For those who care about Keurig K-cups

[Black]

I found this interesting (received via e-mail.) Bolded by me.

A message to PapaNicholas Coffee Fans that own Keurig brewers:
Dear Papa Lovers,
Over the past few years we have received numerous requests to package PapaNicholas Coffee in K-cups. As a company, we strive to listen to our customers, and work diligently to exceed their coffee expectations. We have seriously looked into developing K-cups, however, we continue to be disappointed with the cup of coffee that is produced by the K-cup and the Keurig brewer. Please understand that we will not compromise our standards for quality coffee.
For fans of the Keurig, there is hope! Our research on K-cups led to one very disturbing fact . . .there is not enough coffee in a K-cup to make a decent cup of coffee. Additionally, from a cost perspective, the price that consumers are paying, for what we consider to be a very weak cup of coffee, is ridiculous. Moreover, the amount of non-recyclable waste that is generated per ?bad cup? of coffee is significant. The answer to all of these problems is the Ekobrew refillable/reusable K-cup for the Keurig brewer. This easy to use, easy to clean cup performs better than any K-cup we tested and allows the user to put in enough coffee, resulting in a rich, flavorful cup of Papa! Please follow the link below and start enjoying GREAT COFFEE (a.k.a. PapaNicholas Premium) out of your Keurig today!

http://idevmail.americaneagle.com/link.aspx?l=3&d=236&mid=335527&m=659

[Sam3]

K-cups also don't brew at the proper temperature. Coffee needs to be brewed between 195 and 205, but the Keurig brews at 192 or lower (some are adjustable). The lower temperature makes a flatter coffee.

[rgG]

I had seen those on Amazon and really wanted one. Unfortunately, my Keurig is one of the 'incompatible' models.

[Grateful11]

I've been looking at one these but I could swore they were like $60 a few weeks ago. No special Cups or
Discs, use your own coffee, seems to get decent reviews too. I get 2 cups out of my 4 Cup Mr. Coffee but
many times I only drink 1 large cup a day and reheated coffee the next day is plain nasty. I've tried to make
1 cup, 2 cups according to the scale on the coffeemaker, but I can never get it just right.
My big ol' Hull Brown Drip coffee mug holds about 10-12oz.

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Sin...pd?ie=UTF8&coliid=IRGRRPOMCL0AK&colid=2JPDLQPLPM2LB

It's still only $61 at Lowe's.

http://www.lowes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&cId=SEARCH&productId=3531228&cm_mmc=SCE_gps-_-gps-_-gps-_-Hamilton%20Beach%20The%20Scoop%20Single%20Serve%20Coffeemaker&CAWELAID=1067048635

[tenders]

K cup hot chocolate is even worse than K cup coffee.

But it is darn convenient.

[Robert M]

Black,

Makes me wonder which machine and which settings. All k-cups are _far_ from created equal and many of the Keurig machines have multiple settings and each of these factors can have a significant impact on the resulting brew.

I'd really love to see them offer more details about how they came to their conclusion. While I can imagine brew from a k-cup may not be as good as from a traditional brewer, it's definitely not nearly as bad as they've implied in the email.

For those who discussed brewing temperatures, I remember watching an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they evaluated coffee makers. If I remember correctly - I'd have to watch it again to confirm - most of the coffee brewers they tested did not reach the proper temperature range.

Robert

[Zoidberg]

To each his own. Love my Keurig and the coffee. I think PapaNicholas' email is aimed at staving off declining sales -- have received similar from Community Coffee, a Louisiana coffee maker, when I inquired about K-Cups -- while they work on getting their coffee in K-cups.

Agree with Robert M; not all K-Cups are created equal. I seem to favor one particular brand (I think it's Coffee People; the "Donut Shop" ones). I've purchased a few off-brands (and even a few known brands) at Walmart to try and they're utter garbage.

I also have some of the Ekobrew refillables and use them with Community Coffee; they are indeed great. But it's nice to have a variety of coffees (flavored, decaf, half-caff, etc) for family and company. And the hot chocolate is fine; just use the lowest cup size rather than the full mug size.

FWIW, 192 is the max temp (F) of my current Keurig brewer. I would imagine that it's something to do with the K-cups themselves. Regardless, I've not encountered a cup of coffee that I thought wasn't hot enough.

[NewtonMP2100]

.......you'se guys just love K-cups [and double D cups too?]....?????

[Robert M]

Zoid,

I laugh out loud when I read your post. Literally laughed out loud, nearly loud enough to make my wife in the next room over. Donut Shop from Coffee People is by far one of my favorite k-cups. Not the strongest of k-cups when compared to Jet Fuel or Wake Up Call but definitely one of my faves.

I've said this in many other k-cup related threads... I've seen and used reusable k-cup devices, i.e. My K-Kup, Solofill, etc. Nice in theory but not in practice. Wouldn't go near them. The idea of the k-cup is to make brewing a cup of joe easy. Minimal cleanup. No special procedures. The devices defeat one of purposes of a single serve coffee maker.

I even tried disposable k-cups that let me use my own coffee. They're called Disposakups. They worked but had their own problems. However, to me, they were a better choice than the reusable devices. At least they didn't require clean up. End result, the rest of the family and I buy k-cups in bulk to reduce the cost and distribute them amongst each other's homes.

Robert

Please note, portions of this text have been taken from previous posts I've made to threads about k-cups. They are a summary of the previous content. Please search the forum for more details.

[Zoidberg]

Glad I could bring a little joy into your life this AM, Robert.

I've tried a few of the other K-Cup use-your-own alternates and found them all pretty bad. The Ekobrew ones are by far the best of the bunch. Still not great, though; will still always go with the pre-made k-cup. As you and I have extolled before, the whole point is a quick cup of fresh coffee. For those of us working at home -- and with spouses who enjoy sometimes radically different coffee -- the Keurig is a godsend.

FWIW, I replaced my Keurig this year with a new model. Nothing was wrong with the old one -- a friend is now using it -- but the new "quiet brew technology" is nice; it no longer sounds like a foghorn when the pump is refilling.

My aunt, about two years back, maybe, was stunned when she saw I was still using that Keurig after several years. It is by far the longest I've kept a coffee maker in my lifetime, so it must be doing *something* right.