Talking Espresso and Great Coffee

Tim Hortons is something that I along with other Canadians truly feel is one of Canada’s great wonders. Tim Hortons is undoubtedly one of the single most popular coffee shops ever.

Every time I go to Tim Hortons I get the same welcoming feeling. Polite staff, familiar menu, familiar colors, and a familiar smell. No matter where the Tim Hortons is located, all of these are the same. Because of this, people continually come back, including myself.

Tim Hortons has very cheap coffee, and it tastes amazing. You can buy an extra large coffee for under $2, and it really is “Extra-Large”. the coffee is smooth, and you can really taste the way the coffee has been roasted. The aroma of the coffee is very deep and rich, and it is one of those familiar smells.

Tim Hortons is most famous for their “Double Double” which is a coffee that has two shots of creme, and two shots of sugar. It is also my personal favorite. The reason it is my favorite is because sometimes the coffee at “Timmys” tastes a bit too burnt, and this offsets it enough so that the coffee is more or less perfect, every time.

Another great feature of time Hortons is their food. Every time I get food from them, it is simply amazing, and once again is a great price. The French Onion soup, and their Sandwiches are very rich, warm, and great tasting.

Overall, Tim Hortons is a great place, and anyone who gets the chance really should try it. I recommend it to anyone visiting Canada, and people who live in the United States seeing as they have opened a few stores there.

…AND Coffee Brands Simultaneously

Making the switch from my morning Starbucks Breakfast Blend coffee to Coffee People’s Donut Shop K-Cup for Keurig was much easier than I anticipated.

I remember the day I bought my Keurig B70 single-cup coffee maker at Costco.  I had been thinking about making the switch from my automatic coffee maker to the Keurig for some time, and with the discount Costco had on the machines at the time made it almost impossible to pass up.

I was excited to load the Keurig machine into my cart, but as I approached the checkout counter, I hesitated.  Would I be turning my back on the brand I had been loyal to for over ten years? Did convenience finally win out over quality?  I didn’t know it at the time, but after trying about eight different brands of K-Cups, I eventually found a couple brands that matched the quality of the Breakfast Blend coffee from Starbucks that I had been drinking for years.

It’s hard to change your routine, especially a morning routine that you have been accustomed to for many years.  Waking up in the morning to your favorite cup of coffee is like waking up to an old friend.  The first morning I came downstairs to make my first cup of coffee with my Keurig felt like I was going behind a lover’s back (OK, maybe an exaggeration), but I did feel plenty guilty.

The Keurig machine I bought came with lots of K-Cups to try.  When I tried my first K-Cup cup of coffee, I was hugely disappointed.  I thought I had made a big mistake purchasing this machine.  The coffee was bitter and metallic tasting.  Would Costco take this machine back after it had been used?  After pouring the first cup out and trying another brand of K-Cup, I felt no better.  It was on the third try that I was in heaven.  I found Coffee People’s Donut Shop.  That was it; I was hooked.

Am I happy I purchased the Keurig?  You bet!  I look forward to coming downstairs in the morning to greet my new old friend.  However, I do get a bit nostalgic during the Holidays when Starbucks releases their “only for a limited time” Christmas Blend coffee.  Not to worry though–my local Starbucks is just a short drive from home.

Buzzing by the local Starbucks, we knew the holiday season was upon us as the Christmas Blend was available! If your new to the Christmas Blend, you might want to give it a try if you like slightly stronger coffee without the burnt taste and without the afterburn most often found with the stronger day coffees.

Starbucks describes it as: Multi-Region Blends, Tasting – Sweet, spicy, herbal.
The normal bags of the regular Christmas beans are available. Normally, we enjoy for the month to two months, then they are not available anymore and you can only drink ‘older’ beans. This year, Starbucks has added a Espresso bean version.

And finally, for us folks on the go, a VIA version. Yes, for the first time we can have a cup of the Christmas Blend even when a bean grinder isn’t available. We are normally talking about what a little speciality coffee shop can do better than the big chains, but in this case we are really happy we can take our seasonal coffee with us.

My first thoughts on Starbucks’ new flavored Via coffee (Caramel, in this case) are that it’s sweet.  Really, really sweet.  Sweet like watching a toddler playing in a room full of puppies and kittens.  You don’t even need to add the water and start drinking to experience this; the pre-brewed blend itself assaults your nose with a caramel/sugar aroma as soon as the packet is opened.  I am surprised that there are only 60 calories in a serving, because it sure seems like the entire output of the U.S. sugar industry is distilled into each individual package.

I’m not saying that it isn’t tasty, once you’ve quickly and easily mixed 8 ounces of hot water with the coffee.  I have become so used to the over-roasted taste of Starbucks’ drip coffee that this was a welcome change.  It may also be that I’ve been taking my coffee black for close to a year, and that this is too great of a contrast to not mention it.

That sweet flavor does capture the hint of a caramel macchiato (my previous “regular” drink at Starbucks, before I switched to dry cappuccinos).  As I love all things caramel, it goes without saying that I enjoy the taste.  I dare say that if you’re not a huge fan of coffee, but do like flavored espresso drinks, you’ll probably like the new flavored Via.  It’s certainly easy to make, and for coffee junkies like me it’s perhaps a bit less like the punch in the face that is the regular office coffee/swill and more like drinking the milk left behind from a sugary cereal.  It’s an efficacious caffeine-delivery system.

Furthermore, with Via, you don’t have to worry about making the communal coffee or being ostracized for taking the last cup without replenishing the carafe.  Overall, I recommend it unless you are the kind of person who thinks that a tablespoon of half-and-half and packet of sugar makes coffee too unbearably sweet.

It’s fun to see new infographics on coffee. Previously there has been ones on caffeine, what is in your favorite espresso drink as well as the history of coffee. Now, one from mint.com outlines “How Coffee Affects the Global Economy”.

It is full of info like how many grounds are sold per year, where coffee is most drank and how many people are involved.

Grab your copy of view online. This is just a snap shot of one small part of the larger infographic:

There hasn’t yet been a life cycle of the coffee bean yet, someone should do a poster of that too… please!

illy has introduced a new single cup coffee/espresso maker that is a nice piece of art. It looks like a little red table and a dispenser popping up out of the back right corner.

In reality there is a power button and heat status lights along the top. The upper part of the ‘dispenser’ opens to accept the new illy coffee capsules. Below the coffee head the ‘table top’ lowers so a variety of cup sizes can be used. Water has a drawer of it’s own on the right side of the unit. Used coffee capsules eject into a back area holder to dispose of later.

As single cup makers go, the Y1 iperEspresso Machine is average for the more complex machines at $295 (US). It is possible to get this fine looking machine for only $125 (US). If you order online and agree to sign up for a coffee delivery service you get this more than 50% discount. A new ‘Lungo’ roast has been added to the Medium, Bold and Decaffeinated options. The delivery times for the service can be weekly up to monthly. You may want to read the rules, but it appears that you only have to take one round of capsule deliveries before your allowed to cancel so your not locked into a long term agreement for deliveries. That said, where else will you get the new style capsules (outlined below)?

“Now, for a limited time, the striking and compact Francis Francis Y1 iperEspresso machine is OFFERED FOR JUST $125 (value of $295) plus a $12.95 handling fee. Simply purchase a minimum of 2 cans of iperEspresso capsules with your machine, and we’ll continue to send you convenient deliveries of 2 or more cans of capsules on the delivery schedule you choose. There’s no commitment. You can change or cancel your coffee deliveries any time after your first shipment.”

The coffee packets that illy has been using (below) are called the ESE Pods. These have been manufactured by other coffee providers. We use these all the time in our hand pump espresso gadget. They come in a variety of strengths and since different brands there are different tastes and quality.

New for the iperEspresso machine is the “iperEspresso Capsules’. These are only being manufactured by illy in three types: Medium, Dark and Decaffeinated (Lungo just added as this was being typed). The special feature of these new capsules is that all of the brewing happens inside of it so the fluids never touch the machine. Hot water is pushed in, steeping happens, the fluid goes into a second area of the capsule then pushed out to your cup. The illy site has a nice little video of how this all works (the site doesn’t allow direct linking to the video, go here and look for the little video camera icon half way down the page on the left side). The capsule below is upside down from how it goes into the machine. The pricing on the illy site is showing a pair of 21 capsule containers are $32 (US).