The Boston Herald has been following this interesting story…six researchers, students and doctors in Harvard’s pathology department fell ill after drinking from the same espresso coffee machine Aug. 26th. The cause has been determined as sodium azide, a toxin often compared with cyanide and commonly used in medical laboratories as a preservative. Sodium azide can be fatal in high doses, causing respiratory failure.

Harvard University officials disclosed in an internal e-mail Friday that the poison had been identified and that greater security measures were being implemented.

Does that mean the coffee had been intentionally poisoned? At least one of the researchers believes it was, although University officials have declined to comment on the matter.

Just one more reason to select a pod brewer or a single serve k-cup coffee maker for the office! Each pod or k-cup is sealed and brewed “on demand”. Unless you share sugar or cream with 200 other office dwellers, you are probably much safer with a Keurig.

Diedrich’s Coffee People Donut Shop coffee is now one of the best selling K-Cups in the entire Keurig system after just 18 months on the market, according to the company. Other coffee manufacturers have released their own “donut blends” in response to what appears to be a fad in the marketplace.

Perhaps “donut blend” coffee connotes a nostalgic trip to the days of traditional donut shops, where freshly brewed coffee was always a staple. The coffee blends tend to more mild and smooth.

ACSJava.com is now offering 4 types of “donut blend” coffee, and has just begun offering Timothy’s Original Donut Blend K-Cups for a special price of $10.50 for a 24-count box.

The Boston Globe’s October 5 “Monday Question” revealed that a single-serve coffee maker and coffee pods or K-cups is becoming a popular choice for keeping office politics at cool levels – at least where coffee is concerned.

The Monday Question was posed as follows:

Does your office provide coffee at no cost to the employees? What form does your office coffee maker take (e.g. a pod machine, a vending machine, a pot that someone is responsible for making)? How important do you consider the availability of coffee to be in your workplace?

By close of business Monday October 5, there were 77 responses to the question. Of those responses, 30 said they used some type of single serve coffee system – coffee pods or k-cups. The second most popular answer? No free coffee at all, due to budget cuts.

Based on many of the comments, those offices who utilize traditional “pot of coffee” systems have a harder time keeping all of their employees happy, with many employees choosing to leave the office to buy coffee elsewhere. Other offices utilize a coffee delivery service or simply provide a “pay for your own” cafeteria.

Dunkin’ Donuts used Twitter and other internet marketing tactics to drive their Chicago free coffee campaign on October 5, 2009.

The free coffee promotion was touted as a way of saying thanks to Chicago for all the hard work that went into the 2016 Olympic bid.

The offer was good at over 500 Chicagoland locations, all day on October 5. There was no purchase necessary and a limit of 1 coffee per person.

While K-Cups are sealed in such a way that makes them shelf stable and non-perishable for quite a long time, most K-Cups come with a “best if used by” date. This article will help you understand how to get the best flavor out of your Keurig K-Cups by storing them well and following freshness suggestions.

How Keurig K-Cups are Sealed
Each K-Cup is flushed with nitrogen and then sealed in an air-tight, moisture-tight cup. You are familiar with the foil lid you see on the top of your K-Cups. This lid is adhered to the top of the cartridge as soon as it is filled with fresh coffee or tea grounds, and the K-Cup remains air-tight and moisture-free until the needle of your Keurig brewer punctures the foil.

The Shelf Stability of a K-Cup
Keurig K-Cups remain shelf stable almost indefinitely. The contents will not be exposed to air or moisture, so they won’t be susceptible to the conditions necessary for the coffee to spoil. Not until you put the K-Cup into your Keurig brewer will the coffee be exposed to moist conditions, so there’s no chance that mold or mildew can grow in your coffee. You may wonder, then, why each K-Cup comes with a “best if used by date.”

Best If Used By Suggestions
When the company roasting the coffee for the K-Cups manufactures the coffee grounds, they establish a window of time in which the coffee will be the freshest. When coffee is fresh, the flavor will be bolder, more robust and have a fresher “bite” to it. The date you see printed on the box or imprinted onto the Keurig K-Cup is the last day that the brewer can recommend the coffee as being its freshest. While the coffee won’t necessarily be spoiled at this date, it may begin to lose some of its original flavor or become stale.

It’s best to purchase coffee as you use it, and keep a fresh stock on hand. While the manufacturer’s suggestions may not be the literal end of a K-Cup’s usefulness, it is generally best to follow their suggestions.

To purchase a fresh stock of Keurig K-Cups, visit http://www.acsjava.com