5/19/2013
Is the plastic used in Keurig K-Cups safe?
| May 11, 2013 | fda Approved by the FDA means nothing to me but white collar crime. They approve things that kill us everyday. Get informed! |
Taken from The Coffee Detective
Go ahead buy a Keuring brewer...
Source: thekitchn
I bought one
of those machines once. When I opened the box and read the warning on the
pamphlet enclosed, I immediately returned it. It read - contains
chemicals known to cause cancer. Not "could possibly cause". But
known to cause. Yikes!!
Why I hate Keurig and Tassimo coffee machines
Source: 52togreen
2 Responses to Why I hate Keurig and Tassimo coffee machines
- I HATE these single cup brewing systems. I can’t believe anyone would buy any of these machines unless they were purposely giving the finger to the environment. It kind of makes me glad that at least they have to pay a fortune for every small cup of coffee they get out of the machine, but it’s still awful.
- I can’t wait for the economy to tank, then all these retards are going to think twice about the cost of these mini garbage dumps. Just goes to show that nobody gives a d
Gavi says:
5/14/2013
Single Serve Coffee Brewers Make Convenience Costly
With Coffee, the Price of Individualism Can Be High
Sometimes it’s hard to tell how much coffee costs, even if you know what you spent. At least that’s the case with many of the single-serve brewing machines that are soaring in popularity.
For example, the Nespresso Arpeggio costs $5.70 for 10 espresso capsules, while the Folgers Black Silk blend for a K-Cup brewed-coffee machine is $10.69 for 12 pods. But that Nespresso capsule contains 5 grams of coffee, so it costs about $51 a pound. And the Folgers, with 8 grams per capsule, works out to more than $50 a pound.
That’s even more expensive than all but the priciest coffees sold by artisanal roasters, the stuff of coffee snobs.
An exclusive single-origin espresso like the Ethiopia, Gedeo Single Origin Espresso from Sightglass Coffee costs $19 for a 12-ounce bag, or about $25 a pound. La Cima beans for brewed coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a Grand Cru selection grown at Finca el Injerto, a renowned farm in Guatemala, is $28.50 for a 12-ounce bag, or $38 a pound.
In fact, most high-end coffees cost less than $20 a pound, and the coffees you find on supermarket shelves are substantially cheaper. A bag of Dark Espresso Roast beans at Starbucks is $12.95 a pound, and a bag of Eight O’Clock beans for brewed coffee at the Food Emporium is $10.72 a pound.
How much of that coffee goes into a cup varies according to who (or what) controls the machine. For instance, a Lavazza Gran Crema espresso capsule has 7 grams of coffee, the standard for most chain coffee stores. But independent coffee shops regularly pack 14 to 22 grams into an espresso shot.
When it comes to single-serve systems, you’re not just paying for coffee, you’re paying for convenience and the technology that makes it possible to brew a single cup in seconds. Pop in the pod, push the button: it’s a sure thing every time. Supermarkets and specialty stores are filled with items that make it easier on you, and it’s up to the shopper to determine if it’s worth it.
Some decisions are easy (rendered pork fat, fresh pasta); others are a toss-up depending on who’s in the kitchen (chicken stock, salad dressing). Where single-serve coffee falls on that spectrum depends on whether you regard coffee as something you make or something you drink.
“Americans under the age of 40 are thinking about coffee pricing in cups,” said Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. “If you asked my mother how much coffee cost, she would have told you that the red can was $5.25 a pound and the blue can was $4.25. If you ask people in their 20s and 30s, they’ll say coffee is $1.75 to $3.75 a cup.”
This generational shift helps explain why single-serve coffee is the fastest-growing sector of the home market. According to a study from the National Coffee Association, single-serve coffee is now the second most popular method of preparation after conventional drip brewers, by far the dominant method. In 2011, 7 percent of the cups of coffee consumed in the United States were made with a single-serve brewer, up from 4 percent in 2010.
The premium that single-serve coffee commands makes it especially lucrative. Julian Liew, a spokesman for Nespresso, said single-serve coffee is 8 percent of the global market, but accounts for 25 percent of its value. It’s likely that the number will continue to climb.
According to Keurig, 4 million of the company’s K-Cup brewers, for regular drip coffee, were sold in the 13-week run-up to Christmas 2011. During that same period, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters sold more than $715 million in K-Cup packs. The pods and brewers are now front and center at stores like Bed Bath & Beyond and Staples. Keurig licenses its technology to other companies, and last year, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks started making K-Cup pods. Keurig even sells a refillable filter that you can pack with your own coffee.
Nespresso has sold more than 27 billion capsules worldwide since it was introduced in 1986. Later this year Ethical Coffee Company plans to sell Nespresso-compatible capsules for around 20 percent less on Amazon.com. So the United States might see something novel for single-serve coffee: a price war.
Source: NY Times
Source: NY Times
Twisted Sister Coffee Shop? Not If The Band Twisted Sister Has Any thing To Say About It
Twisted Sister's legal threats over coffee shop's URL
A tiny coffee shop In Kansas called Twisted Sisters has been served with legal papers by lawyers for the rock band of a similar name. Oh, yes, they're claiming trademark.
Are they going to take it? Are they going to take it? Are they going to take it anymore?
These are the fundamental questions surrounding a legal threat presented by a lawyer for Twister Sister's founder, John Jay French, to a tiny coffee shop in Mission, Kan.
The coffee shop is called Twister Sisters. It is run by two sisters. They are twisted. Actually, as The Prairie Village Post reports, Sandi Russell and her sister Nancy Hansen were first called "twisted" by their brother in the 1960s.
The 1960s came before 1973, the year when the band Twisted Sister was formed.
But power is interested in power, rather than truth.
As Techdirt reports, the band's main concern seems to involve a URL the coffee shop obtained: Twistersisterscoffeeshop.com. This is currently labeled as being "under construction," which suggests the legal pressure is already succeeding.
Indeed, Russell told the Post that she will probably have no choice but to change the name. Everyone would expect, after all, a snarly rock band to have a coffee shop in Mission, Kan.
It's odd that the band is claiming trademark infringement, as its own trademark (1098366) seems merely to cover "entertainment services rendered by a vocal and instrumental group."
One would be pressed to consider a homey little coffee shop as providing the sort of entertainment services one could expect from a group. Though perhaps there are some after-hours parties of which I am unaware.
Oddly, the Twisted Sisters Coffee Shop's Facebook page seems to show no evidence of this curious dispute.
Read rest of the article here at CNET
Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
Has ANYONE ever heard, read of, or seen a K-Cup that was tested by a
Professional Cupper?
I didn’t think so...
After Getting Slammed, Keurig Promises To Find Recyclable Versions Of K-Cups
Take note when Ben Popken’s article was written. Has anything
transpired regarding this?
After Getting Slammed, Keurig Promises To Find Recyclable Versions Of K-Cups
By October 14,
2011
Keurig’s single-use coffee pods might be convenient, but they can’t be recycled. Clean Water Action is calling on them to clean up their act, and Keurig has promised to try really hard.
“Our concern is that they are not recyclable,” Cindy Luppi of Clean Water Action told CBSDFW. “That means they end up in the landfills and incinerators, and impact our health. The emissions end up in the air we breathe and the water we drink.”
Following the criticism, Keurig posted a pledge on its website to really give it the old college try:
Reducing the environmental impact of our packaging materials and brewing systems is a top priority for Keurig. It is a challenge to create a portion pack that is recyclable and delivers an extraordinary cup of coffee; however, Keurig is actively working to meet this challenge head on.The K-Cup® package is made up of three main elements — the cup itself, a filter and an aluminum foil top. The polyethylene coating of the foil – as well as the process of heat-sealing the various elements – makes recycling difficult.The portion pack composition prevents oxygen, light and moisture from degrading the coffee. Without the barrier the packaging materials provide, we could not maintain quality or freshness.
The company’s statement suggests that if you want fresh pod coffee, you’re going to have to put up with special un-recyclable materials for now. You could also get your beans ground and use a french press and not have to worry about creating waste that can’t be recycled.
Source: consumerist.com
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