To the initiated a Coffee K Cup is like a tea bag for the coffee drinker only a bit more technical. The K cup is a small plastic cup sealed with a foil top that contains a pre measured portion of your favourite coffee. The Coffee K cup is inserted into the coffee maker and the hot water is forced through the cup to produce the cup of coffee. Most of the coffee makers that use K cups are single cup machines which means that they produce one cup of coffee at a time.

There are many advantages to the use of coffee K cups which include:

Coffee K cups produce a great coffee in a much quicker time than conventional coffee makers. The K cups are premeasured which means there is no need to grind the coffee beans, insert the right filter and pack the coffee grounds. The K cup is simply inserted in the top of the coffee maker the water is forced through the cup, the coffee is ready and the K cup is simply removed and thrown away. The K cups are great in a office setting as there is little to no mess to clean up.

The use of Coffee K cups is also great for people who would love to make cafe styles coffee at home but do not want a complicated coffee maker that they need to do a baristas course to operate. The simple operation of the coffee maker with the K cups is therefore a great option for these people.

As well as the ease of making the perfect cup of coffee with coffee K cups and the fact that there is little to no mess, the k cups also keep the coffee grounds fresh.

Coffee K cups have become more and more popular over the last couple of years which has proven great for the home coffee market with more and more varieties of coffee available in the easy to use Coffee K cup arrangement at competitive pricing.

The Senseo SL7832/55 Single serve supreme coffee maker is a muli beverage system that also uses the coffee pod arrangement. The machine has an interactive on touch LCD screen for selecting which type of coffee you want and also diplays the water level in the reservoir. The Senseo is a slick modern looking machine that brews a coffee in only a few minutes and has a clever spout design which enables larger mugs to be used with the coffee maker. The Senseo coffee maker is priced from $200.

San Marco coffee beans are roasted and shipped from their large roasting plant in Charlotte North Carolina. The company stocks arabica coffee beans which it roasts to order and ships all over the world. This company has capitalized on the power of the internet and provides the customer with excellent coffee beans in many gourmet flavours at competitive prices.

The next coffee beans to rate a mention are from the Lavazza coffee company. Many people are familiar with this companies espresso equipment but it is the coffee beans and ground coffee that has made this company famous. Lavazza was one of the first companies to offer a blended coffee to the consumer as well as regular unblended coffee beans. By blending flavours lavazza was able to creaet signature coffee tastes that are liked all over the world. Lavazza coffee beans are also available all around the world both wholesale and retail.

Illy coffee beans are next on the list of top coffee beans as it has perfected and become one of the most popular gourmet coffee companies. Coffee beans from Illy come in a variety of forms from whole bean and ground to espresso pods catering for both the cafe crowd and the home coffee drinker. This company does not provide the consumer with a large range of coffee blends and tastes, instead Illy coffee strives to provide the one perfect blend for an excellent coffee every time.

The next brand of coffee beans, Miscela d’Oro coffee beans, are from Italy with the company roasting beans since the 1940′s. The company primarily focused on creating artisan coffee roast from a range of coffee beans available. The Miscela d’Oro coffee focus has now changed to providing coffee beans through supermarket chains.

Last but definitely not least is the Di Bella Coffee bean range which originated in Brisbane Australia. The company was founded an initially run by Phillip Di Bella but quickly became a name in coffee bean circles due to the companies focus on consistency and quality of product and also their excellent customer service. Di Bella Coffee beans are marketed throughout Australia and the world through wholesale to cafes and restaurants.

The organic coffee certification in recent times has also been extended to include environmental practices that are used to harvest the coffee beans and ensure that the environment is protected as well as the farming land that produces the coffee. Consumers are becoming more aware and concerned about organic products and the environment so these are important aspects in this era of socially responsible products.

As well as the benefits to the environment organic coffee beans also have many positive health benefits that are diverse and numerous. Health professionals and scientists have researched the benefits of coffee beans and have found that organic coffee beans provide many more health benefis than regular coffee beans.

Whatever you consume affects your body as soon as it enters your stomach. Most of us wish to eat healthy and try to choose healty options for the things that we enjoy. Organic coffee beans can provide you with that coffee fix but reduces the amount of chemicals and toxins that could be present in the coffee beans. Grown without herbicides and pesticides the organic coffee beans are shade grown which encourages the beans to grow slower and retain many more nutrients than conventional coffee beans.

Organic coffee beans have become more popular in recent times as studies and research have suggested that the large quantity of antioxidants contained within the coffee beans has similar health benefits as that contained in red wine and super fruit berries. Antioxidants have been shown to protect the cells and the body against harmful free radicals and hence promoting longevity.

In addition to this organic coffee beans when consumed have also been known to improve mental performance and endurance and also boost energy. Consuming organic coffee can also benefit in the fight against heart disease, some cancers, gallstone formation, cirrhosis and alzheimers disease.

On the downside coffee and organic coffee contains caffeine which can be highly addictive and has been linked to health problems such as irregular heart beats and rise in blood pressure.

Most of the coffee beans that are used to make many of the commercial flavours are from the seed or bean of the Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) or Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee). The Arabica coffee bean is used in most of the expensive coffee brands while the Robusta coffee is used mainly in instant coffees as a filler.

When the coffee beans are ripe they turn a deep red colour with the fruit surrounded by a membrane and outer skin. Before the coffee roasting can be done the coffee beans need to be prepared by using the following methods.

The skin and pulp needs to be removed from the beans ideally just after the coffee beans are harvested. This process is easily done using a bucket of water and a piece of wood. Use the wood to carefully tramp down the coffee beans and force the seed out of the skin. The skin and pulp can then be poured off with the seeds staying at the bottom of the bucket.

Once the skins and pulp has been removed the coffee beans need to go through a fermentation process which removes the insoluble layer of the bean that is just under the skin. This can be done by soaking the beans in natural enzyme and can take any thing from 24 to 48 hours to work. When the beans are ready they should be washed throughly.

The next part of the process involves drying the beans either using the sun or drying racks in equipment such as electric heating elements. Once the beans are dried the parchment or thin layer around the bean needs to be removed before roasting.

The Roasting of the coffee beans is the most important part of the process as the beans go through several changes during the roasting. Roasting the coffee beans reduces the moisture content, increases the size of the bean, changes the colour and caramelises the sugars to develop the coffee aroma and flavour. Coffee beans can easily be roasted on a large tray in the oven. Once the coffee beans have been roasted they will increase in size and develop a brown to brown / black colour depending on how long the beans are roasted for.

The extent at which you roast the coffee beans depends on what flavours you wish from the beans. Light roasts have a weaker flavour than dark roasts but over roasting can give the coffee a burnt flavour. This process can be a bit trial and error but is worth the trouble for the perfect cup of coffee. Once the coffee beans have been roasted they can be ground and brewed according to taste.

The Partnership with Transfair USA has been a boost for Green Mountain Coffee which can garantee that all the coffee it produces and sells is certified organic and is derived from sustainable agriculture where farmers recieve a fair price for the coffee beans. The farmers earn up to five times what they would receive from local buyers with some of the money then invested in the community through health clinics, housing and education.

In a world that is now looking for environmentally and socially responsible businesses Green Mountain Coffee has flourished offering up to 12 varieties of Fair Trade Certified coffees. Social and environmental positives have also lead the company to be a major supplier for large companies and Universities in the United States.

Green Mountain Coffee was largely sheilded from the effect of a lower coffee bean price as the Fair Trade deal has ensured that farmers who grow coffee beans receive a fair price for their product. Green Mountain Coffee is recognized globally as a leader in the specialty coffee industry with over 1,400 employees worldwide.

Green Mountain’s success story is featured in the new book, “Untapped: Creating Value in Undeserved Markets,” authored by John Wesier. Other resources such as the NASDAQ stock listings, The Specialty Coffee Association website (www.scaa.org) and the National Coffee Association website (www.ncausa.org) contain information on Green Mountain Coffee its profits, products and many of the programs that they are involved with.

The Senseo Coffee Maker has many great features that make this machine both stylisth and practical to use. The brewing system can make two coffees at a time in less than a minute and the user friendly coffee pods means no mess.

The Senseo Coffee maker features a two cup brewing system that brews to coffee under pressure and the single portion coffee pods ensure the right amount of coffee grounds are used for the perfect cup of coffee. The coffee maker features a powerful 1450W boiler that makes up to 4 cups of coffee in a little over 3 minutes.

The design of the Senseo Coffee maker is modern and user friendly with much of the inovation inside the machine. The use of pressure in the brewing process means that the coffee is brewed much faster than many of the regular drip brewing machines. The Senseo Coffee Maker is also very user friendly with the opperation requiring the simple insertion of a coffee pod in the top of the machine. The water resivour is quite large and can make up to 6 cups of coffee before needing a refill.

Some of the other great features of the Senseo Coffee Maker is the range of colours that are available – blue, black and white, the compact size of the maker which will fit even the smallest kitchen, the reasonable price of the maker and the nice foamy layer that the brewing process gives on the top of the coffee.

Some of the criticism of this machine relate to the use of the coffee pods. The Senseo Coffee Maker can only be used with the speacially made coffee pods which can be an expensive way to by coffee. The maker is also some what louder than many home coffee makers and you can only fit the supplied cups under the Senseo Coffee makers plumbing which is bad news for all those coffee lovers out there with travel mugs.

Available at the Amazon and other leading electrical stores.

When choosing a coffee maker you should consider the following things:

How much money have you decided to spend on your coffee maker? The price of coffee makers varies considerably depending on features and the quality of the end product. Home coffee makers can cost from $60 up to $450 so there is plenty of choice in terms of price.

Once you have decided on a budget the next step is to decide what features you would like the coffee maker to have. This decision generally comes down to personal taste and convenience with most coffee makers allowing the customer to choose what features they need.

Once the budget is decided for your coffee machine the next decision you need to make is what type of filter your would prefer. There is several filter types on the market such as basket type filter or cone shaped filter with the difference being the time that the hot water is in contact with the coffee grounds. Basket filters provide a longer contact time between the water and the coffee grounds which means that the grounds of coffee need to be larger for a rich cup of coffee. The cone filters are less prone to spillage and use a smaller ground of coffee bean.

The colour and design of your coffee maker is also an important part of choosing the right coffee maker for your kitchen. It is important to remember that light colours such as white will stain more easily and require more cleaning than darker colours which look newer for longer. The design of the coffee maker is also important when it comes to cleaning. If a coffee maker is not easy to clean then a build up of coffee over time will give your coffee a stale taste. Another reason to select a coffee maker that is easy to clean is that you will use the coffee maker more if you know that it is not a chore to clean all the time.

Other basic features such as whether or not to choose a coffee maker with a grinder, or selecting a coffee maker that uses water at a higher temperature or uses filtered as opposed to tap water may also need to be considered. Most people choose these features depending on how they want their coffee to taste.