of the days when you could just order a “regular” cup of joe and never be disappointed.  These coffees offer rich, bold flavors and a little kick to get you going.

Let me just say, “WOW!”

As someone who just joined GMCR's Specialty Coffee Business Unit team this summer, I’m ecstatic to hear that GMCR made Forbes’ list of America’s Best Small Companies of 2009, placing in the Top 10 at number 5!  This is our third consecutive year on the list, jumping from #55 in 2008, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

So, I’m going to say it again: “WOW!”  Take this quote from Forbes, for example:

“[GMCR’s] gourmet java, sold through coffee shops and grocers, still pours in a recession.”

Love it.  I even love the pun.  It’s brew-ti-ful, if I may be so (extra) bold (K-Cup).

For a look at the full list, check it out here.  And do say, “Hello,” when scrolling past ranking number 5…

-Kristen

With over 80 varieties of K-Cups offered by Green Mountain Coffee, choosing your favorite can feel a little overwhelming.  Remember the days when you would stop at your local coffee shop, order a "regular" coffee, and you always knew what you were getting.  No surprises, no disappointments. Just a simple and consistent cup of joe.  Coming soon,  Green Mountain Coffee will offer that reliable taste with Donut House Collection.  Four delicious varieties designed to satisfy your need for a good ol' cup of coffee:

• Donut House^™(Extra Bold)


• Donut House^™Decaf (Extra Bold)


• Cinnamon Roll^™


• Chocolate Glazed Donut^™

Look for these bold and dependably rich varieties in the coming week at www.GreenMountainCoffee.com.