Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups now available from Corporate Essentials (drinkcoffee.com)

For months now, you have no doubt been hearing that 12 new Keurig K-Cups from Wolfgang Puck would be coming in May. Now we have a date - Monday, May 24th.

Corporate Essentials will have plenty of Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups to go around, but we suggest that you get your orders in early in the week to guarantee your Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups arrive as soon as possible.

Here's the lineup of Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups (just in case you have been brewing your K-Cup coffee under a rock for the past few months and missed it):

Wolfgang Puck Breakfast in Bed  Keurig K-Cups: Wake up on the bright side, with fresh aromas and a smooth taste.

Wolfgang Puck Rodeo Drive  Keurig K-Cups (formerly Beverly Hills Blend): When only the best will do... Live the good life, and drink great coffee!

Wolfgang Puck French Roast Keurig K-Cups: Bring the aromas of France home with you and "profitez des bons moments (enjoy the good moments)"

Wolfgang Puck Vienna Coffee House Keurig K-Cups: Close your eyes, breathe in the aromas and take a sip. Savor the moment.

Wolfgang Puck Sumatra Kopi Raya Keurig K-Cups: A full body with spicy notes. Flavors from around the world, at your table!

Wolfgang Puck Chef's Reserve Colombian Keurig K-Cups: "A really good cup of coffee is truly one of my greatest pleasures." -Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck Chef's Reserve Colombian Decaf Keurig K-Cups: "A really good cup of coffee is truly one of my greatest pleasures." -Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck Hawaiian Hazelnut Keurig K-Cups: The flavor of rich coffee blended with tropical hazelnut. sure to delight the senses.

Wolfgang Puck Francais Vanilla Keurig K-Cups: A subtle flavor of vanilla adds just a touch of sweetness to this extraordinary coffee.

Wolfgang Puck Creme Caramel Keurig K-Cups: The sweetness of rich caramel mixed with gourmet vanilla ice cream, delicious!

Wolfgang Puck Jamaica Me Crazy Keurig K-Cups: You may do a little dance for this fantastic cup of Joe. Yes a dance, but who doesn't love a crazy jig in the morning?

Wolfgang Puck Sorrento Keurig K-Cups: Take a moment to simply enjoy the great flavor and aroma of this perfect blend. Live, love, eat and drink great coffee.

New Survey of U.S. Employees Finds Small Perks in the Office Can Have a Big Impact on Feeling Motivated and Valued

Two Years of Limited Pay Increases and Workplace Benefits Leave Employees Appreciating Simple Luxuries (Fairfield, New Jersey's Corporate Essentials is an Authorized Keurig Distributor)

READING, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In today’s challenging times, business owners and managers seek effective ways to improve morale in the workplace and help keep staff motivated, especially when employees are being asked to do more with less. Now, new survey findings reveal that small perks can have a major impact in boosting employee morale. According to a national survey, three out of five employed Americans feel more motivated to do their best work when provided with perks in the office and nearly half of those surveyed said small perks make them feel more valued.

“Employers can inexpensively offer simple perks in the office like flexible working hours, casual dress days or a celebration pizza that offers a significant perceived value to employees.”

“It’s important for business managers to recognize and reward their staff for their hard work, even if a tight budget only allows for small perks. Simple rewards can go a long way in attracting, motivating and retaining needed talent,” said Dr. Bob Nelson, a leading authority on workforce motivation, a best-selling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees and Keeping Up in a Down Economy and co-founder of Recognition Professionals International. “Employers can inexpensively offer simple perks in the office like flexible working hours, casual dress days or a celebration pizza that offers a significant perceived value to employees.”

Nelson points to fresh, free gourmet coffee as a commonly desired office perk that has a very high perceived value to employees, helping them save money, improve morale and enhance productivity - in turn benefiting employers. A recent national survey conducted on behalf of Keurig, Incorporated, a leader in single-serve brewing systems, confirms that. According to the survey:

• 37 percent of employees surveyed would prefer free, daily fresh gourmet coffee or tea over a company’s annual holiday party
• 50 percent of employees surveyed reported they are looking to cut back their spending on coffee and tea in 2010 (outside of the office)
• Surveyed Americans aged 18-34 report spending an estimated $440/year and over 38 hours/year on purchasing coffee and tea before, during and after the work day. Sixty percent said they would like to cut back their spending

“The results from this survey reflect what we regularly hear from business owners and managers about the need to help boost employee morale and maintain productivity by providing a variety of gourmet coffee, teas, or specialty drinks,” says Dave Manly, General Manager, Away From Home division for Keurig, Incorporated. “Keurig’s single cup brewing technology makes it easy by providing a variety of gourmet beverages for everyone’s tastes and without the waste, mess and hassle that you find with traditional coffeemakers.”

Keurig has offered a solution for managers looking to provide employees with a perk of fresh, gourmet coffee since 1998. The company recently launched the Commercial Series B150 and B155 brewers, which are specially designed for small to medium sized businesses and medical offices and include a new one-of-a-kind, interactive touchscreen interface that provides step-by-step instructions for brewing the perfect cup of coffee in less than a minute. Employees can choose from over 200 varieties of K-Cup® portion packs from 13 different brands, making it easy for everyone in the office to brew the coffee they love and enjoy. For more information on Keurig, please visit www.keurig.com or call 888-CUP-BREW.

About the Survey

The national omnibus survey was developed by Keurig and Bob Nelson, Ph.D. and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation in Princeton, NJ. Opinion Research surveyed by telephone 958 adults employed full, part time, or self employed. Interviews were weighted by four variables including age, sex, geographic region, and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total adult population. Interviews were conducted on Jan. 7-11, 2010. Such a sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.

Timothy's coffee introduces new Emeril K-Cups!

Timothy's coffee has just announced that they will soon be releasing an exclusive line of Emeril Lagasse's signature blend coffees.

The first two varieties in the line have been announced, and are Big Easy Bold and Jazzed Up Decaf (see images below). As many of Emeril's branded products do, the k-cups will be strongly influenced by the city of New Orleans.

Timothy's Emeril branded k-cups will be available in the coming weeks from Corporate Essentials and at drinkcoffee.com.

Too Hot for Coffee from a K-Cup? Never!

After a week of vacation (and a week away from the office Keurig Brewer), I was happy to arrive this morning and see some summertime, iced drink recipes for Keurig K-Cups setting on my desk. I was so excited, the first thing that I wanted to do was make sure that I shared them with everyone who visits the Corporate Essentials' Java Cafe. So without further adieu, here are two great summer (iced drink) recipes that can be made at your office Keurig brewer:

Iced Tea: Fill a 16-ounce mug or cup (even plastic) with ice. Brew your favorite tea K-Cup at 8 ounces, and you'll have a great 16-ounce tea in seconds!

Iced Carmel Latte: Pour 1.5 to 2 ounces of half-and-half into a cup, and swirl about 2 ounces of caramel syrup along the cup walls. Stir the caramel and half-and-half together, pack tightly with ice, and brew about 4 ounces on top (I used two separate cups to make it easier). Then you can top off with whipped cream, a bit more caramel and cinnamon (as you can see from the cell phone pic below, I went with the low-fat version and left off the whipped cream). The same recipe can be used to make a mocha latte by simply replacing the caramel syrup with chocolate.



In my personal opinion, the second recipe works best with any of our Extra Bold K-Cups from Timothy's or Green Mountain; but I strongly recommend trying it with Green Mountain's Kenyan AA Extra Bold or Timothy's Kona Blend k-cups (these are the two that I tried so far).

Do you have any summer drink recipes that your office enjoys? Send me an email about them, and we'll send you a free gift.