I need some opinions on wether or not to buy a Keurig. My family and I are moving soon and I need a new coffee maker. I am the only one in my family who drinks coffee and usually only one cup in the morning. I do have friends and family who will visit us who drink coffee and I wonder if having just a regular coffee maker would be easier. On the other hand, they look really convenient for me in the morning and I really wanted to try it.
Is a Keurig worth buying?
There are a lot of single cup coffee makers out there, some VERY inexpensive. We have a black and decker one and it's perfect and you use regular coffee, rather than having to buy an expensive filter or the singles.
I feel that the Keurig is such a waste of plastic, all those small cups end up in the landfill... I think using a paper filter and an inexpensive single cup coffee maker is wiser... IMHO...
I think the individual cups are a charming idea, but I've always wondered how they've become so popular in such a "green" age.
We have a regular coffee maker (we each drink 2 cups daily), but I love the flexibility. If he wants afternoon brew, he makes it. Friends over for supper, large pot of decaf. And one lb of coffee is anywhere from $3-12/lb, depending on how fancy you wanna be. I think those single serves are 50 cents+/serving.
My parents have one. It's great for them. My Mom has a cup of coffee in the morning but not every morning, my Dad has tea. I don't use it because I drink a lot of coffee, so instant is easier and cheaper in that regards. At my fiance's I have a regular coffee maker and that's perfect.
We have one.. the one cusinart makes for Keurig (because Keurig sometimes has issues with their own... we had two at work go in 2 years... so cuisinart and keurig teamed up)
ANYWAY both my mom and brother are big coffee drinkers. So for christmas, I told my brother to get it for our mom.
Now they drink 4+ boxes of coffee a week. (How many K cups are in a box... 15?) That's ALOT of coffee! It's so convenient and so many different flavors. And they wonder why they are up at 2 AM.
But they love it.
And my little one likes the hot chocolate. It's bangin!
My husband got me one for Christmas and I loooove it! I'm the only one who drinks coffe so 1 cup at a time is perfect for me. I also enjoy the variety of flavors available and the zero cleanup. If you are concerned about the "greenness" you can use a reusable k-cup that you fill with whatever you want.
I love my Keurig - I like a variety of different coffees and I'm the only one in the household who drinks it so it's nice to be able to make one cup at a time without a big mess or wasting half a pot.
Our recycling center takes the cups so that's not an issue for me.
I got one for Christmas, was initially amused because of the gadget-y aspect, but over time, it annoyed me & I don't like it any more.
I don't like dealing with that much packaging, whether it ends up in a landfill or not.
I don't like being tied down only to products from coffee manufacturers who have contracts with Keurig & can use the k-cup name.
I like going to a coffee shop where they sell whole beans out of burlap sacks. Or random coffee from different makers when I'm traveling & visiting foodie places & gift shops & other coffee importers. I bought the reusable k-cup filter & it just isn't working for me. Not everyone grinds to the grind that they recommend for those things. I get grounds in my cup & it's a pain to clean out, I get grounds down the sink drain. Keurig obviously really would prefer me to buy the friggin' little cups.
I don't like spending more for a box of fairly mediocre quality k-cups than for a half-pound of really good hand-ground coffee.
I drink more than one cup at a time sometimes & I'd rather have a pot going than punch the buttons & listen to that machine making a noise like a jet plane warming up on the runway three times in a row.
As I said, at first I thought, "Fun," and "cool," but fun & cool aren't cutting it three months later & I see myself giving it to an elderly family member who drinks maybe one cup every three days. For her, that would be ideal. And the packaging would make it easier for her.
For me, with my habits & my tastes, it was fun to participate in the novelty of the technology, at first, but my day-to-day routine has kicked in again & I'm over it.
And finally, the machine is MASSIVE. I want the counter space back. My coffee maker had a smaller footprint than that thing.
I got one for Christmas two years ago without knowing much about it. At first I loved it but I could not find a k-cup flavor/blend that I liked. they are all too strong for my taste. Now I have a barely used coffee maker and about 8 boxes of k-cups I can't use (got them as presents) I strongly suggest you try the coffee first and make sure it suits you're taste.
Pros:
1. Hot water anytime! Woo Hoo! I have to admit, that is the best thing about this thing. I use the hot water for tea, instant oatmeal, and anything else that needs hot water.
2. Coffee -- fast!! You don't have to set up the pot (other than make sure there is water in it). You don't have to wait very long to have a cup, which makes it easy on work/school mornings.
3. Guests like to pick out their own flavors. It's nice to have.
4. No yucky burnt coffee or stuff that's been sitting in the pot forever. You get a fresh cup every time.
Cons:
1. It's expensive. Not only is the maker expensive, but the K-cups are expensive, too.
2. It's not entirely environmentally friendly -- all those K-cups.
3. I have the reusable filter (My K-cup), and it's just as saef says. It's a pain. You end up with grounds in your cup, and it just doesn't taste as good as when you use the K-cups. Plus, it's not as "instant" or easy, since you have to set it up and then clean it up afterward.
As an aside to #3. I have a Melitta cone coffee thingy, and I use it to make my own ground coffee instead. I use the hot water from the Keurig, and pour it into the cone filter. No grounds, and it tastes good. Of course, this does cut down on the "instant-ness" of it, but it is a good way to use your regular ground coffee.
I researched Keurig a lot today and read a lot of reviews from customers. A lot of them were negative, saying they stopped working correctly after three months.
I really want a single cup brewer, but maybe Keurig isn't for me. I really don't like flavored coffee (like vanilla and hazelnut) and I know a lot of those K cups are flavored. I was really counting on that special filter so I could just add my own coffee, but if the grounds get in the cup that wouldn't be so great.
Maybe I will look for a Black & Decker or a Krups brand.
I sometimes want to make just one cup of coffee, but we do not want to have 2 coffee makers taking up space. My solution is reusable tea bags. I put my coffee grounds in one and brew my coffee like I would a cup of tea. It works just fine. For sanitizing my reusable bags I bought a small laundry bag which I put them in and put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher with one of the prongs going through it and a cup placed over that to hold it down.
Keurig: Pros & Cons
