Strategic Sourcing - - - K-cups

[audreyh1]

I drink 2 cups minimum in the morning and so does DW, so that's 4 cups we need.

Don't know how folks get by on 1 cup of coffee in the morning.

So I'm too cheap to use one of those machines, I just make it in a normal coffee maker.

How about zero cups?

No caffeine dependency here!

 

[Vacation4us]

I have s Kuerig at home. Since I like my coffee strong the Keurig and k cups are worthless to me.
When we moved to our tiny home in NorCal I got a small $20.00 Mr. Coffee maker.
Makes much better coffee that the $150 keurig.

 

[Cobra9777]

DW and I love the Community brand K-cups, especially coffee and chicory. Our small local grocer puts them on sale once a month for $5 per 12 pack, which is $0.41 each. On less frequent occasions, they are $4 per 12 or $0.33 each. Since we're in this store every 3 or 4 days, we just check, and then stock up when they go on sale.

This works for us. I only drink one cup in the morning. DW drinks 3 or 4 throughout the day. And we tend to drink coffee at different times. So the old days of brewing a big pot of coffee was wasteful and only the first cup or two was worth drinking. Keurig works much better for us.

We tried the refillable pods and the resulting coffee was not good. We tried them with different ground coffees and different amounts. But never had good results. More grounds in the cup, as others mentioned. But we just found the flavor was not as good as the pre-measured K-cups. And certainly not as convenient.

 

[steelyman]

Here is what we use. One can make cup or a pot of coffee. Have one in our home and one in the RV.

Looks like it’ll do the job! I lack the RV though. Whatever type of machine one prefers, all that really matters is that you get your joe.

https://youtu.be/XjkVgc6gIqk

 

[gerntz]

I've been a Keurig user for years. Always hated paying way too much for the cups.

? Then why use that expensive system & complain about cost ? Seems like you enjoy the pain.

 

[gerntz]

I drink 2 cups minimum in the morning and so does DW, so that's 4 cups we need.

Don't know how folks get by on 1 cup of coffee in the morning.

So I'm too cheap to use one of those machines, I just make it in a normal coffee maker.

Stop being so obvious & logical.

 

[big-papa]

We have a Keurig and have been using the Java Jig from Melitta. I like that they use paper filters and our local grocery store carries them as well as the filters, and they're often on sale. We buy several packages of the Jig itself, enough for 2 days, which matches our use of the dishwasher. After use, cleaning can be a little messy if you're not careful, but you eventually develop a technique to minimize the mess. And the filters/grounds go into our compost. We've been buying the Kirkland Columbian Supreme from Costco and grinding it there and using it in the Java Jig. It's been a while since I did the math, but I think I calculated around $0.20 or so per cup last time I did it. That doesn't include the fact that the plastic bits (mainly the insert and the lid) of the Java Jig won't last forever.

 

[folivier]

Normally we just make a 4 cup pot for DW and I. But recently bought Cool Brew brand (coolbrew.com) vanilla flavored concentrate on sale for $5.00 for 500ml which makes 16 cups. Very smooth, no bitterness, NO grounds. Just mix with hot water, or cold for those who don't know the proper way to drink coffee
Really convenient for just 1 cup or easy in the motorhome.

 

[DFDubb]

FWIW, I also have a tinge of guilt every time I drop a used cup in the garbage. Not a big tree hugger, but do love and respect the rock we live on.

Seems that throwing out a plastic cup every single time you feel like having a cup of coffee is a weird way of loving and respecting the rock you live on.

I get it, I hate how dependent we've become on plastics, but these seem like a flagrant foul sort of deal.

 

[timo2]

Seems that throwing out a plastic cup every single time you feel like having a cup of coffee is a weird way of loving and respecting the rock you live on.

I get it, I hate how dependent we've become on plastics, but these seem like a flagrant foul sort of deal.

There are efforts to improve that. Many companies have recyclable cups, and even Green Mountain is starting to have recyclable cups. Some brands like San Francisco coffee don't even have the middle cups.

 

[Gotadimple]

The stainless steel mesh cups look good. For a similar price, I've been using these silicon cups. The Keurig version (which may come with a new machine) requires you to select a brew strength, and twist on the cap. The silicon cups mimic the K-cups - it is automatically accepted as if it was a K-cup. Just fill and pop the lid down. These last forever.


To avoid grounds in the coffee cup: don't fill to the top, and make sure there are no grounds on the lip before you seal the cup. If you're doing that and still getting grounds - time to clean the machine!



https://www.amazon.com/FROZ-CUP-Ref...qid=1547140858&sr=1-5&keywords=silicon+k+cups

 

[Souschef]

Seems that throwing out a plastic cup every single time you feel like having a cup of coffee is a weird way of loving and respecting the rock you live on.

I get it, I hate how dependent we've become on plastics, but these seem like a flagrant foul sort of deal.

That is why we use the ones from San Francisco Coffee. Their pods and the pack they come in are biodegradable.

 

[Gotadimple]

That is why we use the ones from San Francisco Coffee. Their pods and the pack they come in are biodegradable.

Thanks for this. I'll look into it. At one point it was very hard to find cups that were biodegradable, that's why I switched to the silicon cups using my preferred coffee.

- Rita

 

[timo2]

I'm always looking for other sources of coffee. I just saw this brand made by monks in Wyoming. Has anyone ordered from them before, that they could review? Www.mysticmonkcoffee.com

 

[timo2]

That is why we use the ones from San Francisco Coffee. Their pods and the pack they come in are biodegradable.

We found some Kona coffee (i don't remember the brand) in the grocery store that had the same container style as San Francisco Coffee uses. Options are available minimize the product waste.

 

[bloom2708]

http://intelligentblends.com/

Watch for specials, closeouts, sales.

I get 100 for around $28. The best part is, these are good tasting coffees.

Try a sampler with various blends. I tend to like the Organic Espresso.

Single batch blends will be more. I only buy when a good deal pops up.

 

[meleana]

My husband used the reusable cups in a single serve machine with Folgers, but the coffee never came out hot enough plus he hated cleaning the machine.


So now he uses our 41 year old Farberware peculator with Folgers and he seems happy with that. He used to drink Folgers instant most of his life.


I am a tea drinker.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I found a Perfect Pod Eco-Flow Single-Serve Reusable Coffee Filter (reusable K-cup) at Wegmans for $4.99, and the mesh is really fine, practically like cloth, I have no detectable grounds if I make sure no grounds are on the seal and close it tight. My biggest problem is that I need to make two 4-oz cups, using two K-cups, to get a decent cup of coffee. I found some K-cups on clearance for about 18 cents a piece, but after I use those up I'll probably go back to my Melitta pour-over cone brewer.

(Oh, and when I use K-cups I peel the lid off, put the grounds in the compost, and put the cup in the recycling, which makes it more of a pain than the pour-over brewer.)

 

[UpAnchor]

We’ve tried nearly every option available in the K-Cup realm, mostly in the quest to reduce our per-cup cost. Of the various refillable k-cups, we finally ended up using the “E-Z Cup” brand as we prefer the taste using the paper drop-in cups better than that from the metal-screen refillables. They’re quicker to use because we just pop out the paper filter cups containing the used grounds and drop them into the trash. No having to spray out the metal screens. Better yet, we can choose any coffee and make it to any strength. DW and I like the plain-Jane Kirkland brand but we make up her cups with slightly less coffee in them. Yet every now and again we’ll see a coffee that looks/sounds interesting (or we receive as a gift) and now it no longer matters whether it comes in K-cups or not. We used to buy our E-Z cup paper filters on Amazon but now Target carries them at the same price which comes out to a dime per cup, not counting the coffee.

On a somewhat related side note, we’ve gone thru two Keurig machines over the years and it appears to us that the quality of the Keurigs has fallen off over the years. Our “best” Keurig machine has actually been a Cuisinart!

 

[dtbach]

Use the coffee of your choice in these: https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Cup...ocphy=9028343&hvtargid=pla-559953542324&psc=1

+1 on that. Use them all the time.

 

[Fairfax2018]

I always hate responding with an “answer” that isn’t responsive to the question but here I go anyway.

Check out a refurbished super automatic coffee machine like Jura or DeLonghi. They run around ~$500 but make European style coffee with crema. Basically it’s like my old Keurig but no waste that I can’t compost and MUCH better coffee.

We’ve owned our refurbished Jura for years (thousands of cups) and our in-laws/parents have had DeLonghis for the same. I’ve bought from Whole Latte Love and First in Coffee and had excellent service.

Example of what I’m talking about:

https://www.1stincoffee.com/refurbished-jura-micro5.htm

https://www.wholelattelove.com/refurbished-delonghi-perfect-esam5500m-espresso-machine

 

[Nick12]

Drinking instant coffee for thirty years. Some people I know spend $30 or more a week at Starbucks to get their fix. 30 years of that about $30k from drinking coffee? No thank you.

 

[brucethebroker]

Drinking instant coffee for thirty years. Some people I know spend $30 or more a week at Starbucks to get their fix. 30 years of that about $30k from drinking coffee? No thank you.

Check out David Bach's term "the latte factor" in his book "the automatic millionaire". Real eye opener....

 

[Moemg]

I finally ditched my keurig and returned to a grind and brew .

 

[Gumby]

(Oh, and when I use K-cups I peel the lid off, put the grounds in the compost, and put the cup in the recycling, which makes it more of a pain than the pour-over brewer.)

I do the same. Coffee grounds make great compost.