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I actively try to dissuade people from buying Keurig machines, or any "coffee pod" machine and this is just another reason why. Aside from the fact that the cof
by mikegioia 13y ago
I actively try to dissuade people from buying Keurig machines, or any "coffee pod" machine and this is just another reason why. Aside from the fact that the coffee is watery, the pods just add such an unnecessary amount of garbage to something that doesn't need to generate any waste.
I think the concept is cool but re-usable pods are the way to go. This is stupid of Keurig.
- CoachRufus87 13y agoKeurig machines do have reusable pods.
- giarc 13y agoOther than the 2 reasons you mentioned, why else would you dissuade someone from buying one? I own one and don't mind the coffee. I agree with the garbage aspect, but for me I'd either buy a coffee everyday, or make one in the Keurig with a reusable cup. Equivalent waste in my mind (for my situation)
- MrZongle2 13y agoThey appear to have the tendency to fail at around 18 months, even if they undergo routine, recommended maintenance. Got a Keurig for my wife as a Christmas present three years ago. Generated about 10 cups of coffee per week, and was very happy with the product. Performed the de-scaling maintenance regularly....still broke down after about a year and a half. Went online to see how to repair it, and wasn't encouraged by the number of similar stories.
- giarc 13y agoI see. It's bad, but when I read "fail around 18 months" I think to myself "I only paid $60 for my Keurig, 18 months sounds pretty good." I guess the manufacturing giants have succeeded in making us believe electronic consumer goods shouldn't last long.
- navbaker2 13y agoWow, I feel like a lucky man! I bought one of the low-end models for ~$110 3 years ago, have used it making 8-10 cups a day between my wife and me with the re-usable plastic cups, and it's still going strong!
- justinph 13y agoWaste from a traditional coffee maker is biodegradable or compostable (paper filter, coffee grinds). Coffee pods combine that with foil and plastic, to make it practically impossible to separate and dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner.
- protonfish 13y agoI understand the concept of cheap/fast/good - pick any 2; but K-cups are only one (fast.) The cost per cup is significantly more than traditional brewing and I find the output to be undrinkable. There are better solutions. I have a drip coffee maker that brews into a travel mug in about 5 minutes. Are you sure that the saved 4 minutes is worth the extra money and poor flavor?
- giarc 13y ago2/3 of those are subjective and in reality for me personally, the Keurig meets 3/3. "Good" - Keurig coffee is good enough for me. I don't think I have the palate to discern the difference between my K-cup and the $7/cup coffee in the high end cafes. "Cheap" - I don't have the time to prepare drip coffee in the morning (or prepare the night before) so for me it's either Kcup or purchase at work. So Keurig is the cheapest option for me.
- MSM 13y agoI have to second the cheap. I can either make a full pot of coffee for ~$2-3/pot or I can make a single cup for ~$.75/cup. I understand it might not be the best bang for my buck but I'm only interested in drinking one cup so it's pretty cost effective in my eyes.
- lutorm 13y agoI think Keurig coffee is terrible, so I've never seen one of the reusable pods. But what's the point, if you are going reusable isn't it just as easy to make a normal cup of coffee?
- ahoy 13y agoI've only seen 1 legitimate use for a Keurig machine. My company's office used to be on the 9th floor of a very old building (built in 1914). The plumbing is subpar and our office had no sink, despite being otherwise very nice. Having a regular coffee maker would mean cleaning it in the only restroom on our floor, which was a women's room. So we got a keurig.
- 5555624 13y agoExactly. We have no sink or restroom on our "floor." (It's a floor between the first and second floors of an old warehouse.) They have a Keurig and bring gallon jugs of water. To clean a regular coffee maker would mean walking down the stairs and halfway across the building.
- lflux 13y agoAlong the same lines, I've seen a lot of touring light & sound techs put a coffee pod machine in their tool roadcase, so they can have good coffee right by the stage / mix position.
- rubiquity 13y agoKeurig coffee is terrible. It violates two of the most important principles of making good coffee: time and pressure. Making good coffee in 3 seconds with a ton of pressure that destroys the bean is impossible. 10 seconds of extraction at the pressure that Keurig does it at will only ever yield flavors of "burnt" and "chocolatey-ish-I-think?"
- 67726e 13y agoAnd for the rest of us that are not coffee snobs, the Keurig is a great way to get a consistently good cup of coffee without wasting time and effort that could be better spent doing something else.
- Spearchucker 13y agoI have a Lavazza machine from AEG. The coffee is amazing, so the pods don't bother me anymore than my printer cartridges that I can only buy from Epson. It's a hoop I jump through because the perceived value obtained is worth it. Conversely, I drive a 3.0 CSL because I won't drive something with a chip in it that I can't control.
- SDGT 13y agoM3 CSL? Jesus you have my dream car. Unless you have an e9. If that's the case, my jealousy just went through the roof.
- Spearchucker 13y agoIt's an E9. It's one of the 500 right-hand drive variants exported to the UK so has the stock E9 bumpers (pity) and soundproofing (happily).
- jcampbell1 13y agoI waste 7 pounds of petroleum driving to work, and .01 lbs from my morning k-cup. My time has value, and I am not going to waste it greenwashing.
- jchrisa 13y agoFar better coffee with roughly equivalent hassles: http://www.sweetmarias.com/clevercoffeedripperpictorial.php http://www.sweetmarias.com/clevercoffeedripperpictorial.php
- jcampbell1 13y agoThanks, that is a good suggestion. It takes 5 minutes instead of 15 seconds. I'll give that try using the Keurig machine for hot water. The Keurig coffee is definitely mediocre.
- adambard 13y agoDefinitely doesn't do away with waste, although compostable paper filters are better than plastic pods (unless the pods can be composted?)
- Consultant32452 13y agoMost people just throw away those compostable paper filters and they wind up buried in an oxygen deprived environment where they will never biodegrade. I wonder which one compresses into smaller land fill space: the paper filter or the plastic k-cup.
- jchrisa 13y agoWe're hippies so we use an organic cotton one, unless it's 4am and it's dirty we have backup paper filters.
- ctdonath 13y agoThat's a good one. Also try the AeroPress: faster brew, smaller filters (reusable metal available), fast clean, excellent results.
- kyrra 13y agoThe new pods (Keurig Vue pods) are recyclable[1]. Also, I don't care too much about my coffee taste, so it does a great job getting my caffeine with coffee flavor, especially when I'm the only person in the house that drinks coffee. [1] http://www.vuerecycling.com/ http://www.vuerecycling.com/
- __pThrow 13y agoYou and me both, brother. The coffee infused taste of cream and sweetener and vanilla is what makes my morning. Thank you for having the honesty to say what I've been ashamed to admit all these years.
- geetee 13y agoHonest question: If you don't care about the coffee taste, why not drink a glass of water and pop a caffeine pill?
- acct 13y agoOr Coke (and a caffeine pill), or whatever you prefer. Bad coffee is a perplexing choice.
- DrStalker 13y agoThermogenic diet pills are crap for direct weightloss but they are effectively an energy drink in pill form without the water or sugar.
- kyrra 13y agoWell, I partially like the taste of Keurig coffee. I can drink keurig coffee, or fancy coffee shop coffee and they end up tasting pretty close to the same for me. I like having a hot beverage with a bit of flavor, but I'm not all that picky about the flavor.
- danepowell 13y agoWhile my instinct is to agree with you, I suspect the waste and emissions from producing and transporting the coffee greatly outweigh those from the half-ounce plastic container .
- sliverstorm 13y agoto something that doesn't need to generate any waste. What do you consider used coffee grounds? Product?
- wffurr 13y agoYes - they make great compost.
- ghostDancer 13y agoIn Spain a company is using them to make a kit for having your own mushrooms at home and then reuse it (again) as compost : http://www.resetea.es/#!el-kit/cgmn http://www.resetea.es/#!el-kit/cgmn (sorry only in spanish and the google translate wasn't working)
- awj 13y agoUsed coffee grounds are great compost, and are good as a scouring agent for pots and pans or to scrub off dead skin and stronger odors (garlic, onion) from your hands. Out of everything that ends up in your trash can, they're one of the last things to truly be "waste".
- edj 13y agoChemex[1] is hard to beat. I recommend it to all of my aspiring coffee-aficionado friends. Easy[2], inexpensive, and very high quality. 1: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/ristretto-chemex/ http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/ristretto-chem... 2: http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides/chemex http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides/chemex
- BuildTheRobots 13y agoShame about the name -makes me think it's something for the car or to unblock a really stubborn drain.
- artursapek 13y agoJust ordered a Chemex for the office today. We're probably gonna take the Keurig and dump it on the New York streets to fend for itself. Not because of this news, just because it's such a hunk of shit.
- chris_wot 13y agoMine doesn't come out watery.
- Kadrith 13y agoI just use ground coffee in the cup-sized filter. My wife and I wake up at different times so this prevents wasted coffee without the pods.
- mkching 13y agoFor people whose main complaint is watery coffee, but are not opposed to pod systems in general, try Nespresso. I find them a lot better than the coffee I have had from Keurig and Starbucks machines. The coffee is pretty good -- better than most coffee shops, but not as good as a great one. Apparently they are actually used by a lot of restaurants when you order a coffee.