We’re always testing food at THE NIBBLE; and with the warm weather we were having yesterday, a member of our team picked up both Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffees. At Dunkin’ Donuts, she was tempted by the fall donut display and picked up a sampling:

What about a lowfat muffin? Now there’s the:

Our fall favorites at Dunkin’ Donuts: The glazed
Pumpkin Donut at left, with pumpkin-colored
dough inside and the colorful Fall Munchkins.
At top, Pumpkin Muffin. At right, Low Fat
Caramel Apple Muffin. Photo by Evan Dempsey
| THE NIBBLE.

In terms of the iced coffee: Starbucks won ($3.05 compared to $2.82, representing NYC prices with tax).

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/11/11/products-perking-up-fall-at-dunkin%e2%80%99-doughnuts/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/27/gourmet-giveaway-national-geographic-terra-firma-coffee/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/27/gourmet-giveaway-national-geographic-terra-firma-coffee/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:39:49 +0000 Editorial Assistant http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=7147

In honor of National Fair Trade Month, this week’s Gourmet Giveaway prize is not only socially conscious, but also smooth and satisfying.

Six winners will enjoy Brazilian coffees from National Geographic’s Terra Firma coffee brand. All Terra Firma coffees are Fair Trade Certified™, which guarantees fair prices to farm families, environmental stewardship and investment in farming communities.

We know many people will love Terra Firma coffee (it was on our Father’s Day gift list in June). The single-origin, specialty-grade coffee is sourced from six of the world’s finest growing regions: Brazil, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Sumatra and Kenya. If you don’t win, you can purchase it on Amazon.com in light, medium and dark roast, ground or whole bean. The handsome bag makes it a nice gift, too.

It’s effortless to make the world a better place, simply by buying Fair Trade coffee.

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/27/gourmet-giveaway-national-geographic-terra-firma-coffee/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/15/entertaining-%e2%80%9cfitzoween%e2%80%9d-tea-party/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/15/entertaining-%e2%80%9cfitzoween%e2%80%9d-tea-party/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:03:45 +0000 admin http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=6771

Serve Constant Comment or other spiced tea
for Halloween. Photo courtesy SXC.  

After a busy afternoon of shopping at Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City, we sought quiet refuge for afternoon tea at the Fitzpatrick Hotel, a scant two blocks away. The hotel is celebrating “Fitzoween” all month with a Halloween-themed tea: cinnamon spice tea, pumpkin scones and midnight chocolate double layer cake.

Make a date and invite your friends to celebrate Fitzoween—or Smithoween, or Schwartzoween, or whatever your name is. Get some Constant Comment, the original American spiced tea recipe invented by Ruth Bigelow (available in supermarkets and from BigelowTea.com). Decorate your midnight chocolate cake with candy corn or other favorite Halloween candy; or serve midnight chocolate cupcakes and provide different Halloween candies so guests can decorate their own. No one is too old to enjoy Halloween candy and chocolate cake!

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/15/entertaining-%e2%80%9cfitzoween%e2%80%9d-tea-party/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/04/factoid-u-s-not-an-instant-coffee-nation/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/04/factoid-u-s-not-an-instant-coffee-nation/#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:20:25 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=6434

Is it “real” brewed or is it VIA Ready Brew instant coffee? Photo courtesy of Starbucks.  

Can it be true? According to an article in Business Week about Starbucks’ VIA Ready Brew instant coffee, “most coffee drinkers outside the U.S. use instant coffee.” It’s a $20 billion global market and Americans account for just 4% of worldwide sales.

Where are those instant coffee drinkers? We’ve done our share of world traveling and we’ve seen instant coffee in foreign grocery stores. But we’ve also been impressed by how strong most other nations like their brewed coffee. Are these same folks who demand Italian roast-strength coffee and even more fortissimo strengths actually closet instant coffee drinkers?

At about $1.00 a packet, VIA Ready Brew is likely the most expensive instant coffee in the world. We tried it when we announced it here last February when the instant was first available from Starbucks’ website. It has now rolled out at Starbucks stores nationwide. Head to your nearest Starbucks: They’re sampling through Monday.

Our verdict: We liked VIA Ready Brew as an instant coffee, but we don’t drink instant coffee and don’t find ourselves in situations where we’d need this type of convenience product. Other people—road warriors and campers, for example—might find it a welcome way to get a reliable cup of decent coffee. It mixes with hot or cold water.

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/10/04/factoid-u-s-not-an-instant-coffee-nation/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/08/09/recipe-ultra-rich-vanilla-iced-coffee/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/08/09/recipe-ultra-rich-vanilla-iced-coffee/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:00:43 +0000 Editorial Assistant http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=4999

On some summer days, it’s just too hot for coffee. Here’s a deluxe iced coffee recipe from entertaining maven Colleen Mullaney, author of how-to books such as It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere and Punch, a book of easy punch recipes, like this iced coffee recipe.

Coffee as punch? Is any liquid served in a punch bowl “punch?” Not exactly, but we’re taking some license here. A brief history of punch:

Punch is a general term that covers a wide assortment of mixed drinks, with or without alcohol. While they generally contain fruit or fruit juice, that isn’t essential. Punch, which seems quintessentially British, actually was discovered in India by the British sailors of the East India Company, and brought to England in the early 17th century; from there it spread to other countries. The word “punch” is adapted from the Hindi panch. In India, panch, earlier called paantsch, was made from five different ingredients: sugar, lemon, water, tea or spices and an alcoholic spirit. The word for “five” in Sanskrit is panchan; derivations of the word exist in the different Indian dialects.

Coffee On The Cubes is one of Colleen’s favorite beverages, a way to serve a festive coffee recipe that keeps it cool for hot days. Move over, iced moccachino: This recipe is super-rich from the cream, but it is unsweetened; guests add their own sugar to taste. See the recipe.

Keep cool this August with this super-rich iced coffee recipe.

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/08/09/recipe-ultra-rich-vanilla-iced-coffee/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/07/12/tip-of-the-day-lavender-iced-tea/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/07/12/tip-of-the-day-lavender-iced-tea/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:59:19 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=3369

There’s nothing more elegant than a glass of lavender iced tea. Add a 1/2 cup of culinary lavender (grown without pesticides) to 2-3 quarts of brewed tea. When the tea cools, strain out the lavender. (If you have one or two large spice infusion balls, use them to hold the lavender buds and you won’t need to strain.) Lavender tea is delicious hot as well. If you’re making a single cup of hot tea, add a half teaspoon of buds to the cup (if you use a tea bag, you can use a tea infuser spoon or other tea strainer to strain the buds; if you use loose tea, just toss them in). We love lavender with black tea, but it’s equally delicious with green and white teas.

• Visit our Tea Section for more tea ideas.
• Learning to brew tea is an art and a science. Find out how to make the perfect cup of tea.
• Read about the history of tea.

• Keep cool with these iced coffee tips and recipes.

Each candy bar delivers the caffeine content
of two cups of coffee! Photography by Corey
Lugg | THE NIBBLE. Styling by Lauren LaPenna.  

Many people love a good cup of coffee. And they love a good chocolate bar. So now, how about a coffee bar—not an eating establishment where you get a cup of coffee, but a coffee candy bar that’s cousin to the chocolate bar? After much experimentation, the founders of Caffe Acapella have created coffee candy bars that have the creamy texture of milk chocolate, without any chocolate ingredients. They’re made from roasted coffee beans instead of roasted cacao bean (the basis of chocolate). Coffee lovers are going to love them.

But a creamy candy bar that melts on the tongue isn’t the only focus. The star of the show is the genuine coffee flavor of the Arabica coffee beans used to make the bars. With each new batch of beans, sample bars are produced for experts to taste test; with approval, the beans move ahead to production. The resulting bars not only encapsulate the coffee flavor of fine beans, but also the caffeine content. Each 2.25-ounce bar contains the caffeine equivalent of about two cups of coffee! (And boy, does it ever taste better than Red Bull.)

Read the full review to see why these coffee candy bars had us singing with happiness after the first bite.

Read more reviews of our favorite candy & confections.

Learn more about the history of coffee.

How do you describe the kind of coffee you like? See THE NIBBLE’S glossary of coffee descriptors.

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/06/24/top-pick-of-the-week-caffe-acapella-coffee-candy-bars/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/05/26/news-longest-coffee-break-ever/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2009/05/26/news-longest-coffee-break-ever/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 20:43:59 +0000 Editorial Assistant http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=2431 Winter, a 37-year-old computer programmer from Houston has made it his life’s mission to visit every Starbucks on earth – a lofty goal further complicated by the coffee giant’s recent downturn in profits. Competition roars from the other chain on every corner, McDonald’s, now serving posh coffee drinks at lower prices. Frequent customers are turning former, establishing more economical relationships with their home brewers. And Starbucks, which once ruled the kingdom of caffeine with a venti fist, has begun closing stores.

A strong cup of bitter farewell. This strikes a devastating personal note for Winter, who has visited over 9,000 Starbucks spanning 17 countries in the last 12 years. A self-professed “mild” compulsive, he drops everything and hops into a plane when word gets out that a location he hasn’t visited yet will be dropping its green awning forever. Last summer he drove 25,000 miles around the country visiting 40 doomed locations, one of which closed before he got the chance to sample their wares and take a photograph. He calls it “the one that got away.”