K Cup Coffee

What is K Cup Coffee?

What is K Cup Coffee?
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

K Cup coffee is coffee made using a Keurig brewing machine.  Keurig brewing machines use coffee pods that contain ground coffee.  The first generation of Keurig machines use coffee pods called K-Cups.

A K Cup Coffee Pod is used to brew K Cup Coffee
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

A K-Cup is a type of coffee pod filled with ground coffee and a paper coffee filter.  The K-Cup is a small plastic cup that is sealed with an air-tight lid to maintain freshness.

How Do You Make K Cup Coffee?

You need a Keurig coffee brewer and a K-cup to make K Cup coffee.  K Cup coffee is easy to make:

• Place an empty cup under the Keurig brewer 
• Open the Keurig K-Cup compartment
• Place the K-cup inside
• Close the K-Cup compartment lid on the Keurig brewer
• Press  the "brew" button

In about one minute, you'll have a hot, fresh cup of K Cup coffee.

Keurig brewers use K-Cups to make K Cup Coffee
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Where Can I Get K Cup Coffee?

K Cup coffee is not sold in restaurants of coffee shops.  Keurig brewers that make K Cup coffee are used in homes and offices.  If you want to try K Cup coffee, but do not have a Keurig brewer, you might be able to find one in a break room at work.  Another option is to see if any of your friends have a Keurig brewer at home.  Most people with a Keurig brewer are excited to show people their machine and let them experience K Cup coffee.

How Much Does K Cup Coffee Cost?

The Keurig coffee brewing machine costs about $75 to a few hundred dollars, depending on the model and features of the coffee maker.  Some Keurig machines use K-Cups and some use Vue coffee pods.  The first generation machines use K-Cups: you'll need a Keurig machine that takes K-Cups to make K Cup coffee.

Once you have a Keurig brewer, you need a K-Cup for every cup of coffee you brew.  K-Cups cost about 65 cents each for premium brands and about 50 cents each if you know how to find cheap K-Cups.

You can also get refillable K-Cups that you fill with your own ground coffee that cost much less than buying K-Cups.  However, one of the main advantages of K Cup coffee is the convenience of being able to quickly pop in your favorite coffee flavor and brand, quickly brew the coffee, and throw the K-Cup away with no clean-up required.  If you use refillable K-Cups, you need to take time to load the refillable K-Cup and also need time to wash and clean the refillable K-Cup for the next cup of coffee.

What Does K Cup Coffee Taste Like?

K Cup coffee is always hot and fresh since it is made one cup at a time.  K Cup coffee is popular in break areas at work for coffee breaks because everyone gets a fresh cup of coffee.  A regular coffee maker leaves coffee sitting in the pot and it gets stale quickly.

You can choose your flavor of K Cup coffee.  You can get light roast, medium roast, dark roast, decaf, and flavored coffee.  You can also get K-Cups to make other hot beverages with your Keurig brewer like hot tea and hot chocolate.

How Does K Cup Coffee Compare to Regular Coffee?

You can make a better cup of coffee than K cup coffee.  Fresh ground whole coffee beans taste better than ground coffee.  I would say the flavor of K Cup coffee is similar to coffee you can make using ground coffee that is not fresh ground from whole beans.

K Cup coffee is definitely faster and more convenient than regular coffee.  Since you heat water for only one cup of coffee at a time, K Cup coffee is very fast.  Almost no clean-up is required for K Cup coffee- just throw the used K-Cup away after brewing and you are ready to make the next cup.

It is really easy to try different flavors and brands of coffee with K Cup coffee.  You can buy assortments of K-Cups to make it easy to try new kinds or to find something that anyone in your home or office would like.



Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal