Keurig..worth it?

[smalltank]

Me and my wife have a Nespresso which is great for Espresso...my wife also loves tea and hot chocolate...our daughter also likes hot chocolate and tea most of the time ask well...QVC has a special for the Keurig Plating Plus model and a bunch if k cups as well and they have cheap $25 6 payments to make the buy easier also...for ME I like coffee that's strong.. this unit has 5 different cup settings...I currently use a coffee drip which works fine and my coffee is pretty strong...though this Keurig unit has a my K cup which is a cup n filter so I can use my own coffee....thoughts and suggestions appreciated


*update*..my wife measured the dimensions of the Keurig and man is this thing BIG..so..no room for it in our kitchen as our kitchen is a round shape..perhaps the smaller Keurig machines would work better?

 

[cb91710]

It's not bad for a small office environment if everyone buys their own cups.
It's not bad for a single person or maybe a couple who aren't "big" drinkers and only want one cup in the morning.

But overall, with the cups being nearly $1 per cup, I think a lot of owners have either retired them, or bought one of these and gone back to traditional beans or canned.

IMHO, for home use, there are more economical (and environmentally friendly) options for single-cup brews.

 

[FonGu]

I've had one at home for about three years now and love it. Sorry to disagree with cb91710, but it runs about $.60 a cup, not a dollar. Buy the K cups in bulk or on sale. I'm the only heavy coffee drinker in the house. But its nice because it can spit out hot water for hot chocolate mixes for the kids or a tea for SWMBO. It's also great when we have guests as I can serve them a cup of regular, decaf, and flavored coffee without wasting multiple pots. If you like variety, this is the way to go. If you only buy the same style/flavor all the time, stick with the traditional pot.

 

[Greyfox]

Love mine

 

[ang]

I use one in our office...its OK. But one big problem is with the hot chocolate. It tends to clog the machine and for some reason the taste lingers. The rental service has put a sign on the machine to run an empty run after each HC but no one does.

For home use I prefer my Caprassi Grind and Brew. We have 4 drinkers who get up at the same time.

 

[cb91710]

Meant to say "as much as" $1/cup.

I scanned Amazon for a few minutes and the cheapest that I saw was around $16 for 22 cups, and as much as $22 for 24 cups.

 

[njpaddy]

Thanks for posting (I think). I just ordered one for my daughter who got married late last month. She and her husband who aren't big coffee drinkers were considering ordering a Platinum Plus from the Keurig site. I showed my wife, she called my daughter and apparently the QVC offer was a great deal. Somehow, since I had a QVC acct (4 years since I ordered anything), I got to place the order with my credit card. At least now I won't feel guilty placing that big WCS order this week.

 

[byscott]

Me and my wife have a Nespresso which is great for Espresso...my wife also loves tea and hot chocolate...our daughter also likes hot chocolate and tea most of the time ask well...QVC has a special for the Keurig Plating Plus model and a bunch if k cups as well and they have cheap $25 6 payments to make the buy easier also...for ME I like coffee that's strong.. this unit has 5 different cup settings...I currently use a coffee drip which works fine and my coffee is pretty strong...though this Keurig unit has a my K cup which is a cup n filter so I can use my own coffee....thoughts and suggestions appreciated


*update*..my wife measured the dimensions of the Keurig and man is this thing BIG..so..no room for it in our kitchen as our kitchen is a round shape..perhaps the smaller Keurig machines would work better?

Where to start? I've got a small Keurig machine at home and a commercial unit in the office. They both use the same cups and make the same coffee - the difference is convenience and anticipated frequency of usage.

The Keurig machine is the most expensive way to have coffee except for buying it from Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc. I used to buy my coffee on the way to work, so the K-cups are actually cheaper for me. One reasonable place to buy K-cups is Sam's Club, where you can usually get a 80-cup box for $40. I buy most of my K-cups on eBay, where if you shop carefully you can get them for less.

I flatly refuse to pay more than 50 cents per K-cup. I go through 20 - 25 per week, so I have no qualms about buying several boxes at a time and buying K-cups that are near or even a month past their expiration date. This helps to reduce cost; the best I've done so far was a batch of Green Mountain Colombian Fair Trade Select for about 33 cents each.

As far as quality goes, IMO the Keurig is the most convenient way to make an OK cup of coffee. It won't be as good as freshly ground coffee made in a French press, nor will it take as long to make and clean up. I really like the Keurig because I get a decent cup of coffee, quickly, with virtually no cleanup.

If you like stronger coffee you'll want to use "extra bold" K-cups, which means that there is more (25%, I think) coffee in the cup. I've tried a couple of the "use your own coffee" products and wasn't nuts about any of them; the issue, I think, is that Keurig uses a very fine grind in the K-cup and it's difficult to replicate that with your own coffee. That said, I thought the Solofill worked better than Keurig's own product.

Also FWIW, the hot chocolate K-cups look fairly expensive for what you get.

 

[bakerbarber]

Use it.

Love it.

Only two coffee drinkers in the house, on different schedules.

I love the Arnold Palmer type half and half Iced Tea/ Lemonade. The iced coffees are great too. Plus Starbucks is on board now too.

Some of my favorites are Emeril's Big Easy blend and Black Tiger.

Wolfgang Puck branded some good ones and Newmann's Own too.

My wife absolutely swears by Celestial Seasoning's Sleepy time tea.

Years ago my wife worked at Starbuck's while in college. We grew accustomed to 'strong' coffee since at the time she got, I think 2lbs a week free. When she started a different job and started waking up 2 hours before me I was left with either cold stale coffee or burnt stale coffee. She would sneak a cup from Starbuck's a few times a week too. Which adds up quick.

For us, it's win win now. No more half a pot of coffee down the drain every day. No 'surprises' like seasonal blends or flavored stuff. I prefer coffee flavored coffee. lol.

So if she wants a caramel or vanilla whatever I don't have to gag on it too. I can have a fresh cup too. With so much variety you can buy during sales and stock up.

I have one of the adapters from Keurig and it does work well if you grind your own beans super fine. A regular grind yields a weak cup. Like has been said, you can just run hot water through it too for tea or oatmeal like having hot water on demand. It's convenient.

 

[xXClockwork]

My wife and I love it. She uses it as hot water for tea. I have on average two cups of coffee a morning. It is so nice and convenient. We got something along the lines of what Rich posted, except it's called the "ekobrew". I just buy my own coffee and put a little bit in and get a good two cups.

 

[StillShaving]

I had recently read a couple of informative coffeereview articles about the different single serve coffee systems. Giving an overview of the different makers, costs involved, coffees available...
Comparison Overview - Keurig vs Bunn vs Nespresso vs Senseo vs Tassimo
Comparison table - Brew cost, Serving size options, Pod/Coffee reviews, Pod costs, etc.

 

[Slash McCoy]

But overall, with the cups being nearly $1 per cup, I think a lot of owners have either retired them, or bought one of these and gone back to traditional beans or canned.

Those pods and "K-cups" and such are what has always kept me well away from that type of machine. It seemed to me too much like shaving with cartridges. The re-usable thingie is a great idea.

 

[Hawkeye5]

I purchase my favorite blend a case at a time. My cost is .52 per cup with free shipping and coffeeforless.com always has 5 or 7% coupons.

Two of the original one cup machines, one at the office and one at home. I generally drink no more than 2 cups per day so I didn't want water just sitting and adding the water each time is no big deal in my experience.

I don't find it expensive. Better coffee can be made, but not as simply and much more clean up.

 

[takeshi]

Those pods and "K-cups" and such are what has always kept me well away from that type of machine. It seemed to me too much like shaving with cartridges.

Well, to further the shaving analogy the people buying Keurigs and such are looking for convenience in much the same way that cartridge shavers are looking for convenience. It's all up to where your priorities lie which is why there's no universal answer to any "Is it worth it?" question. I wouldn't assume that just because one doesn't like carts that one wouldn't like a Keurig. We can choose different priorities in different areas.

 

[rxonmymind]

I like the the idea, however I like the K-cups which offer you an option to grind your own and insert it into the Keurig. The one I tried at Ritz Carlton was crap. Sorry, no other way of putting it. It came out watery, like tea & made a TON of noise. Sounded like a fart machine. Not exactly what one wants to hear in the morning. But the idea of one appeals to me.

 

[craigruhl]

We have 3 Keurig machines - Home, Office and RV. My wife taught store reps to demo the machines for a merchandising company and we ended up sold on the units ourselves. The main advantage to me is that there is no wasted coffee or burn coffee from sitting on a burner all day. The other advantage is the vast selection of coffees, teas and other hot drinks. Cost is a factor, but if you order directly from Keurig or Green Mountain Coffee, the cost is just under 60 cents (80 count box at $46.34). Free shipping is included with minimum orders. The machines are noisy, but when used with filtered water need only minimal maintenance for great tasting beverages.

 

[ORGANIC MAN]

I would like to point out there is a way the coffee/tea becomes affordable by using themesh basket instead of the pre-packed disposeable cups...My G/F uses the basket and we grind our own java and she could have several different brews all groud and ready to fill the wire basket..just my nickel input

 

[xXClockwork]

I think another question to ask is whether you are looking to become a connoisseur, or just want a pretty decent cup of coffee. Myself, it is a means to wake up in the morning. It's great for that, as I average 2 cups a day and don't really need anything else. It is convenient and inexpensive with the re-usable cups.

 

[hsamuels]

In keeping with the B&B spirit, I hand-grind my beans in a Zassenhaus burr grinder, then brew them in a Frech press.

Gave a Keurig to dear old Mom, who doesn't want to spend the money on the K-cups.

 

[petr]

I got tired of feeding mine. Special trips to buy it and guests or wife running through it got old.