My wife knows I like my coffee, so she bought me a Keurig Signature B60 bundle from Sam's Club. I have been seduced by the ease of it all. No carafe to clean! It's ready to brew like 4 minutes after you turn it on, and with the built-in timer, I have it set for when I awake. All I have to do is find a clean mug, put it under where the coffee comes out, select my coffee (bundle comes with three dozen K-cups in a variety of flavors) and stand there and scratch my hairy butt and make caveman sounds until the coffee is ready--about 1 minute! It's great.
Anybody else like their Keurig machines? I've read a few negative reviews on the web. Anybody still using one a year later?
I personally don't drink coffee but we've had one in the office for something like a year. The coffee fiends love it.
I like them, but I just wish they weren't so wasteful.
I have the smallest one possible - a gift from my wife's grandmother. You have to pour in the water a mug at a time, and no timer - just an on/off button, and a button to open the water and k cup slot. Its smaller than a toaster though, so it stays out on the counter without taking up kitchen real-estate.
Mine is about 3 years old now, and never misses a beat. Makes a good little cup of coffee. But, for the last 2 years. I have been working in an office that has a big restaurant style machine. Theres starbucks medium and generic columbian blend available for free all day, so I only use the Keurig on the weekends anymore. Though, occasionally the wife will use it to make a cup of tea on a weeknight since it takes less than a minute to warm up the 8oz of water to a boil...faster than a tea kettle on the stovetop.
Overall, an A+ for simplicity and quality/durability (knocks on wood)
rotard wrote:
I like them, but I just wish they weren't so wasteful.
they make these for people like you
We had one in the pits at the Thunderhill 25. Instant hot chocolate - a wonderous thing at 3 am in December.
My wife has a Nespresso machine - one of the ones that will also steam milk. She loves it. At least in that case, the capsules are recyclable aluminum.
My wife won the new VUE from a contest. It is miraculous. The VUE brews for multiple size mugs, so either I can fill a regular mug or a travel mug. They also have Café flavors my wife likes that have two cups to brew, but she loves it. It's definitely a time saver especially in the morning.
The only downfall of the VUE is that it doesn't have as many drink selections as the K-cups, but they are slowly building up.
Oh, the V-cups are now made to be recycled.
I'm on my second one, in about six years. I love it. Be sure to register yours, as their warranty coverage is better than most devices. My first one puked the pump well after the warranty was up. I called and talked to someone in the service department, and after telling them how I loved it so much, had talked my parents, in-laws and son into getting one, she put me on hold for a few minutes and came back to tell me they'll send a new one, because it looked like my warranty was still in effect.
I also use the filter thingy that 4cf posted, plus I have another thingy that my mom found at Blood Bath and Beyond, that uses paper filters, that doesn't require pulling the pod holder out.
When my current machine dies, the Vue will replace it.
Have one, like it a lot. Coffee is expensive for it though. The refillable one is lousy (water shoots out over the side, not through the coffee grounds).
Biggest gripe is how bad many of the coffees are though. Many taste like scorched dust. But, I do love Emeril's Big Easy Bold. Strangely, the Folgers is also darn good. Who'd of guessed that one?
RossD
UberDork
1/11/13 10:00 a.m.
I just got a normal coffee machine but it's sized for a single 12 oz or less brew. I buy a single pot of grounds from a fancy coffee company and just use a tablespoons worth for 12 oz rather than the whole package for an entire pot.
One of those packages cost about $1-2 depending on the sales. I usually get 5 cups out of them. So about $0.20 to $0.40 per mug. What do those k-cups go for?
I got my wife an Aeropress for Christmas and it makes the most amazing coffee. It uses about twice as much ground beans as the drip machine, but man is it good. We already had a nice electric kettle that heats the water up fast and the Aeropress takes about 45 seconds to make two cups worth of espresso. (Which we typically then add hot water to to make an Americano.)
Lesley
PowerDork
1/11/13 10:07 a.m.
I have a Nespresso too, it is a most wondrous thing.
We have a big Keurig at work with an unending supply of k-cups. I like it, but the needle jams up once in a while and needs a cleaning. It's convenient, but feels pretty wasteful.
When I'm home I use a French press and compost the grounds.
yamaha
SuperDork
1/11/13 10:23 a.m.
I don't drink coffee, but I'm with Keith here....the instant hot chocolate is awesome.
mtn
PowerDork
1/11/13 10:27 a.m.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdiqNimxwzg
My wife and I have one.
I grab a quick cup of coffee every morning on my way out the door. It works great because I am teh only one who drinks coffee.
However, the hot chocolate is pretty darn good! My wife drinks that.
We both drink the apple cider (with bourbon or vodka in it).
We got one for Christmas and love it. I also agree that the hot chocolate is the balls.
Meah…I’m a coffee snob and feel it’s impossible to get a truly good cup unless the beans are ground immediately before brewing. Also, the big units are much larger than necessary due to the side that’s adjacent to the water reservoir doing nothing but offering symmetry. Also, also, I aggressively avoid anything that’s highly specialized as history has taught me these types of things invariably fad from use.
Maybe this belongs in the “Minor Rant” thread but “Santa” AKA: my parents launched an assault on my organizational sensibilities this Christmas by giving one of my daughters a “Pigs in a Blanket” maker. Basically, it’s a waffle maker with special “in other words, wildly limiting” contours. How Berkleying dumb is that…it’d be great if I were embarking on a lifestyle oriented around eating pigs in a blanket but I’m not.
Anyone fond of Guinea Pigs in a Blanket?
Not sure the Keurig falls into the same category, since I've always had a drip style coffeemaker anyway. I mean, I'm going to be using this thing regularly if not every day. The fact that it makes hot chocolate is going to be popular with the kids, too!
Just be sure to run an empty, hot water only, cycle after making hot chocolate or cider. The poker gets gummed up from "mixed" beverages, if you don't.
I find the tassimo coffees all have a strange aftertaste. Kind of oily. Anyone else?
For me a French Press is almost as easy and much less wasteful.
My wife uses it.
I don't drink coffee. I wish I could though, if it tasted half as good as it smelled.
Ian F
PowerDork
1/11/13 2:47 p.m.
ZOO wrote:
I find the tassimo coffees all have a strange aftertaste. Kind of oily. Anyone else?
For me a French Press is almost as easy and much less wasteful.
But the beauty of the K-cup is the ease of cleaning. Pop it open, toss the used cup, done.
I still use a drip machine at home where it's only me and I know exactly how much coffee I'll drink every morning and when I'll want it. We have a Keureg at my g/f's house since there we never know when or if we'll want coffee.
Cost is about 50 cents a cup. I buy 80 cup boxes from Sam's club. My g/f buys specialty flavors online. Versus the $2+ a night I was spending on coffee at the local DnD to get me home, the K-cup is cheaper.
Is it the best coffee in the world? No, but I don't expect it to be nor do I need the best coffee at 4:30 am. If I want good coffee, I'll break out the espresso machine.
mtn
PowerDork
1/11/13 2:52 p.m.
z31maniac wrote:
My wife uses it.
I don't drink coffee. I wish I could though, if it tasted half as good as it smelled.
I'm not sure that anyone likes it to start with. I feel like everyone starts either choking it down just to fit in, or else choking it down to stay awake as you're taking 17 hours of graduate level mathematics courses your junior year of college. It eventually becomes tolerable. Shortly after, you realize that you actually like the way it tastes.