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Coming Soon: Self-Heating Coffee

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the and-we-just-thought-flavia-was-cool dept.

prostoalex writes "In 2005 Wolfgang Puck will start selling containers of self-heating coffee, USA Today says. The combination of calcium oxide and water will heat the coffee to 145 degrees and keep it warm for the next 30 minutes. The coffee will be sold in regular grocery stores, and folks at Fool.com tell Starbucks to watch out as this product, coming from a well-known chef, might target those of us grabbing a cup of hot latte on the way to work."

13 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. already done by monkey_jam · · Score: 5, Informative

    we have these in the UK. They taste about as good as warmed up cold coffee. Which is basically what it is....

    1. Re:already done by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Better be careful to not store them too close to your self-cooling cans of beer. That could be a real mess! ("Mmmm, luke-warm coffee-beer!")

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:already done by mobiGeek · · Score: 4, Informative
      The point of Starbucks (or, in Minnesota, Caribou and Dunn Bros.) was never the coffee. You can get coffee anywhere.
      Speak for yourself(s). For us up here, Tim Ho's is all about the coffee...coffee...coffee....mmm-wwwha-ha-ha-ha!!

      10 minute break? How can you even get started without it???

      :-)

      --

      ...Beware the IDEs of Microsoft...

    3. Re:already done by Feynman · · Score: 2, Informative
      The point of Starbucks (or, in Minnesota, Caribou and Dunn Bros.) was never the coffee.

      Speaking as a big coffee fan and former Minnesotan who has patronized both Starbucks and Caribou, I can attest to that.

      In fact, after patronizing them (definition 3), I now often patronize them (definition 2).

      There is better coffee to be had!

    4. Re:already done by MarcQuadra · · Score: 2, Informative

      My regrets. I spend most of my time in Providence, which has about 15 Dunkin Donuts' within 2km.

      I was RAISED on the stuff, a lot of my friends started drinking DD when we were in sixth grade. People from my work (near Boston) joke about the Rhode Island Coffee Fix, meaning that I'll duck-out after lunch and drive past two coffee shops to get to the nearest DD. In the summer I usually slam a 24-ounce iced coffee in about two minutes, it gives me an ice-cream headache.

      The trick to Dunkin Donuts is that the brew a light roast, which is not usually found in most 'classy' coffee shops. In my opinion, a light roast is EXACTLY the sort of caffiene pick-up I want after lunch, not a heavy black brew that taints my blood (save that stuff to get me out of bed!).

      BTW, if you ever get down to Rhode Island, if you order coffee at Dunkin Donuts 'regular' you get about four times the cream and sugar you expect. Make sure to tell them to go 'easy on the cream and sugar'.

      --
      "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  2. Replace Starbucks, I don't think so... by philbowman · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've tried the version available in Europe, and even allowing for the fact it's Nescafe to start with, it can't be described as even vaguely resembling coffee. Might be worth having in the car for emergencies, but it wouldn't replace anyone's daily coffee if they have any taste buds.

    --
    Phil
  3. Re:gah by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 4, Informative

    To state the obvious, the coffee doesn't generate its own heat (or it would be full of slaked lime, which might impair the flavour). The lime and water, to produce the heat, are in a jacket around it.

    --
    When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
  4. won't work by BigBir3d · · Score: 5, Informative

    Comparing this to Starbuck's is foolish. People go to Starbuck's so they can say they go there. And to be seen there.

    Your average coffee drinker does not even realize that most all Starbuck's coffee is over roasted and made of inferior quality beans. The really scary thing; the quality of Dunkin Donuts coffee beans are higher than Starbuck's! I did not know this, but a coffee guru (bean tester and whatnot for major coffee companies) tells me it is true.

  5. It's 63 degrees Celsius. by infolib · · Score: 2, Informative
    For the rest of the world

    That's 336 K for physicists.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
  6. Re:why is starbuck's the benchmark? by adamjaskie · · Score: 3, Informative

    Starbucks, while it is not great coffee, is significantly better than the brown water that most of us Americans are used to drinking at home. Remember that the average cup of coffee in America is still made with coffee from companies such as Folgers or Maxwell House. The coffee is purchased preground, in a one kilo tin, and sits on the counter kept nice and warm by sunlight for the six months it takes to be finished off by people that brew coffee with one teaspoon of grounds to every cup of water.

    --
    /usr/games/fortune
  7. Re:Won't catch on at McDonalds by inkdesign · · Score: 2, Informative

    McFacts about the McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit

    http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm

    Please read before making an uninformed comment.

  8. Old News by Catmeat · · Score: 4, Informative

    As others have said, self heating coffee has been available in the UK for 3-4 years. But using the Calcium Oxide/water reaction to heat food goes back at least 20 years. When I was a kid, self-heating cans of food were available for a while in camping shops.

  9. Re:why is starbuck's the benchmark? by Daytona955i · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think Starbucks realized if you charge a lot of money for your product and call it better, yuppies will flock to it and become coffee snobs.