Sometime earlier this year my work got rid of the regular coffee pot and bought a Keurig single cup brewer. At first I was skeptical that it would brew a good cup but the first one put my mind at ease. It makes a really good cup of coffee.
Ever since then I’ve been thinking about getting one for home use but I couldn’t justify it because of the cost of the coffee. The coffee comes in things called K-Cups which are single use and typically cost around $0.50 each. A pot of coffee is less than that if you drink it all but there’s usually some waste and you pretty much have to compromise on the strength with whoever you’re sharing it with.
Then a few weeks ago Jenny told me you could get individual filters that you could refill so I started looking into it. Seems the individual filters are around $0.10 each so with a teaspoon of coffee each it’s much less than the pre-made K-Cups and you can control the strength.
Last weekend Betty and I bought one of the Special Edition version at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. We love BBB because you can use the 20% off coupons even after they expire.
Betty didn’t really see what the big deal was until we brought it home and she started realizing how versatile it was and how easy you can make a cup of coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate.
Everyone else living here thinks it’s great too. Now I’m wishing I’d got one sooner.
We used to have a single cup coffee maker at work, but for 150 employees, it got too expensive for the company. I don’t make much coffee at home, just on weekends, and then I usually drink the whole pot, but these Keurig brewers do look mighty fine.
Comment by Donna — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 5:46 pm
P.S. How much washing up is there?
Comment by Donna — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 5:46 pm
My last 13 oz. bag of coffee was Eight O’Clock brand on sale for $4.49. At that price, I bought two bags, and it’s just as good as the Starbucks brand that I have been buying for over $10.
Comment by Mom — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 8:12 pm
To clean up you open the front, take out the K-cup, and throw it away. It takes 5 seconds.
Maybe $0.50 isn’t such a bad price after all if you’ve been paying $10 for 13 oz.
Comment by Don — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 8:29 pm
We were just looking at these — they seem to be selling everywhere now. One thing that put me off was that I like to go half-caff or even quarter-caff, and they don’t sell cups like that. But if you can make your own cups, then I could and it might make more sense.
Where do you get the filters you refill?
Comment by Daryl — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 9:54 pm
We got everything at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I just realized I put Best Buy in the story. I’ll fix that. The filters are $5 for 50 and the plastic filter holder was something like $12.99 but it’s reusable.
Here’s the link.
They also make a filter that doesn’t need the paper filters but it has to be cleaned each time.
Comment by Don — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 10:50 pm
I think my filters are somewhere around $1.49 for 40.
Mom
Comment by Mom — Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 11:10 pm
Dayna has had one for a couple years. She really likes it. It does make a good cup of coffee.
Comment by Richard — Friday December 23, 2011 @ 7:05 am
You can’t beat the Keurig for convenience, flexibility and consistency, and as you point out, the reuseable gold filter mitigates the cost factor.
I still have to pull out the 12 cup Mr. Coffee when serving more than a handful of guests, but the one shot Keurig satisfies my two-cup-a-day habit nicely.
Comment by Don Lafferty — Friday December 23, 2011 @ 8:15 am
I think they are selling them at Costco now. But you’d have to get the filters elsewhere.
Comment by Donna — Friday December 23, 2011 @ 12:24 pm
Wendy has a Keurig so now I have experienced it. Great coffee maker. I might have to invest in one someday.
Comment by Donna — Saturday December 31, 2011 @ 6:22 pm
Got me one.
Comment by Donna — Sunday February 12, 2012 @ 4:14 pm
Yay! What flavors do you like?
My favorite is the Kona. Betty likes Sumatra and Millstone Foglifter.
We also love the hot chocolate and apple cider.
And almost every night I have a Sleepytime.
Comment by Don — Sunday February 12, 2012 @ 4:48 pm
I got a lot of samples, but I think my favorite is still the GM Breakfast Blend I had at Wendy’s. I don’t like bold coffee, preferring a mellow roast. But I’ll probably use my own with the reuseable cup a lot of the time. The K-cups are really expensive.
Comment by Donna — Tuesday February 21, 2012 @ 6:09 pm
Are you still using the individual filters, or have you succumbed to convenience and use just the pre-made K-Cups?
Comment by Daryl — Saturday March 17, 2012 @ 12:00 pm
I use the K-Cups mostly. We did get the individual filter but it’s really not that bad to use the pre-made if you find them on sale. BBB usually has a good price on some brands.
Did you get one yet?
Comment by Don — Saturday March 17, 2012 @ 12:07 pm