Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

8 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 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...

  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. 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
  6. 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.

  7. 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.