Keurig Coffee Machines

[Robin Garr]

You can also "tune" the thing to your tastes by varying the coarseness of the grind, the length of time the grounds steep, the amount of water, etc. The first few cups that I made were too intense, and I had to learn to use a little less coffee and water it down a little more than I thought I'd need to. One slight criticism of the AP is that they tell you that you can make espresso with it and this is not correct. Just expect a really good cup of coffee and you won't be disappointed.

Agreed, mostly, although I've found that a too-fine grind makes it very hard to press the piston all the way down. I generally go with a drip grind, not an espresso grind.

And no, of course it's not true espresso, although I think the inventor was trying to emulate that with the high air pressure that's created within the tube. But "really good cup of coffee," absolutely.

BTW, I was in my local supermarket today and for the first time noticed that about 2/3 of the coffee section was filled with K-Cups of every description. At the very least 3 or 4 dozen different ones. I'll grant that a Palm Beach supermarket is pretty upscale, (it has valet parking), but that still stunned me. Someone is using a lot of those things.

That's pretty much the situation all over now, Ken. It's a golden opportunity for the middleman to profit from mostly packaging and promotion opportunity, so the Keurig-ish pods are getting more and more play. Just as there was once a thriving business in loose tea, which disappeared once the teabag came into the market, because ease-of-use almost always trumps quality for the mass market, the coffee business is transitioning to ease-of-use/instant accessibility model.

I think the turning point---the jump of the shark, as it were---was when Starbucks came out with great hoopla with their "Instant Coffee" packets. That was old technology still, but totally got away from their emphasis on the quality of the coffee experience and went to ease-of-use, while pretending their instant was the equivalent of their fastidiously brewed coffee (which was already suspect, of course.)

But instant coffee isn't very good and that includes that made by Starbucks. Whereas tea in a bag, I think, is only a small step down from loose tea. (The problem with Lipton isn't the bag, it's the quality of the tea.) ((Quiet, Mark!))

[Jenise]

Agree with Jeff. By the way, I'm currently staying in a hotel that provides Nespresso. My first time with this product/machine. What a gigantic step up from Keurig.

But instant coffee isn't very good and that includes that made by Starbucks. Whereas tea in a bag, I think, is only a small step down from loose tea. (The problem with Lipton isn't the bag, it's the quality of the tea.) ((Quiet, Mark!))

Well, yes, of course.

But there's also the element, beyond poor selection, poor blending, poor quality overall, of the tea sitting on the shelf, drying out, loosing its vibrancy, going stale...much the same as the difference between, say, dried herbs in a grocery store versus herbs and spices from Penzey's (or even better, fresh ground).

By the way, they also have (and have had for some time now) instant coffee in a bag. Saw some on the shelf just this week. Tried it long ago. It was awful.

By the way, I'm currently staying in a hotel that provides Nespresso. My first time with this product/machine. What a gigantic step up from Keurig.

My upstairs neighbor has a Nespresso machine. I think it uses steam instead of hot water so it qualifies as a dumbed-down espresso machine. But it isn't cheap, and neither are the little cups.

By the way, I'm currently staying in a hotel that provides Nespresso. My first time with this product/machine. What a gigantic step up from Keurig.

My upstairs neighbor has a Nespresso machine. I think it uses steam instead of hot water so it qualifies as a dumbed-down espresso machine. But it isn't cheap, and neither are the little cups.

No, it isn't.

Over a hundred bucks for the machine and around 75 cents for a pod (sometimes more).

(They have alternative pod providers that are cheaper. The coffee can be okay, but not as good as the original.)

My only problem with the Nespresso is it's Nestle Corp, but I deal with it.

As a compromise when I want espresso (usually a lungo, although it makes a regular espresso and a ristretto), it still beats the hell out of getting in my car, going to the nearest coffee bar several blocks away, and plunking a few bucks down for an espresso or cappucino. As they say in Kentucky when they're talking about sex and marriage, "It's all relative."

[Jenise]

Our hotel provided blue pods, blue pods with red dots that we presumed to be decaf, and black lungo pods. We had no idea what any of this meant but happily tried everything. We used the lungo pods same way we did the blue ones for a full cup of regular coffee. Couldn't make up my mind which I liked better. We asked the housekeeper one day for extras and tipped her well, and she came back with several whole boxes. Which I brought home in my luggage. Now what to do.

Our hotel provided blue pods, blue pods with red dots that we presumed to be decaf, and black lungo pods. We had no idea what any of this meant but happily tried everything. We used the lungo pods same way we did the blue ones for a full cup of regular coffee. Couldn't make up my mind which I liked better. We asked the housekeeper one day for extras and tipped her well, and she came back with several whole boxes. Which I brought home in my luggage. Now what to do.

Well, you can send them to me. Or you can get the Inissa machine, which has the dual advantage of being just over $100 and being the physically smallest of the line. All the Nespresso machines have the same pressure, is the extras that cost.

I've attained zero environmental impact coffee making. We either use a Bodum for smaller amounts or a Cuisinart drip with a gold plated metal sieve filter - no old filters to toss out. Even the grounds become mulch.