Is your dad a little nutty?  Pull out your Keurig® brewer and mix up this concoction for him on Father’s Day.  Serving him The Nutty Mocha not only shows that you know he’s a little goofy, but you love him more for it!

The Nutty Mocha

 

Ingredients

• - One Green Mountain Coffee® Mocha Nut Fudge K-Cup® pack
• - One Green Mountain Coffee® Sumatran Reserve K-Cup® pack
• - One Café Escapes® Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa K-Cup® pack
• - Milk (or whipped cream)
• - Keurig™ Milk Frother
• - Cocoa powder (optional)

Directions

• - Brew 6 ounces of Green Mountain Coffee® Mocha Nut Fudge in an extra-large mug
• - Brew 6 ounces of Green Mountain Coffee® Sumatran Reserve into the same mug
• - Brew 4 or 6 ounces of Café Escapes® Dark Chocolate into the same mug
• - Froth Milk
• - Gently stir in frothed milk or top with whipped cream
• - Sprinkle with cocoa powder, serve with love!

Mother’s Day isn’t too far away, so make sure it’s time to make sure you get her the perfect gift. Struggling for some ideas? We wanted to make things easier for you this year with a gift guide of things to buy mom on her special day to go with that Keurig^® brewer you got her last year.

1. When you were younger, you probably got one of those “#1 MOM” coffee mugs. You can still let your mom know she is #1 with a beautiful mug like, the Guatemalan Teal Mug. A lot of care went into making these hand painted Guatemalan mugs, and she'll know it, too.

2. You can’t always be there for her to help tidy up the house, but the Black and Silver K-Cup® Pack Storage Tower  will help her organizing the kitchen and keep things neat.

3. To make her day extra special, buy her some of her favorite Keurig® brewed beverages, like some Café Escapes® if your mom needs some “me time”, or maybe some Barista Prima® coffee for mothers who want to transport themselves to a European coffee house for the afternoon!

We have a lot more ideas on our website, in case your mom is more of a maple syrup or biscotti lover. No matter what you end up getting mom for Mother’s Day, make sure you give her all of the love and appreciation she deserves.

We're committed to creating a higher quality of life for our coffee communities all over the world, and a better cup of coffee for you. That's why we're excited to announce that one of our best-selling and most loved coffees, Green Mountain Coffee® Nantucket Blend®, is now one hundred percent Fair Trade Certified™!

That’s right. One hundred percent fair trade!

This means approximately five million pounds of our coffee will switch to being fair trade this fiscal year alone!  That's almost $1 million in fair trade social premiums that go back to the farmers each year.  Named the world’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade coffees in 2010 and 2011, this is just another step in toward our commitment to support fair trade - and other opportunity to share the great quality and familiar tastes that a conversion of such a beloved coffee can do for fans!

Take part in our quest to do good and pop in a Fair Trade Nantucket Blend K-Cup® in your Keurig® brewer.  Brew a Better Day™!

Have a passion for coffee? Crazy for chocolate? Have a minty swish in your step as you imagine yourself on a piazza in Italy?  Then our resident K-Cup® mixologist in has a recipe for you:

Italian Peppermint Mocha

Ingredients

• - One Barista Prima Coffeehouse® Italian Roast K-Cup® or Vue® pack
• - 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• - 2+ tablespoons of chocolate syrup
• - Half & Half to taste
• - Whipped Cream
•  -Crushed peppermint candies (optional)

 

Directions

Brew 6-8 ounces (make it Strong brew on your Vue® brewer if you're in for a tres forte mocha) of Barista Prima® Italian Roast into a large mug

Add peppermint extract

Add 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup

Add Half & Half, gently stir

Top with whipped cream

Drizzle chocolate syrup and sprinkle crushed peppermint candies on top

Enjoy!

For those of us in New England, the fall season conjures up images of brilliant fall foliage, apple picking, pumpkins, and a hint of chill in the air.  With the onset of this glorious season comes another highlight to fans of the Green Mountain Coffee® Family of Brands: our fall catalog! The fall edition of our catalog is jam-packed with a large assortment of coffees, teas, and beverages, as well as a variety of food, mugs, and gift baskets to help get you started with your holiday shopping.

A few highlights, for your reading pleasure: 

1. Our catalog opens with a Hot Apple Cider from Green Mountain Naturals®. Nothing says fall quite like a cup of hot apple cider—now available in both K-Cup® and Vue® packs.

2. Wellness Brewed™ Beverages:  A new collection of K-Cup® packs, created with your wellness in mind.  Included in this collection are two new coffees, two new teas, and Vitamin Burst™ fruit-brewed beverages.

3. The Gift of Discovery:  We are bringing you a few handicrafts from artisans that live and work in some of the world’s finest coffee-growing regions.

4. Vue® Brewer, the next generation Keurig® brewer!

5. Accessorize your Keurig® Experience:  Featuring a full range of storage solutions for K-Cup® packs.

6. Lot and lots of gifts: The catalog closes with six pages of ideas for just about everyone on your list.  No excuses this year - the perfect present awaits!

For those of you who may not have received a catalog in the mail, it’s not too late to get your hands on one!  It is available to you in a digital format that you can read online. Or, if you’d like to receive a print copy, please fill out the catalog request form.

Happy shopping!

They're here: the dog days of summer. If you're like me, you're craving fall (and Fair Trade Pumpkin Spice K-Cup® packs) like crazy. But we're not quite there. These last few weeks of summer's warmth and late sunsets are just the time to savor Green Mountain Coffee's Brew Over Ice flavors.

Around our house, we adore all the Brew Over Ice choices, from Nantucket Blend Iced Coffee to Strawberry Pomegranate Vitamin Burst™, but we decided to harness the inherent dessert qualities of Brew Over Ice Hazelnut coffee to make one last summery treat - Brew Over Ice Hazelnut and Cream Ice Pops! Just a few simple ingredients and one press of your Keurig® brewer's button will have you on the way to an indulgent sweet treat that's easy too. We love this novel approach to "iced" coffee. I can see making many more ice pops this way with all the Brew Over Ice flavors! I used my Zoku Pop Maker to create these ice pops, but you can use any ice pop mold you like. It'll just take longer to freeze each layer.

 

 

Green Mountain Coffee® Brew Over Ice Hazelnut & Cream Ice Pops

makes 4 ice pops

Ingredients

6 oz Green Mountain Coffee® Brew Over Ice Hazelnut coffee

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 oz Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss Vanilla Creamer

Directions

Brew one 6 oz cup of Green Mountain Coffee® Brew Over Ice Hazelnut coffee in your Keurig® brewer. Pour the cup into a small saucepan and add sugar.

Stir the coffee-sugar mixture frequently over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Pour the coffee back into a ceramic mug and place it in the refrigerator. Allow the coffee to cool completely before you make the ice pops. When the coffee is cool, use a measuring cup or funnel to pour coffee into each pop mold about 1/3 of the way up.

Place in the freezer and allow to freeze completely before starting the next layer.

When the first layer is frozen, repeat this step with Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss creamer, pouring it on top of the first layer, another 1/3 of the way up the pop mold. Place back in the freezer and allow to freeze completely.

Once the second layer is frozen, finish with another coffee layer.

If you'd rather have ice pops in a hurry, and don't care about the striped look, simply mix the coffee and creamer together and freeze all at once.

 Some things just belong together: peanut butter and jelly, sugar and spice, Sting and Trudy, salt and pepper, Sweet and Creamy Nutty Hazelnut Iced Coffee and French Vanilla iced coffee….

 Trust me, that last pair needs to be added to this list as another perfect combination.

 Why?

As some of you already know, I love a good glass of Brew Over Ice coffee in the summer, and I’m always searching for new ways to drink it. It was a stroke of genius (or maybe just a mild heat stroke) that inspired me to combine two of my beloved icy brews into one fabulous summer indulgence: the Creamy Vanilla Hazelnut Iced Coffee.

 It’s simple to make, and even simpler to drink, and perfectly blends two of my favorite flavors, vanilla and Hazelnut. Here’s the easy recipe.

1. Brew 2 K-Cup® packs of Sweet and Creamy Nutty Hazelnut Iced Coffee on the 6 oz. setting without ice into a mug (or cup) and then carefully pour the brew into a standard ice-cube tray (remember: it's hot).
2. Place into the freezer and wait until the Sweet and Creamy Cubes are frozen.
3. Take your frozen Sweet and Creamy cubes and put them in a 16 oz. plastic tumbler (as you would with normal ice cubes for any Brew Over Ice beverage), and place under your Keurig® brewer.
4. Pop a Green Mountain Coffee® French Vanilla Iced Coffee K-Cup® pack into your brewer and brew at the 6 oz. setting, over the Sweet and Creamy Cubes. As the coffee brews, it will melt some of the Sweet and Creamy cubes, expertly blending the Hazelnut and French Vanilla flavors. Add simple syrup to taste.

 

 

And that’s it! You have yourself a delightful Creamy Vanilla Hazelnut Iced Coffee! It’s easy, pretty, delicious… A perfect summer pairing!

Here on the PR team, we’re all super excited about a recent…doctor’s visit.

Before you assume I’m about to go seriously TMI and tell you about my last physical, let me assure you that I’m not talking about my general practitioner…or any old doctor. I’m talking about THE doctor: Dr. Gadget. Last Friday, the “Guru of Giveaways” featured Keurig® Platinum Brewer and Brew Over Ice K-Cup® packs on The View’s hottest summertime gadgets segment.

 “What it’s all about is this new system that they’ve got with the K-Cup®!” Dr. Gadget said, demonstrating how to Brew Over Ice with Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselback.

Both Elizabeth and Dr. Gadget noted that the Brew Over Ice K-Cup® packs, ranging in variety from Celestial Seasonings® Perfect Iced Teas to The Original Donut Shop® Sweet & Creamy iced coffee, are specially formulated to retain their flavor when brewed directly over ice.

“You guys know how when you take coffee and put it over ice it gets all watered down?” Dr. Gadget asked the cheering crowd. “Well, not anymore!”

And here in Vermont where the mercury has been regularly rising to a staggering 99°F lately, we are so thankful for that.

The lucky studio audience on set that day got a brewer and K-Cup® packs to take home. No surprise there, as Dr. Gadget gives away more than $200,000 worth of products on average to The View’s audiences, according to his website. He even coined the phrase, “Everybody Gets One!” (Seriously, he did. I thought it was Oprah, too.) Anyway, we’re all thrilled to have the doctor’s approval; he even described Brew Over Ice as “perfectly blended” with a “great formula”!

Want to beat the heat in your area? Get in on this cool (literally) summertime trend ASAP! I’ve been sipping away on my Sweet & Creamy Nutty Hazelnut iced coffee in the office every day, and I think you need some in your life. You can get this tasty summer cool-down in a cup at our website, and check us out on The View in the clip below—we come in at 2:32.

Stay cool!

 

Yesterday was not only the first official day of summer, but here in Vermont the temperature reached a record-breaking 95 degrees! While we native Vermonters are used to winter conditions – it can snow anytime between November and April around these parts – this heat wave is really throwing us for a loop. We know how to keep warm with a down snowsuit, a hand-knit hat, and a steamy mug of coffee but keeping cool is a new phenomenon altogether.

As someone who drives a non-air-conditioned truck, and whose house is kept cool by a series of fans and open windows, beating the heat can be a bit of an art form. These past two days have seen me relying on my Keurig® brewer to chill me out, brewing cup after cup (after cup, after cup) of my favorite Brew Over Ice iced beverages.  I’ve been drinking my favorite summer treat, Brew Over Ice Nantucket Blend Iced Coffee, to both cool me down, and perk me up.  Until today.

You can imagine my horror today when I realized I was not the only one at the office using Brew Over Ice to beat this week’s heat – when I went to the break room to make myself a cup, I discovered the box of Nantucket Blend Iced coffee was completely empty! After frantically searching for just one more K-Cup® pack, I had to accept that I was going to find a different way to refresh myself.

I decided to try and fend off my disappointment, and the high temperatures, with the Original Donut Shop’s new Sweet and Creamy Nutty Hazelnut Iced Coffee. After all, it was sitting right next to my beloved Nantucket Blend on the shelf. I filled up my plastic cup with ice, popped the K-Cup® pack in the brewer, and pressed the 8-oz. brew setting. I took a curious first sip, and then another deep slurp. The mix of toasty hazelnut and coffee flavors, and the sweet cream notes was the perfect way to beat the heat, and give me that afternoon perk I craved.

I think I’ve just found the best way for a Vermonter to keep cool in the summer months - how are you beating the heat today?

 

I have to say that I'm ecstatic that the weather is finally starting to fall in line with typical spring temperatures, because I was finding it awfully difficult to drag myself out of the house for any sort of activity recently. Not only does the sudden burst of sunshine mean I can start hiking and cycling outdoors again, but I can also pursue one of my favorite pastimes - hitting the open road in search of adventure. While I'm all in favor of traveling to distant, exotic locations by airplane, there's something about embarking on a spring or summer road trip that I simply can't resist.

I'm still in the planning stages of picking a destination for my impending getaway, but I have a couple of ideas in mind. I've already been all over the northeast and southwest, so I'm thinking about hugging the Atlantic coast all the way from Vermont down to Florida for a tour of the southeast.

In my frequent travels, I've developed a series of strategies for not only saving as much as a can on the road, but making sure I'm not bogged down by any unnecessary delays. I've found that if I stick to these tried-and-true methods, I'm able to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of my road trips without breaking the bank.

First of all, I rarely travel without a companion if I can help it. Not only does this help in terms of splitting gas and hotel accommodations, but it's also just nice to share an adventure with a friend or family member. This time around, I'm planning on sharing the road with my boyfriend Alden for our first vacation together as a couple. Considering that we live in different states (I'm in Vermont while he's in Massachusetts), I'm super excited to spend more than a couple of days together as we cruise south.

Another great thing about having a traveling buddy is that it makes the trip much safer. While I can always rely on a nice cup of Nantucket Blend® coffee to keep me alert and focused, spending hours behind the wheel can even render caffeine ineffective. It's nice to know that when I'm growing too sleepy to keep driving, Alden can just take over while I relax and sip the remainder of my delicious coffee.

In fact, coffee is such an important part of my travel experience that Alden and I have even decided to pack up my Keurig® brewer to have when we stop in hotels for the night - you can never count of good coffee at roadside accommodations, after all. With a great cup of coffee only a push of a button away, we'll save plenty of money by avoiding expensive coffee shops, and that's something anyone can get behind when you're on an extended vacation.

As a competitive runner, people usually assume that I'm some sort of superhuman fitness and nutrition guru who dedicates her entire day to becoming a healthier person. While eating like an athlete certainly takes work (I regularly fight urges to binge on some very sugary snacks, in case you're wondering), I'd be lying if I said that intense workouts and a rigid diet are my entire life. I think I've managed to find a relatively simple path toward a healthier lifestyle - one that doesn't require sweating profusely in the gym five times per day or eating chalky nutritional supplements on a daily basis.

With summer quickly approaching, several of my friends have asked me for some guidance about slimming down (swimsuit weather is almost here!) and incorporating more nutritious foods into their diets. And let me tell you - they were all stunned at the incredibly easy and straightforward advice I gave them about how I maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle every day. Here are some of my not-so-secret tips for success.

While many people feel like they need to run or jog several miles a day for an effective cardio workout, I've found that hiking and mountain biking are also enjoyable alternatives that fit nicely into my daily routine. On beautiful sunny days, it’s hard to make myself return indoors even after finishing a workout, so I’ll hike some local trails if I feel that more vitamin D and exercise are necessary. Similarly, I love exploring the beautiful back roads of Vermont on the weekends by bike. As long as you get outside and start moving, there's no reason you need to make a cardio workout feel like torture.

To be honest, I've tried cutting snacks and desserts out of my life and it just hasn't worked. Even if I manage to go a day or two without indulging, I typically find myself gravitating towards the junk food isle looking for sugary sweets. Once I came to terms with this inevitable reality, I learned to adjust my eating habits so that my snacks benefit my diet. I try to keep low-fat cheeses in the fridge along with an assortment of fruits.

However, my secret weapon to nutritional success is my Keurig® brewer. While it's great for brewing a hot cup of coffee in the morning, I primarily use it to enjoy a variety of my favorite hot tea flavors, such as Mandarin Orange Spice, India Spice Chai, Green Tea, Mint Medley and English Breakfast. Not only are these flavors rich in antioxidants, but they're also incredibly convenient to make and taste great - all it takes is the push of a button. 

I will admit – when I cross the finish line after a hard race, I often opt for a thick vanilla milkshake rather than tea.  Reward yourself!  A healthy lifestyle change doesn’t have to mean “die” with a t.  So, there you have it. It doesn't take much to lead a healthier lifestyle - all you need to do is make time to get outside and incorporate nutritional snacks into your everyday life in order to get off on the right foot.

I am an iced coffee fanatic, so you can image my excitement that the Original Donut Shop™ Coffee now has two new Brew Over Ice flavors, Sweet and Creamy Iced Coffee K-Cup® packs, available in Regular and Nutty Hazelnut.

Both are very welcome additions to our Brew Over Ice line of iced coffees for your Keurig® Brewer. I usually add cream and sugar to my iced coffee because I like them sweet and creamy but these two coffees are already just the way I like them, with a dash of cream and sugar.  Just pop one in your Keurig brewer, brew over ice using the 6-ounce setting, and enjoy!

Simply put: Sweet and Creamy is iced coffee made easy. 

I wasn't going to waste a second of the gorgeous spring weather, so I gathered a couple of buddies for some pickup games at the rec park. It was nice to shed sweaters and raincoats in favor of a t-shirt and shorts as we took in the warm sunshine. We started off with some half-field soccer and finished up by just throwing a Frisbee around for the last couple hours - just how a nice spring afternoon should be spent.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of playing with close friends on the weekends is the sideline banter. Even though we don't take our games all that seriously, we all have a bit of a competitive side that tends to come out as we play. The amount of good-natured trash talk that's thrown around during our water breaks is hilarious and makes the games much more fun. Minor boasting turns into bragging, and soon enough it just goes straight to outright insults.

We had all gotten so used to the cool, rainy weather that we all forgot how hot it gets running around in the sun all day. By the end of the afternoon, we were all a little burned, or parched, or both and looking for a cool place to relax. I invited everyone back to my house, which happens to be the closest and the one with by far the best selection of iced tea and iced coffee (might have something to do with working for a coffee company...) . Luckily, I stocked up on plenty of K-Cup® packs for my Keurig® brewer before the weekend, so I had plenty to go around.

Some of my friends are relative newcomers to the one-touch convenience of the Keurig® system, and they were especially surprised by the Brew Over Ice varieties. It only took a quick demo before I had requests for both iced tea and iced coffee - vital caffeine supplements to help us recover from our post-sports malaise.

All in all, it was a great afternoon with the guys that I hope we can keep going all spring and summer long. Here's to hoping that Mother Nature is willing to play along with the good weather...

Guys, can I take a minute here to talk about one of my favorite times of year? No, not summer antiquing - I'm talking about music festival season. While one of the year's biggest music events - Coachella - just passed back in April, many of the summer's most exciting extravaganzas of live music, artwork, delicious food, camping and comedy are just around the corner - Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza, Wakarusa, Sasquatch and Austin City Limits, among dozens of others.

While I try to get to as many of these incredible events as I can, the sheer volume of live music makes it impossible. Because of this, I have to pick and choose which festivals I want to experience each year. As someone who enjoys the outdoors, I tend to prefer the festivals that let me take advantage of the opportunity to spend a few days enjoying the sun and greenery, but I also like mixing things up with the occasional city jam every now and again.

This year, I'm heading down to Bonnaroo in the great state of Tennessee. For four incredible days, we get to disconnect from everything happening in the outside world and just listen to some of my favorite artists and bands. The event starts in just under a month, so I've already gotten to work organizing the necessary supplies.

Along with the essentials, a tent, food, sunscreen, lots of water, ice and summer clothing, I never forget to bring a whole heaping mound of Green Mountain Coffee® K-Cup® packs. Luckily the campground I am staying at provides electricity to each campsite so my Keurig® brewer can continue to function at the picnic table with nothing more than an extension cord - it beats searching for a decent cup of coffee every morning, afternoon, and night.

There's nothing better than a cup of Nantucket Blend® Iced Coffee to beat the summer heat during the early morning performances. However, it can get a little chilly at night - even in the middle of June in Tennessee - so it's nice to have some hot French Roast coffee to get me through the late night shows that sometimes cross into the wee hours of the morning.

Considering that we'll be sleeping in tents under the hot sun - not the easiest conditions to get any amount of rest in - the coffee is as much about the routine and taste as it is survival. However, no amount of roughing it will deter me from my love of my musical summers.

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.

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes there's nothing better with a hot cup of coffee than a cookie. A really great cookie, where every bite offers a surprise. A crispy outer texture and a chewy middle are also must-haves. This is what I wanted when I started thinking about today's recipe featuring Green Mountain Coffee^®Fair Trade Island Coconut® Coffee. Island Coconut is one of my favorite Green Mountain Coffee seasonal flavors, second only to Fair Trade Pumpkin Spice (which, from me, love springs eternal). I dare say Island Coconut is my husband's favorite Green Mountain flavor, period. I was inspired to create a cookie that you would love, but also that he would adore, given it's his favorite flavor.

 

I gathered as many coconutty mix-ins as I could, and even went so far as to separate the Almond Joy Pieces - think M&Ms with toasted coconut and almond inside - by color, only adding the brown and cream colored candies. (There may have been discussion of my OCD behaviors as I separated out the blue candies from the brown and cream.) You coconut lovers are going to really enjoy that Fair Trade Island Coconut Coffee makes an appearance in both the cookies and a yummy glaze for the top. Don't skip the glaze! It's so easy to make, and really adds something special to your afternoon coffee break.

As you read the recipe, you'll notice that I say to refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 20 minutes. This is a recommendation I would make to you for any cookie dough, not just my recipe. Cookie dough bakes and tastes better if it is allowed to get cold again before baking. That's why those store-bought ready-made doughs taste so darn good and look so uniform when baking. Refrigerating your homemade cookie dough will get you the same delicious results. Let's just say if you place a plate of these next to the office Keurig^®brewer, you're going to be everyone's favorite co-worker. I hope you love them as much as we did!

 

Island Coconut Cookies

makes approximately 32 large cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies

4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups of butter, melted (3 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Fair Trade Island Coconut coffee
2 large eggs
1 cup Almond Joy Pieces
1 cup toasted angel flake coconut
1 cup cocoa dusted almonds, chopped

For the Glaze
1/4 cup Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Island Coconut coffee
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

For the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Brew a cup of Green Mountain Fair Trade Island Coconut Coffee. Use the smallest setting your Keurig allows. I used my 4 oz setting. Allow the coffee to come to room temperature, placing in the refrigerator if necessary to speed up the process.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, kosher salt, baking soda and quick cooking oats. Use a whisk to combine the ingredients evenly and aerate the flour. Set aside.

When the oven is heated, place the angel flake coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet in an even layer and place in the oven. Bake for 7-12 minutes, checking often in the last 5 minutes of cooking. The coconut should toast to a spotty golden brown. Don't expect all of the coconut to change color.

Remove from the oven immediately if you see any pieces start to get dark brown. Turn the oven off again once toasted.

In the bowl of a food processor, place the cup of cocoa dusted almonds. Pulse repeatedly until the almonds are fairly small chunks.

In a medium bowl, combine the cooled coconut, cocoa dusted almond pieces and Almond Joy pieces. Mix by hand until evenly distributed, then set aside.

Melt the sticks of butter in a microwave safe bowl, then allow them to cool slightly. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, both sugars, vanilla, and coffee. Mix on low until combined, then add the two eggs. Mix on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add flour mixture in increments, mixing on low after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before you add more flour each time. When flour mix is completely incorporated, add the toasted coconut mixture and mix on low or by hand until the mix-ins are well distributed.

Place the entire bowl of dough in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, though half an hour is better.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Using a large cookie scoop, scoop 9 cookies at a time onto a parchment lined baking tray. Place the dough back in the refrigerator after you dish out each set of 9.

Bake for roughly 17 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown. Allow them to cool for a moment on the tray, then remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before glazing.

 

For the Glaze

In the bowl of a mixer or small mixing bowl, combine coffee, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. Mix on medium high until the cream cheese has completely mixed in and the glaze becomes fairly thick. Add more powdered sugar if you would like the glaze to be thicker.

When the cookies are completely cool, spread them out on paper towel. Place the glaze in a frosting bag or ziptop bag. Seal the bag by twisting to remove all the air, pushing all the glaze into one sealed corner of the bag for piping. Cut a very small tip off the corner of the bag, then pipe glaze onto the cookies in any pattern you like (I did a criss-cross zig-zag). Allow the glaze to set for at least an hour, then place the cookies in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for freshness. Serve alongside strong cups of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Island Coconut coffee!

It is difficult for those of us who have not served to understand what that act means. The experience is non-transferrable – something we can read about, hear stories, watch the news on, but only those who have been there can know.

Until recently, after his passing, I did not know how much being a Veteran meant to my 91-year-old Great Uncle Vinnie. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry 89th Division under General Patton. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was also part of the first wave of infantry men to liberate Dauchen, the first concentration camp to be entered by the Allied Forces. Until days before his passing, he served as Secretary and Treasurer of his local American Legion.

He was a jovial man – always laughing, dancing and loving life. If you really knew him though you knew he carried the memories of his service with him always – though he didn’t show the shock and trauma he had experienced outwardly. He appreciated the comforts of home – dry socks, a full belly, and a hot cup of coffee (he never refused a meal, even if he had just eaten, or a cup of freshly brewed coffee).

Knowing this about him and his time in the service, I’m proud to know our coffee and brewers are providing that comfort to many of our service women and men.

While abroad, soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan can visit one of Holy Joe’s Cafes to sip fresh Green Mountain Coffee and relax with their fellow servicemen. So far, we’ve sent over 13,500 lbs of bagged coffee and over 9 million K-Cup Portion Packs.

And at their deployment and arrival home we work with Pease Greeters at the PortsmouthInternational Airport at Pease, NH to provide a warm farewell and welcome home. We provide coffee (around 1,000 cups per month!) and Keurig Single-Cup Brewers so that great coffee, freshly brewed is available to the troops as they pass through the airport. Food, gifts and ceremony are all part of the Pease Greeters send-offs and welcome-backs.

For those of you who have served, we thank you for your sacrifice both during and after your service. We wish all of you the comforts of home on this Veteran’s Day – warm socks, a full belly and certainly great coffee!

Is there a type/brand of coffee that is easy on the digestion? I miss my cup of coffee!

- From @Bluesky107

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I always feel like this is a complicated question to answer because there are so many variables to how any one person’s system works - and then there’s always some subjectivity involved, too.

Let’s start with the basics: The pH scale measures the acidic or basic properties a substance. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is basic.

On the pH scale, most coffee is just below neural at 5. Remarkably, orange juice and beer are considered more acidic than coffee.

So, coffee is acidic, but not that acidic. Acidity can get mixed up in people's heads with other factors  - between the sweetness and brightness of fine, high-grown coffee properly roasted and brewed and acid/alkaline balance and how their stomachs feel about and react to coffee, it can be hard to determine what exact is the culprit for that digestion issue.

For people who want that lower acid coffee - and there really is no such thing naturally (save for those gimmicky, chemically-altered coffees targeting a certain niche market), we usually recommend Indonesian coffees, like Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Reserve, and darker roasted coffees.  The former tends to be gentler on the stomach due to the drying process, according to fans like you, and the latter are less acidic due to the longer roasting process.

Here are some of my own personal observations about acidity:

1. Cheaper, lower-quality coffee will be more acidic and bitter


2. Dry process coffees, or "naturals", tend to be less acidic (like some African and Indonesian coffees)


3. High grown, washed Arabica beans from Central and South America tend to be brighter and more acidic (in a tangy way, not in the pH sense)


4. The lighter the roast, the more acidic it will appear to be (though on the pH scale its not significant)


5. Darker roasts are naturally less acidic (but not by much). This runs counter to what people think about dark roasts.


6. The longer the coffee sits after brewing, the more acidic it gets (literally). This is a good reason to use a Keurig® brewer or brew with a French Press.

Everyone's sensitivities and preferences are different. Our other recommendation would be to try decaffeinated coffee. Some customers report that they were sensitive to the caffeine content, not the acidity as they had originally suspected. Of course, as always, your doctor knows best.

Each year, we here at Green Mountain Coffee® provide the opportunity for one lucky fan to win a new Keurig® Single-Cup Brewer along with a lifetime supply of K-Cup® portion packs!  The contest is called The Perfect Cup Sweepstakes and it's been growing in popularity since it was introduced.

I am happy to introduce you all to Raymond of Fall River, MA, who is this year's big winner!  Raymond was recently awarded with his new Keurig Platinum Brewer along with a lifetime supply of coffee.  Way to go, Raymond!

Raymond entered our sweepstakes as many days as he could, saying he might have only missed "a day or two" (Persistence is key!).  He was really surprised to learn he was the big winner, but says since receiving the brewer, he now drinks a lot more coffee due to the convenience of putting in a portion pack rather than brewing an entire pot of coffee and tossing most it.  Breakfast Blend is Raymond's favorite, but he's been known to drink a stronger blend on occasion.  In Raymond's words, "I would recommend this contest to anyone who likes good coffee."

Congrats again, Raymond!  Happy brewing!

So what does it take to be like Raymond?  Simply The Perfect K-Cup Sweepstakes , fill out the information – and you’re set!  There are daily prize giveaways with the chance at our Grand Prize which will be awarded in early 2012.  Enter early, enter often!

Business Coffee Express would like to take the time to commemorate Administrative Professionals Day^® not just because it is usually the office managers, secretaries, and administrative assistants who are in charge of ordering our coffees and selecting their office's Keurig® single-cup brewer, but because at Green Mountain Coffee, as in most workplaces, they are the backbone of the organization (and some of our favorite people, too).

Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) has honored office workers by sponsoring Administrative Professionals Week (April 24-30
this year). Outside of employee birthdays and major holidays, it is one of the largest workplace observances.   The event is now celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff.

For the 2011 celebration, the theme is, "This year, celebrate all office professionals." The recession has hit everyone in the office and forced all of us to pull together and work harder, so the IAAP encourages us to recognize the hard work and sacrifice from everyone and celebrate all Office Pros.

According to the IAAP, administrative professionals are one of the largest segments of the office workforce. Here are some fast facts:

More than 4.2 million administrative assistants and secretaries, along with 1.4 million supervisors of office and administrative support workers, were employed in the United States in 2006 (U.S. Department of Labor).




A total of 476,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada, including 365,670 secretaries, 26,390 executive assistants and 84,140 clerical supervisors (Statistics Canada).




More than 255,000 administrative assistant and secretarial positions will be added in the U.S. between 2004 and 2014, representing growth of 6.2%. More than 438,000 office supervisor positions will be added. (U.S. Department of Labor)

So, here's to you, Office Pros, we at Business Coffee Express and Green Mountain Coffee raise our mugs to you all week, but especially today!  Cheers!