PODcast #35 : Espresso Pods News

Welcome to The PODcast, PodMerchant's newsletter of espresso pod tips, news, education, and deals. Back issues of The PODcast are available online. This newsletter is published in HTML with images and styled text. If you are reading the "text only" version, you are missing much of the content.

I start this issue with an apology for producing such a short — and late — newsletter. Demands outside of the office have simply not allowed me the time I need to do my usual monthly research and writing job. The reason? Your humble narrator and neighborhood merchant of pods has moved to a new residence — a massively time-consuming chore. My life currently revolves around unpacking and then finding new homes for everything from laundry detergent to Network Attached Storage devices — and of course espresso pods. With fewer kitchen drawers than I had before, I have to find a new way to store my personal stash of pods. Also, finding a place to park "The PodMobile," which sadly will soon be de-logoed to simply become "the truck," as the Homeowner's Association does not allow parking of commercial vehicles.

So, for this month, no Espresso Elucidations, no Funny Coffee News. But I do have some PodMerchant News to share with you, and of course, the coupon for 10% off your order.

PodMerchant News

There's been changes in the last few weeks in our online store. The site may look only a little changed, but at the core it is all new. This will allow us to add much needed features and move ahead to make www.podmerchant.com easier to use. Unfortunately, large-scale changes like this one are rarely pulled off without a hitch, and indeed, here are still a few glitches to work out. The re-architecture of the online store has been a year-long project for me, and I'm glad it's done.

After months of empty shelves, the HandPresso Wild is back in stock — and at a lower price. The HandPresso portable espresso maker has been a very popular item. Some people use it at the office. Some people take them traveling to Europe, Asia, into the wild, or on yachts sailing the Caribbean. Anywhere someone wants a superior cup of espresso — on the road, on the sea, in the air.

After we got our received shipment of Compagnia dell'Arabica, we immediately sold out of the Biologica. We placed a small air-freight order and now have the organic pods back in stock. PodMerchant is constantly on the lookout for additional organic offerings, but they are oddly scarce in pods.

Repeating last month's big news for our new subscribers, PodMerchant is now selling our own private label blend and decaf pods. I am really excited about being able to offer this. Even before opening PodMerchant's virtual doors, roasters have approached us about selling their coffee under the PodMerchant name. Problem was, the coffee was never good enough. I'm not going to put the PodMerchant name on a coffee for which I have to apologize. When you taste PodMerchant's House Blend Espresso and Decaf Espresso, you'll know that no apologies are needed. This is great coffee and I'm proud to offer it under the PodMerchant name. The PodMerchant House espresso is a Neapolitan roast — my favorite style. I hope it's yours too. Of course, the purpose of a house label product is to be able to offer it at price below name brand products. The PodMerchant blend is our least expensive offering, coming in at 35¢ each in cases of 150 and 44¢ in bags of 20 (compare to illy's MSRP of 61¢ each in cases of 180 and 67¢ each in tins of 18).

PodMerchant Coupons

PODcast subscribers get a 10% discount coupon with each issue. Just enter the code below on the Shipping Selection screen during checkout.

• Only one coupon per subscriber per issue.
• Coupon expires when the next issue is published, or at the end of the next month following publication of the issue, whichever comes first.
• Coupons are only valid for PODcast subscribers — we check use of coupons against the subscriber list.
• For more information, please see our PODcast Coupon FAQ.

For 10% off your next order — Enter code: XXXXXXX (note, that is "P-C-Zero") and please press the "Redeem Coupon" button or the coupon will not be entered.

That's all for this issue of the PODcast.


Kevin Garrett, The PodMerchant.