2014 Product of the Year Awards

Posted on: 2015-01-07 12:00 AM

• We only evaluated products that were shared with us or requested that we evaluate them. 
• There has been no compensation to FindMeCoffee in cash or in kind for any evaluation
• All product evaluations submitted to us were reviewed by FindMeCoffee staff for authentication
• We did not purchase thousands of dollars worth of high end coffee makers. We or our reviewers visited retailers and distributors (in congneto) posing a potential buyers to evalutate the products.

And the winners are:

Best Chain Coffee

This is possibly the toughest award for us to decide on. We defined the chains as any company that had more than 25 locations. We took the opportunity to visit personally most of the locations ourselves to validate the awards. When evaluating the coffee we looked at flavour, freshness and consistency across multiple locations. When evaluating flavour we compared dark roasts with dark roasts and regular brews with regular brews and we did not include any lattes, espressos, or cappucinos. We did compare Cafe Americano's because y'know it's my go to drink although we didn't include it to be fair to those chains that don't offer one. 

And the winner is Take 5 Cafe in British Columbia.

The runner up wasn't awarded as we felt that the quality and consistency of the biggest chains was too even to compare.  In the regular brew comparison we found that the McCafe and Burger King coffee was as consistent as the Starbucks and Tim Hortons that we sampled both here and in the USA. Our testers gave most of the products high grades.


Best Specialty Product 

We would like to thank those companies who took the time to send us a product to evaluate.  We had a great time with them all and did all of the evaluations in house. 

We chose to award this to "Blender Boyz" .  I am attaching the review that we did on the product and I have to say that it is a quality versatile product that you should have in your kitchen.

"I was more than pleased. It's a great product! I've made 3 in the last 2 days: one with milk, one with yogurt and one with a little bit of both and a splash of spiced rum.  Here is my experience. In my first test I followed the directions and made the Iced Cap with 2% milk. I found that the Blender Boyz are not at all stingy with flavouring and I added more milk so I ended up with 2 8oz servings instead of one 12 oz.  The first taste was smooth and sweet and the coffee was not over powered. And then I waited a few minutes. There was NO hint of a chemical after taste! It was tasty to the last drop."  Read the whole Review here.


Best Coffee Accessory

And the winner is Planet Green Sleeves. This is a product that we hope comes to market in a big way. In our never ending search for products that are useful, priced right and sustainable we have chosen Planet Green Sleeves.  This is their mission statement:

"We’re aware no product alone can solve the problem of wastefulness. Nevertheless, by raising awareness and consciousness derived from this environmentally responsible product will give people an easy way to help the planet. If introducing Planet Green Sleeves onto the marketplace we’ll have reached our dream of creating a cleaner world for years to come."

Best Coffee Maker

In the machine category we selected the Breville Oracle. It is both gorgeous and functional. While any coffee maker over $500 will make a great cup of coffee this one is easy to maintain and easy to use.

In the manual coffee maker category we selected the Espro Press. The overall quality of the product means that you'll have it and enjoy it for years to come. By combining the function of a warming caraff with the functions of a french press it solves the problem of using a french press without worrying about it cooling off before you can enjoy it.

Product of the year awards for 2015 are now open. Please send you submission requests to Ray@findmecoffee.co or ship them to FindMeCoffee 250 Consumers Road, Suite 306, Toronto, ON, M2J 4V6.

Good Luck in 2015!