Category: Grub Garage
Was curious who out there used the Keurig single cup coffeemakers. I've got the B30, the Mini, and love it. However, I'd love to find a place where I can get the best price on boxes of k-cups, preferably the boxes of 24. I usually use amazon.com but they tend to offer them at list price or higher, like fifteen bucks a box. Are there any good websites that might sell k-cups for below list price?
I'm not sure about websites but I know you can get a box of 80 for $36 at Sams Club. The selection isn't the best at Sams but ya can't beat the price.
I'm always looking for cheap K Cups too so will be interested to see what other suggestions come about.
Isn't it the best coffee ever? MMMMM
I want to get one. My parents have one and I really like it. I like lots of different flavored coffees.
I have the platnium brewer and usually the main site offers good prices especially if you join the coffee club.
Hey I have one of these too and it is awesome. I have a reusable cup that you can put your own coffee in. I get my coffee from wal mart for just $10 a box. They have a lot of flavers.
If you use the reusable cup, make sure to pack it. Your coffee will come out weak if you don't.
I think they're kind of expensive, and there's a lot of waste that is probably not recyclable. Also, my daily coffee consumption is such that one of my cups would likely be 2 or 3 K-cups. I'm glad to learn of the reusable k-cup; was not aware of this development.
the cups are recyclable. Some coffee you can get two or three uses out of them depending on the strength you like. I only use one cup per use though. I don't drink a lot or coffee every day. The taste is verry great though. That is what makes it worth it. Kind of like how some people will spend so much money on starbucks or whatever. Its the same, yes costly, but you do it because you enjoy the taste.
Mom has two Keurig machines, an older one and one that's maybe a year old. I don't know the type, but believe the one she uses the most makes a cup at a time. I could be wrong. In any case, I enjoy the different coffees we get. she said she'd give me the older one and use the new one, so I'm debating whether to do that or to get myself a coffee grinder and just start buying the beans. I prefer organic coffees and like trying all different varieties. That said, with the reusable cup, it's still possible to use the Keurig on those, so I may try it.
Thanks for the info on packing the reusible cup. I just thought mine didn't work right but I'm betting I havent been puttin g in enough coffee.
I have one of those things on my wish list on amazon. Do you find any buttons need to be marked or labeled? How about adjusting the clock when it comes to the time change in spring and fall, if the Keurig does have a built-in clock?
Depends on which one you get, there isn't just one, and I'm not familiar with all the models. Mine has no clock and it ahs two raised buttons, but it is meant to be a very simple machine. Unfortunately they do not make the model I have anymore.
I love my Keurig. If you get a model with separate buttons for small, medium, and large, nothing should need to be labelled. Some of the more expensive models have onscreen menus that will make things very complicated if someone forgets to leave it on the proper cup size. I love trying all the new flavours and this is basically the only way I buy coffee now.
We have one of those that has the on screen menues. That part is challenging but we leave it on the same cup size all the time. We have lots of power flickers and it seems to stay on the correct setting. We don't use the clock. lol
It's awesome and you'll love it!
I have i think the B40???
It has the 8 and the 10 ounce size and it doesn't need braille.
On the bottom are the two size buttons, which are bumpy so you can feel them fine.
Then above those is one button on top of another for the on/off and audo shut off feature.
Not sure if that makes since but basically there are four buttons.
Two side by side on the bottum for the cup size
then above those but on top of another rather than side by side are the
on/off toggle button,
and then the
auto shut off toggle button above that.
Just turn on.
Let heat up.
place drinking cup under spout.
Once heated up you open lid and put in K-Cup. Must do this after the water has heated up.
Then you push the size you wish to have made and as soon as you do this the hot water will start to come out making your drink of your choice.
I do know that the audo shut off button would be hard. If someone turn it off and you did not know then it would just stay on and you would have to go push it to audo shut off again. There is a light that shows up but this isn't really a big deal either.
Yours sounds similar to mine for the most part. The only thing I hate is when someone is messing with the one at work and puts it to a different size. It doesn't happen often, but if it does there's nothing I can do without sighted help. Luckily this would not happen even once a month so it's fine. I enjoy trying all the different flavours and brands, which would be much tougher with conventional coffee pots.
Mine is simple and doesn't matter who did what to it last. As long as it has water it is good to go.
I have the Cuisinart one, which is sanctioned by Keurig. It does have on-screen menus, so to set some things it takes some eyeballs, but as for cup size, you set the default in the menu, and it stays there unless you use the value keys to change cup sizes on the fly, but even then, it always defaults back to the one you set up. Also, it comes with the My K-cup, so you don't have to buy it separately.
I really want to get one! but something simple for sure..I've heard of the reusable cup..but don't understand what do you mean by packing it?
if you go to cafecup.com I hear that's a good helpful sight but haven't looked at it myself.
By packing, what we mean is fill it really full.
HTH
ah! lol..gotcha. Gotta def. do more research!
Ah, the Keurig. Possibly one of the greatest inventions ever. I believe I have the B30 mini, which if I'm not mistaken is no longer being made. So I don't know what I'll do if this one ever goes out on me. My parents have a much bigger model. Theirs is kinda cool because you can set it up to automatically turn itself on at a set time in the morning and then shut itself off at a certain time in the evening. This is cool because itmeans that anyone who wants a cup of coffee at any time throughout the day can just slip in a K-cup and go. It's also cool because you don't have to change a setting if you want a different cup size. It has three buttons one for each of the three different sizes of cup so you just push the one you want. But what I really like about Keurig is that it pretty much offers something for everybody. I'm not a coffee guy. I like hot chocolate and Keurig offers several good brands of cocoa.
One of my new favorites is the sleepytime tea. It's got mint and some other stuff and is yummy!
I think there are models that are updates of the Mini. Also I think Mr. Coffee makes a Keurig-compatible machine similar to the Mini.
Yeah but those models apparently use touch screens. At least some of them do from what I've been able to find out.
I found that ebay has pretty good deals. also I have gotten mine at sams a lot as well. with a good creamer from your local store that coffee will taste amazing.
I don't care what I try. I always taste the coffee LOL.
I don't think the Mr. Coffee model has a touch screen but not sure about the updated Mini, whose only difference is you can select cup size, but perhaps that is selectable by a button. I suppose if anything you could find a local store that sells Keurigs, like a Target, and get somebody to help you there. My experience with Target is they have pretty good in-store help.
Hi,
I have a Keurig and love it!! i got it for Christmas from my dad and his wife. I have the Platinem model, which is easy to use by pressing the buttons on it. Besides the reusable filter, there are also reusable caps and lids, so you can reuse the K-Cups themselves and fill them with your own coffee or hot chocolate. The cups themselves can be reused lots before they need thrown away. This, of course, cuts down on your environmental footprint. It also saves money because you can buy a pack of cups and then keep reusing the cups. I really love the reusable option and reuse my cups a lot. If you'd like me to give links to the places I bought my reusable stuff from and explain how to reuse them, let me know and I will. Also, I've found Ebay has decent prices for K-Cups.
Take Care,
Dawnielle
I'll look into that. ranted my current brewer is working fine for now but it'd be nice to know in case it ever does go on the blink. And I agree with the one who talked about getting K-cups from the main site directly. I myself am a coffee club member and that's thhe only place I've ever found where you can find ifferent arieties of cocoa. I like te regular and the wite chocolate. I'd also like to try the dark chocolate. I also tried their hot apple cider and while it is indeed tasty I'm not a big fan of hot cider.
Reusable cups??? Please tell more about that.
I've got one of the reusable filter thingies but despite several tries at filling it to different capasities, I've never been able to get it to work well. I'm not sure which one it is but when I use it, I have to take the cup holder out of the Kurig and put this thing in it. There's also a basket thing that holds the coffee.
If there's a way to do this with the actual K cups themselves, that would be neato.
Also, I can't remember if I posted this already so sorry if it's a repeat. I get our cups from amazon.com I pay $29.99 plus free shipping for a pack of 50. Hope that helps.
I am becoming convinced that I am the only person on the face of the planet who hates these things. But then, coffee is a science for me. I grind my own beans, and I am specific about what types of beans I buy. Flavored coffee is not allowed anywhere in my house, because its not coffee, most of the time it isn't even made with coffee. Don't even get me started on what goes in to making instant coffee, if you knew, you'd never drink it again.
I think the cups, and my parents have one so I'm not just talking out my ass here, are weak, under flavored, under heated and over priced. Looking down the list of comments, I can tell they're overpriced. I have a coffee pot that makes ten cups. I buy coffee for ten dollars and make between ten and fourteen pots of coffee with it, and that's extremely strong coffee. Most people could probably get fifteen to twenty pots from one bag. Lets say I get twelve pots from one bag. That means that I get 120 cups of coffee frm one bag of coffee, and it cost me between ten and twelve dollars plus tax. Paying more than twice that at nearly thirty dollars,you get less than half the amount of cups of coffee.
And for those of you who say that you only drink one cup of coffee a day, I'd like to introduce you to a little device called a french press. It makes, by far, the most amazing coffee, to exact specifications, exact temperature, and with whatever ingredients you choose. It comes in one cup models that are perfect for those of you who want just your single cup of coffee. Best of all, it will cut the price of your coffee ingredients drastically, well over half of the price will be cut. There are no buttons, so you don't have to label anything, and a good french press costs in the realm of twenty bucks or so. That's the machine, can you get a KCup for twenty dollars without beating up a hobo to steal it from his trash can? No you can't.
So there's my two cents. Bad coffee, and costs way too much.
Hi,
I personally like the taste of the coffee. However, I'm not a huge coffee connoisseur or anything. However, by reusing your K-Cups, you can cut down on the cost. If you can reuse a k-cup 50 times before throwing it away, or more than that, that's a huge savings. At least, to me, it is. Some people reuse theirs like 120 times each.
So, how do you reuse your K-cups? It’s easy and there are two sites that I really like on the subject. One place has stainless steel lids that you put on your cups. These are useful in making hot chocolate, too. All you do is take off the lid to your cup like you would a yogurt container, and very, very carefully empty the contents of said cup into the garbage. You want to be careful, so as not to damage the filter inside the cup. The hot chocolate and cider ones do not have a filter. I don't know about tea, since I never drink it. I very carefully empty the cups out with my fingers and by tapping the cup, when it's still warm from the maker, on the side of the garbage can. I rinse out the cup and let it dry. You then take a two TBSP coffee scoop, I bought one off EBay for like $5, and scoop a scoop of coffee into the cup. Snap the stainless steel lid on and you're ready to go!!
When you place your cup into the machine, the needle on the top where the handle is, pushes back the stainless steel lid's little door in the center of the lid. I try to line the cup up so that I don't punch new holes in the bottom each time, but you don't have to do that, if you don't care to. The stainless steel lids are called the brew saver. They send you like, ten in a package. I've been using them since I got the maker and have had no problems with them. Some people however, have issues with them leaking and such and that's where the next site I really like comes into play. The company is called my cap. They sell a plastic, BPA free cap that you put on your cups. They also sell filters for your cups, so you can continue to reuse your cups, even if the filter inside a cup rips. I'm going to buy a starter kit from them at some point soon, just because I want to compare the plastic cap to the stainless steel lids I already use. I want to get some filters anyway, so I can continue reusing my cups, once the filter breaks. They sell a brush for cleaning out your cups too, which would also be nice, instead of using my fingers. They sell two kinds of filters. There are some, which you have to cut out, and some that are pre-cut. Anyway, all you do with the MyCap caps, from what I understand, is the steps I described above, and put in your own filters. They also have seals, should you wish to seal the top and bottom holes in your K-Cup, to keep air out. If you join their mailing list, you get a discount on their products, which are already pretty cheap, in my opinion. The MyCap lids do not work with hot chocolate or cider cups.
The site for MyCap is:
http://www.my-kap.com
The site for the Brew Saver is:
http://www.brewsaver.com/
I hope this helps,
Dawnielle
All that for one single cup of coffee? Lord, I do less work for one pot of coffee, and that includes the shopping for the beans. I'm pretty sure people who grow their own coffee do less work than that per cup.
Plus, they have a reusable filter for the KCup, I use it when I'm at my parents. It takes me ten or so minutes to make one cup of coffee because I have to carefully measure in the coffee grounds so they don't go flying all over the counter.One shake of my hand and I end up with that mess to clean up anyway. Its just not worth it for an inferior cup of coffee in my opinion.
Though, and this is just me on my soapbox, I think most people have gotten so used to the swill they get from starbucks and the like, that they don't realize the coffee they're drinking barely tastes like coffee anymore at all. If you ever get the chance to go to a place that specializes in good coffee, and has multiple types to try from, you should take it. Learn what coffee is supposed to taste like. I'll give you a hint, it isn't bitter like most people complain about. Oh, and I said types, not flavors. There should be no more than three words in the title of a cup of coffee, and that includes the word coffee.
I'll step off my soapbox now.
I'm with Cody on this one. If I want my coffee, I want my damn coffee. I like making my own grounds from coffee beans. I don't mind my coffee bitter, though. The only way I drink coffee is black, rarely do I ever add milk or sugar to it.
Thanks for the info and websites.
I like Keurig because it offers other options for those who can't stand coffee. Even my folks, lifelong coffee drinkers, are Keurig converts.Granted that could be because they're te only ones in the house and neither of them tends to drink more than two or at most three cups a day and those are generally fairly far between. So a standard coffee maker isn't feasible since most of the pot would end up going to waste.
I've actually made tea in a typical Mr. Coffee pot and it's not all that hard, but of course the tea you make in a pot that is designed to make it is probably better. As far as making hot chocolate and hot apple cider I've always used the microwave to heat those things up.
hate to break your bubble, but i grind my own coffee for my brewer and it does not take 10 minutes to fill a cup in the slightst. I have a cup in maybe 3 minutes at the most, brew time included, and it is real coffee, completely freshly ground.
Then maybe I'm notas good at pouring t into the tiny little cup thing, it takes me a long time to do it. But even if we're working with three minutes as a time frame. That mans in the time it takes me to make a cup of coffee once, a process I'd have to repeat several times each morning, I could have made nearly an entire pot of coffee.
The point is, for me, its just not a good option. Its slow, weak and expensive. For others, they may wish to deal with those things.
Sure Domestic Goddess, no problem.
and you just hit the nail on the head. For you, notice the you there, it's not the best option. You're trying to make it sound like since it isn't your option it isn't for anyone.
Cody, I do also. In fact, I use a coffee press.
I didn't mean to come across as it being the only option for anyone. I just meant that I don't like it, and I feel there are much better options for the vast majority of people who use them in my opinion.
So, what's a good non-bitter-tasting coffee? And is there a less acidic version than normal? I'm finding that as I get older, coffee upsets my stomach. But I just can't give it up. Not a fan of tea.
The lighter the roast is, the less bitter it will be. Roasts that are darker have more of a bite.
You're right, and there's more to it. First of all, most of the bitterness we taste in coffee is due to us not brewing it correctly. It isn't a matter of just plopping some grounds in a filter and running some water through it. If the coffee steeps too long it will get bitter because of all the bitter chemicals that are being taken out of the coffee. Also, the heat of the water makes a difference, hotter water makes better coffee. If you have an old coffee maker, it may not be getting the water hot enough. This is one of my biggest problems with the KCups, it never actually boils the water, it just heats it up then injects it through the coffee. This makes extremely weak coffee, and is more coffee flavored water than the homogenous solution that real coffee should be. Yes, there is a difference.
So, the best way to make coffee is to have a working coffee maker, grind your own beans, and know how many cups your coffee maker is supposed to make. The first so that it will heat the water properly. The second because of a few reasons. First because the flavor of coffee comes from oils within the beans, which aren't beans at all, they're actually the pits of cherry like fruits, it helps to think of them more like that than beans. These oils, much like in spices, break down over time. The roasting of the bean seals in the oils for the most part, and this allows them to have a longer shelflife, as well as changing the flavor as was said earlier. However, when the bean is broken in grinding, those oils are released and begin to break down. If you buy preground coffee, that coffee is probably a week old or so already, and that makes a lot of difference. You should grind your beans as close to the time of brewing as you can. Also, one size grind is not always right for one type of coffee or coffee maker. If you have a slower coffee maker like I do, you don't want so fine a powder because then more chemicals will be extracted from the beans in the brewing, which means more bitter chemicals. If you have a quicker brewer, or a not percalating coffee maker, like a french press, you need the smaller grind. You should be able to grind your coffee to the size you need, rather than the uniform size you get in packages.
Finally, you need to know how many cups your coffee maker is meant to have. If you have an eight cup coffee maker, and you put in ten cups worth of grounds, you're going to have very strong coffee. Now this does not always mean bitter, but in most cases it does, and its hard to make it not. The rule of thumb is one tablespoon of beans for every cup of coffee. I like my coffee on the strong side, so I go a little over this rule. You should play around with it a little.
A few more tips. First, know what the different roast names mean. There are too many to list here, but a few examples are french roast, italian roast, blonde roast and dark roast. These all mean different things. For instance the darker the roast, the less caffene the coffee has, contrary to popular assumption. Find your favorite roast, and don't think that one roast works for every type of bean. For example I like columbian french roast, but with jamaican coffee I like a darker roast because the flavor is more complex. Play around and find out what you like.
Next, know the names of coffee growers. I'll let you in on a little secret, Starbucks burns their beans. Its how they get that unique starbucks flavor. They do it so that when they make the drinks that require half a page to write the name of, you'll actually be able to taste the coffee. Those drinks are purely marketing. If you went too italy for instance, don't even thin of ordering a half caf moca-loca-chino with whipped cream. It doesn't exist. Its made up by starbucks and other big chain coffee shops like that. The problem is that when they sell their beans, you're getting burned beans. Don't buy burned things.
A good rule that I stick by is that the name of the coffee should be geographic. Columbian coffee comes from columbia, blue mountain comes from the blue mountains of jamaica, hawaiian comes from hawaii and so on. Starbuck and dunkin' doughnuts come from god knows where. Try a few of them to see if you like them. If you can find a store in your area that has bean dispensers, you can get bags of different sorts of coffee and try those.
The last little tip, and you aren't going to believe me, but trust me for a second. When you brew coffee, put some salt in it. Not into the cup, put it into the grounds. I use maybe half a teaspoon for a pot of ten cups, so about a pinch a cup or so. It cuts out bitter flavors, that's why you put salt in cookies and cakes too. In coffee, it illiminates the bitter flavors, and brings out the sweter, more complex flavors of the coffee. You'll never want it any other way, I promise you. Trust me.
Hope that helps. Any questions, feel free to send me a message.
keep in mind some of the brewers can get close to boiling temps, mine for example hits 192 degrees. I've never had bitter tasting coffee from my brewer, just very strong which is how i like it. Intresting tip with the salt though
192 isn't really that hot when it comes to water. Its twenty degrees below the boiling temperature. Due to the latent heat required to turn water into steam, you're talking about a huge gap between 192 and actually boiling. You would actually be able to put your finger into that water without getting hurt. It would be hot, but not burn you.
What about acidity? Is it possible to get good beans that are less harsh on the stomach?
um, i have gotten burned off the the water in my brewer, and if you're so sure you won't get burned, try it. You will get burned, have had it happen before
I find the best experiments come with using a coffee press but I'm a fan and have been using one nonstop for ten years now.
Imprecator, some geographic regions produce more acidity in the coffee than others. Sumatran comes to mind, as an acidic location to get coffee. I'd start yourself on some Blue Mountain or Colombian and maybe get a blond roast to start with. The other thing to consider is the steeping time, if you use a press. Two minutes will do the job, and longer will mean more bitter.
Also, the old Perculators used to burn coffee because they heated the oils to too high a temperature.
It's like wine: drink what you like, don't think you have to have the darkest or strongest to have the most seasoned pallate. Ten fifteen years ago I was too snooty for the Breakfast Blend type arrangments, or any of the blond roasts, but honestly it's all in what's done with the coffee.
I have never tried the pinch of salt, but will have to give that a try. Bitter doesn't bother me in coffee, but there are a lot more flavors in a bean than most people realize.,
Leo's right, blue mountain is my favorite, but there are others that have less powerful coffee. A lot of the african coffees are like that too. You might try a google search.
Wow, I would have figured the darker ones had more caffein in them.
Caffeine is the goddamn elixir of life.
I just learned this and thought I would share it for those looking for a low acid coffee. Brazil, apparently, is famous for growing coffee that is low in acidity. You can find a lot of brazilian blends, one good website I use is longviewcoffee.com. Now, I haven't tried a brazil yet, but I will as soon as I can. I'm just reporting what I read in coffee review.
My dad told me a long time ago that some of the strongest, most potent coffee is made in Turkey.
Wow, I forgot how good coffee is when you buy the beans that aren't ground. I don't have any salt here but I want to try that as soon as I can get some.
I must say, as much as I love my Keurig, I do miss grinding my own beans. Nothing smells quite so good as freshly ground coffee beans. The salt idea would have been cool too.
Also, just as an FYI, for those who do use K cups, they now make lemonade cups and they're really really good. Just thought I'd share.
Hot lemonade? Eeeeeeewwww. I think I'll pass on that one.
Haha. You don't know unless you try. I used to say that about hot apple cider, but when I tried it I was hooked.
No, you put ice in it to cool it off, silly. lol
Although, my hubby drank some hot and said it was good. I wouldn't do that unless I had a soar throat or something.
They have sweet tea too that, of course you would put some ice in. I love my Keurig. Blue Mountain's variety pack is wonderful and I particularly love the blueberry coffee.
yes, you get a large cup, fill it with ice, and make it right in to it to make sweet iced tea.
Oh cool, I haven't seen the sweet tea. I've seen all sots of tea but not specifically sweet tea. yum! I'll be the blueberry coffee is good. Think I might try some of that next time I order from amazon. My mom had some sort of maple french toast coffee the other day and it was really good too.
Mmmm, I've always wanted to try the Maple French Toast one. It's a Christmas thing, I think. I've seen some iced mocha ones, too. Those sound heavenly. I wish there were a way to make it so that the keurig didn't get the water hot. Like, if there were a setting on there that didn't heat the water for lemonade and sweet tea and such. I guess you can just wait for it to cool and then put ice in it. But hot lemonade, I'll have to try it. Sounds interesting. I'm planning on buying some of the iced mocha ones for summertime. To me, it beats going to Starbucks and ordering an iced coffee, when you can buy a box of cups for the price of one coffee from there. Though I do love their frappichinos and such, mmm!!
Take care,
Dawnielle
I like the Starbucks coffee beans. They can't really burn those, unless there's some way to screw with coffee beans that I'm not aware of. Haha.
Oh it's possible to burn coffee beans. I played around with the idea of roasting for awhile and yes, you can, either by roasting too long or by not cooling the beans off quickly enough once you take them out of the roaster.
It's possible, and it's really stinky if you do.