No K-cup? No problem!!

This blog post is about how the Cuisinart brand k-cup pot has features that allow you to make a fabulous drink, even if Keurig (or some other authorized k-cup maker) does not make a k-cup in that variety.  I hinted at these features in my very first blog post, which compared the Tassimo t-disc and the Keurig k-cup side-by-side.  At that time, however, I had never used these features before, so I didn't know exactly how they would work.  The two features I am talking about are the "my k-cup" and the "hot water" button (a unique feature of the Cuisinart pot I recently found out).

My K-Cup
The my k-cup is a plastic housing into which you place a "permanent" metal mesh filter.  You simply open the lid, as if you were going to place in a regular k-cup, and remove the lower portion of the mechanism (the thing the k-cup sits in) and put the my k-cup in its place.  You can then fill that metal mesh filter with any kind of ground coffee you have on hand and can brew it on any setting that your pot offers.  I thought this was going to take a lot of experimenting, but I discovered right away the perfect setting for my favorite kind of coffee.  For the longest time, I was always a drinker of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  Even after moving to Lubbock Texas, where there is no Dunkin' Donuts within hundreds of miles (I'm used to having 2 or 3 within walking distance at all times), we still ordered Dunkin' Donuts coffee online and had it shipped!!  We used a scoop that was (I think) 2 tablespoons for every two cups of coffee that the pot brewed (one cup according to the coffee pot, not our mugs).  The Cuisinart pot came with a small conical coffee scoop and I was able to fit 2 packed scoops into the my k-cup and so I started out with that on the 8 cup setting and it tasted perfect.  Assuming that you used roughly 1 tablespoon of coffee per cup that the pot brewed, you should have the same level of satisfaction with your chosen coffee, even if you like different coffee.  If it is not strong enough, you could use less water, but you won't be able to get any more coffee to fit in there!!

Hot Water
The Cuisinart pot has a hot water button and it is tied to the cup size, just like the brew button is.  To get 192 degree hot water to use for anything you can think of, you simply need to choose a cup size and push the Hot Water button.  While this is a feature of the Cuisinart pot, this can be accomplished on a Keurig with the brew button, leaving out the k-cup.  I have used this to make instant Cream of Wheat before, with great results.  The Cream of Wheat instructions say 2/3 cup hot water, which is about 5.3 ounces.  There is a 6 ounce setting, so I rounded off to allow just a little extra watter to dissolve all the sugar I like on my Cream of Wheat.  It came out perfect, without me having to wait for the water to boil and then measure it, etc.  I just took a heat-proof plastic bowl, poured in the packet, added sugar, pushed 2 buttons and it was done in a few moments!  One major caveat for this: ALWAYS rinse after brewing a k-cup before using this feature!!!

Mix 'N Match a Mocha!!

Using various combinations of coffee k-cups with hot cocoa k-cups, I have made some drinks akin to mochas that I have found very delicious.  As mentioned before, I use cream (actually half-and-half) and sugar in a standard cup of coffee.  When making these "mochas," I add no sugar but I do add either a splash of milk or a splash of half-and-half.  I find these drinks ideal for filling my travel mug, because I'm end up making about a 14 ounce drink.  Below are a few variants and what they were like.  All of these used either the Green Mountain hot cocoa or the Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot cocoa.  I have recently tried the Cafe Escapes dark chocolate hot cocoa and find it to be delicious and rich without any of the bitterness that dark chocolate bars sometimes have.  I have not yet tried the Cafe Escapes white chocolate hot cocoa.  I plan to try these "mochas" again, first with the dark chocolate hot cocoa (and maybe with the white chocolate hot cocoa if I try it and like it).

Toffee Mocha
I made this using the Green Mountain hot cocoa on the 8 ounce setting, with the Gloria Jean's butter toffee coffee on the 6 ounce setting.  As I mentioned above, I added a small splash of milk but no sugar.  It was amazingly delicious.  Using the 6 ounce setting makes the coffee taste and the toffee flavor stronger and more concentrated.  This really balances it out against the cocoa.  I had tried this once before with some sugar in it and it was too sweet for me and then again with no sugar and it was perfect, so this type of mocha was the guinea pig, so to speak, because this was the one where I learned not to put any sugar in when making a mocha because the sweetness of the hot chocolate makes up for the lack of sugar.

Double Chocolate Mocha
I had commented before that the Coffee House chocolate glazed donut coffee was delicious but was definitely in the category of "would love a stronger chocolate flavor."  Since I was wanting this coffee to be more chocolatey, I decided to try this in a mocha.  I combined the Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot chocolate on the 8 ounce setting with the chocolate glazed donut coffee on the 6 ounce setting (for the same reason as above).  Again, I used no sugar, and this time had a splash half-and-half rather than milk.  The taste was fabulous!!  It was definitely extremely chocolatey.  I think it might have even been more chocolatey than just plain hot chocolate!!

Caramel (Vanilla) Mocha
I have recently gotten a flavored k-cup by Green Mountain that is Caramel Vanilla Cream.  I love caramel and chocolate together, so I tried this as a mocha.  Again, it was made with Cafe Escapes milk chocolate hot cocoa on the 8 ounce setting with the coffee on the 6 ounce setting.  The vanilla is not a prominent flavor, but the caramel/chocolate combo is just perfect!

Take-home message?  If you've found a flavored coffee that you like and you like mochas, brew that coffee on the 6 ounce setting and add it to 8 ounces of cocoa (which can be done with a hot cocoa k-cup on the 8 ounce setting).  Look forward to some more posts about other flavors and mochas made with dark chocolate (and maybe white chocolate) hot cocoa.

No coffee? No workee!!

This saying was on a paperweight (Picture below) that my husband bought for me recently. It is so true for me. Whenever I need to get some work done, I always want to do that work at a cafe/coffee shop. Today, I am working at the Day Break on 82nd and Quaker. They are in a moderately sized strip-mall type shopping center, so they have adequate to ample parking (depending on how busy they and nearby shops are). They have a good layout that allows for lots of table which range in size. There is a section that looks like it could function as a stage of sorts. You have to step up onto it and it accommodates about a half dozen tables and has 3 sets of electrical outlets, one of which already has a power strip plugged in. They play quiet music that sets a good atmosphere and there is some art on the wall. The atmosphere that they set is ideal for both working and conversation. They feature a flavored, light roast, dark roast, and decaf coffee each day. Any of the drinks made with coffee rather than espresso can be made with any of these. Today, I'm enjoying a cafe au lait made with snickeroo coffee. It has a really great flavor that makes me (typically a sugar and cream user) not need any sweetener at all, without being too sweet.
I found out while here that they are now owned by the same people that own J&B, so very soon, the punch cards will be good at both locations!! For now, the main thing I noticed was that I was able to get a Deborah Kaye's Organics amazing oatmeal cookie.

Dirty is as dirty does!

I realize that I had said previously that my next planned adventure was to try the Wild Mountain Blueberry flavored coffee by Green Mountain, and that blog post will be coming soon, but like any adventurer, sometimes unexpected adventures come to you and you just have to go with them! I had the most amazing (aaaaah-mazing) dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan last Friday and since that Friday was the start of the Easter weekend, I haven’t blogged since.

Today I ate my brunch (I hadn’t had breakfast yet, so it was a very early lunch that also happened to be the first food I had) at the café in the Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus. I decided to try their dirty chai. I was immediately struck by how different it was. Somehow that shot of espresso made the differences in the spice profile much more pronounced. I will definitely have to go back to The Arrogant Texan to try their chai without the espresso to verify this, but it seems as though, even though the chai at Barnes and Noble is not as spicy as the chai at The Arrogant Texan, the dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan is MUCH smoother than at Barnes and Noble. Normally when I get the chai at Barnes and Noble, it has a very sweet flavor, with almost a marshmallow-ish aftertaste (which I love). To highlight the comparison, (assuming I got exactly what was ordered both times), I got a medium dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan and a venti dirty chai at Barnes and Noble and yet the Barnes and Noble one was much stronger. This is important because both were ordered to have just a single shot of espresso in them, thus the Barnes and Noble dirty chai had the same amount of espresso “diluted” in more chai and yet it burned in my throat like I was drinking moonshine! If you’ve ever seen in a TV show or movie where someone who is supposed to be inexperienced at drinking alcohol takes a straight shot of some hard liquor and then makes this ghastly face and says sarcastically (and in a hoarse voice) “smooth!” Well, that was me today, not that it wasn't delicious!

The bottom line for me? If you cannot handle straight espresso, you might not be ready for the dirty chai at Barnes and Noble (and therefore probably Starbucks either), but if you are feeling adventurous, it is worth the burn because it had an amazing flavor. Similar to the dirty chai at The Arrogant Texan, there was not a discordant coffee/tea taste, but the espresso made the natural spices of the chai punch more. It is definitely worth a try, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about how strong it is!! I think I might try to get it with just a half-shot next time!

Arrogant and Dirty!

Today I went to The Arrogant Texan for a break between two appointments. I got my favorite table, right by the window where I can enjoy the sunshine. One of the guys working there had just read the blog this morning and we were chatting about it. I got the Coffee Almond Fudge Swirl ice cream, which was fabulous!!!!!! (I would put more exclamation points, but that gets annoying) I decided to try their Spicy Chai Latte and I was given the option to get it "dirty." I had recently heard of this so I knew what it meant, but he explained it because I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I wanted a shot of espresso in my chai, but I decided to go for it. All I can say, is wow!! The first thing I did after I sat down with my drink and ice cream, was to take off the lid and smell the chai. It had a completely unique spice profile, like I've never smelled before. I could see spices floating on the foam and I just knew that this wasn't the same-old-same-old chai. It smelled absolutely amazing (actually more like aaaaah-mazing)! I wasn't sure if I would like it with the shot of espresso. I thought it would end up kind of like using coffee instead of hot water to brew your tea (which my dad actually did one time when he was tired, but we didn't drink it!!!). Instead it just punched up the taste, similar to how bakers put coffee in chocolate desserts to make the chocolate taste more chocolatey (with no real coffee flavor carry-over). Between the amazing spice profile and espresso shot, the flavor was (to use a Guy Fieri term) "off the hook"!! It was like being instantly transported to some exotic location where the air itself is heavy and spiced. One little piece of Arrogant Texan whimsy that I mentioned previously was the expressions on the sleeves that go on the cups, which I discovered today are pre-printed at the beginning of the day (my favorite is "don't drop it like it's hawt"). By chance, I got the sleeve that says "Legendary!" and the sleeve was right, that dirty chai was legendary!!!.

Barista appreciation

In response to a previous post where I discussed the importance of being nice to your barista, a follower of the blog (who is one of my friends from high school) sent me the photo below. She took this with her camera-phone at a coffee shop she frequents called Cafe on the Common, which is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The title of her e-mail was "How I appreciate my baristas" and I think that if all my coffee looked like this, I would definitely be feeling barista-appreciation (should we call that "baristappreciation"??)!!



If you have a great barista and you want to share your story, please feel free to comment on a post or contact me by e-mail if you want to include a picture!