Escape with @8OClockCoffee #ad

I always like to know the history behind things... so imagine my curiosity when I learned of  Eight O'Clock coffee!  After visiting their site, I learned that the most popular times to drink coffee is... You guessed it!  8:00 AM and 8:00 PM.  Never knew that, as I sure enough thought it would be an earlier time!   Makes sense now that you think about it!  

FTC Compliant Review Policy:  The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

I was lucky enough to be sent a bit of eight o'clock coffee to review and let me tell you this, thanks to my Keurig, I am becoming more and more of a coffee drinker!  (Yes, it used to be very random to see me drinking coffee, but now it is crazy to catch me on a day that I have not had any!) Seriously, a nice cup of coffee to start the day... I have been known to enjoy a cup during the afternoon as well, you know, a nice little pick me up!  I am a fan of flavored coffee and Eight O'Clock Hazelnut coffee has been a great addition to the mix!     

I should add that Eight O'Clock has more than just single serve coffee.  You can also get whole bean and ground.  Have you heard of Eight O'Clocks INFUSIONS?  I will wait, go check that out right now!  As if the infusions weren't cool enough... I am posting a press release I recently received.  It ends August 11, so hurry and check it out: 

Eight O’Clock Coffee, America’s original gourmet coffee, today announces the release of The Great Coffee Break: a digital escape room game that people can play for the chance to win a year of free groceries! The Great Coffee Break is the first Augmented Reality-triggered digital game designed by Escape the Room and can be launched by scanning any Eight O’Clock Coffee package with the Shazam app – or by going directly to GreatCoffeeBreak.com. Set in a fictitious animated roastery, players will solve coffee-themed puzzles to help bags of Eight O’Clock “escape the roastery.” The Great Coffee Break will run from June 17 through August 11, 2018, and eight people will win the grand prize: free groceries for a year.*

Since 1859, generations of Americans have been connecting over Eight O’Clock – enjoying rich, smooth coffee as they share conversations, celebrate special moments, and play games together. The Great Coffee Break will provide consumers with a new way to experience their love of coffee and gaming by leveraging the escape room trend that has grown exponentially in recent years.          

Players of the Great Coffee Break will explore different virtual rooms within the roastery to find clues, solve puzzles, and complete the mission. Eight O’Clock Coffee’s game is designed to facilitate the satisfying feeling of discovery that players experience in physical escape rooms – which may be the reason that they have grown in the US from 22 in 2014 to about 2,300 today.

“With the Great Coffee Break, we are tapping into one of the hottest emerging trends in a way that is meaningful to coffee drinkers and relevant to today’s lifestyle,” said Michael Scalera, Senior Brand Manager at Eight O’Clock Coffee. “Our fans tell us all the time that enjoying Eight O’Clock Coffee is key to their day – and it’s certainly key to solving the Great Coffee Break. Plus, while people are ‘escaping the room’ they’ll have a chance to escape their grocery bill for a year.”

“Eight O’Clock Coffee has long provided a meaningful way to bring people together, as does Escape the Room – so putting our brands together was a natural fit,” said Victor Blake, Founder and CEO, Escape the Room. “Bringing both of these experiences to life virtually in a way that makes sense for a solo player was my primary inspiration for The Great Coffee Break game. I’m thrilled with how the game turned out, and I think people will really enjoy playing…hopefully with a cup of Eight O’Clock in their hand.”

Scalera adds, “The Great Coffee Break is a game, not a true reflection of the process at our roasting facility in Landover, MD. We have to keep some secrets, after all.”

The Great Coffee Break promotion runs from June 17, 2018 through August 11, 2018 and was conceived and executed by The S3 Agency in Boonton, NJ. The game is being supported by in-store and digital advertising, social media, and public relations outreach.

To play the Great Coffee Break and for complete rules and details, go to www.GreatCoffeeBreak.com.

*Each Grand Prize of is a year of free groceries, defined as $8,000 awarded in the form of a check. No purchase is necessary to enter. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States or D.C., age 18 or older.