I'm a Different Coffee Drinker After Experiencing the Keurig Way

Would you believe I got a tip on making coffee from Weldon Barber? A woman feels like a fish out of water in those men-only places, but while waiting for my hubby I made myself a cup of coffee using their strange machine. Individual or single-serve, it was different from anything I'd experienced before. What I got was instantly brewed, hot, strong, fresh coffee - who could ask for anything more? I was hooked, and I wanted one of those contraptions to replace my old 8-cup pathetic, slow, luke-warm coffee maker.

What a concept - in the Keurig, instead of using pods like other single-serve coffee makers, you use a smallish "K Cup," which looks like an oversized liquid creamer container. The K Cup is prefilled with coffee in a variety of strengths, types, or flavors, and sealed for freshness. Just pop the K Cup in the Keurig, press a button, and presto, a fresh, hot cup of coffee within seconds. No more waiting, no more suffering through the dregs of an old, stale pot you brewed earlier in the day and hate to toss.

Not wanting to visit Weldon every time I had a craving for this new kind of coffee experience, I checked out online prices. There weren't many single-serve choices, and the online reviews overwhelmingly recommended Keurig. Searching further for a reasonably priced outlet, I found a great deal at Costco, where the unit comes complete with FOUR boxes of K-cups. That's the deal I'd recommend, especially if you have a Costco (and a membership of course) nearby. I plucked mine off the shelf for instant gratification. If you're not into Costco, then try Linens & Things or Bed Bath & Beyond, with one of those handy 20% off coupons.

My machine is stylish and attractive, and it takes up no more room on my countertop than the old 8-cupper, which was ugly to boot. I love showing it off when friends come over. An added bonus is the soft blue lights that glow in the dark (you're supposed to leave it on 24 hours a day, but you can unplug it overnight if you can remember to plug it back in before your first cup of coffee).

I love being able to make a quick, great cup of coffee anytime of day or night. I do drink more coffee now than I did before, but it's much better quality too.

Another wonderful feature of the Keurig is the add-on Cup that lets you use your own preferred brand and grind of coffee. It's a reusable and refillable K Cup that has a permanent filter and can be washed and ready for your next cup almost instantly. One of these reusable cups comes with the Costco package.

Even better, you can order My Cup lids from a private vendor online and reuse the disposable K Cups themselves. I've done so with great success and have a stack of empty, washed K Cups I use over and over.

I make tea and hot chocolate too with my Keurig. There are prefilled K Cups you can use for this purpose, or simply use the Keurig as an instant hot water dispenser and use your own hot chocolate mix or tea bags.

By the way, refilling the Keurig with water is a minor inconvenience and easy to do. If you have a few guests over, you'll be refilling the reservoir several times, but again, the water is hot instantly, so there's no waiting beyond the several seconds it takes for the machine to draw another cup of coffee into its heater.

My Keurig has three settings for small, medium, and large cups. I usually run it on the largest setting, which only gives me about 3/4 of a large mug, then I run it again on the smallest setting to fill my mug all the way. Or twice on the medium setting - you get the idea.

Hubby and I make lattes every morning by using the smallest cup setting for the strongest coffee and mixing it with milk warmed in the microwave and our own bottled flavorings. I know, that's not a real latte (no foam), but we aren't latte snobs so it satisfies us until we can get to the espresso stand.

The prefilled K Cups are too high priced - that's the only drawback I've seen to this machine. However, if you use the reusable cups or get the K Cups on discount at Costco or Bed B & B, you'll cut way down on your expenses.

I'll never go back to the old-fashioned way of making and drinking coffee. I am thoroughly spoiled by my Keurig and proud of it.