Any Keurig users out there?

[mtsgsd]

One thing I'll share that REALLY surprised me. All of the flavored coffees I've tried in the K-cups went from meh to simply awful save one;

Green Mountain "Wild Mountain Blueberry".

This is the one flavor I was certain would be a bust, but I got it in a sampler pack. I still can't believe I'm saying this, but if you haven't tried it, you should. I drink my coffee black because I want it to taste like coffee, not something else, but this stuff is good. Makes a nice change from time to time.

 

[BladeDE40]

I have found that using my own ground coffee results in a much better cup than using the Kcups...while there are some Kcups I do like...using the My Kcup with my own coffee results in a stronger,richer cup of coffee. I think this is due to the fact that the My Kcup holds more grounds than the Kcups do. I have a tea scale on the way, once that gets here I'm going to sacrifice a Kcup and compare the amount of coffee held in one to the amount of coffee held in the my kcup to see if my suspicions are confirmed.

 

[mtsgsd]

+1 to that! Coffee brewed this way is better than what the K-cups do.

My only issue is that I don't have a disposal in my sink, and I hate the care required to clean everything up with out dumping grounds in the sink.

 

[Jasonian]

I LOVE mine. My wife bought it for me just...out of the blue. Big Easy Bold is one of my favorites. Along with Jet Fuel, and Donut Shop. Folgers Black Silk is okay too.

I used to get a 50 pack from Amazon for around $21.00, but they raised the price to nearly $30.00!

RE: Price increase.

Get used to it, friend. Commodity market speculation has driven coffee's C market extraordinarily high, and it keeps going up!

This also effects specialty coffee, which I'm bracing myself for.

 

[dmm26]

I have the bosch tassimo coffee maker and love it! I got it for x-mas, I don't drink a lot of coffee or tea so it's perfect for me when I just want a cup.

 

[joel]

Ok - don't throw tomatos at me, but i've got to ask - aside from someone who needs the absolute maximum versatility and ease of drink preparation, why would someone purchase this over a cheap super-automatic? For instance, you can get a refurbished Italian Saeco Vienna Plus for $349 with ease - which will provide hot water on demand for tea and cheap hot cocoa, and has a steam wand for REALLY tasty hot chocolates, lattes, and cappuccinos, and will take any bean coffee, grind it - and make a dose and a strength per your individual users preference. For a standard coffee - the "effort" of making a cup, is actually less than the Keurig - it's simply pushing 1 button, VS opening the hatch, putting in the cup, brewing, pulling the old cup out, pitching it (am I missing anything else?). Sure - for hot chocolates it's a little more involved (i'd argue it's about the same effort for tea) - but it's so much more flexible.

I can honestly say - i've never had Keurig or Nespresso coffee that I can remember off hand (I have had some pod coffee though and I did own one of those Senseo's when they first came out like 8+ years ago) so don't take this as trolling but I can't imagine it's nearly as good as a superauto. Am I missing something? If I am, i'll go out and buy a pod coffee system and review/compare it to my super auto "for educational purposes" but again... I can't imagine it could hold a candle to a superauto when it comes to quality int he cup, and the $130-250 price tag of the brewing system would quickly be surpassed by the $ savings in being able to use bean vs pods.

 

[BladeDE40]

Joel, I see your point. I think the biggest factor has to do with marketing. While, I am not a big coffee drinker- mu wife is the main Keurig user , I have never heard of the device you mentioned, but I have heard of Keurig. Keurigs are everywhere and so are their Kcups which ever major coffee brand has scrambled to have their coffee represented in. This brings me to my second point...variety. With so many coffees and other beverages available in Kcup form it's easy to buy, store, and drink a variety of your favorite coffees with out having to buy pounds of coffee beans. Is there a trade off...sure...I think a French press makes a better cup of coffee and I'm sure the machine you mentioned does as well, but for what the Keurig is the coffee is pretty good.

 

[joshgambit]

Joel, that is one nice looking machine!! I would get one, but the initial outlay of money is too high for me. If you have one of these, and it makes good coffee, stick with it. I would say that the only thing a Keurig has over the Vienna Plus is the different flavors of coffee/tea/cocoa.

 

[joel]

Joel, that is one nice looking machine!! I would get one, but the initial outlay of money is too high for me. If you have one of these, and it makes good coffee, stick with it. I would say that the only thing a Keurig has over the Vienna Plus is the different flavors of coffee/tea/cocoa.

But you can use flavored coffees - any whole bean coffee for that matter, and with the hot water dispenser built into the unit, same goes for tea, etc...

 

[joshgambit]

But you can use flavored coffees - any whole bean coffee for that matter, and with the hot water dispenser built into the unit, same goes for tea, etc...

Didn't think of that...

Now, here's another question for you. Do you have a 'secondary' coffee maker? For example, I have the Keurig, but I also have a 12 cup coffee maker when we have lots of people over. It makes it much more easy to get coffee that way.

That thing looks...very nice. If it does espresso also (15 bar pressure), I think I could be persuaded...

10 seconds of searching tells me yes, it is a true espresso machine. So, this thing does regular coffee too??

 

[JPDyson]

joshgambit, I'd keep a nice large press pot in the cabinet for company. That, or you could serve Americanos.

 

[TheVez2]

I got a Keurig machine for Christmas and have used it almost every day since. Very happy with it. Best gift my parents ever gave me. So far my favorites are Obsidian by Caribou Coffee and Dark Magic by Green Mountain Coffee. I like strong coffee. Any other good ones?

 

[mtsgsd]

I'll agree that the Keurig is probably not the absolute best coffee maker available, and perhaps the superauto is even more convenient. The big difference is price! I could never justify spending that much on a coffee maker when I'm the only one in the house that would use it. Looks really nice though!

 

[spindlecone]

Love mine but is purely for convieniance,if you run the numbers your paying about 30 bux a lb for coffee using the K-cups.
I use the my K-cup attachment and grind my own beans,even generic fresh grd beans are better than any of the K-cup offerings,IMO.

 

[joel]

I'll agree that the Keurig is probably not the absolute best coffee maker available, and perhaps the superauto is even more convenient. The big difference is price! I could never justify spending that much on a coffee maker when I'm the only one in the house that would use it. Looks really nice though!

I bet after a year, to 1.5 years use, you're on par cost wise, when you take into consideration whole bean coffee VS the K-cups. My dad buys decent (keep in mind i'm a coffee snob and roast my own) whole bean coffee from costco for about $2.50 a pound.

 

[joel]

Didn't think of that...

Now, here's another question for you. Do you have a 'secondary' coffee maker? For example, I have the Keurig, but I also have a 12 cup coffee maker when we have lots of people over. It makes it much more easy to get coffee that way.

That thing looks...very nice. If it does espresso also (15 bar pressure), I think I could be persuaded...

10 seconds of searching tells me yes, it is a true espresso machine. So, this thing does regular coffee too??

I actually have a lot of coffee/espresso machines. I actually don't have the one I posted about - I DO have a superauto (which I am quite fond of) but it's a lot pricier, and I wouldn't say a whole lot better. If I couldn't only choose "one" though, i'd probably choose a super auto. When you have folks over - using the superauto for a group is actually SUPER easy, and guests can get more coffee/espresso on demand. Partygoers also tend to be fascinated by them as well - they're really quite remarkable machines. I was pretty uneasy about getting one, however one of my friends actually had that Saeco (or a Solis, I can't remember, but it looked like that) and he got about 10 HARD years use out of it, never cleaning it, never servicing it, always using super-oily beans, etc. Eventually one of the water lines cracked - but instead of getting it fixed (which would have been pretty reasonable) he figured he had gotten his money out of it, and he upgraded to a higher end Jura super auto.

To answer your questions 1.) yes it makes espresso 2.) yes it makes coffee. There should be 2 options - one controls the strength of coffee (how much it grinds) and the other controls the size (volume of water it dispenses) - so users can select max strength and min volume and get a SUPER strong ristretto shot of espresso, or can crank the volume up all the way and get a strong 8oz or so cup of coffee. Want 16oz? Hit the button 2X. What I like about this most, is that you can select exactly how much coffee you want - so you can have a cup of coffee, decide you want a little more, and follow up with a 1/2 or 1/4 cup. Try that with just about any other machine/method, and it'll likely either be a hassle, or you'll be wasting coffee grounds.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I have the Breville BKC700XL, and I love it. I'm finally drinking my coffee black again because it makes it taste good enough to be able to do so. I got rid of my regular 12 cup coffee maker and I use the Breville exclusively now.

 

[mtsgsd]

I bet after a year, to 1.5 years use, you're on par cost wise, when you take into consideration whole bean coffee VS the K-cups. My dad buys decent (keep in mind i'm a coffee snob and roast my own) whole bean coffee from costco for about $2.50 a pound.

No doubt! But this way it seems less expensive to the other person in the house!

I much prefer to grind my own coffee and brew it right, and the keurig does not make truly GOOD coffee, but you can't beat the convenience of just knocking off a quick cup when you want it. That and my inherent laziness combine to make it what I use the most.

 

[bulldognation]

Got one for Christmas and love it! To me it makes the best cup of coffee.

 

[Troggie]

I bet after a year, to 1.5 years use, you're on par cost wise, when you take into consideration whole bean coffee VS the K-cups. My dad buys decent (keep in mind i'm a coffee snob and roast my own) whole bean coffee from costco for about $2.50 a pound.

If you use the k filter you can use your own ground coffee so the cost is still not that much if you do it that way and you still have the ability of using the K Cups if you wish.

Vez2 If you like strong coffee look at the Coffee Peoples Extra Bold Sampler pack. It has their Jet Fuel, Black Tiger, Organic, and Wake Up Call.. which are great.