Update: this giveaway is now closed. Congrats to jcosaki, who won through her entry on Instagram! Follow me here for opportunities to win in future giveaways!
Note: I was provided with free samples of iCoffee and products from The East India Company in connection with this post, but was not otherwise paid or compensated. Thank you to my lovely sponsors!
We’re on our fifth straight snow day over here. You’d think that I’d use the time trapped at home to hug my babies tighter, to run outside in the glorious snow and to spread winter merriment around me. That was me, two days in. When the snow started on Friday, I bundled my kids up like precious, down-filled packages. We ran outside, arms linked, and stood while the blizzard hailed down on us. We needed only a few inches of snow to justify breaking out the sleds. I swirled hot cocoa in a slow cooker so that we’d have all-day comforting sustenance. We were aggressively, wholeheartedly making winter great again.
By the third day, things started to go sideways. The kids got a little stir crazy. The hubby started to grow what he’s calling his “winter beard.” I tried to make homemade pasta for the first time and failed miserably at it. As we trudged through the day, filling the time between short bouts outside with too much tv watching and playing games like, “running in circles” (yes, it’s as complicated as it sounds), the hubby and I thanked our lucky stars that we had good coffee, tea, snacks and wine to get us through it.
To share in our good fortune, today I’m running a giveaway for an iCoffee Mozart Single Serve Coffee Machine (a $150 value!) PLUS a gift package from The East India Company, which just recently started carrying its line of gourmet teas and snacks at Neiman Marcus in Tysons Corner (just a few minutes from my house)! After the jump, I’ve included photos of what you can win to survive winter!
Over the holidays, the makers of iCoffee reached out to me and asked me to test their single-serve brewing machine that accepts K-cups. The hubby is a coffee fanatic, and over the years we’ve tried coffee from Keurig machines and haven’t been all that impressed, actually. K-cup coffee tastes overwhelmingly bitter to us, but the iCoffee promises to deliver better-tasting coffee through its use of a spinning needle (as opposed to a stationary one) that “unlock and release” better flavor.
I’m happy to report that the iCoffee is fantastic. We’ve been using it for nearly a month now, and I love having the convenience of a single serve brewing machine that makes solid, delicious coffee. Since I work from home, my coffee maker is my lifeline to getting through each day (or, in case you’ve forgotten, FIVE STRAIGHT SNOW DAYS). We’ve used the iCoffee to brew everything from donut shop breakfast blend to darker Italian roasts, and the result is always smooth, mellow coffee without that acidic bitterness that I’ve come to associate with mediocre coffee.
As if the iCoffee weren’t enough, today I’m also giving away a gift package from The East India Company, a London-based fine tea and gourmet food company. The East India Company was created by charter in England in 1600 and consists today of a fine foods line of over 140 teas, coffees, cookies, jams and marmalades, mustards, sweets, chocolate bars and boxes, gift sets, luxury gift baskets and accessories. Their products can be purchased in the DC area at the Neiman Marcus in Tysons Corner, and I recently had a chance to sample their Royal Breakfast black leaf tea, raspberries enrobed in chocolate, caramelized pecans and their cherry, chocolate chip and chilli cookies.
The morning that I brewed East India Company’s Royal Breakfast tea, I’d just baked a fresh loaf of no-knead bread, so I set up a little smorgasbord of East India’s cookies, chocolate-covered raspberries and their chocolate-chip cookies for friends to sample. The noshes were a hit. Folks marveled at the crunchiness of the cookies, which had just a hint of spice. I particularly loved the chocolate-covered raspberries, which had a tart, crunchy (dried) raspberry in the center of velvety dark chocolate. They were the perfect accompaniment to the smooth breakfast tea.
So, what are you waiting for? Enter to win your very own iCoffee Mozart single serve brewing machine AND a gift package from The East India Company below!
[contestfriend contest=”6615″]
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I’m Ann, a mom / wife / lawyer / certified culinary enthusiast. I share recipes, travel guides and home life tips while living overseas. Currently based in São Paulo, Brazil.
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