Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Wednesday, March 2. 2011

Got a Keurig yet?

I am always behind the curve on gizmos. I was so pleased with the Keurig machine at the inn we stayed at a few weekends ago that Mrs. BD was moved to buy one for us - really for me - with spare miles.


We usually consume only half of each pot of coffee we make, except on weekends. I can drink coffee that has been sitting around for 8 hours, but it isn't my favorite.


My beef with those Keurig cups is that they haven't made a deal yet with Dunkin' for their terrible but comfortably familiar coffee, or with Chock full of Nuts for the same, or with Starbucks, Bustelo, Gorilla, or any of the good Italian brands. Those Green Mountain coffees don't do it for me except in a pinch at a minimart.


Their selection is lame, but I'll wait.


 

Posted by Bird Dog in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:13 | Comments (28) | Trackbacks (0)

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Taster's Choice instant from Amazon is fine.

Microwave a cup of water and stir it in.

Every cup fresh in 2 1/2 minutes.

The only drawback is that it takes a lot of decaf to keep you awake.
#1 rhhardin (Link) on 2011-03-02 12:13 (Reply)
That's my approach. Pretty simple when you're still groggy.
#1.1 LWS on 2011-03-03 08:04 (Reply)
Dunkin says they'll start offering k cups this summer:
http://www.dunkindonuts.com/DDBlog/2011/02/dunkin_donuts_annou.html
#2 SmartDogs (Link) on 2011-03-02 12:40 (Reply)
We use a french press and a hot water dispenser. It is so simple my wife lets me make it! It is made from grounds (not instant) and takes about a minute. The problem is there is no hot water available at work.
#3 mudbug on 2011-03-02 12:41 (Reply)
It isn't perfect but the partial pot is fine if you take the coffee off the heat just as it finishes brewing then use the microwave to heat up you cup as you need.

It is the cooking on the eye that makes coffee bad.
#4 JKB on 2011-03-02 12:41 (Reply)
The Keurig is "one of those things". We've had a Keurig for several years - mostly because only 1 of the 2 people in our office drinks coffee (my husband) and the other one (me) refuses to wash a coffee pot. We also have a coffee press at the house for weekends. We especially like the Green Mountain delivery service, so that the other person (me) doesn't get in trouble for forgetting to buy coffee for the half of the office who drinks it (husband). Personally, I let the Keurig heat my hot water for my morning oatmeal.

If you really can't find a k cup brew you like, you can pick up the removable basket, messy but it works great.
#5 kd iver on 2011-03-02 13:11 (Reply)
Nespresso is the way to go. Great machines, great coffee. I first used a Nespresso in Spain. Excellent.
#6 steph on 2011-03-02 13:19 (Reply)
We got one for Christmas for my teenage daughter so she can make hot cocoa. I think its a Mr. Coffee brand but uses the same pre-packaged materials.

Personally, I don't use it because it only does 8 oz at a time - half a cup of real coffee.

Anyone get the attachment to use regular bulk coffee instead of the little packages?
#7 Whitehall on 2011-03-02 13:22 (Reply)
Lotta money for a coffee pot.

Anyway, I am told the secret to good coffee is the water, and I sit atop the best water on the planet.
#8 feeblemind on 2011-03-02 13:59 (Reply)
My bank has one for customers, with many assorted coffees and teas, and not just from Green Mountain. I love it so much that I did extensive research on the machine, as well as on good pricing for quality coffee "K-cups."

If I remember correctly, the best pricing on the coffee alone came in at about 50 cents per cup (not factoring in the machine cost). Some brands and flavors are so good brewed with this machine that I consider that worth it.

The sticking point for me was that, according to all the reviews I read, many of the machines don't hold up. (I think it was an issue of the pump or water flow, something like that.) But, many had no problems at all! My bank's never seems to be out of service, so go figure.

Long story short, I'd buy one in a heartbeat... IF I had money to spare, and IF Keurig seemed to be getting the bugs worked out.
#9 Big___Al on 2011-03-02 15:19 (Reply)
Why not brew your morning pot of coffee sized to your needs? If you and the Mrs. drink two cups each, brew four cups. If you get a hankering for more, brew more.

Looking to spend ever less effort when it comes to brewing coffee has always struck me as odd. It ain't working the mule through the back 40.
#10 Knucklehead (Link) on 2011-03-02 15:32 (Reply)
It's about the flavor. I do as you say right now, brewing just what we will drink almost immediately. That only just comes close to the Keurig if you drink it instantly, right out of the pot... and that still falls just short. But often we have too much left, which is pretty bad reheated, or worse left on to burn; or one of us wants just one more cup, which is a pain to do the whole process again for.

Try it, you'll like it, and you'll know what I'm talkin' about.
#10.1 Big___Al on 2011-03-02 17:27 (Reply)
I'm happy to stick with my low-tech and economical Melitta Cone-Filter Drip Coffeemaker. I generally make just two or three cups of coffee at a time when I make coffee, but even when i want to make a lot more, it can handle that, too. Plus, you can get the coffeemaker and some coffee, too, for the cost of about 24 Keurig cups.
#11 Kurt on 2011-03-02 16:31 (Reply)
Exactly my setup now, Kurt. Even got the Melitta coffemaker for "free" with the purchase of some of their coffee. And I brew our amounts the same as you...

But as I said above, the Keurig system is better, and better by a good bit "if you're having more than one."

If they'd only get those few kinks worked out as far as some of the machines go, I'm there.
#11.1 Big___Al on 2011-03-02 17:33 (Reply)
Hi Kurt,

I'm prolly flogging a dead thread here, but who cares.

I've used plenty of single cup makers, both at work and at friends homes. Got a buddy who is a coffee nut and has a machine that costs sumpin like $600. Grinds one cup worth of beans, makes varies strengths, types, whatever you want. Got another buddy who won't use anything but a french press. In all honesty I like the latter's coffee best but never got a round tuit for buying one. I even have one of those little Eyetalian 'spresso maker pots. Love the little thing but always forget I got it and don't really drink 'spresso all that often. A treat now and then.

There is a convenience factor to the single cup systems but that means little to me since making coffee is easy enough, regardless of method used, that even a lazy man like me isn't looking to save labor at it.

Here's the primary rub for me. I prefer coffee that is what most of My Fellow 'Murricans find to be way too freakin' strong. Back in my service days I learned to not be picky about "quality" ("hot" is a wonderful thing when one is playing Army during a Bavarian winter) and also to just drink it black (stood in line for the coffee, ain't letting it get cold standing in line for old milk).

Then I married a furriner and learned to drink stuff that's strong enough to help with the chores.

So I brew my own. Even invested in a lame ol' Mr. Coffee drip machine that I donated to the office rather than use the single k-cup thingie. Soon enough I had a contingent of (mostly) the furriners who joined My Little Koffee Klub and take turns bringin' in coffee for me to brew up. Nice and strong. If you can see through it, it ain't strong enough. I must do it OK 'cause they mostly leave the brewing to me and just bring in coffee when the supply is low.
#11.2 Knucklehead (Link) on 2011-03-03 18:41 (Reply)
Get Keurig's "K-Cup" Reusable Coffee Filter for use with your favorite ground coffee. Not sure if it fits all their models though.
#12 Bruce on 2011-03-02 19:20 (Reply)
Use Nespresso Coffee and their machines. Outstanding. Not many high dollar restaurants can compete with the quality of the coffee made by the Nespresso machine.
#13 Cilla Mitchell, Galveston Texas (Link) on 2011-03-02 19:29 (Reply)
Get a Saeco Odea from Costco.com instead and use any beans you want.
#14 JimS on 2011-03-02 19:33 (Reply)
imo, the Sensco process is hard to beat
#15 LA (Link) on 2011-03-02 21:22 (Reply)
Thanks for the heads-up on the Senseo (spelling fixed). Will have to look into that--much less expensive machine and coffee, it looks like.
#15.1 Big___Al on 2011-03-03 08:25 (Reply)
Sensco pods can get expensive, plastic refillable pod are available for said machine ... Wally World has Café Bustelo @ around 3$ a brick, makes about 60+pods
#15.1.1 LA (Link) on 2011-03-03 10:26 (Reply)
The Keurig system is okay if you have a house with no kids at home or aren't heavy coffee drinkers, but it's just too expensive for us as we go through so much coffee. When we had one, for a while, we were going thru about 20 pods a day. Just too expensive...

So now we just grind good beans, make drip coffee in a coffeemaker with a thermal pot. We drink some in the morning, then I pour 16 oz into a thermal stainless steel coffee mug and take to work for later. Easy, and I'm not drinking glorified instant coffee from plastic pods at 50cents for 8 oz. Another way to get quick and easy coffee is the Starbucks VIA instant. Twice as strong as the Keurig pods, takes up very little space, and makes 12 oz of coffee instead of 8. Has the advantage of not needing a whole special machine: just nuke the water, or use an office hot water tap.

All the same the pods are appealing when you're sleepy and don't want to deal with the mess and hassle of making a whole pot...
#16 retriever on 2011-03-02 21:59 (Reply)
Get an Espresso Machine.
Rancilio Silvia.
It's the cheapest way to near perfect coffee.
#17 garrett on 2011-03-03 01:27 (Reply)
I use Eight O'Clock coffee. Grind the beans and run them thru a Black & Decker drip coffee maker. About four cups a day.
#18 S on 2011-03-03 07:41 (Reply)
I brew about 15 cups in a 12 drip and it goes into two thermi (thermoses?). You have to stand there and pour some into the thermos as the pot tops up. Fill the thermos, have a cup and you can have it nuked the next day.
#19 Prairie Boy on 2011-03-03 11:29 (Reply)
(full disclosure: I am a coffee trader by trade)

The K cups can work I guess if you drink only 1 or 2 cups a day, given the machine's high price plus the minimum 50 cent/cup cost. If you only drink half a pot then...just make half a pot.

Doing that on a $15 or $20 Black and Decker or Mr. Coffee machine using whatever coffee you prefer (and just for s&g say you paid $5/lb and get an 80 cup/lb yield which works out to less than 7 cents/cup) just seems to make a lot more sense to me.

But as always YMMV.
#20 Mr. Bingley on 2011-03-03 14:34 (Reply)
I've got Dunkin K-cups in my cupboard right now! I'm in the Chicago area.
#21 Ratso on 2011-03-03 22:59 (Reply)
We'll be right over, Ratso!
#21.1 Big___Al on 2011-03-04 09:10 (Reply)

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