I have a Tassimo and my grandparents have the Keurig. I LOVE the Keurig, lots of flavours and so fast + easy. My grandparents have had it for over a year and no problems. My Tassimo is horrible, I think the cups are more expensive, not as many flavours, and the most annoying part is that most of the time it only gives you about a half cup of coffee.
Hmm. I don't really like flavored coffee, either. I did have a problem with some of the kinds of coffee that came with mine (I bought mine at Sam's Club and it had 60 samples in it). The stronger blends (which were most of them), I just diluted with extra plain hot water. The light roast blends (like Donut Shop coffee), were good without adding extra water. I kind-of liked having the stronger ones because I could add the water. It gave me more coffee for my "buck."
Still, it's up to you. I'm pleased with it overall.
Oh, for those who like a milder coffee, though I don't share your taste, my mother does, and while she was visiting me over the holidays, she would take my used espresso blend Green Mountain k-cups and reuse them later that morning to get a milder cup of coffee. That probably had much the same effect as you got from diluting it with water, theCandEs. I thought she was just being really frugal & trying to stretch the use of the k-cups but she really prefers milder coffee than I do.
I still am really curious about the Keurig. I keep going back and forth if I want to try it! I guess I can always send it back if it didn't work for me.
I think the Keurig is a gift from the heavens. When I lived alone, I worshiped the thing. Since i moved in with my girlfriend (who is also a coffee drinker), we got a bigger coffee maker and it now sits on my desk at work. I had a few random silly problems with it but if I unplug it for a few minutes and plug it back in it works- and it's going strong on three years now.
I also don't like strong coffee- but I haven't found that the K cups are strong. i always get the lighter blends, and I just order in bulk- my favorites are caramel vanilla nut, rainforest nut, and breakfast blend. I also have the reusable one that you put regular coffee grinds in- but i haven't used that since I brought it to work.
as for having company- the thing is so fast that you can make a few cups in not much longer than the amount of time it would take to make a pot. And it takes up a LOT less counter space (although I guess that varies with which model you get).
We have had a Kuerig for a little over 2 years and it gets used almost everyday in our household. I'm not a big coffee drinker and my husband is, so it works for us. He prefers the darker roasts of coffee and I use it for hot water to brew my morning tea. We have not had any issues with our Kuerig. Our is an older model so it is a little louder than the newer ones.
But, a major downside of the Kuerig is that is really doesn't work well with the reusable Kcup, so you are kind of stuck using the prepackaged cups. This sucks if you like to drink more than the major brands/roasts of coffee. I love specialty coffee so we picked up an Aeropress and it is wonderful for making a perfect single cup of coffee.
I think it really depends on your coffee drinking habits. I like one cup, and only one cup, on most days. I like the froo froo flavored coffees, and I love having a variety. I like the quick convenience and the no clean up. For me, the Keurig makes absolute sense. When I had a regular coffee maker, even a small one, it was almost more hassle than it was worth. Making the coffee and waiting for it to drip took about 15-20 min in itself. I would pour my ONE cup, then clean it out and throw the filter away. Making the coffee and cleaning up after it took longer than me drinking the cup did. Plus, using coffee that slowly made it so I'd have to just stick to one flavor for a month or so at a time, and the grounds were anything but fresh by the time I finished them.
The K-cups can be a bit pricy. We do bulk orders through Keurig itself for free shipping, and found it to be the cheapest option with the member discount. I think it's about $.50/cup. I'm by no means a coffee connoisseur, but the k-cups always taste good enough for me. No worse than my regular coffee maker, and I really enjoy some of the flavors.
So I love mine. But I agree that they would not work well with all coffee drinkers. If you're drinking several cups each day, it wouldn't make sense.
