Keurig??????

[ParadigmDawg]

I never thought I was interested in the Keurig or similar type of brewers but I think I want one. Now that I am home more I enjoy having a second cup of coffee at 10am. We also sometimes enjoy a cup after a long ride and the coffee, left over from the morning, is pretty stale by then.

On the rare occasion I go into the office, I always go into the break room and make a cup of coffee. I have discovered that I really like the darker blends and my wife only likes the light breakfast blends.

So between these few things, it seems to make sense to get a type of single brewers. I guess the biggest con is the price of the coffee(?). Is there anything else I am missing and any recommendations on which one to get?

 

[herbu]

We have a Tassimo by Bosch. Use a plain old Mr Coffee & Folgers for morning cups, but wife likes an occasional coffee/tea/hot chocolate in the afternoon. Tassimo works fine, no problems. Her model has a water tank, so don't have to fill for every cup. She buys the little cartridges online. More than we would want to spend for daily morning brew, but fine for occasional.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Surely Adam has reviewed all the choices???????

We have a Tassimo by Bosch. Use a plain old Mr Coffee & Folgers for morning cups, but wife likes an occasional coffee/tea/hot chocolate in the afternoon. Tassimo works fine, no problems. Her model has a water tank, so don't have to fill for every cup. She buys the little cartridges online. More than we would want to spend for daily morning brew, but fine for occasional.

 

[Adam]

Surely Adam has reviewed all the choices???????

No joke - I was just making a cup of coffee to drink as I composed my response. Give me a minute...

 

[Adam]

I've had a Keurig brewer of one type or another for over seven years. I've used different k-cup brewers, different put-your-own-coffee-in adapters for k-cups, and most recently I decided to buy a Vue brewer. Vue pods are not k-cups, but it's what Keurig released after their k-cup patent expired. I also bought an adapter that lets me brew k-cups in the Vue brewer that works well.

For some general considerations, check out this review that I wrote for a Mr. Coffee branded k-cup brewer. I mostly discuss having an internal heated water reservoir. For convenience, I recommend that because you can brew multiple cups faster once the machine has heated up the water.

K-cups are handier than Vue pods because you can buy them at a lot more places. The Target near me used to carry Vue pods, but no longer - now, I don't know if anyone around me does. I buy them online directly from Keurig, and they end up not being too expensive. K-cups can be found locally, and they are available from multiple brands (because the patent expired).

There are things that I like better about the Vue brewer that I got, and things that I like worse. I think that both types can brew good coffee, assuming that you find a pod that you like.

I know that's not a lot of info, so let me know if you have questions.

 

[markw]

Keurigs grow on you. Rita insisted on one and I resisted but gave in to the temptation after a while. Granted, the pre-filled cups can run into money and be a dirge on the environment but I found these and my enjoyment increased to the cost savings and my environmental guilt was eased.

But, there's a temendous variety of tasty coffees available in k-cups.

I vote "yea"

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Thanks guys, I think I will run out and get one.

 

[fuzz092888]

An alternative to what Adam suggested are the Bunn coffee makers. I have one of their velocity brew coffee makers and have to say that I love it. It provides a lot of the immediacy of single cup brewers, but can also do multiple cups as well. The only downside is that it is more of a traditional coffee maker, so there are no kcup sampler packs, you gotta buy coffee in "bulk" (i.e. normal bags). The other issue is that there is a minimum amount of water that has to be added in order to force the water through the water heater/container so if your cup is smaller than what the minimum is then you're wasting coffee if it sits around.

Bunn also makes a single cup brewer that looks pretty good on paper. It's supposed to do Kcups, pods, ground coffee and regular hot water. Pricey, but no more so than the Keurig machines and based on my experience with the velocity, I'd give it a shot.

 

[Chu Gai]

I have one ( forget the model) and its fine. You'll also find refurbished models at very substantial discounts. If you periodically check slickdeals you'll find various coffees at large discounts, often with free shipping, for well under 50 cents. If I'm not mistaken, keurig is owned by Green Mountain and I recently read they're working on coffee brewers that read a chip on future cups in order to work. Kind of like ink jet cartridges. Green Mountain wants to be sure they get a cut out of every cup sold.

 

[rojo]

I bought my wife a Keurig of some sort from QVC. They're reasonably priced there and usually come bundled with a larger starter pack of K cups. Bed Bath & Beyond is a good place to get K cups if you're hoarding their 20% off coupons. My wife's favorite flavor is a generic store brand medium roast donut shop blend from a local grocery store chain. I think it's "The Wide Awake Coffee Company" brand.

I'm not a coffee drinker, so I can only share hearsay. But she took her Keurig to work and set up a coffee bar. It's her precious.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

 

[bikemig]

I like french presses a lot. Bodum makes a great insulated, stainless steel single cup press that I use in the afternoons, Amazon.com: Bodum Insulated Stainless-Steel Travel French Press Coffee and Tea Mug, 0.45-Liter, 15-Ounce, Black: Kitchen & Dining. Also really good is the old school stove top expresso maker, http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Express-6-Cup-Stovetop-Espresso/dp/B000CNY6UK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395501027&sr=8-1&keywords=espresso+maker. Hard to beat at $25 when combined with a frother like this, http://www.amazon.com/HIC-Brands-Cook-Stainless-14-Ounce/dp/B000X7GF40/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1395501081&sr=1-9&keywords=frother. Both the stove top expresso maker and the french press are pretty bomb proof since there aren't really any parts to go south on you and they both make great coffee.

Lastly this little chemex looks like an old school science experiment that went wrong but it is probably the best drip maker I have ever tried, Amazon.com: Chemex CM-1C 3-Cup Classic Series Glass Coffeemaker: Home & Kitchen.

None of these are automatic but there is a lot to be said for putting on some tunes and making a cup of coffee by hand.

 

[Adam]

Lastly this little chemex looks like an old school science experiment that went wrong but it is probably the best drip maker I have ever tried, Amazon.com: Chemex CM-1C 3-Cup Classic Series Glass Coffeemaker: Home & Kitchen.

I was just out at my brother's place, and he has something like that (maybe that model). He really likes it. But, he's also into making coffee by hand (grind the beans, then brew the coffee). I'm more into convenience.

The Aeropress (another model that my brother told me about, and then I bought) is also pretty convenient and makes good coffee - but it's not nearly as quick and easy as a pod brewer.

 

[slipperybidness]

Others have hit most of the key points already: convenience, more expensive for the K cups than bulk coffee, you can get a K cup compatible filter for bulk coffee, etc.

We got a Kuerig a couple years ago from Christmas. Before then, I was just about the biggest naysayer on how silly it was and how it was a fad/gimmick, and I wasn't excited about it at all. I figured it was more of a gift for the spouse than me. Well, I was wrong and had to change my opinion after using it for a few weeks.

Fresh coffee and easy to brew different coffees for different tastes and the convenience is nice.

A couple other points that nobody has mentioned: You can also brew tea with normal teabags, just don't put coffee in the machine. On mine, you have to cycle the coffee holder open/closed before it will dispense water. Also, for those cups of Ramen noodles, it works perfectly.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I could talk about coffee for hours, but if on topic of disposable pods, I never had good cup o joe from a k-cup. Imo Nespresso have much better choices flavor wise

 

[gene]

We tested a bunch of Cappuccino makers before settling on Nespresso. We didn't like the taste of the coffees offered by Keurig or Starbucks coffee machines. The Nespresso Pixie machine is a really good deal especially around XMAS time where they offer discounts at William Sonoma and $75 FREE coffee mail in rebates. William Sonoma also has a great return policy. It's better to buy it there than online at Nespresso IMO. We bought a separate Milk Mixer / heater from Breville and it's a great machine. It really whips and heats the milk nicely. This is a great combo system!

I use local organic honey as the sweetener and dark chocolate shavings to top it all off.

My only problem now is I can't go without at least 2 cups/day

 

[herbu]

BTW, did you know that "Cup of Joe" refers to Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy appointed by Woodrow Wilson? Daniels fought against "bawdy houses" near bases, and banned alcohol. (The men loved him. ) He pushed Sailers to drink coffee, which was then as today, often pretty bad stuff in the service. They bitterly referred to it as having a cup of "Josephus Daniels", then shortened to "Josephus", then just to "Joe". It was not meant to be complementary of the man or the beverage.

 

[Swerd]

BTW, did you know that "Cup of Joe" refers to Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy appointed by Woodrow Wilson? Daniels fought against "bawdy houses" near bases, and banned alcohol. (The men loved him. ) He pushed Sailers to drink coffee, which was then as today, often pretty bad stuff in the service. They bitterly referred to it as having a cup of "Josephus Daniels", then shortened to "Josephus", then just to "Joe". It was not meant to be complementary of the man or the beverage.

Interesting story, but not so according to Wikipedia

Daniels banned alcohol from United States Navy ships in General Order 99 of 1 June 1914. This led to the folk etymology that "cup of joe" (referring to a cup of coffee) derives from Daniels' name. However, this appeared to be a myth, rather than truth.[SUP][7][/SUP]

The reference for that tidbit linked to this page. According to snopes.com, the phrase "cup of joe" didn't come into use until about 1930. Daniels was Sec of Navy from 1913-21. So who knows?

Back to the subject of Keurig coffee makers, they are very convenient and turn making coffee into something consistent and reproducible. For some people, that's big. For others, making a decent, but not excellent, cup of joe isn't worth the high price of the K-cups.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

ack to the subject of Keurig coffee makers, they are very convenient and turn making coffee into something consistent and reproducible. For some people, that's big. For others, making a decent, but not excellent, cup of joe isn't worth the high price of the K-cups.

Quite so, it's all about convenience but trying to get best cup of coffee. Consistence I could argue with. I get my morning coffee with semi-automatic espresso machine pretty consistently.

 

[sawzalot]

There is one model (B-60) of the Keurig that develops a leak at the base of the unit, this is very common with one model that we actually had, the warranty had just ended but the company gave us a new model for half the retail cost or 69.99 to be exact, with free shipping.

 

[Adam]

There is one model (B-60) of the Keurig that develops a leak at the base of the unit...

Well, that's not the top-of-the-line model, so no worries about P-Dawg getting that one.