For a lot of us, the day doesn’t officially start until that first cup of brew. There’s just something about the aroma, the ritual, the caffeinated jolt that gets us going even on a sleepy Tuesday morning!

So, in honor of our beloved beverages, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite gifts for the coffee and tea connoisseur in your life (even if it happens to be you!). Who needs the coffee shop when you can be your own barista right in your kitchen?

1. DeLonghi Nespresso Capsule Espresso/Capuccino Machine, 2. Keurig MINI Plus Brewing System, 3. Le Creuset Whistling Kettle, 4. Krups XP2280 Programmable Precise Tamp Combination Coffee Maker, 5. KitchenAid Four-cup Personal Coffee Maker, 6. Breville You Brew Coffee Maker

You’ve probably heard of all the great benefits of juicing as a way of consuming fresh, raw foods in your daily diet. Sounds simple enough, right? Extract all the nutrients inside fruits and vegetables, drink them and reap the health benefits. But selecting the right kind of juicer can be a bit tricky for the juicing novice.

We’ve broken down three of the most common types of juicers on the market to find the one that works best for you:

1. Breville Juice Fountain Compact, 2. Omega Nutrition Center Heavy-Duty Juicer, 3. Krups Silver Art Citrus Press

Centrifugal Juicers: This is generally the most affordable kind of juicer and therefore the most popular type on the market. They’re great for juicing most fruits and vegetables quickly and efficiently. However, they’re not as effective at yielding high volumes of juice from grassy and leafy plants such as wheatgrass, spinach, lettuce and other greens.

Centrifugal juicers usually have large feeding chutes allowing you to take the whole or half the fruit without the need for cutting them into smaller pieces.

The juice from these types of juicers typically has a very short shelf life and should be consumed right away to get the most nutritional value.

Masticating Juicers: Also known as single-gear juicer, this breaks up the plant cells resulting in more fiber, enzymes and trace mineral yields. These are generally more efficient than Centrifugal juicers in extracting more juice (i.e. the pulp comes out drier), and are great at juicing greens/leafy vegetables. However, they are more expensive than centrifugal juicers.

These operate at lower RPMs (rotations per minute), meaning there’s less foam and heat conducted, increasing the shelf life and nutrition yield per serving. Masticating juicers are also more versatile since they can homogenize foods to make sauces, baby food, ice cream, sorbets, nut butters, etc.

Citrus Presses: An electric citrus press works similarly to manual ones but more quickly and yields more juice per fruit. Some of the benefits of fresh-squeezed citrus juice versus the store-bought kind are: a fresher taste, fewer or no additives and preservatives, and more nutrient integrity. Remember, as soon as the juice hits the air, oxygenation begins to degrade the nutrient content. That’s why treating yourself to fresh-squeezed orange or grapefruit juice every day with a balanced breakfast is by far the healthier option!

Drink up for a healthier you in 2013!

Today is International Chocolate Day. However, that’s not the focus of this post; in fact, quite the opposite. Although chocolate (particularly dark chocolate) is great when enjoyed in moderation, a healthy lifestyle really does rely predominantly on a healthy, balanced diet.

A diet that consists of mostly whole, unprocessed foods, with lots of fruits and veggies in the mix, is considered to be the healthiest. If that sounds bland and boring to you, think again! Healthy eating can be just as satisfying, if not more so, than eating junk. The trick is having the right kitchen gadgets and experiment with healthy ingredients you love.

Check out a few of our favorite healthy-diet kitchen essentials:

1. Breville 800 BLXL Die-Cast Hemisphere™ Blender, 2. Omega VRT350 Vert Low Speed Juicing System, 3. Fagor Slow Juicer, 4. Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 11" Square Grill Pan 5. Kitchenaid 13-Cup Food Processor, 6. Emile Henry Flame Kabob Grilling Stone and Skewers

For breakfast or a delicious mid-day snack, a refreshing green smoothie* or juice is a great option. With the right blend of yummy fruits and veggies, these super-nutritious drinks are packed with so much vitamins and minerals that are easily absorbed into the body. Investing in a high-quality blender and/or juicer is something your body will reap rewards from for years to come. That’s why it’s always on our “healthy living” must-have list!

For dinner, opt for lean meats and veggies grilled to perfection. Kabobs** are a really easy option, so is grilled fish with salad or a delicious homemade salsa as a side.

*Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com® via user WhitneyLW

**Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com®  via user DAVESARAH

Breville BES860XL Barista Express, Highbury Bistro 9oz. Mug Set (set of 6)

When you sip a delicious cup of coffee from your favorite corner coffee shop, do you ever wish you could hire your own personal barista to brew these cups of perfection for you on a daily basis? Well, creating your own at-home coffee shop is easier than you think! Treat your family and guests to delicious coffee creations with the amazing Breville Barista Express.

Try these classic coffee treats that you can make in your own kitchen:

Espresso Latte Macchiato: Pour 1/3 cold milk into a tall glass. Pour 1/3 hot milk into glass and top with hot foamed milk. Slowly pour in fresh-brewed espresso into the mixture.

Café Mocha:  Pour espresso into a glass or mug filled with steamed milk. Add a spoonful of chocolate syrup. Add a dallop of whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings.

Cappuccino: Top 1/3 fresh-brewed espresso with 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 foamed milk.

With Mother’s Day being only days away, we’ve decided to feature a few gift ideas for different types of moms this whole week. Today, we’re featuring some great gifts for the mom whose throne resides in the kitchen. She’s the mom who loves to prepare home-cooked meals for her family. She’s always been the go-to expert in the kitchen and everyone pines for her famous recipes.

Here are a few kitchen goodies that she’s sure to love. The whole family will love it too because they get to taste the delicious results!  

1. Cusiniart Mini-Prep® Plus Processor: This compact food processor helps save counter space but still packs a punch in the kitchen. It’s perfect for chopping and grinding vegetables for all of mom’s famous dishes.

2. Chantal Copper Fusion 4 Qt. Risotto Pan: This classic pan is great for one-pot meals like stews and casseroles. The beautiful, sleek design can go straight from the stove to the kitchen table, eliminating extra dishes!

3. Cusinart SM-70 7 Quart Stand Mixer: A high-quality mixer makes a world of difference when baking. Treat mom to the classic good looks and commercial-grade quality of this powerful mixer.

4. Breville The Hot Wok™: Traditional woks can eat up a lot of space on the stove top. This fabulous wok lets mom sauté and stir fry to her heart’s desire right on the kitchen countertop. It even keeps food warm, making it perfect for parties!

5. Staub “My First Staub” Hexagon 2.5 Qt. Saute Pan: This enameled cast iron pan seals in all the wonderful flavor of mom’s favorite dishes. It’s heavy-duty construction is built to last, and is safe for the oven.

Breville is a Sydney, Australia based brand that is obsessed with designing and manufacturing kitchen tools that cooking enthusiasts will use every day. In 1932, O'Brien and good friend and fellow engineer, Harry Norville, decided to pool their resources and start their own business manufacturing radios.

In the 1970s Breville, imbued with a "we-can-do-it" attitude and a healthy dose of Australian ingenuity, unleashed a series of appliances on the world that would become kitchen icons. By the 1990s, consumer attitudes and lifestyles had changed with an increasing awareness of healthful cooking. Families also began experimenting in the kitchen with Asian and Mediterranean cuisines and Breville responded by developing high performance electric woks and health grills. As health-conscience consumers grew in number, Breville recognized the need for a machine that would produce fresh and delicious juices. This led to the invention of the world acclaimed Juice Fountain™. Before the Juice Fountain™, making juice was a messy task. This remarkable piece of engineering removed the need to cut fruit.

The Breville ikon Five Speed Juice Fountain is a kitchen gadget that dwarfs the competition by offering a 5-speed setting knob with an easy-to-read LED display that lets you choose the optimal speed for the type of fruit or vegetable you are juicing. The micro-mesh filter uses 40,000 strainer pores for superior filtration with maximum yield. Breville's principal designers, Keith Hensel and Richard Hoare, talk about their motivations behind designing the Breville ikon Five Speed Juice Fountain in this video: