Single Cup Coffee Pot

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!

We are pleased to announce that the Mr. Coffee® single serve brewer is now part of our family of brewers!

Mr. Coffee, a trusted name in household coffee makers, has partnered with Keurig® technology to bring you the best of both worlds--the quality and value you'd expect from a Mr. Coffee machine, along with the convenience of single cup brewing.

It takes just a few simple steps to enjoy your favorite coffee, tea, or hot cocoa:

1. Insert a K-Cup


2. Fill water tank


3. Brew


4. Voila!

The small footprint of the Mr. Coffee brewer makes a great fit for limited spaces, and it's compact size makes it easy to take with you on the road if you want to enjoy the Keurig experience in your camper, or even in your hotel room.

Someone once said that,  "Forever is the time it takes to brew the first pot of coffee in the morning."  The Mr. Coffee single serve brewer shortens forever to under three minutes for a perfectly brewed 8-ounce cup of Joe!  It also features an auto shut-off feature and a removable drip tray.  It comes with a variety pack of five K-Cup®  portion packs.

People have been relying on Mr. Coffee coffeemakers to start their day for nearly 40 years.  No doubt the Mr. Coffee single serve brewer will help to carry on this legacy.

Who doesn’t enjoy the aromas and flavors of fresh-baked gingerbread? Alone, our Fair Trade Certified™ Gingerbread coffee offers the zesty ginger and spice aromas of Mom's old-fashioned gingerbread pastry and warm oven-fresh flavor.

With a little steamed milk and caramel added to the mix, this coffee offers a new form of holiday indulgence for your taste buds.

Caramel Gingerbread Cream Recipe

• Brew a pot of Fair Trade Gingerbread coffee.


• Combine 2/3 coffee and 1/3 steamed light cream in a mug.


• Add caramel syrup to taste. Top with whipped cream and a swirl of caramel syrup.

For Keurig Single-Cup brewers:

• Brew a K-Cup® portion pack of Fair Trade Certified™ Gingerbread into a 16oz. mug.


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


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


• Top with whipped cream and a swirl of caramel syrup for an extra festive touch.

Now that’s a revelation worth trying.  (And try it soon - Gingerbread is a Holiday Seasonal and will only be available until December 24!)

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

Welcome to another revelation-ary edition of Ask the Coffee Lab.  This week, our crack Coffee Lab tackles a question wondering about proper coffee etiquette:

"Be honest with me, is drinking coffee with sugar and cream the wrong way to drink coffee?"

--

The National Coffee Association does an annual drinking trends survey of coffee drinkers. The 2010 version says that 63 percent of surveyed coffee drinkers put some kind of milk or milk substitute in their coffee and 48 percent put some kind of sweetener in their coffee. Only 31 percent didn't put anything in their coffee.

If you are doing something wrong, (don't worry - you're not), you have plenty of company.  We used to have a customer brochure that said "the best cup of coffee is the one you like best." We don't have that brochure anymore, but we still believe in the saying. It's your coffee, you paid for it, you enjoy it the way you see fit.

Me, personally? Organic Valley Half and Half and local, raw, whipped honey, every single day at my house before work.

There's a reason sugar and cream are popular. Cream (milk, half and half, non-dairy creamers) all add body to your coffee, cool it off (!), and the fat in higher fat creamers coats your tongue and actually suspends some of the flavors in your mouth longer. Milk also cuts some of the bitter in any coffee.  Sugar? Sugar makes most things taste better.

Lastly, I will add some caveats: Lighter roasted single-origin coffees with very delicate, clean tastes tend to have their subtleties lost a bit with cream and or sugar. Darker roasts and dark roast blends take cream and sugar a little better. And when we say better, we mean the coffee stands up to the additives and still has some "say" in the end result. If you want to experiment, Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is a great coffee to drink straight (no additives). Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend in a French Press or drip coffee pot goes great with cream and sugar.

Do you have other suggestions, let us know!

GMCR was again included on Forbes' list of "Americas 200 Best Small Companies."  We were ranked #55, up from our 2007 ranking of #88.  This year, Forbes gave us a special call-out in the "Everyday Tech Stars" section for the Keurig brewer.

Click Here for our inclusion in the "200 Best" introductory piece.  Below is a nice quote from their story.

"Yet there are also many other companies utilizing technology affecting our everyday lives. Take Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (nasdaq: GMCR). Its Keurig Single-Cup Brewer has revolutionized coffee making for those not interested in making a whole pot. The single-cup market rose 59% last year to $176 million, according to research firm NPD. Single-cup penetration is still only 5% of U.S. households, leaving lots of room for growth."

Click Here to see the nice GMCR call-out in their "Everyday Tech Stars" section.  Forbes wrote:

"Green Mountain's Keurig single-cup brewer is an enabler for java addicts. Pop a coffee pack into one its machines, and a cup of the good stuff is a simple touch of a button away--no grinding, no measuring, no mess and no physical evidence (that can't be washed away)."

Click Here for Forbes' summary of our financials.