CUPID WINS THE DAY!

Please join us in congratulating Sara Siano, the winner of our Peace.Love.Coffee contest on One Cup Connection's Facebook page!  Back on January 24th, we invited all our friends and fans to put on their thinking caps, charge up their creativity, get out their cameras and take an original photo or video depicting their love of coffee. Entries were submitted under the Peace.Love.Coffee tab on our Facebook page. The contest ran through 11:59 pm on Valentine's Day. All entries were posted, and everyone was invited to vote for their favorite submission. It's certainly easy to see why Sara's entry garnered 49% of all votes cast, making her entry the clear winner. Thanks to her ingenuity and her adorable little "Cupid," Sara will now enjoy a free box of K-cups every month for a year, compliments of One Cup Connection. 

We want to thank everyone who participated in our contest! It was lots of fun, and we loved checking out each of the entries as they were submitted!  We think our Peace.Love.Coffee contest was a rousing success, and we are planning to do some more fun things over the coming months. Let us know if you have any ideas for friendly competitions and fun games we can all play.

ENTER OUR PEACE.LOVE.COFFEE CONTEST & WIN K-CUPS FOR A YEAR!

LIKE us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/onecupconnection to enter our Peace.Love.Coffee contest and get a chance to win FREE K-CUPS for a YEAR! Simply click on the Peace.Love.Coffee tab on the left side of our Facebook page, complete the required entry fields and submit your very favorite original photo or video portraying just how much you love coffee. Put your creative talents to work ... but don't delay! The contest is only open until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern) on Valentine's Day, February 14th. All entries will be displayed on our Facebook page and the winner will be chosen based on number of votes received.  So remember: Your work is not over once you upload your entry! You'll still need to tell your friends and family to vote and make you a winner! Contest winner will receive a free 24-count box of K-cups every month for one full year!

All photos and videos become the sole property of One Cup Connection. Prize is not transferable and will be shipped to winner within 30 days of the close of contest. Winner is responsbile for shipping and handling charges. Please review all contest rules and guidelines prior to entering.

Good luck to all our friends and k-cup lovers who enter our Peace.Love.Coffee contest! We think all our fans and friends are winners, and it's our great pleasure to provide you with delicious k-cups and great customer service.

MOVEMBER ... SUPPORTING "MO BROS" EVERYWHERE

Following closely on the high heels of October's pink ribbons, "Movember" (the slang marriage of the words November and  moustache) is dedicated to Handlebars, Dali's, Imperials or Freestyles, all grown by "Mo Bros" in a campaign to raise awareness of diseases that affect men, particularly prostate and testicular cancer.  The Movember movement traces its roots to a group of men in Melbourne, Australia who conceived of the idea in 1999.  Also known as "Novembeard," the idea spread quickly around the world. 

Mo Bros are expected to follow specific guidelines:

1)  They should register at www.movember.com prior to the 1st of November.

1)  All participating males must kick off Movember with a clean-shaven face.

2)  Mo Bros are expected to grow, groom, trim and wax their mustaches throughout the entire month of November.

3)  Moustaches are not to be joined to sideburns.

4)  Handlebar mustaches cannot be joined to the chin (this is technically considered a goatee).

5)  Lastly, participants must conduct themselves as "true country gentlemen"

 

In support of their men's health, women who wish to participate (called Mo Sistas) can opt to refrain from shaving their legs and underarms for the 30 days of November (somehow, an idea that probably does better in European countries).  Funds raised in the United States through Movember events go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.  In 2010, over 64,500 U.S. Mo Bros and Mo Sistas raised approximately $7.5 Million to further  men's health awareness.

So support the men in your life by becoming a Mo Bro or a Mo Sista, or just by encouraging our men to go for regular physical exams and to NOT ignore signals their bodies may be sending them.  In praise of men, we raise our K-cups to the males of the species  - you go, Mo Bro's! May you live long, healthy, cancer-free lives! And if you are a Mo Bro or Mo Sista, we invite you to chronicle your Movember participation on Coffee Break - we'd love to hear from you!

FEMALE COFFEE LOVERS REJOICE!

According to the results of a study released this week by the Harvard School of Public Health, women who regularly drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily have a 20% lower risk of suffering from bouts of depression than women who stick to decaf beverages. This is great news for us gals since, reportedly, we are more likely to suffer from depression than our male counterparts. While the accuracy of these findings could probably be debated ad nauseam, most coffee lovers (female and male alike) will tell you they really do need that morning cup of coffee to get their bodies out of bed and their brains in motion! 

No bones about it, we at One Cup Connection love our k-cups and enjoy a great cup of coffee no matter the time of day. This recent Harvard study is just one of many positive reports on coffee drinking that have been published over the years by such sources as the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association.  According to these esteemed organizations, daily coffee consumption results in:

• Improved mood, alertness and energy.
• Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
• Increased longevity.
• Better athletic performance.
• Decreased risk of cancer.
• Lower incidence of gout in women.
• Fewer deaths from coronary heart disease.

The only drink consumed more frequently than coffee is water, so the whole world can't be wrong! And though we don't know for sure if it makes us healthier, we positively know it makes us less grumpy, kinder people!  If you had to choose between giving up coffee, chocolate or sex, which would you choose?

DELICIOUS ANYTIME ....

 

For many of us, summer conjures up thoughts of lazy days, soft breezes, bright sunshine and a tall cold glass of iced tea out on the back  porch ... that is, until Keurig made it so easy for us to enjoy a tall, delicious, good-as-gourmet iced coffee! No matter what flavor or roast of K-Cup you prefer for your iced coffee, we have several tips guaranteed to make this great treat even better!

Tip #1: Never brew iced coffee into a glass cup containing ice cubes as the glass cup might just crack.  Instead use a non-glass container.  There are many attractive 16-oz. personal size drink cups available in just about every kitchen department of your local department store or specialty shop.

Tip #2: Never again wind up sipping a watered down drink when you make ice cubes ahead of time using the same K-cup flavor you plan to use for your iced coffee. 

Now for the best part .... two of our favorite recipes:

HERE'S MUD IN YOUR EYE ...

 Fill a tall 16-oz. cup with ice (made ahead of time with Gloria Jean's Mudslide K-cups) and place under brewer.

Place a Gloria Jean's Mudslide K-cup in your Keurig brewer. Choose the brew setting of your preference (we like the 6-oz. setting) and press brew.

Add a generous helping of chocolate syrup, 1/2 cup of whole milk (or half 'n half, if you prefer) and a tspn. of raw sugar. Stir, top with a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon and enjoy the yumminess!   

Looking for a late-night treat? Add some Bailey's Irish Cream and you have a little taste of heaven!  Or if you prefer a non-alcoholic treat, add a scoop of premium French Vanilla ice cream instead.

IT'S ESPRESSO TIME

Fill a tall 16-oz. cup with ice (made ahead of time with Green Mountain's Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend K-cups) and place under brewer.

Place a Green Mountain Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend K-cup in your Keurig brewer. Choose the brew setting of your preference (we like the 8-oz. setting for this) and press brew.

Add 1-1/2 cups half 'n half (or whole milk, if you prefer), 1 tspn of finely shredded orange peel and sweeten to taste (we use 2 tablespoons of raw sugar). Top with 1 tspn grated semisweet chocolate and garnish with orange peel strips .... so pretty it's almost a shame to drink it!

Do you have a favorite iced coffee recipe?  Please share. We'd love to try yours!

... AND THEY'RE OFF! (to college, that is)

It's here - that time of the year when we send our future business titans, doctors and professors off to college. Exciting? Yes. Traumatic? For us, absolutely! Regardless of our feelings, we really don't want our children to be traumatized by their first experience at living away from home. Instead, we want them to have a fun-filled, best-time-of-your-life experience and teaching them how to stretch a dollar goes a long way to making that a reality.

 Remember how hard it was to teach a little one the mechanics of money? How many pennies make a nickel? How many nickels make a dime? That's nothing compared to the arsenal of money handling tips kids today need to make it through the month/semester/year without running out of money. Some of these tips are super easy, like don't get talked into signing up for a credit card. And most students learn pretty fast to buy used textbooks instead of new ones. Harder, though, is learning how to make a budget, and harder still, is learning how to stick to it. The ability to budget is a skill that will last your scholar a lifetime. Here are some of the less common budget in's & out's that may be helpful to your college student:

1) Act and spend like a college student, not like a college grad with a job. Going to class and studying is your job and your #1 priority.

2) Everyone also needs "fun" time.  Check the college schedule for free activities. When going out, frequent local restaurants that feature happy hours where drinks are less expensive and snacks are free.

3) If you see something you want, ask yourself if you really need it. If the answer is "Yes," wait a week and then ask yourself again. If the answer is still, "Yes," then comparison shop for the best price before actually making the purchase. Avoid impulse buying at all costs.

4) Track your spending. Take a few minutes at the end of every day or every week to mark down what you've spent, along with when and where you spent it.

5) If you're not living on campus, get a roommate. Furnish your shared apartment with thrift store finds or bargains that can be had at local garage and tag sales.

... and our last tip: Instead of spending chunks of cash at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, ask mom and dad to send you off with a personal Keurig brewer. The B130 is small yet mighty and brews a perfect 8 oz. cup of coffee in less than 3 seconds. You'll save tons and you'll be able to enjoy your favorite kcup coffee any hour of the day or night while you're studying for an exam or finishing a term paper.

Note to mom & dad: One Cup Connection is offering you the chance to purchase the Keurig B130 brewer on special from now thru August 31st for only $59.95. Use Coupon Code: KB130. And check out our website for money-saving deals on kcups. Your college student will love you for it!

LUNCHBOXES WITH PIZZAZ

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a whole new phenomenon that's arisen from our country's current economic conditions -  it seems that even executives are looking to cut pennies by bringing their lunch to work! Never a nation to overlook ways to "make a million," enterprising designers are busy producing lunchboxes that don't look like lunchboxes but instead disguise themselves as laptop bags, wine cooler totes or even fashionable purses. 

At more formal companies, secret brown-bagging managers carry cases roomy enough to hold an adult-size meal, functional enough to keep food from getting soggy and cold, and stylish enough to be mistaken for a pricey accessory.

While we understand the importance of maintaining a certain appearance, do you find it humorous that self-conscious executives will go to these extremes? Or do you applaud the proud brown-bagger who doesn't give a fig if we know he's bringing a peanut butter & jelly from home? Would we try to mooch some of his chips? What's your opinion on this newest development in the fascinating world of Big Business?