Overlooked area of innovation - The perfect cup of coffee.

In search of a good cup of Joe.

Recently I got myself a Keurig coffee maker. For those of you unfamiliar:

K-Cup machines are all designed to quickly brew a single cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or other hot beverage. The grounds (or other brew material) are supplied in a prepared, single-serving unit, called a "K-Cup". Once the machine has warmed up, the user inserts a K-Cup into the machine, places a mug under the spout, and presses the brew button; within 20 to 60 seconds, the beverage is ready. By omitting the K-Cup, users can also dispense a mug of hot water.

Wiki



The single cup K-Cups, are placed in the machine, pierced and hot water runs through to make your drink. The mess is zero, and the hassle about the same.

How's it taste?

Given that manufacturers are making the k-cups, I notice they are more consistent than myself measuring grinds. The same cup every time, more consistent than a coffee shop.

The real question I ask, is what took them so long?

Or more likely, what took me so long to discovery this great breakthrough in Science and Engineering!



In the old days I was torn from either making 2 or 4 cups in my coffee maker. I knew that sometimes I would drink more sometimes less, but I could never gauge how much I wanted when I first woke up. This led to a lot of waste and given the hassle of cleaning the pot out after during a rushed morning, sometimes it sat for a while.

Let that go a couple days and you end up with this:

Just had to put that clip in... Don't know if ill ever get the right opportunity to use it again.

I have Keurig... its sitting on my pantry shelf collecting dust... went back to making my own coffee.

reply to post by boncho


My favorite way is a bodum.

reply to post by boncho


Well...unfortunately I do not have the K-Cup...I still have the archaic ole-fashioned coffee maker. Your thread certainly is a good advertisement for the K-Cup...lol.

Today...I am grateful...for my old coffee maker! It is snowing here in Seattle and a good hot cup of coffee...hits the spot!

My birthday is coming up (this spring) and I will start hinting to my friends about the K-Cup...::

Before you go all fancy, and I must say thats a Fancy Coffee Maker... Listen to this.

Coffee prices are going to increase, just like all other food prices will this year. However COFFEE PRICES are going to shoot up in the next 4-5 months, and exponentially so. I love being right, and i know I'm right about this. =]

the system Keurig capitalised on IMHO is extremely wasteful, and in my home we order the beans directly before they are roasted, (still green) bought a cheap popcorn popper, a few configurations from our next door neighbor, you roast the beans in a harmless process that even a 6 year old can accomplish in 5 minutes, (seen it!) to brew we have a cuisinart auto-grind and brewer, and once you freshly roast your own beans and grind them within a few days the coffee is so fragrant and tasty that the stronger the better and i often go with just milk, just my opinion but coffee shouldnt be a waste-stravaganza.. if you dont mind my clever use of the hyphen......starbucks sucks, keurig's cool but thats alot of tossed "keurig cups"!


EDIT:: "did i mention 5 pounds of coffee is on average 25 dollars, that 5 pounds will roast into 10 pounds, essentially making it $2.50 per pound of coffee. that is less than the average cost of a cup at the store."

reply to post by DrumsRfun


I've never been a fan of French Press. It always seems like too much work. I'm not motivated in the mornings. But to each their own.

reply to post by boncho


I am not very motivated either in the mornings so I just buy a cup.


I do think bodums bring out the best flavor in coffees though which is why its my favorite way.

reply to post by POPtheKlEEN89


Point taken.

It isn't the most environmentally friendly system.

reply to post by toothpastert


Awesome!!!

reply to post by toothpastert


i saw that too, the future is so bright

Originally posted by boncho
In the old days I was torn from either making 2 or 4 cups in my coffee maker. I knew that sometimes I would drink more sometimes less, but I could never gauge how much I wanted when I first woke up. This led to a lot of waste and given the hassle of cleaning the pot out after during a rushed morning, sometimes it sat for a while.

Let that go a couple days and you end up with this:

I like your new coffee maker, however there's a way to reduce the mold growing in your coffee, put it in the refrigerator.

I brew one pot of coffee, rather strong (stronger than I drink it) and use it like a "coffee concentrate". I dilute it with water to the desired strength which varies for me: My first cup of the day I like a little stronger, but after that I like them weaker. At the end of the workday before I go workout, I have a little stronger cup for a little extra energy during my workout.

I find that a pot of coffee lasts almost two weeks this way and if there's any degradation in taste over this time, it's not noticeable to me. I've seen coffee suppliers claim that the coffee flavor starts degrading from the moment it's brewed so you should throw out any coffee over an hour old...but they are selling coffee so I think the claim is biased.

If you simply turn the pot warmer off right after brewing, the flavor doesn't degrade so rapidly...it's the pot warmer that kills the flavor, so my advice is, if using an older coffee maker, turn the warmer off right away, and use the microwave to re-heat your coffee instead, the flavor is much, much better that way. Before the invention of the microwave, oven my method wouldn't have worked because that's what I use to warm up the coffee concentrate mixed with water to the desired temperature.

But someday I might try one of these newfangled machines, though probably not...you see, I want just the opposite of consistency in my coffee strength. I like being able to control the caffeine dose in each cup differently, like making my first cup of the day a little stronger, but that's just me. If you want every cup to be the same, this looks like a fantastic machine!

reply to post by POPtheKlEEN89


I think I was three when we moved in with my Grandfather, and that was when he started me on coffee.

I love the smell and the taste and continue to drink it. I have tried all sorts of different brands and makers, but

I have never even thought of roasting my own. What a great idea!

Thanks for the post!

reply to post by Arbitrageur

I like being able to control the caffeine dose in each cup differently

Ah. Which reminds me of a time 2 of us convinced a friend to drink coffee with us at 3 in the morning. Myself and the other person that devised the plan had regular strength coffee in our cups. But we brewed a new pot for the third person. The grind tray was loaded to the very brim with a 50/50 mix of espresso and dark roast.

Needless to say, the third friend (the next day) told us about staring at the wall for 3 hours trying to get to sleep that night.



I suppose you can't do that with a Keurig.

reply to post by POPtheKlEEN89


do you mean to say that when roasted
coffee doubles in weight?

My upstairs neighbour has had one of these coffee makers for at least a year now so Im not sure it counts as "new"

From experience I can tell you all that the coffee from this wonderful contraption does indeed kick serious coffee ass over other coffees I have access to in my chosen country.
It was actually this machine that converted me to the occasional coffee drinker I am today (previously whenever anyone said thats grab a coffee I would order a strawberry milkshake)

P.s Hey Boncho, coz I said wonderful things about the product am I now entitled to a cut of ur endorsement fee

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


I realize this thread is very close to a marketing plug, but the truth is, I just like quick coffee and I hate grinds.



The tea brewing option I find is handy too, as most of the girls I date tend to enjoy tea, and the last thing I want to do when they are in my company is fiddle around with a tea pot for 10 minutes.

I'm not sure how cutting edge this is. Here in Europe we've had capsule coffee for quite a few years. I think it all started with Nespresso which is a Nestle product.


I do agree that the coffee from these capsule machines is great and hassle free. Although the old-style Mokka coffee brewers (stove-top espresso cookers) are just as good and end up being MUCH cheaper to use.



And neither of them are quite as good as a professional Espresso machines you find in the coffee shops in these parts. In these you put the whole beans straight into the machine.