Starbucks K-cups Review + A Christmas Giveaway! (CLOSED)

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I was given the opportunity to review the new Starbucks K-cup portion packs.  Starbucks and Foodbuzz supplied me with a Keurig one-cup coffee brewer and two (16-ct.) packages of the Starbucks K-cups to try.  Although I was super excited to receive a Keurig machine because I've wanted one since this summer, I was equally excited to have the chance to sample the Starbucks K-cups, as I am a fan of the popular coffee chain.

Every Sunday morning, Judah and I stop through Starbucks as a treat before church.  I usually have my registered gift card with a balance I accumulated from my birthday and Christmas each year.  🙂  The rest of the week I'll brew my own coffee at home.  Ben doesn't drink coffee, so making a pot for one cup is difficult and sometimes frustrating.  I'll use my French press more often than not, but was recently desiring the Keurig machine so I could avoid the fuss and clean up.

We tested the Starbucks K-cups out on Saturday morning during Judah's 2nd-year birthday party.  (A separate post on this to come.)  🙂  The parents who were coffee drinkers really enjoyed the taste of the Starbucks portion packs and said there wasn't much difference than ordering it from the actual coffee shop.  One of the dads, who drinks coffee every day and has a brother who works for Starbucks, said that his K-cup coffee that morning tasted about 90% equal to what he expects from the Starbucks coffee shop.  My theory is that it would've been 100% had I added bottled water in the brew instead of right from the sink.  Oops!

Starbucks aims to provide the same aroma, body and rich flavor through these K-cups that you would expect from a normal Starbucks experience.  Starbucks® coffee and Tazo® tea K-Cup® Portion Packs are now available on shelves at food, drug, mass, club, specialty, and department store retailers throughout the U.S. They come in five of Starbucks' most popular coffee varieties, and two top-selling varieties of Tazo® tea. To learn more, visit https://www.starbucks.com/coffee/k-cup.

Now for the giveaway:

Because I'm enjoying my Keurig machine so much and because I'm loving the Starbucks K-cup portion packs, I decided to offer one to you!  One lucky reader will receive this Keurig machine and a 16-count package of Starbucks K-cup portion packs (total value over $140.00).  Here are the rules:

• Leave a comment attached to this post and tell me your favorite Christmas/Hanukkah present ever.  I know this has nothing to do with Starbucks or Keurig and seems totally random.  But, this giveaway is my Christmas present to you, and I want to know what it's up against! 😉  If you do not celebrate Christmas with gifts, then I'd love to hear what was your favorite gift someone has ever given you in general, whether it was for your birthday, Valentine's Day, a "get well soon," for a funeral, a "just because,", or etc.
• Include a valid email address (so I can contact you if you win).
• Only one entry per person.
• Contest open only to readership in the United States.
• Comments must be submitted by Saturday, December 17th at 9:00 PM PST.
• Winner will be chosen randomly sometime after December 17.

I'll announce the winner sometime the week before Christmas, so make sure you check back to see if you won!

Full Disclosure:  The Keurig machine and Starbucks K-cup packs that I used for my review were provided to me by Starbucks and Foodbuzz.  The Keurig and Starbucks K-cup portion packs for the giveaway are sponsored by Pennies on a Platter as my thanks to you for reading my blog. 🙂