I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a coffee fanatic. I’ve spent countless hours on the CoffeeGeek.com forums and invested in a bunch of home equipment, all with the goal of making the perfect cup of coffee. The more time you spend in the world of coffee, the more you realize that the perfect cup is an elusive thing. The beans, the water, the grind, the temperature, the machine, the pressure, the tamp … they all make a difference. I'd say my one greatest learning is that the true coffee fanatic is really seeking consistency which leads to good coffee.

When I was asked to test out a Nespresso machine I was inherently skeptical. All of the manual factors I just talked about disappeared and I was convinced that something so easy couldn't produce a cup of coffee worth drinking. I've had previous experiences with systems from Keurig, Flavia, and Senseo, all of which were fairly lackluster. Why should Nespresso be any different?

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Miam-Miam has topped their mug that design people have been blogging about for months with Cappuccino Towers. It's like the Tiffany box for coffee lovers. Pretty white porcelain and stainless-steel bands make for good looks, but the tower of compartments within a solitary cup make it functional. Starting from the top, you can cover your coffee beverage of choice to keep it warm, and for no-spills. In the base, you can keep everything from a spoon to Splenda or your sweetener of choice, without having your hands full and coffee accompaniments scattered all over your space. Cappuccino Towers concept should make the shelves in 2007, and we'll be sure to give you the scoop on exactly when.

Pronounced Ve-lo-chay, Veloce Coffee is a relatively young coffee company possessing all of what I look for in a coffee brand. All of Veloce’s coffee is hand roasted in small batches, each batch hand perfected by their roasters to ensure that every bean reaches its maximum potential– no industrial processing here. They’ve harnessed technology (tops in the industry) to carefully replicate their roasts down to a single degree. Of course, the coffee is certified fair trade and organic. Veloce has also taken the liberty of leaving us instructions about to make the perfect cup of coffee. You can buy all 11 of Veloce’s flavors directly from Veloce’s website for a great holiday gift. I also have to give Veloce ‘the nod’ for their branding choices; from their logo, to their packaging, they’ve created a product that just looks enticing.

Today we scored some ‘black gold’ from the folks at Venice, CA based Java Juice– hats off to them for dreaming up a great coffee concept. Java Juice makes individual packets of pure coffee extract; all you have to do to indulge is ‘rip it, drip it, sip it.’ I can imagine these things working really well on those mornings you’re running late for work, and on those mornings when you are climbing Mount Everest. And what a great stocking-stuffer opportunity! Java Juice appears to be an eco-friendly, community-minded company– something I always like to see. They’re extract us made in the USA with organic Arabica coffee beans sourced from sustainable farms. I was also impressed with the recipe contest that Java Juice has going (there are already some great ones posted).

Attention all coffee lovers! I just came across this fantastic grassroots start-up coffee company called Simple Coffee that is based on the principles of “better trade and honestly organic values.” Simple Coffee, founded by three 23-year old entrepreneurs, prides itself on paying small growers in third world countries better than the Fair Trade Price per pound for their beans – simply because it’s the best and right thing to do. When they say “honesty organic values,” Simple Coffee is referring to their honest handshake agreements with growers that pesticides will not be used. It’s just how they do business. Simple keeps their inventory low to keep freshness high, and also donate a portion of their proceeds to charitable foundations. They currently offer 11 different styles to choose from, all in 12oz bags, so take your pick and order now!