glamour shot from the Keurig site. you know you want it.
Okay, obviously, every time I buy a new thing, I research it like mad. One thing that annoyed me with the Keurig was that there are like 387295 sites with these slightly informative descriptions but it’s not a decent review. It doesn’t really tell me what it’s like to use and it doesn’t really tell me why it would work for me.
Amazon works and all, but let’s face it: people are dumb. (My microeconomics professor says economics is harder than physics because people are more difficult than atoms.) There are some good reviews out there, and then there are people just being completely useless.
No, I do not have it yet. But this is over 1000 words already just explaining why it’s actually useful, so actually using the machine will come as soon as that happens. But I’m an economics student, I have to tell you why this actually is a good value IF it’s right for you. If you’re no match for it, it’s obviously a waste of money.
So here is why this thing works for me. Sometimes I want coffee. Most of the time, I really don’t want coffee. I am a tea drinker typically, but coffee is welcome every so often. I live by myself, so nobody else to share my coffee. I waste big bags of coffee, hell, even if I fill a bag in bulk at say Whole Foods, I still never use it all and it gets stale and it doesn’t taste good.
I have a big bulky 3 in 1 machine that my mom gave me (that she will now be taking back) and it’s just a hassle. I am apparently too dumb to work the frother, and really, I just want coffee. A coffee. One coffee. That is that.
I can’t drink 12 oz of coffee. I want a cup to be exactly what a cup is: 8 ounces. I don’t like to deal with the cleanup of the coffee maker because it is seriously a pain in the ass compared to loose leaf tea, no joke. I just smack my strainer on the side of the garbage can and then wash out what doesn’t fall out. I just rinse my cast iron pot with hot water and let it dry. EASY. But coffee from a regular drip machine is annoying as hell.
I do have a French press but I use it for tea and no thank you I am not mixing.
I am not a fan of going to Starbucks/Caribou/whatever because I just want to punch everyone on their laptop. Also I am drawn to crazy drinks then instead of like oh coffee. So then that’s $3.50 instead of a dollar or something.
So the Keurig is going to give me a cup (LIKE EIGHT OUNCES YOU GUYS) of coffee for roughly 50-60 cents. When the craving hits, coffee. Done.
WHO THIS THING IS TOTALLY NOT FOR: people who drink a lot of coffee at once. I think it could totally work for a heavy coffee drinker who wants a quick fix if they use one of the refillable cups. For me, that would be stupid, but if you don’t need a giant 16 ounce mug filled all at once, it could definitely work.
People who think it’s expensive. That probably means you drink too much to make it work. Also don’t forget the price of coffee has gone up A LOT. Some companies try to take the hit themselves but you can only do that so long. Better to pass it on to the consumer when necessary then suddenly have to raise the cost a massive amount later on.
People who are ridiculously good at coffee. Coffees remind me of wine, different regions, different tastes…but I am no good at it. I could tell you the differences among light, medium, and dark roasts and that’s it. Unless the flavor comes from something being added, I’m clueless. If you can pick out those cool little flavors in a coffee, and you really enjoy that, you would probably want to punch me in the face for buying this. I’m sorry. I just want a drink for the most part.
NOW ONTO THE BUYING A COFFEEMAKER PART.
I ordered it on Amazon from a third party seller for $114. This is the legitimate Keurig system, there are two that take single serve very literally. This machine and the ones that are steps up from it have a water reservoir. There is a Keurig mini, which I almost got but Amazon changed the price as I tried to buy it, and then Mr. Coffee also makes a similar one for about $10-15 less, depending on where you look.
Honestly, I considered the Mr. Coffee, but I figured it would be best to have the nicer Keurig one, just in case I want to fill a travel mug before heading off for a 9:30am class. With the Mini and the Mr. Coffee models, you cannot fit big mugs or travel mugs, so keep that in mind.
Also you get a 12 cup pack with this one and Mr. Coffee was only 5 or 6. Womp. (Watch me now not get anything)
If you’re okay with putting water in every time, Mini/Mr. Coffee will be just fine for you. But just know that a bit more money gets you a nicer looking machine. Just go to Bed Bath and Beyond and look at them (other note: you could always get one here with a 20% off coupon. Miracles on paper those are.)
I think the B40 is perfectly good for household use. There are some more expensive models, but they do the same thing with maybe having ooh, 3 different amounts of water to choose from and fancy lights and so on. This one seems sufficient.
THE COFFEE
CUPS because I have none yet, I just saved this from Green Mountain's website...so go there.
So most of my research was then spent on K-cups, which are used in this type of machine. Pods and whatever else are out there are not for this. K-cups to me look like they have the best variety (PS: Dunkin Donuts coffee). The coffee is packaged individually, and all you do is pop it in the top. I ordered Green Mountain Island Coconut, a summer seasonal, and Caribou Coffee’s Caribou Blend just so I had the $25 for free shipping on Amazon.
Beyond coffee, there are tea and hot chocolate cups. I definitely won’t be buying tea ones, because they seem worthless when I have a ton of tea and a cast iron pot (and like I said, tea is easy). I’m not sure about hot chocolate either, although I imagine if it’s any good, it does run about the same price per cup as my beloved Land O Lakes Hot Cocoa…so I’ll probably stick with that.
Truth be told, I do not think Amazon is the best deal. In all my searching, Coffeecart.com looks like the best bet. They seem to always have a buy 5 boxes, get 1 free code plus free shipping. That’s 6 boxes of 22-24 cups for $68.75. They also seem to carry more flavors than Amazon, which tends to have double packs of stuff for $29.95, and boxes on Coffeecart are $13.75 (or a bit more for things like iced coffee). I plan to use them to stock up when needed. Six boxes, one free, at $13.75, assuming 24 in a box comes out to 47 cents per cup. Price and quantity per box may vary depending on blend.
Another option but with less choices is your local Bed Bath and Beyond along with one of their 20% off coupons. The boxes here are 18 cups at $11.99 ($12.99 for the Wolfgang Puck cups, I noticed) and the coupon gets you $2.40 off. Sometimes they send sale papers with a $5 off $15 coupon, which will give you $2.50 off 2 boxes. That’s 53 cents per cup before sales tax for $11.99 boxes with either coupon, basically (.527 for $2.50 off each compared to .532). You can check online to see what flavors are in a store near you before you go. My local store had a big display of them, so I picked up Van Houtte’s Raspberry Chocolate Truffle for when my Keurig arrived, since it was going to take way less time than Amazon’s shipment.
So conclusion: unless you’re buying a lot at once, you are likely better off with Bed Bath and Beyond. Ask friends for their coupons if your habit is too heavy. But always check around on deal sites: Amazon’s Friday sales, forums, etc.
OTHER USES
Because it heats water to 195 degrees, I plan to use the machine to heat water for white and green teas so the water is cool faster for those teas compared to boiling water. Not sure I would do it for any other tea. It also can make your instant noodle cup or oatmeal truly instant.
So that’s it for now. The actual using the machine part should come later this week. Stay tuned.
Tags: keurig
