Green Mountain Cafe – The Green Mountain Coffee Blog

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?”

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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!

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They say, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  But, as I’m sure we’ve all wondered, how much is it worth if it’s in a K-Cup box?

We’re about to find out, thanks to Mike from New Hampshire, Green Mountain Coffee fan and avian enthusiast, who sent our Customer Care team a most surprising and heartwarming story of his rescue of baby birds fallen from their nest:

[I] have an Eastern Phoebe build a nest under my deck. Something last night turned it over and dumped the baby birds onto the ground.  In order to try to help, I put the babies back in the nest and put the nest in one of your K-cup boxes and now they have a new home.  I have been monitoring them with a remote camera and have video of Mama and babies using your box as a nest.

And here’s that very video:

Everyone together now, “Awwwwww!” Our heartfelt thanks to Mike for sharing this with us and for being so creative in his search to help out animals in need.  Keep up the caffeinated cause!

UPDATE: According to Mike, the birds have all successfully flown the “box” – yes!

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Every year, around this time, it happens: I get my first whiff of autumn and I savor it. I always remember my first brush with autumn whether it’s as subtle as noticing the chill on a foggy morning, or as obvious as the Oktoberfest brews in the beer aisle. For others, the words “Pumpkin Spice Coffee” kick off their autumnal season.  There’s no denying the intense aromas of this coffee. When I smell this coffee, I can’t help but think of throwing on my coziest wool sweater and wandering the farmer’s market under an umbrella of changing leaves.  The flavors can send me into a daydream of a cool weather hike up Mt. Mansfield followed by a scenic drive through Smuggler’s Notch.

Pumpkin Spice’s seasonal sister, Autumn Harvest is not to be forgotten. This coffee is my morning cup from September through early November.  Its medium body with smoky notes reminds me of my usual French Roast, but with a twist. I also find myself indulging in a second afternoon cup when Autumn Harvest is available. It’s a perfect warm me up, wake me up combo and is even more enjoyable while I’m leaf peeping on my commute home.

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It happened this week – on my way to work, I saw a section of woods that was no longer bright, glorious green but was beginning to take on a yellow-orange hue. That change in color only means one thing: Autumn is only a hop, skip, and a jump away.

While autumn signals the countdown to the arrival of our Limited Edition Autumn Seasonals for many, it also means the warm Vermont days are coming to a close here in Waterbury. In an attempt to cling to the sweet joys that summer bring, we asked a few members of our Customer Care department (and now members of the Green Mountain Coffee Tasters Guild) to give us their take on the Celestial Seasonings^® Brew Over Ice Sweet Berry Lime and Brew Over Ice Sweet Tropical Breeze Perfect Iced Teas.  And, as always, they did not disappoint.

First, Meghan takes her green thumb (and tea) to the garden to ruminate on a tumbler of Sweet Berry Lime Green Iced Tea:

Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not a coffee drinker! So when we came out with this amazing Sweet Berry Lime Iced Tea, I couldn’t help but assume it was all for me! But luckily for you, my fellow tea buddies, I share :-) So sip and relax, your on Green Mountain (Tea) Time!

And what about the men and their love for tea, too?  That’s where Craig comes in, letting his Sweet Tropical Breeze White Iced Tea take him on a sweet retreat.

Some people still call it an afternoon break.  With Sweet Tropical Breeze in my cup, I call it an escape to paradise.

The leaves may be changing, but we’re still in the spirit of summer around here.  Let the summer Brew Over Ice spirit stay strong!

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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!

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As the summer goes on, it’s clear that the most valued employee on our Waterbury campus is our ice maker.  Since Brew Over Ice K-Cup® portion packs appeared in the break room during one of the hottest weeks this summer, that glorious device of frozen delight has been working overtime.

And for good reason: We need our iced coffee. When mid-afternoon rolls around (or even when it hits 10 a.m.), we jump at the thought of a chilly-drink that’s bold, fresh, and “ahh”-inspiring.  It’s just too good to turn down when it’s so simple to brew and tastes so good, just ask two enthusiastic members of our newly dubbed Green Mountain Coffee Tasters Guild:

First, French Vanilla Iced Coffee K-Cups® with a newly-energized, ready to “chilax” Caitlin from marketing.

Yes, we have ice! Afternoon energy lull be gone! With a tumbler full of French Vanilla Iced Coffee, I have the perfect exotic afternoon pick-me-up to get me through the rest of my day.

And what about Nantucket Blend® Iced Coffee K-Cups®? Lesley from B2B, our resident poet, thinks it’s totally tubular – like hanging ten in the office!

An Iced Nantucket in the middle of the day turns work into a getaway!

Now those are two brews you can get behind and brew directly over ice!  I sense a trip to the ice maker coming on…

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Finances keeping you from taking a vacation this summer?  Then it’s time to create your own affordable backyard alternative: bring out your lawn chairs, kiddie pool, sunscreen, plastic flamingos, and let your taste buds whisk you away to exotic places with the latest Brew Over Ice K-Cup® portion packs for your Keurig® brewer.

We are introducing two new varieties of Brew Over Ice Perfect Iced Teas from Celestial Seasonings® to help you choose your destination. First is Sweet Berry Lime Iced Green Tea—a sweet and citrusy fusion of smooth green tea and juicy berry flavor with a splash of lime.

Second is Sweet Tropical Breeze Iced White Tea—a refreshing fusion of delicate white tea and the tempting tropical flavors of passion fruit and papaya.

If you want to go for something a bit less tropical, then our Perfect Iced Tea Variety Pack might just be the ticket. This pack lets you try our four classic iced teas: lemon, raspberry, peach, and unsweetened black tea, all in one place. Sample them all and find the one you love!

Whichever one you choose, you will find a paradise of flavor, right in your glass. And with our limited time price discount, you can afford to travel to both places, as long as you remember to enter the keycode BREW-ICED in your shopping cart when booking your iced getaway.

This just in: we are extending our discount for $1.00 on ALL boxes of Brew Over Ice K-Cups through 10/4/10! Stock up and save!

Remember, Brew Over Ice is simple: Fill a tall (16 oz.) cup (do not use glass) with ice and place under brewer. Shake K-Cup and place in brewer. Choose your brew size (6 or 8 oz.) and press “brew.” Add additional ice as needed. To see how easy it is to brew these coolly refreshing beverages, click here:

Our Perfect Iced Teas are a convenient way to serve up the quintessential summertime beverage—one cup at a time. Click below to see our entire selection of Brew Over Ice products.

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