$3,300 refrigerator has a Keurig coffee maker built in...really...

Convenience? Sure..Wasteful? Of course! Keep those K-cups rolling...

From CNN

The $3,300 GE Café series refrigerator features a Keurig (GMCR) K-Cup brewer that uses the fridge's filtered water to make a single cup of joe.
To make a cup of coffee, you snap the brewer out of the fridge's water tap, put in a K-Cup coffee pod and slide the brewer back into the water dispenser. The fridge will ask you what size you want. After the fridge heats up the water, you push a safety knob to the left (so you don't accidentally scald yourself), and your fridge will brew the coffee.
General Electric (GE) had already brought hot water dispensers to some of its refrigerators over the past couple years -- also a first for the industry.

Dan Goldstein, GE's refrigeration marketing manager, said the company surveyed customers who had bought the hot water dispensing fridges, and asked them what they'd like to see next.
"They asked us, 'When can we have a refrigerator that dispenses coffee or tea?'" Goldstein said. "In fact, two-thirds said they'd be interested in a single-serve hot beverage dispenser."
The fridge will be available in the fall. In the meantime, you'll have to reserve a place on your counter for coffee brewing.

Miami-area consumer and coffee-lover Christien Aristakian talks about her experience helping test and develop the new GE Café Series refrigerator.

Well don't buy that fridge! If it has a Keurig then that means it has the new DMR protection allowing you to only use Keurig-branded K-Cups. It'll be a useless accessory for most people.

If anything, Keurig's decision to move to their new DRM-protected machines has had a backlash on sales. People are not happy that they can't use any brand of K-Cup they want in their machines anymore. I've seen the older models on Amazon being snatched up quickly.

Also, K-Cups are a horrible waste -- they generate so much trash for a single cup of coffee. They do make biodegradable K-Cups, but they won't work in the new machines!

And lastly, if I want coffee -- I usually want more than just a single cup. There's usually another person present because I do have a social life, and they usually want some too.

I wonder if you have to send the fridge away if/when the Keurig breaks down? lol

a reply to: DjembeJedi

I still would prefer an ice and water dispenser instead of a built in hot coffee dispenser. I can imagine coffee stains dripping down the front side of the refrigerator. Seems to be more work for clean-up rather than convenience.

Those Keurigs are crap. We've had to return 3 of them...before going back to old Mr. Coffee.
Imagine having to keep returning THAT behemoth!

a reply to: MystikMushroom

I don't believe in such things as a "social life" or "self esteem" they are made up to make me feel bad!

OT: I also would rather make a full pot, even though it is just for me and even if i only drink 1 cup, it's still cheaper than single brew.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

I have never owned a pod machine but am certain they are a waste..Even the inventor of the cup says in interviews that he doesn't use them...lol

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: DjembeJedi

I still would prefer an ice and water dispenser instead of a built in hot coffee dispenser. I can imagine coffee stains dripping down the front side of the refrigerator. Seems to be more work for clean-up rather than convenience.

Agreed. I think this is a crap Idea myself even if it was an espresso machine with a direct line for milk and water..still wouldn't want it for the same reason. What a mess.

John Sylvan, the Boston based inventor of the K-cup has reported his regret for inventing his environmentally destructive device.

www.cbc.ca... 43

Reminds me of Oppenheimer's: Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

a reply to: DjembeJedi

Funny, the inventor of the 'K-cup' is NOT so fond of his own invention.

According to The Atlantic, John Sylvan is the individual we can all thank (or blame) for creating the K-Cup brewing system in the early 1990s. Based on recent comments to James Hamblin of the Atlantic, Sylvan describes the technology as possibly habit enabling as nicotine saying, "It's like a cigarette for coffee, a single-serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance."

He thinks it is a little pricey,

Getting hooked on Keurig isn't Sylan's only bone to pick with K-Cup brewers. Keurig's creator also feels that being locked into the company's system is just too expensive. Taking decidedly no-frills coffee grounds then tacking on a premium price (to the tune of $40 per pound), is how parent company Keurig Green Mountain racked up a whopping $47 billion last year in revenue.

And not very environmentally friendly,

Sylvan concurred telling the Atlantic, "No matter what they say about recycling, those things will never be recyclable. The plastic is a specialized plastic made of four different layers." From the mouth of the K-Cup man himself, those are damning words to be sure.

CNET

I agree with everything he says.

I have never bought one due to the cost being prohibitive. However I do enjoy it on a rare occasion in certain waiting rooms. I can understand the desire to own one.

To me the OP is a perfect example of consumerism on steroids.

I am sure a couple family members will HAVE TO buy one.

I enjoy my stovetop brew, thank you very much.

originally posted by: Psynic
John Sylvan, the Boston based inventor of the K-cup has reported his regret for inventing his environmentally destructive device.

www.cbc.ca... 43

Reminds me of Oppenheimer's: Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

Yes thats him. Thank you. Destroying the world 1 K-Cup at a time..

originally posted by: DjembeJedi

originally posted by: Psynic
John Sylvan, the Boston based inventor of the K-cup has reported his regret for inventing his environmentally destructive device.

www.cbc.ca... 43

Reminds me of Oppenheimer's: Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

Yes thats him.

Thank you.

Destroying the world 1 K-Cup at a time..

Look at the albatross rookery on Midway Island.

Look at dead whales washed up on the beach with dozens of plastic bags in their stomachs.

Anyone buying a Keurig coffee maker is either stupid or immoral.

a reply to: stosh64

I believe he states the original intention of the machine was for work/office break rooms. Mr. Sylvan never intended them for home use. I also agree with him. Smart man seeing the error not only in his ways but the "Monster" of consumerism we are all accustomed to.
I love a good pot of percolated coffee.

I find the more things a gadget has on it, the easier and more likely something is to break on it, so having a coffee maker as a part of a refridgerator just seems like a bad idea to me.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Well don't buy that fridge! If it has a Keurig then that means it has the new DMR protection allowing you to only use Keurig-branded K-Cups

Really? Well, that takes away any remaining want of that overpriced thing. People pay, what, $200 for a machine and then are told what they can or can't use in it? That would be like my washing machine telling me what brand of detergent to use in it. --- or like my regular coffee maker telling me what kind of coffee to buy-- LOL

I hope their sales crash. What a load of crap.

Waiting for the $5K Keurig toilet.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
Well don't buy that fridge! If it has a Keurig then that means it has the new DMR protection allowing you to only use Keurig-branded K-Cups. It'll be a useless accessory for most people.

If anything, Keurig's decision to move to their new DRM-protected machines has had a backlash on sales. People are not happy that they can't use any brand of K-Cup they want in their machines anymore. I've seen the older models on Amazon being snatched up quickly.

Also, K-Cups are a horrible waste -- they generate so much trash for a single cup of coffee. They do make biodegradable K-Cups, but they won't work in the new machines!

And lastly, if I want coffee -- I usually want more than just a single cup. There's usually another person present because I do have a social life, and they usually want some too.

Creator of the K-Cups regrets invention

John Sylvan told The Atlantic that he sometimes regrets his invention because it creates too much waste and is bad for the environment.

"I feel bad sometimes that I ever (invented the K-Cup)," Sylvan said. "I don't have one. They're kind of expensive to use. Plus it's not like drip coffee is tough to make."

How expensive? A 12 pack of Folgers K-Cups, for example, sells for about $6.72, giving you about 4oz of coffee. In comparison, a 33oz.container of Folgers Classic Roast Ground Coffee sells for about $8. That's 8 times the amount of coffee for nearly the same price.

We had a water dispensing fridge in the 80's it was used for a few months before the water tasted funny.

I am wary of built in to appliance dispensers due to hygiene issues.

I even stopped using my Gaggia after the descaling chemicals left an aftertaste.

I never liked the taste from aluminium /steel stovetop espresso makers.

Coffee makers made of glass are good for non tainting and hygiene.

www.liquidplanet.com...

originally posted by: CoherentlyConfused
I find the more things a gadget has on it, the easier and more likely something is to break on it, so having a coffee maker as a part of a refridgerator just seems like a bad idea to me.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Well don't buy that fridge! If it has a Keurig then that means it has the new DMR protection allowing you to only use Keurig-branded K-Cups

Really? Well, that takes away any remaining want of that overpriced thing. People pay, what, $200 for a machine and then are told what they can or can't use in it? That would be like my washing machine telling me what brand of detergent to use in it. --- or like my regular coffee maker telling me what kind of coffee to buy-- LOL

I hope their sales crash. What a load of crap.

They now have a washing machine just for Tide detergent. I was watching the commercials this past weekend. Tide created some kind of super suds laundry pod specially for this washing machine.

A fridge with an inbuilt coffee maker. LOL

I WANT ONE!

Our splurge was our $100 Bunn....

Fast coffee is now a must for us...

We often look back and wonder how were we able to ever wait for a pot to brew "in the old days". LOL

It was/is worth it for us but, this fridge? Geez!