Good Mornings! - My New Coffee Obsession

Since returning to work in March, I am often struck, usually while showering, by the awesome humanizing effects of hot water and caffeine.

It's true!  I'm well aware that, as a Pisces, a dip in water is indeed therapeutic for me, and this fact is never truer than early in the am, when my warm bed is beckoning me to snooze for just a few more minutes.  I love the thought of being one of those people who hop out of bed raring to go, but that only happens if I'm climbing out of bed at 10:00 on a Saturday.  Luckily, it doesn't take much to motivate me; a hot shower with some yummy smelling shower gel and a steaming cup of coffee and I'm good to go, peppy enough to be referred to on occasion as "way too positive for the morning!"

And yet, achieving both the hot shower AND the fresh brewed coffee was getting tricky.  Despite my best night before planning, getting myself and the dogs prepped and ready for the day was leaving little time for coffee brewing.  We're French press people, you see, so there's no setting a timer the night before.  On mornings when we pull it all off, we are rewarded for our efforts by not having to consume gas station coffee (no Timmy's, Starbucks, or Dunkin' for us folks, and our local cafe isn't open at 8:00 AM).  However, more often than not we found ourselves pulling into the gas station for two cups of "cappucino," or, as my husband calls it "hot milkshakes in a cup." Not good for the waistline, and, frankly, just plain not good.

This, I am sure, in addition to their $3.00 a pop price tag, is what prompted my husband to buy me a lovely gift, while simultaneously forcing me to make a decision.  You see, we are discovering that I am a commitment-phobe.  I have been considering a cell phone, cable provider, and single cup coffee machine for several months.  I am still without a cell phone and cable provider, which, I am told, practically makes me a pioneer, BUT, I am the proud and passionate owner of a Tassimo T20 Home Brewing System.  

Photo from www.Tassimo.ca

 The Tassimo has changed my morning go-to-work experience.  For those of you not familiar, single cup coffee systems prepare hot beverages one at a time using an encapsulated single serving of coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.  There are several different kinds available on the market, all of which offer lovely beverage choices and have loyal followings.  The one beverage they all make is coffee, but after that it gets diverse.  The Tassimo, which I own, brews coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, as well as specialty drinks like lattes, cappuccino, and espresso using T-Discs.  Tassimo is known for it's use of bar code technology, which is how it knows how to brew your drink (a large cup of coffee versus an espresso shot, for example).  Keurig uses K-Cups to deliver a dizzying variety of drinks such as coffee, tea, chocolates, and even hot cider.  The sheer variety of drinks available is a definite selling feature for the Keurig, in fact the only thing it doesn't seem to do is make specialty drinks.  But if lattes and caps aren't your thing, then Keurig will have you covered for just about everything else.  Dolce Gusto is Nescafe's offering; if you like your drinks frothy and fun, this machine is for you.  Although it does offer just coffee, the majority of varieties on its website are coffee house favorites.  Tea is not a big feature for the Dolce Gusto; the only tea I saw was peach iced tea.  However, the Dolce Gusto does make iced drinks, which is nice, especially with the summer coming up.

Decisions, decisions!  How to choose?  Luckily, among my friends and family are people who own each machine, and so I was able to pick their brains.  

Keurig showed up most frequently among the people I talked to.  Again, the selling point was the vast amount of flavours available.  I like choice, so this was appealing.  However, I love my frothy drinks, too.  So, maybe the Dolce Gusto?  I only know one person who owns this machine and they definitely are fans of coffee house drinks like those offered at Starbucks and Second Cup.  The Dolce Gusto was a perfect fit for them, but I wanted a bit more variety in suppliers.

We decided on the Tassimo, and I adore it!  I do hope that the company gets a few more brands behind it, but all in all the offerings are not bad; I can buy T-Discs locally by companies like Nabob, Twinnings, Maxwell House, and Suchard.  I'm disappointed that Starbucks coffee isn't going to be available in T-Discs once current supplies run out, so I'm buying up every pack that I can find!  But, Gevalia is going to be coming on board starting in July, so as long as they are offered in Canada I'll be a happy girl.

I've come up with a few fun coffee drinks.  I've made cafe mochas by adding a hot chocolate disc to a cappuccino.  It was delightful, but next time I will stop the chocolate brewing process a little early so that the cocoa flavour is more pronounced. I also developed my own version of the popular coffee house drink Shot in the Dark, which is essentially an espresso shot in a cup of coffee.  This one is easy-peasy, just brew your coffee, then brew an espresso disc into the same cup.  I really like this one when I need a little more oomph in my morning cup!  And finally, I am making tasty London Fogs in record time.  I use a latte milk disc, a Twinnings Earl Grey Tea disc, and a shot of French Vanilla syrup.  I add the syrup before I start, then brew the tea followed by the milk. As with the mocha, next time I am going to shorten the brew time on the tea so the flavour is more intense.

Whichever system you choose, I think you will find that it makes a definite improvement to your morning mood!  I can brew us each a travel mug of breakfast blend in about a minute a piece!  I will never give up my French Press, no lazy Sunday would be complete without it, but for the daily grind I am completely sold on the single cup system.  In fact, I would get a Keurig to keep my Tassimo company.  If you think that's weird, look at your own coffee supplies; how many of you own a percolator, press, AND an espresso machine?  Not so weird!

This is part of of new series of posts called Good Mornings I'll be presenting as part of my re-vamp of Nesty to suit my new, working girl status.  I did not receive any machines, supplies, or the like to review, I bought (well, my husband bought) my machine.  I am sure all the systems are lovely, I am just sharing the decision making process I followed to make my choice.  I would love to know how you brew your morning cuppa, so please, share in the comments!