SUBTITLE: Is a Cup of Coffee Worth THIS Much Trouble?
This may not sound like it’s related to caregiving at all, but indirectly, it is. My father was a coffee drinker. He probably went through about 2 pots a day up until his last year. He decreased his coffee intake due to “bathroom issues”. I, on the other hand, will drink one cup, maybe one and a half cups per day (and I’m told I make weak coffee). After my father died, it seemed wasteful to brew even half a pot of coffee when I would never finish it………..especially when it was Starbuck’s whole bean coffee that I brewed in the Grind-and-Brew system.
So when my kids asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, I suggested the Keurig coffee system; you know, the one that comes with little pods of coffee ( Keurig’s are called K-Cups) that brew one cup at a time AND in less than one minute! There are a choice of coffees – for instance, Tully’s, Gloria Jeans, Newman’s Own, and several others. There are also K-Cups of various teas and hot chocolate mixes. I was SO excited ! THIS would be a great way not to waste money! Or so I thought.
I was even more excited when I found a Keurig “commercial model” at the Food show. The commercial had more stainless steel, I was told, and would “last longer”. It was also less expensive that day (show special) and came with a display rack. YES! I called my daughter and asked if I could go ahead and order it.
But then it arrived and I tried my first cup. YIKES…way too strong. But fear not, it has a choice of brewing sizes so I then tried the 10 oz size thinking “more water/less strength”. NO, not the case………it was still very strong. My next attempt at coffee making was to brew a cup of coffee, dump half of it out, brew a cup of plain water, dump half of THAT out and mix the two together. Ok, so now I’m using 2 cups and it takes 2 minutes to make coffee and I’m still not liking the taste of ANY of the coffees that came with it. That’s okay; I’ll just go buy the Starbuck’s K-Cups. Guess what? They don’t MAKE Starbuck’s K-Cups. UGH!
They do, however; make a little adapter K-Cup where you can add your own coffee and still make one cup at a time. So things are looking up again. Another trip to the store for the adapter (at $14.95) and a pound of pre-ground Starbuck’s (pre-ground is not my fav; I prefer to grind my own beans, but the bean grinder would be another expense). (And yes, I really do like Starbuck’s.)
The next morning, I wake up excited for a cup of “not too strong” Starbuck’s, place the coffee into the adapter, place it into the machine and …………the lid won’t close ! OK, what did I do wrong? I re-read the directions and can’t find the answer. I rearrange everything and try it again………still, no go. Grrrrrr
There’s a phone support number on the K-Cup adapter so I called and spoke to a nice lady who attempted to be helpful. We went through the K-Cup adapter procedure and affirmed that it should work. As an after-thought, she asked “what model coffee brewer do you own”. When I told her, she said “Oooh, that’s why. They don’t make K-Cup adapters for the commercial model”. WHAT????
OK, as I’m getting ready to pack the whole thing up and sell it on eBay, she asks “what specifically did you not like about the K-Cup coffees that you’ve tried”? When I told her that it was the strength of the coffee I didn’t like and which ones I tried, she suggested some different K-Cup coffees that I could try for a “milder” cup of coffee.
With renewed hope, BACK to the store I went……….but of course, they don’t carry the milder choices at the store; they’re available on-line though at Keurig.com. Yesterday I ordered the “milder” choices on-line. The on-line prices are more expensive and of course, they weren’t having a sale, but thankfully shipping was free with a “code”.
While I wait for the (hopefully) “more to my taste” K-Cups of coffee, I have almost perfected my morning cup of coffee by following these steps: Brew a cup of coffee; dump one-third of it out; microwave 1/2 cup milk with an added dash of vanilla caramel creamer to it; Combine the two. It now takes 4 minutes to make the one-minute cup of coffee (PLUS an additional amount of time to pry open the K-Cup and place the grounds in the compost container).
Let me summarize for you the cost of “not wanting to waste money by brewing a whole pot of coffee with my former Grind and Brew system”: Keurig coffee system- $169.00; K-Cup adapter (that cannot be used) – $14.95; “milder” K-Cups purchased on-line-$68.00 for 72 cups of coffee ! Additional plastic empty K-Cups added to land-fill………..NOT priceless.
Now that I’ve written this out on “paper”, I think I’ll go back to my Grind and Brew.
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We usually buy our k-cups at stores like Bed Bath & Beyond. Costco/Sams Club also sell some coffees. We have the Platinum and use the MyKcup with it, and love it. I was going to suggest that till I read a little further on your post. What you might want to consider.. if the coffee still comes out strong that you order, is returning the Commercial one and getting the Platinum one. It’s lasted us a long time so far and we’ve never had any trouble with it… and it accepts the myKCup, which *should* save you money in the long run if you buy whole bean coffee and grind it at home… You can get a small inexpensive coffee grinder at most stores too! Good Luck! I hope this helps, if not, let me know and I can contact someone over there for you!
I found your story because I too was searching for a Starbucks K cup. I found out they only make a Tassimo “T” cup. I am sorry you have had a hard time finding the PERFECT cup of coffee its a shame that what should be a simple task took on a life of its own. You mentioned that it costs $88 for 72 cups, you really need ti shop around. I pay $32.85 for 72 cups,(3 boxes of 24 cups)and I order online.
Have you tries Coffee Peoples DONUT SHOP, its awesome. We also like KONA, I recently ordered WAKE UP CALL I cant wait to try it..
well good luck I hope by now you have resolved the issues you were having…….
Starbucks has an exclusive ground coffee distribution deal with Kraft foods, who coincidentally owns Tassimo! Inevitably, Kraft will not distribute Starbucks in the K-cup format because that would help their competition.
That’s very sad to hear. Even though they’re not helping their competition, they’re also cutting off a whole segment of the population who would be using their product at home.
~ Shelley
Here’s how to get the strength you want with the k-cups (yes they are too strong for me too) and even a thrifty second cup out of one k-cup. Don’t put in a k-cup and “brew” some hot water into a glass measuring cup (easy to pour)and set aside. Put in a k-cup and brew a mug of coffee. Add your previously heated water to this mug to get the flavor you desire. No more tossing out expensive brewed coffee! Try getting a second cup out of your k-cup by slightly lifting and putting back down the handle. The machine thinks it has a new k-cup in there and is ready to brew again. Brew a second cup for yourself or company…it will be less strong this second time, but if still too strong you’ll have your hot water handy for diluting! Try using these strong k-cups over ice to make iced coffee. The ice melts and dilutes the flavor enough for me. One last thing–there are alternatives out there to My K-cup devices so you can use your own coffee. See if one of those will fit your particular model. They cost less on Amazon.
Thanks for the great suggestions, Jenny. And being able to get 2 cups of coffee from one K-Cup makes it more economical as well.
As an aside, the Green Mountain and Caribou coffee breakfast blends are probably the most mild.
Thanks again,
Shelley
I had a Senseo back in the day. Same issues. Now I grind my own and use a french press to brew my cup at a time. Can’t beat the taste and convenience.
It’s now 2012 and yes, there are now Starbucks K-cups available. However, I still don’t care for them… too strong! Better yet, there are 3rd party reusable K-cups that you can fill with your own coffee and they don’t require a commercial model Keurig. In fact, they are better than the Keurig reusable cups because they don’t require modification to the machine and can be used just like the regular K-cups. The best one I found is the Ekobrew stainless steel model (available on Amazon for about $17). In case you don’t know how your Keurig works: when you close the mechanism around the K-cup, it simultaneously pierces the top of the cup to feed hot water and the bottom of the cup for the water to brew out of. The plastic re-usable cups have a recessed bottom so as not to damage the bottom piercing needle. The stainless steel one that I use has a bevel in the front. So, just be sure to place it with the bevel in the correct position and you will be brewing excellent coffee in less than a minute. Best of all, you can control the strength by the amount of coffee that you put in the cup. Amazon also sells mini coffee filters that can be placed into the reusable cup if you prefer filtered coffee. Hope this helps.
It’s actually 2013 but I get your point. I’ve not had any experience with the Ekobrew but it sounds like another option. As for me, I’m going to stick with my Cuisinart Grind-N-Brew. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Hi all, I too am frustrated with how strong ALL of the k cups are. Yes, even the “mild” blends. In order to use up the many k cups I have purchased, I use a tea pot. I brew a k cup into it on the highest amount of water, then I dispose of the k cup and brew straight hot water into the tea pot. I have purchased the reuse able k cup coffee holder (18 dollars in canada), and it does allow me to use less coffee and get the flavour I want, but it kind of defeats the purpose of having a kureig. I bought my unit online and it’s a big hassle to return but if I had bought it in town, it would be going back. As a side note, if you put a tea bag into your reuse able holder it makes perfect tea. Kinda crazy to pay 60 cents a k cup for tea when you can get 72 bags for 3 dollars.
Yes, I hear you. It’s kind of crazy to buy something for the sake of simplicity and then have to make a lot of complicated adjustments. Because I bought mine at a trade show, it’s a restaurant model and can’t utilize the reusable k-Cup 🙁 but I like the idea of being able to use the tea bags in them.
You can fill the k cup and put a piece of foil on the top of it and it will work. They also make a chip that can be bought and placed on top of the cups.
That’s a possibility. What about the hole in the bottom? I guess you could just use it a couple of times, right?