I'm always excited when I get to write about new items, which is why I was really jazzed, this week, when we got some new stuff from Bodum.

Once you've brewed your coffee, you'll need something to put it in. That's where the new Pavina and Bistro glasses take the stage. Both crafted from mouth-blown double walled glass, these glasses are an elegant way to keep your hot drinks hot and your cool drinks cool. The 15 oz Pavina is ideal for showcasing drinks with layering effects, like the latte macchiato. The 5 oz Bistro cups are ideal for serving espresso.

Last on our list is the Bodum Latteo manual milk frother. Just add some fresh milk and work the plunger for delicious frothed milk, perfect for cappuccinos.

Since my co-workers are so much more adept at testing espresso machines, I took the opportunity to try brewing a cup of Americano coffee using the AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker. I have been intrigued with press-brewing coffee for several years now after first watching my friend Tracy using a French press in the office to make his coffee every day. Until today I have only made coffee drip-brewed in percolators, or drip-coffee filter brewers, or single-serve K-cup machines. A friend sent me some pre-ground coffee for Christmas so I thought this would be the perfect time to try press-made coffee. The Aerobie AeroPress was available for testing so I figured it’s time to give it a work out.

It comes packaged with a body cylinder chamber having level markings on the side, a plunger with an articulated rubber plunger seal, a filter cap that screws onto the bottom of the chamber, a filter holder and 350 micro-filters, a measuring scoop, funnel, and a stirrer. Since this one had been opened by the sales department for previous testing, the instructions were missing. I quickly read the brewing instruction on the internet and set out to make my first cup. I loaded a filter into the filter cap and screwed it onto the chamber and set the assembly on my sturdy metal woodworkers coffee mug. I put 2 full scoops of pre-ground coffee in the chamber and poured in hot water.

While Aerobie recommends water at 176°, I just boiled water and waited, hmmm... about 3 seconds for it to cool, then poured water into the chamber and started stirring using the stirrer that comes with the AeroPress. The Stirrer is well-designed, shaped, and sized so that you can’t drop it into the chamber and you also can’t scrape the filter in the bottom of the cap. I stirred for about 10 seconds, then wet the rim of the plunger-seal and put the plunger into the top of the chamber and started to gently press it into the chamber.

As the pressure started to build I heard it relieve through the filter and liquid started to drop into the mug below. I continued to press gently until the plunger bottomed out. I removed the assembly from the cup and added some more hot water to the mug to make my cup of Americano coffee. Voila! Darn good fresh brewed coffee with no grounds or "dregs-dust" in the cup, the filter works great! And I could make just one cup without brewing a full or partial drip-pot. Now I can have a fresh-brewed cup of coffee and my tea-drinking wife can have a mug of tea from the same pot of hot water.

I didn’t pay enough attention to the instructions on how to eject the spent grounds and used-filter from the unit and made a mess, luckily over the sink, when I just backed the plunger out of the cylinder. I should have unscrewed the filter holder over the waste can and then pushed the plunger on through to eject all of the grounds. Oh well, I’ll do better on the next cup. Now I can’t wait to try some fresh ground coffee like coffee purists do to see if the quality of the coffee can get better.  Oh did I mention that the coffee I used was a Christmas gift, from 2 years ago?  Even so it still made very good coffee!

I just made my first batch of coffee using the new Bonavita Exceptional Brew 8 cup coffee maker with the thermal carafe here in the sales office at Whole Latte Love. One of the perks of working here is getting to try out new coffee and espresso makers before we make them available to our customers. So as I sit here with my first cup of the day nestled in my grasp, I will share my experience and first impressions with you about the Bonavita.

The Bonavita was easy for me to set up out-of-the-box on the first try. I immediately noticed that the fit and finish was clean, tight, and well crafted. But my thoughts immediately returned to the goal of making that all-important first cup and wondering what it was going to taste like from this new machine. I was a tad skeptical and thinking maybe I had made a mistake in trying a new machine to make the most important cup of fuel I need to get my day going!

I usually use the $200+ drip coffee maker in our office to make my coffee, but for some reason I was feeling a bit adventurous this morning. As I inspected the Bonavita and its thermal carafe I started finding features I really liked. The thermal carafe has a well-made stainless steel outer-shell and a glass lining. I have used many thermal carafes before this and can rank the Bonavita thermal carafe at the top of my list. Very often when you fill a thermal carafe you can feel the heat coming through the stainless steel shell; but not so with the Bonavita, it does an amazing job of keeping the heat in the carafe. What’s that mean for you and why is it important? Simple: Hotter Coffee Longer!!!

And now the feature under the hood that really got my attention. The Bonavita has a water delivery system that gets to the grounds through a “showerhead”. As soon as the water is at the proper temperature it release the hot water through the showerhead that has multiple jets shooting streams of water out over the grounds in a large pattern. It stirs and agitates the grounds very efficiently allowing the best possible flavor extraction from the ground coffee. If you ever observed a typical drip coffee maker during the brew cycle they just spurt the hot water out in a localized stream that often doesn’t saturate the grounds evenly right from the start, nor do they agitate the grounds. This feature alone makes the Bonavita a great buy.

And the final observation: the length of brewing time. Can you imagine my escalating anxiety as I get the Bonavita set-up, charged with coffee and water, and push the start button? Ah, relief! It brewed the whole pot of 8-cups in under 6 minutes and the coffee tastes great! What a great coffee maker. My take is that this Bonavita machine is a must have for someone looking to upgrade their home drip coffee maker without breaking the bank. This machine has many advantages and the coffee it makes is wonderful. Till next time! Enjoy one of the best creations ever: Coffee!

I thought I would take a different perspective with this blog. I spend a lot of time reading about something I really love, coffee and the coffee business. As you may well know, I am involved with the commercial side of Whole Latte Love. In checking out all the online forums, magazines and Websites dedicated to the coffee industry and people involved in it, I get a good perspective on emerging trends in our field. There is always lots of information on machines, coffee and even opinions about topics as unconventional as “rate my naked espresso extraction.”

I have come to realize there are many ways to make that delicious coffee and espresso. Using different preparation methods can give the final product distinct and unique characteristics. Some people stick with just one brewing method and others may experiment with many preparation techniques. There has been a new trend where people are using all these “new” coffee brewing techniques to satisfy their desire to produce the best cup of coffee possible. These methods may involve brewing a single cup or, in some instances, more than one serving. Some of these new brewing techniques are easy and others are a little more difficult, as far as the level of involvement in hand crafting the products is concerned.

The neat thing is that some of these “new” methods have actually been around a long time. These methods may be known to some of you and perhaps you have even looked at them and thought “that would be fun.” There are a number of videos and articles about the benefits of one of the trendiest brewing methods, the manual brewing technique. You may have even seen this preparation method at your local coffee shop.

We have always sold French presses, typically used to manually steep and extract coffee. It is still one of my favorite ways to brew coffee. But, there are other options available to coffee lovers. I was curious if you, our customers, are interested in us carrying more of these new products. We are currently thinking about carrying Chemex, Melitta, Hario as well as devices for a method called “siphon brewing.” I have been lucky enough to take classes at the coffee trade shows, where these new equipment and different brewing methods were being used. In these classes, we had a chance to try out and discuss a diverse range of products. I really liked the resulting drinks. All of these new methods produced cleaner coffee, with great mouth feel and easily distinguishable characteristics. To simplify, each coffee was smoother and just better tasting than regular drip coffee.

Of course, all of these methods involve more time and craftsmanship to produce, in my opinion, a superior cup of coffee. I wanted to open my blog up for discussion and see what products you may be interested in us carrying. Of course, if we carry these products we would look to educate our customers on how to use and enjoy their new equipment. I look forward to your responses. It will be nice to get your feedback, so we can look into giving you more great brewing options and the knowledge to make them work well for you.

Mark
Whole Latte Love Commercial Department

In the sales department, we always get calls about the types different machines that we carry. As of late, we’ve noticed quite a few customers asking about single-serve machines. The logical question is: why would anyone want a single-serve machine as opposed to a traditional semi-auto or super-auto? Well, there are actually a number of different reasons…I’ve had people call looking to add a single-serve machine to a rental house, where a number of people would be using it, and they are looking for a foolproof coffee solution. Others want to eliminate the mess factor associated with brewing coffee and espresso. Since all of the coffee grounds are contained within a capsule or cartridge with a single-serve system, there is little to no mess to speak of. Lastly, most people enjoy the beverage consistency afforded to them by single-serve machines. Each drink comes out the same as the one before.

With a lot of different systems from Keurig, Illy, Nespresso, Bosch, Lavazza as well as DeLonghi, Gaggia and Breville, choosing a machine can be daunting. Each system has its own set of unique pros and cons. Let’s jump right into an analysis of each system, starting with those designed to brew regular coffee…

Keurig
The “Grand-Daddy” of single-serve systems, Keurig is the brand one everyone knows about; most people have probably had a drink from a , Keurig system. There’s a reason Keurig is as big as it is. The company offers very reasonably priced machines, some as low as $99, and its cartridges run between 60 and 75 cents, depending on the type of drink. Keurig also has the largest flavor selection of any drink system on the market and is a great solution for someone who likes drip coffee. You can even take advantage of the My K-Cup to use your own coffee. The only drawback to Keurig machines is the fact that they are drip brewers, with no pressure to extract anything close to an espresso. These machines also do not have steam wands to create milk-based drinks.

Bosch Tassimo
Bosch came out with a really innovative design for its machines, allowing them to prepare drip as well as pressure-brewed coffee. Each single-serve T-Disc has an identifying bar code that is scanned by the Tassimo system when inserted into the machine. Then, the machine adjusts itself to one of three different brew pressures and temperature settings, as specified by the coffee manufacturer. While Tassimo single-serve machines can brew under pressure, its maximum pressure is yield about 3.5 or 4 bars, half the pressure needed for true espresso. These machines are still classified as regular brewers. Backed by Kraft, Bosch Tassimo is one of the fastest growing single serve systems on the market, both in market share and in flavors available. These machines do not have steam wands, but there are cartridges available for milk-based drinks.

Be sure to check back in the next few days, I will go over single serve machines espresso machines in my next blog entry.

Watch our video on the Bosch Tassimo Suprema Hot Beverage System. With this single-serve machine, you can brew a variety of hot beverages from coffee and espresso to hot chocolate and tea. In this video, you will learn how to start up, brew, and clean the Bosch Tassimo Suprema. Enjoy!

The DeLonghi BCO130T is perfect for anyone who enjoys the convenience of having a coffeemaker and espresso machine in one unit. This model also features the patented IFD device, which will steam and froth milk directly into your cup—giving you the perfect cappuccino every time. Check out our video to see how it works.

In this video we'll be featuring the Technivorm Moccamaster coffee brewers. The best feature of this coffee brewer is that it brews out "hot" to extract the most flavor out of your drip coffee. We've tested the temperature and it brews out at 198 degrees at the start and finishes at over 200. Pair it up with the Capresso Infinilty coffee grinder and you will be brewing out coffee that you think you got at your local coffee shop. I use this coffee brewer everyday at home and love it. Happy Brewing...

French press coffee is a long standing tradition. Bodum has done its part in upholding that tradition with the Chambord line of French Presses. Available in a variety of sizes as well as two unbreakable models, there is bound to be a Bodum Chambord French Press that is perfect for you. Take a look at the Bodum line of quality French Presses in this video.

It may be the happiest time of the year, but this is also a busy travel season. Chances are, you or your loved ones will be taking to the roads, rails and skies in advance of the holiday celebrations. As always, good coffee and espresso can be hard to find when you're on the go. But, don't leave it to the roll of the dice this year, pack the following items in your suitcase and you won't have to be at the mercy of others when the need for a good beverage strikes.

Bodum Travel Press
New to Whole Latte Love, the Bodum Travel Press is an ingenious combination of a travel mug and French Press. It will let you prepare coffee or loose-leaf tea and drink without having to switch from press to cup. The Bodum Travel Press comes in black, green, white, orange and red...so you'll be able to match it to your luggage for a stylish ensemble. Choose from 12 or 15-ounce sizes as you see fit.

Handpresso Wild and DomePod
One of Oprah's Favorite Things, the Handpresso Wild and DomePod will let you brew authentic espresso on the go. These hand-held espresso makers do not require electricity to operate, so they are perfect for the frequent traveler. Choose the DomePod if you want to brew using ground coffee otherwise, opt for the Wild which works with ESE pods.

Hot Water Kettles
If your holiday trip involves a hotel stay, consider taking along the Capresso H20 Pro Programmable Cordless Kettle. Great for the entire family, this electric kettle will let you make hot water for coffee, tea or even hot chocolate for the little ones. The Capresso H20 Pro has 11 variable temperature settings and a large 56oz capacity so you'll brew enough for the entire family!

Gourmet Tea
There's nothing like a cup of warm tea to calm down a hectic trip. Travel-friendly Te Teas and Teaposy sachets are the perfect treat for a long trip. Take a time out with one of Te Teas' unique concoctions including Peppermint Chamomile Jazz, Rooibos Mandarin Twist, Black Velvet Chai, South Pacific Green Tea and more. If you're one to indulge in a blooming tea at home, be sure to check out The Teaposy Concert Series. The elegant flavors and aromas of blooming teas have been preserved in nylon sachets that can be easily packed into carry-on luggage. Teaposy Concert Series sachets are available in Concerto, Duet, Sonata and Symphony blends.

It doesn't matter if you packing gloves and sweaters or a bathing suit and sun block for your next trip, be sure to make room for these must-have travel companions. Travel with the comforts of home and delicious espresso, coffee and tea to boot.