I finally caved and bought myself a Keurig. So, what K-Cups do you recommend?

Most of you probably don’t recognize me because I like to lurk – unless it’s a coffee thread, in which I’ll jump in with both feet. I love me some good coffee and have always expounded the benefits of a good roast and a French Press. I own two, along with a couple of percolators, a pour-over filter basket, and a Bialetti Moka pot (my first coffee maker, actually). I lived in Portland, OR for a couple of years and was exposed to and had access to some seriously good coffee: Kobo’s, Stumptown, and a multitude of others. Seattle has nothing on Portland. However, it’s time this coffee snob makes a confession:

::gulp::

My name in Lancia, and I’ve bought a Keurig machine.

Years ago I wanted an easier way to make coffee that didn’t require me fussing about in the kitchen when I was still half asleep and what I really need was quick simplicity. A local department store had their drip pots on sale… but they also had their Mr. Coffee Keurig knock-offs on sale. I decided to take a gamble… and was deeply disappointed. Every single cup tasted like plastic, even weeks after we began using it. No remedy would remove that taste. Disgusted, I donated the machine to a church rummage sale and went back to the French press.

Recently my office purchased a big fancy Keurig brand machine. We buy a big canister of coffee from Costco and then use one of those refillable mesh filters that fits in the K-cup chamber. I was in love the first time I tried it. The coffee was actually good (not on the same level as a French press, but nothing is) and there was not a hint of plastic taste. Being able to brew a cup of coffee in 30 seconds and get back to my classroom was a huge improvement over the drip machine we’d had before.

So I decided to push my luck and give them another try—this time with a Keurig brand machine.

And man alive I’m glad I did. The coffee is excellent, there’s no plastic taste, and more importantly I can have coffee ready in a few seconds when I wake up in the morning rather than fussing about with the kettle, waiting for it to boil, and all the rest that is involved in the French press (and yes, I know it’s minimal, but at 5 am when I’m still ¾ asleep, that small amount of labor becomes almost too much for my sleep-deprived brain). Nobody else in the house drinks coffee so the single-cup servings are perfect. My wife likes having hot chocolate available, and I’ve always been a tea drinker as well so I might try the Twinings k-cups.

I’ve long thought that faddish… well, anything, but kitchen appliances in particular, were a huge waste of money. The Keurig was on top of that list. But now that I have a good one, I can see what all the fuss was about.

So now that you’ve read all that glurge, I’m curious what kind of k-cups other Dopers like. If it’s coffee I’m all for it—even flavored coffee to an extent. I’d like to get one of those racks that hold k-cups and fill it with an assortment of brews for guests.

Any particular brands or blends that y’all recommend?

The Green Mountain brand are all made by Keurig, as an FYI. They are passable, with some flavors better than others.

My husband loves Community Coffee, but they’re not going to be easy to find in your local supermarket. They’re based in Louisiana, so I don’t think you’ll see much of them in Oregon.

I really like shopping at Coffee Icon. You can mix and match to try out new flavors and brands. There’s a brick and mortar store in my town, so I stop in all the time to get new flavors. But you can mix and match online, too. This could be useful as you try out new brands and flavors for your Keurig.

Other than that, Marley Coffee has really good K-cups. I like them, but they may or may not be easy to find in your area.

We are on our second Kuerig machine. We buy Green Mountain Half Caff and Donut Shop Decaf, but we are definitely not coffee aficionados. We used to have a coffee pot and even a french press, but these days we just want halfway decent coffee fast.
Our doctors don’t want us drinking coffee at all, which is why we compromise by going low-caff.

My Kuerig machine was a disappointment. I, too, needed fast coffee in the morning. I did use the refillable cup with my favorite coffee. The coffee was never hot enough. I understand they gotten that fixed on the newer machines.
But, alas, I have well water and the filter would work for one pour through and be kaput. Bottled water was just too stupid to entertain.
I hope you enjoy yours. Get the reusable cups and use your favorite coffee. Good luck.

I’ve tried many k-cups, and it does take some time to find quality which is not stale. My go to is Brooklyn Bridge coffee from Brooklyn Beans. Just hits all the right notes. Available on Amazon.

As for the filter, you could go with a Britta which is what we do. Actually I would go straight tap well water but the rest of the family was raised on bottled, so glad I got them to filtered.

Amazon sent me some San Francisco Bay K-cup samples. I liked them right away because they use less plastic, but the coffee was very good, too! I ordered some more.

Yuban is surprisingly good. Seriously.

I buy the sampler packs from Amazon - they have several brand. Unit cost is a big factor for me.

I was at Costco today and they had those! The SF Bay cups. I don’t remember the price or the count, but I want to say ~$30 for 100. I might give them a try. I did notice their unique design appeared to cut down significantly on landfill waste.

I saw some of those on Amazon as well. I might take the plunge. My local Albertsons carries similar sample packs.

Johnny L.A. is an evangelist for Community Coffee. Seems like good stuff but their K-Cups are spendy. I might try them out though just to see how they are, or just get the regular coffee to put in the reusable cup.

my aunt swears by 3 brands …keruigs “donut shop coffee” dark version "eight o’ clocks"dark Italian roast and Folgers “black silk”
it seems the Folgers is the most expensive out of any k-cups made…

yeah, my advice is to find a variety pack on Amazon fo find what you like before buying a lot of any one thing …

Folgers Black Silk is what I’m drinking now, but not the K-cups. I use the pre-ground stuff from the big 2lb cans and put it in the reusable cup.

Costco (Well, Kirkland Signature I think) brand’s columbian is pretty good too. That’s what we use at work.

Like I said I’m trying to establish a mix of different varieties to have on hand for guests. So I think I’m going to have some fun trying out these suggestions.

Starbucks Caffè Verona (dark roast) – this is my all-time favorite coffee whether I use a Keurig or not.

For the holiday season, we switch to Starbucks Holiday Blend and/or Christmas Blend. (I prefer the latter, but the former is pretty good, too.)

Whoops! I thought this was a sex thread.

One of the settings on the Keurig is brew temperature. Turn that up as high as it goes - our machine will go up to 192 degrees. It makes a difference in the quality of the coffee.

We really like Costco’s Kirkland Breakfast Blend. If you like smooth coffee, that’s a good one. It’s also really cheap.

I’ve tried most of those mentioned in this thread so far, but IMHO the best is Gevalia Colombian (there are other Gevalia k-cups). I’m giving you the amazon link so you can read about it, but you can find them in the regular grocery store.

I drink a lot of 8 o’clock regular, but that’s what I drank growing up and it tastes the same. You might aim for varieties that are named for actual types of coffee like Costa Rican, Sumatran, Kona and avoid names that are where coffee is served like Donut Shoppe, Tim Horton’s or Dam #3 (seriously, how is that even a come-on? Come to Dam #3, we just made a pot three hours ago!) or names like Breakfast Morning Surpise which means what exactly?

All decaf seems to taste the same. It tastes good, as good as regular, but it all seems to be the same coffee.

The Gevalia Cappuccino is pretty good too.

I’ve tried the San Francisco Bay pods a few times and have never liked the taste of them.

I really like the Kauai brand pods. Good, robust flavor.

The Green Mountain varieties I’ve tried have all been pretty good.

I also like the Paul Newman’s Special Blend k cups. They often have the big boxes of those at Costco for a good price.

I’m not a Conna-Sewer by any stretch, but I do have a favorite: Newman’s Own.

I subscribe to it through Amazon.
mmm