coffee

PORTLAND, Ore.--Google Offers launched its answer to Groupon today exclusively in Portland, Ore., with its first deal for--you guessed it--a coffee shop. Perhaps owing to the highly caffeinated culture here, some people who snapped up the "Offer of the Day" raced over to Floyd's Coffee Shop only to discover that the coupon can't be redeemed until tomorrow.

"Within 10 minutes of the deal going live, someone was in the shop to redeem the offer," Jack Inglis, co-owner of Floyd's, said in a phone interview.

On the cash register at Floyd's in … Read more

Keeping track of coffee consumption isn't necessarily at the forefront of the minds of coffee drinkers. After all, anyone who has ever delved into the dark elixir has at one time or another--or every day as the case may be--subjected themselves to drinking an overabundance of coffee. Aside from being easy to do, it's fun; jittering through the day can produce some interesting consequences. However exciting that may be, sometimes we just want to see what we are getting ourselves into before we get into it.

Every coffee drinker knows just how much coffee is in the pot, … Read more

Mornings can be treacherous things to navigate, and most of us have developed some kind of ritual to help us get through those choppy waters. Coffee and tea have always been popular day-starters, and how we get it varies as much as how we like to enjoy it. Some of us rush about, grabbing our beverage of choice so quickly that the sloshing in the cup threatens to spill onto the floor. And others like to sit back, relax, and let the early morning stares take over. For those who belong to the latter group, here's something you might … Read more

Reaching for a second cup of coffee (or third...) never requires much effort. However, making a second pot of coffee usually is a much more complicated affair, and no, it's not just because of the jitters. Traditional drip coffeemakers are necessarily somewhat bulky as they have an onboard reservoir system. Water goes in one place and comes out coffee in another. While this transformation may be the engine that drives everyday activity, it cannot be started until the coffee and the water are added to the machine. Best to make that process as easy as possible.

The Saeco Easy Fill Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe … Read more

There is no doubt that brewing coffee at home is easier than ever. The flip side of that coin, however, is the seemingly contradictory fact that making the perfect cup at home is more complicated than ever. The paradox can be resolved (preferably while sipping a hot cup of joe) when you consider how many options exist for the home; it can be overwhelming. At some point, decisions get made, and some type of coffeemaker is added to the kitchen arsenal--and then you realize it doesn't make the exact coffee drink that is desired.

For foamy coffee drinks (and … Read more

This week, we get all Crave-y over a new boombox from TDK with a sweet design that belies the company's low-tech roots. Also, a fake coffee bot makes us yearn for the days when "The Jetsons" becomes a reality; some creepy crawlers get made over into flashy, USB-powered robots that are just ripe for holiday stockings; and we check out a tutorial on how to install your own "Star Trek"-worthy pneumatic doors. Plus, an utterly expensive--yet awesome--steampunk flash drive catches our eyes, as does a rather emasculating motorcycle ripped straight out of "Tron"--but for entirely different reasons. Finally, a shout-out to a local eatery in this week's "This is Why You're Fat" segment.

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Imagine having your morning cuppa joe served by a charming little humanoid robot--just like in the neat ad above and below.

"What can I get for you?" Brewbot asks in the TV commercial after performing an impressive transformation from ordinary kitchen appliance to bipedal robo-barista.

Kraft Foods' Tassimo Brewbot is a coffeemaker that can whip up seven beverages including coffee, espresso, and latte. It uses single-serve "T-discs" from makers like Maxwell House and Twinings; the discs have brewing instructions embedded in barcodes.

That's all very well and nice, and I'm sure Brewbot's coffee … Read more

Coffee convenience is almost as important as the coffee itself. The continuing proliferation of coffeehouses can attest to that. Though it is certainly easy to simply walk into a cafe and order a coffee drink, that method doesn't necessarily represent the apex of coffee convenience; you still have to manage to get to a cafe, after all. About the easiest way to get a cup of coffee--other than having somebody go get it for you--might just be a particular honor saved for single-serve capsule coffeemakers.

Making coffee doesn't get much easier than inserting a coffee-filled capsule into a … Read more

Gone are the days when it was hard to shop for someone who was labeled "the person who has everything." Nowadays, with so many gadgets in existence, it's just too unlikely. Sure, your hard-to-shop-for targets may have a quesadilla maker, but one of those and a doughnut hole maker? Probably not. And if they do, well, there are a million other kitchen-related gadgets and accessories that may not be so common. So with the "person who has everything" dwindling away to a statistical improbability, what's a shopper to do? Luckily, we have enthusiasts to … Read more