Keurig Reviews & Tips

A Guest Post by John Thompson

Many of my friends and family own a Keurig. They go on and on about its convenience and how much cheaper it is than buying coffee from Starbucks. So why no Keurig for me? Besides the new Keurig 2.0 models not allowing the capability to brew your own coffee, there are a few other reasons to pass on the Keurig.

Cost. According to a recent post by Business Insider, the cost of a cup of Keurig coffee is about $50 a pound. Sound crazy? Well, it isn’t. Every one of those tiny K-Cups retail for somewhere between .31 cents to a dollar, with an average of about $.60 a K-Cup. And while this is cheaper than a cup of “black” at your local coffee house, compare that to the cost of one pot of drip coffee. CoffeeDetective.com suggests that the typical cup of drip brand name (Starbucks, Peets, etc.) coffee retails for around $.27 a cup. That’s roughly half the cost of drinking a K-Cup.

Volume. The Huffington Post recently reported that the average American consumes 2.1 cups per day, putting our numbers at $190 per year for the Coffee Potters and $800 for the K-Cuppers.” I drink more than a cup of coffee in a sitting. Honestly, I can nurse a whole pot if it’s available. Translation, I’m probably in the over 2.1 cups of coffee per day crowd, and somewhere around my third trip to a Keurig, the value of convenience is diminishing.

Heat. Keurig maintains that the best heat to brew at is 192 degrees Celsius. While opinions differ on what the best heat is, many coffee snobs prefer temperatures in excess of 195. Several Keurig fans suggest that you use room temperature water to brew and pre-warm your cup. These suggestions seem out of place with the purpose of the Keurig, which is convenience.

Quality. I’m not suggesting that Keurig coffee is bad. I save that criticism for Folgers or instant varieties, but fresh ground coffee is better. The documentation available to support this is abundant. With so many micro-roasters and mainstream blends to choose from, I can’t even imagine someone posing a significant counter-argument.

Machine: The machine is expensive and not as reliable as I would expect when paying for a premium coffee brewer. Keurig’s new 2.0 machine retails around $150. That is roughly $100 more than a great drip brewer. Common complaints about the K-Cup brewer range from calcium build-up, airflow problems (mainly from stuck coffee grounds), and warm-up time. In fact, my good friend who runs kcupbarista.com actually suggests that sometimes the best thing you can do while trouble-shooting your Keurig is to turn it upside down and give it a good spank.

Some gadgets are great, but for me the Keurig isn’t my cup of *cough* tea.

 About the author: John appreciates wildebeests, eucalyptus, and coffee brewed in most ways not  involving pods. He experiences daily adventure with his wife and 5 kids in Boise, Idaho.

This post has been a long time coming. Many of us have found success in getting our unruly Keurigs to brew by smacking our machines, cleaning the puncture needles, and more, but how about preventive measures to keep our volatile machine humming and the coffee flowing?

That’s what this little post is about. I’ve found that running water through my brewer, after every couple of K-Cups that I brew, helps flush out coffee grounds.

Fellow Keurig enthusiast Ray Bowman recommends puncturing the bottom of your K-Cup yourself prior to brewing.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Yes, slapping your clogged machine usually works to clear the clog. But, usually at least, you should not have to do this — you can easily prevent the main source of clogs (excepting built up calcification) by relieving the (very common) internal pressure in the cups before starting the brews. I have posted several times on this problem and have just finished a thorough web-search on the issue — found several others who have also noticed this problem, and cured it much the same way I did: just puncture the cups before brewing — VERY easy to do. Just push the cup firmly down onto the lower needle before closing the “clamshell” and puncturing the lid of the K-cup! (emphasis mine) This punctures the cup and relieves the pressure safely, since the lower needle does not puncture the internal filter in the cup.

The upper needle, in contrast, dips directly into the coffee powder, and any internal pressure puffs some of the powder out into the hollow needle itself and/or into the surrounding area. This is an effective clogging process, if the cup has not been de-pressurized! One reason most K-cups are pressurized is that most people do not live at sea-level — at higher elevations, instead. And, atmospheric pressure is substantially less at higher elevations; so their cups will be pressurized by significant amounts. Also, some cups may be pressurized, even at sea level, as the manufacturers might fill the cups using some excess pressure. Make no mistake. this pressurized cup issue is REAL AND COMMON. Others besides me have noted it.

As for me, I had a particularly strong clogging problem (I live at 7000 ft elevation. I typically could not get even a few brews before my machine would clog! This happened about 6 times, within a week, and I was about to return my “piece of junk”. But, I noticed the tightly bulging lids on my K-cups, and the issue became obvious. When I punctured my cups first, the problem instantly disappeared! — never to return, after hundreds of brews! At first, I just used a needle to pre-puncture my cups –until Rob, another contributor here, mentioned that the lower needle passes to the side of the internal filter. So, just pushing the cup down onto the lower needle before closing the cup-holder would safely relieve the internal pressure! This takes less than a second longer than just placing the cup into the recess and closing the holder.

Repeat: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY ZERO DOUBT THAT INTERNAL PRESSURE IN THE CUPS IS THE MAJOR CLOGGING ISSUE!! It is up to you to take the utterly minute trouble to relieve that pressure, or very likely suffer far more clogs than otherwise. OR, you might try a new cup style: Kroger brands, perhaps others by now, use an “open” style cup (their “Simple Truth” model). The filter is “bare” — sticks out at the bottom of the cup — so there can be no excess pressure inside the cup. I have been using these lately and they have worked perfectly! — and, with NO failures of the filter, despite its protruding (strong filter, I guess). Note to the site-provider: please place information about the pressure issue at the entry of this site! This is something that should be understood by ALL K-cup users.”

 

Happy brewing, everyone!

Mary Beth

I want to introduce you to the newest member of my family. This is my son Jack. He’s 5 months old now.

I’ve been so busy taking care of this little cutie that it’s taken me this long to post a picture of him. There will be more to come. Eventually.

I’m finally getting out of my blogging slump and have the urge to write again. I’m not sure how long the feeling will last, so I’m seizing the day. Maybe it’s part of the pre-baby preparation. Lately, I can’t stop thinking about improvements to my yard. Probably because I will be spending a lot of time at home with baby and want it to be pleasant to be outside (or inside and looking out the windows).

My friend Liz surprised me with a care package of K-Cups recently. So sweet and unexpected! This is the same friend who found a little blurb from my blog in a Reader’s Digest article a few months ago. She is encouraging me in my K-Cup hobby. So far I’ve tried the San Francisco Bay Foglifter and loved it!

To be honest, many other things take precedence. I’m enjoying the one-on-one time with my 3-year-old son while his brother is at school. I also have my fingers in a handful of books right now including The Return of the King and One Thousand Gifts.

I tried Tully’s Hawaiian in hopes that it would be similar to Tully’s Kona. It sort of is but just not as good or captivating. Ah, well. I will continue my quest for a new favorite.

I had a sample of Peet’s Domingo this morning. (Did you know they have single cups now?) Domingo is okay; kind of smoky and definitely better with the 10oz brew setting. Next on the list are Peet’s House and Major Dickason’s blends.

Until next time,

Mary Beth

Today is the one-year anniversary of KCupBarista.com! It sure has been fun. Through this blog and KCupTrade.com, I’ve gotten to know and hear from so many great Keurig fans. It’s been a special time.

My goal was to try at least 100 K-Cups this year–I just did a count, and I’m at 106. Whew! I honestly thought I had only gotten into the 70’s.  Most of them have reviews too, although some are very short.

Be on the lookout for more guest reviews in the second year, along with tea reviews and maybe some additions to What to Do If Your Keurig Won’t Brew.

Thanks for reading!

Mary Beth

Last week KCupTrade had a giveaway on Facebook–participants posted a photo of their favorite K-Cup and were entered to win 10 credits to use at KCupTrade.com.

It was fun to see what people’s favorites are. The list includes Starbucks Verona, Barista Prima Italian, Mandarin Orange Spice, Wolfgang Puck Breakfast in Bed, Gloria Jean’s Cappuccino, and Millstone Hazelnut Cream.

What’s your favorite picture?

Just thought I’d share my joy with you. It’s so much fun to get a K-Cup shipment in the mail. These are all kinds I haven’t tried yet–so exciting! Thanks to @mjspantry for going in on a Keurig order with me, so I could get free shipping.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

So I broke down and ordered an Ekobrew reusable filter. My friend did some research on the best reusable filter for a Keurig, and she found that it had the best reviews, especially compared to the My K-Cup. So far, it’s working out moderately well for me. It seems silly, but I have to discipline myself to use it because I’m so used to just popping in a K-Cup, and voilá–easy, easy.

Too Fine a Grind

The flavor is good, but it’s been a bit rocky getting started with the little gizmo. First, I’m getting some grounds in my coffee since the grind is fine, so next time I’ll be sure to get a coarser grind. That’s the trickiest part: it says on the instructions not to grind with your own grinder because it will be uneven. Maybe grinding at the store is the way to go. I’ve also read that using a regular grind rather than a drip grind will yield better results, even though drip is what the Ekobrew recommends. See what I mean? Tricky.

Recently when I used my Ekobrew, I hit the 8oz brew setting and only got about 4-6oz of coffee. I think this can be attributed to the grind being too fine and too compacted. My bad. I ended up adding some hot water so it wouldn’t be too strong.

Note: if you’re curious, I used a bag of Italian coffee called Caffé Macinato which my sister-in-law sent from Naples.

Bad Coffee Fiasco

Today, I tried using my parents’ canned Safeway coffee that they left at my house. It looked like a pretty coarse grind, so I thought I’d see what the Ekobrew could make of it. It was terrible. The coffee splattered out of the machine, missing the mug some of the time and shooting out onto my countertop. To top it off, there were grounds in my coffee and the coffee tasted…well, words can’t quite capture how bad. The main thing I learned from this is that the grind has to be right (this grind was a mixture of coarse and fine). And that the Ekobrew will not make bad coffee taste good.

Cost Savings

While I’m mostly pleased with the quality of the brewing, I have to say that the best thing about the Ekobrew for me is the cost savings. I only paid $10.97 at Amazon (it’s more now), and I figure that after about 22 uses, it will pay for itself. (This is estimating the cost of K-Cups at 60¢ each and ground coffee at 10¢ per serving.)

One thing that’s kept me from buying an Ekobrew or other reusable filter is that I haven’t been confident in getting through a whole bag of ground coffee before it gets stale. Maybe I’ll do an update on this later.

Messy but Grateful

Another benefit is that the Ekobrew makes me appreciate my K-Cups even more. After doing all that “hard work” of filling up the filter and cleaning out the grounds, not to mention more cleanup of my Keurig (tends to be a little messy–drips more at the end of the cycle and gets the cup holder dirtier), I am always extra-grateful the next time I use a regular K-Cup. Pathetic, but true.

Conclusion

If you’re interested in cost savings, reducing the number of used K-Cups you throw in the trash, or brewing your own coffee one delicious cup at a time, give the Ekobrew a try. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the manual labor though.

Want to know more of the nitty gritty details, how it works, etc? Scroll down at the Amazon page.

While I was browsing at Big Cat Coffees this week, I found that they still have Diedrich Colombia K-Cups in stock. Here’s what the Keurig site says about Diedrich Colombia K-Cups:

Special Notice: This product is no longer available. Because our roaster partners are committed to bringing you the world’s finest coffees, teas, and other specialty beverages, they are constantly looking for ways to improve their selection. Sometimes that means they have to make hard choices and retire a few products. 

Just wanted to pass along the info if you’re a fan Diedrich Colombia or if you’ve been wanting to try it. It’s a good one for light and medium roast drinkers.

*Side note: I think I can finally spell Diedrich now. It has vexed me.

*Another note: Big Cat also had Diedrich French Roast available but sold out this week. If you like this roast and have a hard time finding it, you should check back. They’ll be replenishing their supply soon. Discontinued. Another one bites the dust.

Do you ever find yourself wanting a smidge more coffee from your Keurig, but there are no buttons for adding just one or two ounces? Here are a couple tips to get more in your cup and more out of your K-Cup.

My friends have my old brewer (B-40 Elite, pictured right) which only has two settings (6oz and 8oz). They mostly drink Tully’s Italian and were wishing they could have just a little more in each cup. I suggested they brew their usual cup at the 8oz setting, then brew a second time into a different mug (using the 6oz setting) and add a couple ounces into their first cup.

Well, they had an even better idea: brew 8oz in a 10oz mug, then (using the same mug) run the 6oz setting but catch the rest in a measuring cup (quickly) after the first mug is full. This way you get the richest part of the second run through. Brilliant!

This could work if you want a little more coffee (or the coffee is too strong for your tastes), no matter which brewer model you have. If this post is making your head spin, just watch this little video demonstration I did:

Along the same lines, you could add 4oz (if you have that setting) once you’ve drunk about half a cup of coffee. This way you get a little more out of your coffee. Of course, if you have a big enough mug, you can just brew 12 oz into it, but by using this method, you get a hot refill.

I brewed an 8oz cup of Donut House Coffee, and when I had just a couple of ounces left, I ran 4 more ounces through the K-Cup. It still had full flavor. This works better if you’re using an extra bold K-Cup. Extra Bold means there is more coffee in there.

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for making your Keurig brewer work better for you?