Coffee and Tea Companies Will Start Selling K Cups You Can Recycle

Single cup coffee is one of the most popular forms of coffee in the world today; however, there is a hold up for some people who are more environment conscious, they struggle with the idea that all the empty k cups add a lot of waste. However, that is being resolved with a new trend for coffee and tea companies who make k cups.

One company, Mothers Parkers Tea and Coffee, based in Canada, is trying to address the problem by adopting a clear, recyclable k cup that they hope will gain popularity.

Another thing that has been going on to help improve the eco-friendliness of k cups is the reusable coffee k cup, like the one available from Keurig; Keurig also has a program where you can send your used cups to a facility and they will break them down. Keurig has made a promise that all single cup coffee will be recyclable by the year 2020.

The concept of making single serve coffee and tea something impressive to everyone is a goal for all companies involved in the industry; single cup coffee has had immense success since its introduction to the world a number of years ago; in the US, the growth rate of the industry has been 33.6% annually. Since 2008, the sales growth rate has been 78.6%.

2 Reasons Why K Cups Beat Ground Coffee

Almost every coffee lover battles with the argument about which style of coffee is better: k cup coffee or ground coffee that you brew through traditional drip methods.

However, here, we have provided two major reasons why k cups aka single cup coffee is better than ground coffee via drip method.

1. K cups do not waste any coffee. When you brew your cup of coffee from a single cup coffee brewer, you are only making enough coffee for yourself, in an amount that you can easily consume in a responsible amount of time. It may sounds selfish to only make enough coffee for yourself but in reality, it is more responsible than making a whole pot of coffee. See, when you make a whole pot, the whole thing has to be consumed within a short amount of time or it goes cold; once the coffee in the pot goes cold, you either have to heat it up again (gross), or you have to pour it down the drain (sorry, wallet). All the coffee maker brews is one cup that is a good amount, it's not like it brews a gallon just for you. 

1. You also do not waste coffee because of how long the coffee in the k cups can last. See, when you have k cups, the coffee grounds in the cups is not exposed to air or anything else until you brew the coffee. When you use bags or cans of coffee, all the grounds are exposed to air each and every time you open the packaging to scoop some coffee out. Over time, the air that gets inside reduces the quality of the coffee. 
2. Variety. With K cups, you can store them on either a carousel or a drawer and even just stack the boxes neatly in your cupboard. If you want to have 20 varieties of coffee blends on your counter, you can easily do that with the small k cups and neat organizer; if you try that with coffee cans, you will run out of counter space quickly. The convenience factor is off the charts when it comes to single cup coffee. Another aspect of convenience is the fact that if you want a different coffee blend than someone else, you don't have to wait to brew another pot to satisfy their desires, you just pop in a new k cup. 

How To Make a Spiced Mocha Latte

Have you ever drank something so delicious cascade over your tastebuds with such suavity that you couldn't help but take another sip? Well, that is what you get when you drink a spiced mocha latte.

What will you need to make yourself a spiced mocha latte?

• One extra bold k cup. It doesn't matter what brand you have for this, just that it is extra bold and a brand that you like and can trust to make a good cup of coffee. 
• Four ounces of milk. It can be skim, one percent, two percent, whole, etc. Many recipes call for having skim milk but that is entirely up to you. You have whole milk? Use whole milk, it's your latte! 
• Half a teaspoon of cinnamon. 
• A quarter teaspoon of nutmeg. 
• Two tablespoons (yes, tablespoons, not teaspoons) of chocolate syrup. Now, again, use whatever brand you like. We do prefer you use syrup over chocolate powder for sake of ease and taste. 
• Whipped cream. This can be a tub or a can. It will be for decoration. 
• A milk frother. The frother will make the milk a nice texture and warm. 
• A mug. Try to get one that can hold around 14 ounces. 
• A cinnamon stick. This is also for decoration, you can use ground cinnamon for decoration and a bit of flavor if you don't happen to have cinnamon sticks on hand. 

Are you ready to brew?

1. Brew your k cup in your coffee machine into your mug. 
2. As the coffee brews, prep the milk in your frother, watch this step carefully. 
3. Once your coffee is ready to go, stir in your half teaspoon of cinnamon. 
4. Stir in your quarter teaspoon of nutmeg. Make sure your cinnamon and nutmeg are stirred in well, not clumpy. 
5. Add in your two tablespoons of chocolate syrup. 
6. Now is the hard part, add in your frothed milk. Do this gradually so you don't splash all over since both the milk and coffee are hot. 
7. Top it all off with whipped cream, as much as you want. 
8. Drizzle the chocolate syrup on top or sprinkle cinnamon or chocolate powder for decoration. 
9. Enjoy your latte from your single cup coffee. 

K Cup Coffee Recipe: Cafe Latte

K cup coffee has been a real blessing for many; you get a fresh cup of gourmet quality coffee brewed in your home or office in a matter of a minute. However, for many, the most extravagant thing we do with our coffee after brewing it is maybe add some cream and/or sugar. If you're lucky, you may see someone stir their coffee with a cinnamon stick but that is the most luxurious thing most of us see people do with their coffee they brew themselves. However, it doesn't have to be that way; even if we brew coffee ourselves instead of running to coffee shops, we can still have the fancy drinks.

The drink we will discuss today is the cafe latte. What you will need for this single cup coffee recipe is nothing crazy or going to cost you a fortune:

• One extra bold coffee K cup. 
• Four ounces of milk (you can use skim, one percent, two percent, or whole. This will just make more or less creamy). 
• Milk frother. 
• Sweetener (you don't need this if you want less sugar. You can also use a sugar substitute). 
• A mug (try to get a larger one, like a 14 ounce mug). 

Once you have all your ingredients ready, then go ahead and start making the treat. 

1. Brew your k cup into your mug. 
2. While that is brewing, grab your milk and milk frother and heat up your milk with the frother. This will give it a nice consistency. 
3. Once the coffee is done brewing and is ready, mix in your milk that has been warmed by the frother. 
4. Add in any sugar or sugar substitute (if you want to) and season to taste. 

Enjoy. 

Two Mistakes to Make With Coffee

Do you like to enjoy a single cup of coffee in the morning, afternoon, or perhaps even evening? Whether you are an avid coffee drinker or only have it once in a while, you may or may not be guilty of committing one or both of these mistakes. Doing the right thing with coffee can seem tricky but the reality is that you just have to know the basics, unless you want to be a coffee guru.

One of the most common mistakes to make when brewing coffee, even with k cup coffee, is to use unfiltered water or tap water. Why is this bad news? Well, when you have a cup of coffee, you are drinking a cup of something that is roughly 98 percent water. When you use tap water, the things in the tap water can alter the flavor of the coffee that is being brewed and you may end up with a cup of coffee that is actually less than ideal. This is especially true if your tap water is less than ideal; if it tastes funny, then so will your coffee (we mean it is hard water or well water, if it looks or tastes different than normal, contact authorities). If you can, use cold, filtered water. One of the best ways to always have some cold, filtered water on hand to brew your coffee with is to have a water pitcher that has a built in filter; now you always have ice cold water that is clean (make sure to change the filter when instructed).

The second most common mistake to make with coffee is to store your k cups in the freezer, or if you buy in bulk, then the coffee canister. This is a no-no. Coffee should be stored in a dry, cool place; hear that? Dry. This means that you should keep it away from the moisture of the freezer (and for that matter, the fridge). When you keep your coffee in the freezer, the moisture condenses on the coffee and makes it wet. The ideal place to keep your coffee will keep it away from light, heat, air, and moisture; a cupboard not right by the fridge is often a great spot.

Coffee Trends - Putting Butter in Your Coffee

That's right, folks, one of the latest coffee trends is to put a bit of butter in your coffee. This latest trend will either make you do one of two things: feel a newfound burst of energy that you have never felt from just a cup of coffee before OR it will make you lose your lunch.

Give it the college try, put just a bit of butter in your next cup of coffee, or don't; this is blog post, not a cop. The only caveat to this trend, should you try it, is that the butter has to be unsalted, grass-fed butter (the cows were grass-fed, for anybody who was confused by that). The reason for the unsalted, grass-fed butter instead of normal butter is that the creators of this trend believe that normal butter has a lot of unnecessary ingredients and the grass-fed is much more natural and healthy; why unsalted? Well, do you want salty coffee?

So what do you gain from putting some butter in your coffee? As I previously mentioned, a better sense of energy than you can allegedly get from a normal cup of coffee. According to people who participate in this trend, normal coffee gives you a buzz of energy but after a couple hours, you come crashing down; when you put some of this special butter in it, you get that buzz of energy but it is apparently much more stable and lasts longer, plus, coming off the energy is less of a crash and more of a glide.

How does this happen? Well, according to coffee experts, it is the MCT oil from the special butter in the coffee that is digested faster than many other fats, so your energy is felt sooner.

Of course, the grand idea of butter in coffee is not necessarily new; people of Tibet (Tibetans) have put butter in their tea to create Yak butter tea.

So how does it taste? Apparently, it tastes like a very creamy latte. So go ahead, brew some single cup coffee and plop in a piece of butter, remember, unsalted & grass-fed!

The trend is gaining some traction with its 3 million (and growing) followers.

Wild And Interesting Facts About Tea

So tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, it ranks right up there with coffee and water. As online coffee retailers, we knew that you would love to know about the great and interesting facts about tea. There is a good chance that many of us on Earth have had at least one cup of tea in our lifetimes, so why not expand our knowledge about it?

1) In order for something to be considered "tea", it has to have leaves from the tea plant, or scientifically known as Camellia sinensis. If it just a bunch of herbs and leaves of plants that are not the Camellia sinensis, it is actually called Tisanes. Typically, when you find something marked "tea" in the grocery store, you are actually drinking a tisane.

2) Decaffeinating tea on your own is possible. When you want a cup of tea for its warmth and wonderful flavor and aroma, it can
be hard to find tea that is non-caffeinated when all you have around you is the perky stuff! So how do you get the tea without the caffeine when you have no seemingly possible way to get it? Decaffeinate it yourself. Rumor has it that all you have to do is brew the tea for 30 seconds or brew it twice (after throwing away the tea from the first brew). In order to do decaffeinate it yourself, you have to brew the tea for about 10 minutes (this removes about 90 percent of the caffeine). Then brew it again.

3) Soy lecithin actually isn't bad for you. Soy lecithin has been found in many kinds of teas and originally, it was thought that it was bad for you. However, researchers found out that when in moderation, it can be good for things like ulcerative colitis.

4) While tea can have caffeine and that stuff can wake you up, it has been found that the intense effects of the stuff is diminished when consumed via tea instead of coffee. This is because tea has something called L-Theanine. L-theanine has beneficial effects on the brain like being able to induce meditative states; it can help you relax but doesn't make you feel drowsy. It has even been found to help with stress and anxiety.

5) In the United States, we often drink something called a chai tea latte; tea mixed with lots of spices and milk. However, in many Asian countries, this drink will get you some awkward looks because chai  just means "tea" in many of those languages. So a chai tea would be redundant. "Can I have a tea tea?"

6) In some countries, like Burma, they drink tea but they also eat it. Yep, they eat it. They pickle the leaves and call it lephet. The tea leaves are softened, cooled, rolled, and aged.

7) In some countries, mostly in ancient times, they would use tea for something besides eating and drinking; they would use it to practice witchcraft; a ritual was performed that was called Tasseomancy.

Hopefully now you feel smarter about the tea you drink and can whip out some of these awesomely cool facts at tea parties. If you have a love for tea but not the time to shop for it in stores, then visit Coffeevines and purchase your tea online! Even though we are online national coffee distributors, we also have a vast selection of teas and hot chocolate.

Coffee Trends - The Third Wave

There is a trend emerging and gaining popularity; it is called the "third wave of coffee". This trend is rather common and popular in the United States and now it has made its way to Japan.

So what is this trend? It is the practice of choosing coffee based on where the coffee was grown (not just the country but also the particular farm it was grown on). Depending on the country (and farm) the coffee was grown, the coffee drinkers focus on different ways of brewing or even roasting the coffee; there is the traditional method, the single cup coffee method, hand drip method, etc.

So why is it called the "third wave"? Well, the first wave of coffee exploration came in the 60s and 70s when tons and tons of coffee was being consumed seemingly 24/7. The second wave came in the era known as "Seattle coffee" which occurred in the 80s & 90s when Starbucks and other chains, mostly from Seattle like the name implies, were coming to the market and experienced massive success.

This past Fall, coffee drinkers in Japan saw an event happen that allowed them to enjoy Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee for the first time; with this kind of coff
ee, brewers make the coffee via traditional drip method. What is this method (for those who don't know)? It is allowing hot water to make its way through the ground beans and through a filter.

What sparked this trend? Well, coffee connoisseurs realized that depending on where the coffee is from, it will taste differently, much like wine, due to the climate and the soil it grew in that year. So what did the event crowd think of the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee? They thought the coffee had a good combination of flavor with hints of acidic taste; a generic description that describes quite a bit of coffee kinds.

This trend has sparked a new trend for coffee houses as now they are starting to label where the coffee was grown.

As online coffee retailers and an national online coffee distributor, we love that there are new trends in coffee, they keep it exciting. This particular trend is interesting and brings a certain level on intricacy to coffee consumption that wasn't there before.