Sunday Fun Day Tassimo Taste Test

A few years ago I went to Paris with my fellow birthday twin Kathleen Ryan to visit my friend Paige Yoder Celestin. It was the first trip to Paris for both of us and we fell in love with everything and anything about our visit.

Kathleen and Paige outside of Place de la Concorde

Paige and Lynne at Le Grand Colbert

Paige has always been the most fashionable person I know, since our early days in New York City when she lived at the Webster Apartments for Women and worked as an Executive Assistant for Louis Feraud to her current location in Aix en Provence. We were fortunate to visit when she lived just outside of Paris in Montreuil.

One of the things I fell in love with was Paige's coffeemaker. You dropped a pod in and out came a wonderful cup of Joe. She also had a separate steamed milk maker that sealed the deal for me. I think the brand she had was similar the the Nescafe Dolce Gusto, a Ferrari version of what was available in the U.S.

So my first splurge when I recovered from my trip was to purchase a similar coffee maker. A few years ago there were two main contenders on the market: Tassimo and Keurig. I went with the Tassimo since it had the ability to make cappuccino with those freaky irradiated milk cartridges. As someone who has diligently checked the milk carton expiration date all my life, I don't understand how those "milk" cartridges last so long, but it was the selling factor for me. I don't really like flavored coffee very much, which is what Keurig seemed to favor.

The Tassimo was all the rage in my household for about four months. I bought every possible variation of coffee, cappuccino, latte and hot chocolate. In case you don't know, each beverage comes in a pod with a barcode on it. The machine reads the barcode and adjusts how much water it heats up and passes through the pod. Then you toss the non-recyclable, environmentally unfriendly little case in the trash, but there are no coffee grounds to measure or clean up.

Since my purchase I go through phases where I will alternate between the Tassimo and my Braun, in between trips to Starbucks. Shopping for the Tassimo has become increasingly limited as Keurig clearly won the market. Only Bed, Bath & Beyond has a decent selection of Tassimo pods now, and I predict my coffeemaker will end up in the electronic waste section of my garage.

Today I decided to do a taste test with three of the versions of coffee pods I've acquired: Maxwell House Morning Blend Coffee that makes a 12 oz. serving (it only takes a couple of overflowing mugs to remember this), Gevalia 15% Kona Coffee Blend, and a newer pod maker King Joe Dark Roast Coffee. I measured one tablespoon of 1% milk in each cup. Aren't my vintage Metlox California Poppy Trail cups nifty?

The Morning Blend tasted like coffee water, now I know why I am not perky even though I'm drinking a larger serving per pod. Gevalia was okay, but had some floral overtones. King Joe was the clear winner of the three. To make it fair I should have included a cup from my Braun and tested without knowing which was which. Clearly I had nothing better to do this morning but share this with you. The good news is after drinking three cups of coffee I am wide awake! 

What do you drink in the morning?

Margie Dana Has Seen the Future of Print Buying

Margie Dana has seen the future of print buying and it still looks bright

Margie Dana, noted Print Industry advocate and founder of Print Buyers International, visited the Advertising Production Association of Orange County (APAOC) on October 22 via teleconference to share some insights about the research study she conducted along with industry consultant and researcher John Zarwan of 315 Print Buyers. Their results and analysis have been compiled into a 40-page report “The New Print Buyers: Who They Are, What They Want and What You Should Do.”

Dana started on a positive note stating, “The good news is there is good news.” Dana used Survey Monkey to maintain anonymity to the respondents of the 40 question survey conducted in July 2013 and she got them to spill the beans about many aspects of their jobs and how they feel about the future of their profession.

Most buyers reported that their budgets were steady or expected to increase, definitely good news for the printers in the room. Half had budgets of over $1million.

If you were to picture the typical Print Buyer, she (63% were female) would look a lot like, well, me! She is over 45, has 16+ years experience, works in a corporate environment in a marketing or creative department, makes a decent salary and appreciates the tactile process of printing. She understands the art of printing and enjoys collaborating with the graphic designer and printer in choosing the right paper and equipment for the job.

Dana and Zarwan's report goes on to illuminate several shifts in our industry, from the actual print buyer's role, to the next generation and what we want from our print vendors. "Print Buyers want new print concepts and innovations from their printer," Dana said. Partly because the role of the buyer has expanded to include a broader marketing role. She predicts that there will be fewer sole Print Buyers, as they expand their tool kits and learn more digital skills.

At one moment during the teleconference we lost contact with Dana visually. We could still hear her but lost her presentation and physical inset. After about 30 seconds of confusion, a person in the audience quietly walked to the front of the room and jiggled the mouse to refresh the screen. Ah, back to our presentation.


And that brings us to the next generation and their desire to work more online. We have already seen a successful shift of proofing from traditional hard proofs to online soft proofs. Buyers are looking for faster and cheaper ways to communicate with their clients. Working online doesn't just mean purchasing products. 

APAOC President Julie Esler, Production Manager at DGWB Advertising, brought up a good point as one of the younger people in our profession. Esler said she expects her vendors to have a good online presence to show they are "with it and know how to communicate."  She said she is much more likely to want to work with someone who knows to text her info rather than send a fax. 

The future of print is still bright and the light is coming from your desktop, tablet and phone. All you need is the love of print and your finger to keep up (or someone to jiggle the mouse).

Dana and Zarwan’s report may be purchased at http://margiedana.com/store/reports/. 

#Print   #MargieDana   #JohnZarwan   #TheAPAOC