I think the coffee is the key. Most people (not us barista express people) use grocery store canned coffee or unique stuff that "looks" fresh. The coffee in the k cup is usually good quality we all have our favorite k cup brands. Basically the k cup coffee is better than the average stuff and its quality alone makes for a better coffee. A k cup machine that brews at 197 is great. You want truly great coffee? Roast your own and use it up within three weeks. or find a local roaster who "puts dates on his roasted bags of coffee."

I think the coffee is the key. Most people (not us barista express people) use grocery store canned coffee or unique stuff that "looks" fresh. The coffee in the k cup is usually good quality. We all have our favorite k cup brands. Basically the k cup coffee is better than the average stuff and its quality alone makes for a better coffee. A k cup machine that brews at 197 is great. You want truly great coffee? Roast your own and use it up within three weeks. or find a local roaster who "puts dates on his roasted bags of coffee."

first post about k-cups.

anyways to throw my 2 cents in on this issue, I have been trying to talk my mother out of using a keurig machine for a few months now. she seemed on board with the idea of doing pourover but she won't give up the kcups because they are too set in their ways.

I tried using their keurig with my fresh roasted coffee just for kicks. I used one of those refillable cups you get at the supermarket.

I took a kcup and weighed the capacity of the coffee and noted the grind size. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact numbers but the 'real' kcups held about 30% more than the refillable kcup due to the fact that the refillable kcup is smaller so that the needle underneath the brew basket doesn't punch it.

The kcups have a finer grind than drip due to the espresso like extraction times. I ground fine on my virtuoso and set the water temp on the cuisinart keurig as high as it would go, which was about 192f. I found that if you set the cup size to 6 oz and dose the coffee as much as possible it makes an o.k. cup of coffee this way. I also believe the the plastic sealed kcups do keep the coffee fresher than the foil bags in the supermarket, so that is a plus for the kcup.

I'm really not a fan at all, although I like the idea of the keurig machine in that it does make a americano style coffee. Unfortunately the plastic waste, the high cost of the cups and the cheap build of the machines make them a no-go. I haven't really found a similar idea that could appeal to the masses other than a superautomatic which would have its own set of problems compared to the kcup.

cygnusx1 wrote:You've made the turn, Matthew, much like I did coming from Tassimo then Nespresso. DON'T LOOK BACK!!

Agreed. Once you've delved into the coffee brewing world and have taken it up a notch you'll never want to use a Keurig again. Stick to the Aeropress. It's a wonderful way to make coffee and the taste (as long as you're doing it right) will completely outweigh anything a Keurig could do regardless of the freshness of your beans.

@Kevbot

Are you trying to get your mother to switch to something specific? I know you mentioned pour over. It's tough for most people to get away from Keurig. Its quick and easy. The convenience factor is their. Although any coffee enthusiast would look at a Keurig and cringe slightly. Most people it just appeals to them.

I agree as well with Keurig there's just too much waste and it's too pricey for subpar coffee. Granted Chemex, Aeropress, Clever etc. takes time and effort but the end result is just far superior.

Lots of people when looking for coffee, are really just looking for brown water with caffeine in it (I generally advise these people where else they can find brown water around the kitchen/house). This is why the extraction matters almost none to the Keurig. I've played around with one using fresh ground coffee and the refillable filter cup...but it's just too small and doesn't have a good steep time, or if ground very fine doesn't have the pressure to really extract the solids from the whole basket. It just dumps water over the thing and you hope for the best.

I wouldn't even be surprised if the Keurig pods are actually just instant coffee. The Keurig as it sits to me is just a plastic kettle that makes it easy for people to make a cup of "coffee". But their real secret to success is their inkjet printer business model. Make the machine cheap (I wouldn't be surprised if you could find it being given away during "deal" times), but keep them buying cartridges that are super expensive over the long-term. Lots of profit. To be honest, this combined with the horrible taste of coffee (even from fresh ground stuff) is why I just can't stand the Keurig. I think it's nearly the worst thing to ever happen to coffee, and that's saying a lot considering I've had my uncle's super percolated cowboy coffee many times.

Apologies for the rant...but I think almost anything would be better than a Keurig. Including simply not drinking coffee...Chinese tea is a world on it's own, and the selection is mind-boggling.

EspressoForge wrote:Lots of people when looking for coffee, are really just looking for brown water with caffeine in it (I generally advise these people where else they can find brown water around the kitchen/house). This is why the extraction matters almost none to the Keurig.

This is a bit like saying, if you're not drinking grand cru Burgundies, you are just looking for red water with alcohol in it. People have different standards, and many, if not most, Keurig users rightfully consider it a vast improvement over their previous drip coffee out of a can or instant. For them the convenience of the Keurig makes it "good enough" and is sufficient reason for them to not take their brewing methods to the levels approved on H-B.

EspressoForge wrote:(I generally advise these people where else they can find brown water around the kitchen/house).

I got a good laugh out of that lol thanks

Marshall wrote:This is a bit like saying, if you're not drinking grand cru Burgundies, you are just looking for red water with alcohol in it. People have different standards, and many, if not most, Keurig users rightfully consider it a vast improvement over their previous drip coffee out of a can or instant. For them the convenience of the Keurig makes it "good enough" and is sufficient reason for them to not take their brewing methods to the levels approved on H-B.

Not exactly, it's more like saying "lots of people that drink alcohol are just looking to get drunk and don't care about the taste." Either way, it was mostly a joke as certainly lots of people like coffee.

Keurig may be an improvement for some, which wouldn't surprise me...but the real answer is that most people don't care to have it improved, they just want it convenient. I'm not saying some people shouldn't have a Keurig, I'm just saying that not only is the coffee awful (in my opinion) but it's also overpriced when you look at total cost of ownership. In some ways, I believe they may purposely make the refillable basket difficult to get a good cup, so that people eventually switch back to their pods.

Andre, the Keurig K-Cups certainly do not have instant coffee in them. There have been a couple of knock-off cups that have.

Actually, the coffee made with a Keurig is probably better than 90% of coffee made overall. Not like we make, but still pretty good.