Is Vending Machine Coffee Good?
January 31st, 2012 by heart_health
When you think of coffee vending machines, quality coffee might not immediately spring to mind. Whilst some do sell low quality coffee, you would be incorrect to think that all of them do.
Some vending companies such as Pour Moi pride themselves on offering drinks from their coffee vending machines that match the standards you would find in a café. Popular café coffees are Espresso (strong shot), Cappuccino (Espresso topped with foamed milk), Latte (Espresso with plenty of steamed milk) and Americano (Espresso with added hot water) but other drinks are also available such as Babycino (coffee-free cappuccino or Espresso Doppio (double espresso), often with a shot of flavoured syrup). Syrup flavours are available to add to the drinks and they are additional vending options. The selection of drinks you can get from some machines rivals the hot drinks selection of many cafes and the taste is good too.
You can also find coffee vending companies making seasonal variations such as vanilla or gingerbread latte. These options make a nice change.
How healthy the vended drinks are for you is important. Look out for machines that don’t use HVO’s. This acronym stands for hydrogenated vegetable oils and they are not great because they affect blood cholesterol in a similar way to saturated fats and therefore add to the type of cholesterol that can contribute to heart disease.
These days, many people also look for their drinks to be made from low fat milk and so the option of ‘skinny’ drinks is useful.
It’s not just the taste that is important – coffee ethics are too. It is important that the beans are grown and harvested sustainably and the workers are given a decent wage. This is why it is important to look out for a logo on the product from the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade.
In some coffee plantations, children have to work the land instead of going to school and in some cases forests are cut down to make way for cash crops. The wage that some workers get can be appalling, especially when compared to the price the consumer will pay once the coffee has got to the country of destination. Checking for the Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance logos will help ensure you don’t contribute to these unfair and unethical practices.
To top off the coffee experience, it is important what you are drinking out of. Cardboard cups with special sip lids are good because they keep the drink warm. They are also good for people on the move because they help prevent spills of hot liquid. They’re perfect for commuters.
Usually you will find that the paper cups are recyclable meaning that they can be broken down and then used again so that they don’t just add to the massive landfill sites around the country.
It is fair to say that some companies do offer very good coffee from their vending machines. It is ethically sourced, healthy, and very importantly, tasty. There’s no need to compromise on taste just because you want the convenience of a vending machine.
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