K-cup coffee makers

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My Senseo coffee maker is nearing the end of it's life. I love this thing so much I'd buy another one if the coffee wasn't increasingly hard to find.

Senseo cofee came in little paper pods that I could just toss into the compost bin, there weren't any plastic bits that had to go into the trash.

Another reason I loved it was because it is very small. It fits under the 14" clearance of my cabinets and took up very little counter space.

Also, it had about a 4 cup reservoir but only brewed a cup at a time so the coffee was always fresh and hot, taking less than a minute to heat the water and brew the coffee.

I've tried many drip coffee makers but really, they don't fit under my cabinets and I just don't have the space to have one sitting on the counter. I usually get up before Mr. B so if I make a pot of coffee it isn't very fresh before he gets around to having a cup. He doesn't like this.

So I'm thinking about buying one of those K-cup machines. I really hate the idea of all the plastic and I doubt I'll take the time to remove the coffee grounds to add to my garden or compost. I'm looking at the biodegradable and the refillable permanent filters you can use in the K-cup machines but the reviews on all of them are kind of lousy.

Does anyone here use a K-cup coffee maker without using the pods? What products do you use in it?

Thanks!

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Type: Question • Score: 10 • Views: 4,682 • Replies: 37

@boomerang,

the Krueig (sp) coffee makers have a reusable filter cup you can buy

so you can buy bulk coffee and brew it yourself, if you don't want to use there packs

i've been considering getting one for that reason alone, i like some of the companies involved with Krueig (sp) but we also buy a locally blended coffee that helps support a cause near and dear to us

1 Reply

@djjd62,

Yeah, I've seen those -- and read some complaints about them being hard to clean and somewhat inconvenient and that it's easy to lose pieces of the multi-part filter.

Their little pre-made pods are kind of expensive but I'd probably bite the bullet if they were compostable.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

http://www.amazon.com/Brookstone-Single-Cup-Coffee-Maker/dp/B000EXOWRK

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-DCM18S-Personal-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005MF9C/ref=pd_vtp_k_1

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hamilton+Beach+-+Personal+Cup+1-Cup+Pod+Brewer+-+Black/Stainless-Steel/1178782.p;jsessionid=5E9C367925502E96E144839D5F185563.bbolsp-app04-04?id=1218230516922&skuId=1178782

Or get a refillable filter that will work like senseo pods: http://www.amazon.com/Ecopad-Permanent-Refillable-HD7810-HD7819-strength/dp/B005LRE22E/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1353084277&sr=1-9&keywords=senseo and then get another Senseo coffee maker.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

I'd buy another Senso in a minute but I'm afraid they're the BetaMax of the coffee pod machines. The DIY pods are supposed to be really tricky to get to work right -- they get really bad reviews.

The others ones you linked look pretty good even though none of them appear to have a reservoir.....

1 Reply

@boomerang,

Yeah, I'd get a K-cup machine myself, except for the damn waste! I just can't get over the fact that the cups generate so much waste.

Instead, I use a burr grinder and a single drip cone. Works like a charm.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

almost every lawfirm I work with has one of these K-cuppie dispensers. The coffee is usually some flavored crap and , if you look at the labels the cuppies contain more robusta than arabica so the taste is already compromised to trhe acid side.
(I think thats why they sell lots of the Irish Creme, and HAzelnuts, and other flavor bleands)

1 Reply

@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

almost every lawfirm I work with has one of these K-cuppie dispensers. The coffee is usually some flavored crap and , if you look at the labels the cuppies contain more robusta than arabica so the taste is already compromised to trhe acid side.
(I think thats why they sell lots of the Irish Creme, and HAzelnuts, and other flavor bleands)

I drink almost nothing but Blue Bottle these days, the finest coffee available here on the west coast.

Cycloptichorn

0 Replies

Yeah... the waste. I can't quite hurdle that either, Cyclo. I'm thinking maybe the refillable filters would be an option.

We have a couple of good coffee roasters in my neighborhood. I like Schondecken's coffee the best but that could be just because it's the closest!

Looking around I see you can get Tully's, Coffee People and Dunkin Donuts K cups. All of those are pretty decent coffees.

I haven't tried any of the K cups, farmerman, but I tend to avoid flavored coffees anyway. I do see the machines in just about every office I visit.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

I can't see myself drinking any pre-ground coffee anymore, inside a K-cup or not. There's just no comparison on the flavor.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

The paper coffee pods are available on the Melitta website in a variety of blends. UPS will deliver them right to your door.

https://shoponline.melitta.com/items/COFFEEPOD

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Those are the pods I've been buying locally. The machine is about to give out though and I just can't see getting another Senseo since I don't think they're going to be around for long.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

Boom it might be pertinent to note a cup of coffee is 5 oz, almost anything else 8 oz, while a typical coffee mug is of 10-oz capacity (w no overflow) thus accommodating 2 cups of coffee

We never think of a cup of beer but we wonder whether 12 oz of the brew would overflow the mug. This intriguing question is presently under investigation by The Greater Southwest Beer-Tasting Society

0 Replies

@Cycloptichorn,

Amen to that. FWIW, I grind my beans (Arabica) before I make my cup. I make 2.5 cups and drink out of a 12 oz mug at breakfast. My coffee morning is no more than one hour (sitting in non-heated thermal carafe) before it's all gone. If a coffee pot sits on a heated element for a period of time (say an hour) it makes it bitter as the heater inevitably damages the delicate flavor.

In my computing daily living cost (tight budget), the expense of any pod system is absurdly tipped towards being too expensive for the added convenience. I've loved the added rich flavor of good beans freshly ground just in time.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

bought one of these a few weeks ago, really liking it

The Scoop™ Single Serve Coffeemaker
49981C

http://www.hamiltonbeach.ca/products/single_serve_coffeemaker/images/49981c.jpg

0 Replies

@Ragman,

Ragman wrote:

Amen to that. FWIW, I grind my beans (Arabica) before I make my cup. I make 2.5 cups and drink out of a 12 oz mug at breakfast. My coffee morning is no more than one hour (sitting in non-heated thermal carafe) before it's all gone. If a coffee pot sits on a heated element for a period of time (say an hour) it makes it bitter as the heater inevitably damages the delicate flavor.

Question: what kind of grinder are you using? I recently switched to a Hario burr grinder, and it's made a big difference in the quality of the grind.

No point in buying expensive coffee beans and then using a crappy grinder to prepare them, which is what I was doing before - you can really tell the difference in flavor when the grind is nice and even. And it gives me a nice arm workout to run the crank...

Cycloptichorn

3 Replies

@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

- you can really tell the difference in flavor when the grind is nice and even.

……..hard to believe Cy and in fact I'm not entirely sure myself but when grinding my morning allowance I actually count 1, 2,……. reducing it to a powder

Incidental but of critical importance to the connoisseur: I find most CostCo coffee acceptable but much the same. However two or three decades ago I remember one I really liked, used by Denny's 'til they switched, probably because it cost too much and the average customer couldn't tell the diff anyhow

Anyone know what it was

0 Replies

@Cycloptichorn,

That's interesting.

I have an old hand crank coffee grinder - well, old to me - that I got a thrift shop. I use it for grinding flax seeds or fennel or cumin. I presume your hand crank grinder is more sophisticated..

I'm now an elder coffee snot who can't afford to be picky. I buy crap coffee, so there is no point in saving to buy coffee making amenities. However... I remember good coffee.

Last good coffee I had in this non-foodie-snot town was at an ital type place a bunch of miles away. Sigh, geez that was good.

I do have a sweet (and good looking) stove top espresso maker - but then there's the associated need for the good beans.

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Capresso Infinity Coffee Grinder (conical burr type). Once I discovered what a difference it made with this I was amazed. I've made coffee for people allegedly with 'no taste buds' and they haver raved about the difference.

Prior to that I used an electric grinder (either Kitchen Aid or Hamilton Beach for $20) and ground them to a medium-fine ground for 18-20 seconds. Once I switched to this grinder I was in coffee heaven. I don't need to buy expensive beans (I couldn't afford them anyhow).

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Quote:

I have an old hand crank coffee grinder - well, old to me - that I got a thrift shop. I use it for grinding flax seeds or fennel or cumin. I presume your hand crank grinder is more sophisticated..

I don't know if it is or not. But, it is a burr grinder - uses a grinding stone that's adjustable to a certain level, instead of a blade which chops the beans up. The blade method leads to highly inconsistent particle size, the burr method to a very consistent size of particle. What you want is the highest amount of surface area possible for your type of coffee brewing - the particle size for a cone drip, like I use, is different than the size for a french press or for a standard coffee maker.

I suppose they make electric burr grinders, but I've never used one and can't speak to their efficacy.

Cycloptichorn

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