<p>Don’t forget that you don’t have to only use K-Cups for your Keurig. We use ours with regular tea bags and hot cocoa packets and the kids use it for oatmeal and ramen all the time.</p>
<p>Received a beautiful spice red keurig as a Christmas gift to me. I love it. At first i wasnt happy with the results but some internet searches, helped me get the water to taste better(had a motor taste) and finding the right size made all the difference. I have stopped drinking coffee, but I love the my Kcup . i drink teecino herbal coffee(non coffee product) and I can get 2 large cups of Herbal coffee with one of the filled my Kcup. Im actually saving money by not using as much as when I brewed it the regular way. I love a bolder brewed flavor. I also bought solofil cups so I do not have to take the inner piece out to use the my Kcup. I have put regular teabags right in those things and get lovely tea. I also love the feature to be able to just brew the the tea into glasses of ice for ice tea.
I think it just is a matter of finding the right coffee to suit your taste. The bolder brews will give you more of a stronger coffee for the larger sizes. My husband who was skeptical, now loves the keurig as well.</p>
<p>I never used my Keurig for the same reasons everyone mentioned here UNTIL I tried Dunkin Donuts K Cups. Talk about an addiction. I never liked any of the coffee types that I tried because I like a large cup and it was way too weak with the Keurig. It does bother me about the packaging, however, but I try to justify it by recycling everything else that I can. I tried cleaning out the K Cups and recycling them but it was too much trouble for this coffee addict.</p>
<p>I think the weakness stems from them wanting large cups of coffee, but then too make it strong, one would need to use two k-cups of coffee</p>
<p>I think you have to use the K-cups that say “Extra Bold”…those are the cups that have more coffee grounds in the cups. There are many brands of “Extra Bold” so they’re not hard to find.</p>
<p>Some Extra Bold that we like:</p>
<p>Tully’s Italian Roast
Tully’s French Roast
Newman’s Own Special Blend
Emerils Big Easy Bold</p>
<p>San Francisco Bay Fog Chaser - this one doesn’t say Extra Bold, but it seems to be EB. It also has less waste because of its unique design of a K-cup top, but a pod below…so no “cup” to waste. All the SFB K-cups have this design.</p>
<p>Where do you find the best deals on K-cup coffee?</p>
<p>I buy mostly from Amazon (using Prime), but really have to look for best deals…some are ridiculously priced.</p>
<p>We received a programmable special edition Keurig as a Christmas gift. It’s already (after like 15 brew cycles) developed a glitch - even though we always select the large cup, it usually pumps out a small-medium cup, then starts blinking the “prime” message. I can sometimes circumvent this by filling the reservoir to the top before brewing, so I wonder if it might have something to do with the weight of the reservoir? Or sometimes it gives us a small-medium cup, but when we replace the K-cup, it will give us a large cup on the next try. I haven’t decided whether to call the Keurig helpline yet. From what I’ve read online, reliability is a significant problem for this line of products, so I probably should.</p>
<p>Having one could actually save us a bundle because I usually stop somewhere on my way home from work for a large coffee, to assist me in getting through the rest of the day and not snacking before dinner. K-cups are expensive, but still cheaper than a large DD.</p>
<p>Frazzled…you should exchange it for a new one. I gave my old one to my son and got a new programmable one and it works perfectly. So exchange yours since it’s new and not working right.</p>
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<p>Mom2collegekids, we now purchase from coffeecow dot com. I know DH has ordered from other vendors in the past. I know the last order came from coffeecow. He comparison shops for k cups.</p>
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<p>Agree on both counts. Keurig is an environmental nightmare–ridiculous loads of packaging to be manufactured and then tossed away.</p>
<p>I do spend more on coffee, but it’s to buy shade-grown, organic fair trade beans we grind ourselves, and it’s still far less expensive. ( we also don’t mind nuking cold coffee later in the day, or even the next day, so even if it was only one of us drinking it, we’d still brew it.)</p>
<p>We have a keurig and use these:</p>
<p>[My-Kap</a> for Keurig K-Cups](<a href=“http://www.my-kap.com/MYK/]My-Kap”>http://www.my-kap.com/MYK/)</p>
<p>They are plastic lids designed to fit on the used plastic K-cup thingies that people have been fussing about being so disastrous. So now we do not waste coffee since we make ours one cup at a time, and we re-use those cups 5-6 times each (at least) by using these little plastic lids and re-filling the cups. We buy starbucks coffee in bulk at Costco and grind our own to put in the cups…</p>
<p>I think it’d be great if folks did not manage to get all condescending over a coffee discussion. End of editorial.</p>
<p>We got one for the holiday and everyone loves it. LOVES it. DH ordered great big quantities of Green Mountain cups from Amazon. We use filtered water only. It is really very good coffee.</p>
<p>I don’t like good coffee, though. I like think, ugly, scary espresso I brew in the morning in my ancient old pot. But I’m pleased the rest of the gang is enjoying the Keurig.</p>
<p>OK, I am going to call Keurig this week, as we immediately programmed the machine to the hottest setting, 192 F and even with a run of hot water to preheat the cup, it is not hot enough to brew my tea, I went right back to my electric kettle, though was hoping to eliminate counter clutter</p>
<p>Yes, we did get the My K-cup and use a dark French Roast coffee (San Francisco Bay from Costco, if you have not tried it and like a dark roast, most of our house guests seem to call us the next week and ask our brand of coffee.) I am not sure if the grounds are only our coffee or not, I will check that too!</p>
<p>I just ran two cups of water and measured the temperature as it was dispensed at only 140-150F, though it is set for 192F. Obviously it cools somewhat, but not that much, with no K cup inserted.</p>
<p>Dark Magic…holds up to the large setting. I add milk heated in the microwave for 30 seconds to keep it hot. mmmm</p>
<p>I have two issues with the Keurig… it takes awhile for the chemical taste you get when the machine is new to go away. After a couple of years it seems to take forever to brew. Maybe I need to clean it out. OK a third issue…it’s noisy at 6am.</p>
<p>Churchmusicmom–I can see that a big-picture approach to coffee is also important to you–. I will state what is important to me, and mention facts. Facts are facts, but I don’t expect others to see the same facts as important to them as they are to me. I think they’re still worth mentioning–readers can do what the want with them. Is that editorializing? Not sure.</p>
<p>Regardless-I’m betting we’re on the same page there, as you are going way out of your way to be mindful of how you use the K-cups. Kudos to you!!! :)</p>
<p>Pathways…The descaling takes quite awhile, but it might help if you have never done it. You need enough white vinegar to fill the carafe.</p>
<p>I guess I am not seeing what the advantage is for a Keurig. I like my coffee hot & I think the hotter the water is when it goes through the grounds the more flavor you get. ( I also use filtered water to make the coffee) I go back and forth between favorite types of coffee depending on what is on sale. ( Peets & Stumptown are favorites). I also like the grounds to put in my compost. H likes that our coffeemaker has a timer so when he gets up at 4am it is all ready.</p>
<p>I agree vinegar will help w cleaning. If it hasn’t been done for a while, you may need to do it a couple times.</p>
<p>Lots of advantages…Hubby likes different coffee than I do. He gets up at five and I get up about seven; my coffee is as hot and fresh as his. When Dear Aunt visits, she drinks decaf. And when tea drinker friend comes over, I can serve her too. If I feel like having a little flavored coffee, I can fix one cup. And when DS pops in after school, he can make a quick hot chocolate. Honestly, I could sell those things.</p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation MD mom-</p>
<p>I like the fact that each cup is FRESH! DH lets a big pot of coffee sit for hours and doesn’t mind warming up a cup in the microwave! Ychh! I can’t do that.</p>
<p>Descaling does help. We have done it at least a couple of times…there are instructions online for the various models . Be aware that you have to run water through a LOT to get rid of the vinegar taste!</p>