Single cup coffee/espresso solutions

Everything else
41

One thing I like about using my Keurig is that you can get water heated to the temp you want.

So sometimes I just get a 190 degree cup of water, mix in some instant(Nescafe Classico in my case) and presto- a cheap cup of coffee that is of consistent quality. This is because with the temps always the same, and the amount of water always the same, it’s easy to get your mixture perfect for whatever coffee you’re using. Boiling water on the stove or heating it in the microwave doesn’t work as well since the water is always slightly different in some way.

The same goes with making hot chocolate.

Occasionally I’ll buy some beans at a local coffee shop and have them grind them for me. Then I’ll use my French press combined with my Keurig heated water to make an even better cup of coffee. The reason I don’t do that exclusively is it’s too much bother. At some point I have to clean the glass and plunger thingy, dump the grounds out in the garden…anything that takes me away from drinking my coffee is unwelcome. That’s what’s so great about the Keurig plus Kcup system, you press a button and coffee goes straight into your cup. You can then walk away with your cup, tossing the empty Kcup in the trash is all the ‘work’ you have to do.

42

I guess my questions are:

How much time are you willing to put into making a cup of coffee?
How much are you willing to spend?
How much do you honestly care about how the final product tastes?

I know plenty of people who have never had a bad cup of coffee in their lives, because they have absolutely no idea what real coffee is even supposed to taste like and honestly don’t care that much. They drink coffee for the caffeine the way people drink cheap beer simply because it has alcohol in it. They typically conclude that Starbucks is actually the good stuff and don’t bat an eye at buying flavored pre-ground coffee. If this is you, then buy a Keurig and just don’t worry about it.

43

You also could just use, I don’t know, a kitchen thermometer.

44

Considering your name, I would expect nothing less!

I’m glad to see so many coffee nuts here. I don’t feel alone, it’s like a support group.

45

I also get consistent quality out of the Aramark coffee at work. It is consistently shitty, but boy is it consistent.

46

I don’t get what you’re going for–you want good coffee but don’t want to grind the beans because it’s too much effort… yet you would rather spend $100+ on crappy K-cup coffee.

47

So I was looking more at the cup-based machines. I think I really like this approach, because:

  1. Very convenient
  2. Fairly flexible (can switch among several types of drinks)
  3. Enables easy sampling of a variety of coffee brands, roasts, etc, to hopefully find some I like
  4. I think the freshness thing will be a win versus current method. i.e. Currently, I open a ~12 oz. can of ground coffee and take about 2 months to go through it. Not fresh for long. Yes, I know folks are suggesting I grind my own and/or institute some regime for extreme freshness, but it ain’t likely for me. I think I lose more on the freshness angle from having an open can for so long, and the cups would at least solve that side of things.

Having said that, there appear to be 3 main brands of cups:

K-Cups (Keurig)
T-Cups (Bosch/Tassimo)
Nespresso cups (Nestle, I think)

I see nothing in particular to recommend the Nespresso - the machines are more expensive and less common.

K-Cups have the advantage of being the more popular style, with more selections available (i.e. more roasts of coffee, lots of tea styles, etc.). Also, IIUC, the original/key K-Cup patents run out in ~2012, so, in the not too distant future, I’m guessing the cups will get cheaper.

T-Cups have one real advantage - you can make lattes and cappuccinos. You use two cups to do this - a milk cup and a coffee/espresso cup.

Can anyone comment on the quality of the T-Cup lattes?

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Second question: The cheaper models have no real water reservoir - you pour in as much water as you need for each drink. The more expensive machines have a reservoir. I’d lean towards a unit with a reservoir, but…

Does it take longer, from initial startup, to make a cup of coffee with a machine with a big reservoir?

i.e. If I have the machine off overnight, turn it on in the morning to make something, and all the water in the reservoir needs to be heated up, a big reservoir might be a disadvantage…

48

No, ours just pulls the water from the reservoir that it needs for one serving into the heating chamber & heats just that. When you turn it on in the morning, it only heats up that one serving worth.

49

My Mom just got a K-cup machine for Christmas and we used it while we were there. It does not heat up the whole reservoir of water, but used the that to fill up its internal heating tank. It takes 4 minutes from turn on to ready to brew. IIRC you could get 2 cups out of it (back to back) before having to wait a little bit for another warm up as it filled its tank.

I liked the K-cup machine, but am not sure about the coffee. It did come with a reusable cup you could use with your own coffee, though. Didn’t try that out, however.

50

I just got a Kreuig b60 for Xmas. I love it! Huge improvement over the Senseo, which never really did get much use.

51

I got into coffee not too long ago, and I wasn’t going to mess around with all the awesomeness of the Aeropress and a burr grinder that people talk about in the coffee thread, so I went with a Keurig, too.

Love it. Have sampled dozens of types of coffees and now I’ve built up a solid group that I really enjoy regularly, both regular and decaf. I also tried the teas and hot chocolates, and I’d advise against them. They just don’t stand up to the quality of the good coffees. The timer on my model means that the machine warms up a single cup’s worth of water each morning while I’m in the shower, allowing me to pop in a K-cup, pick my size, and go in a minute’s time.

In order of my enjoyment, my top three:

  1. Green Mountain’s Nantucket Blend
  2. Van Houtte’s Hazelnut
  3. Timothy’s Breakfast Blend
52

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ve been going with Caribou Coffee Morning Blend and Donut Shop Decaf on someone’s recommendation, but I will give those a shot.

53

I just ordered a Bosch/Tassimo model. Hopefully it will make a nice latte, in addition to the more conventional stuff.

54

Hmm… the My K-cup thing doesn’t seem work without leaking…

55

My favorite K-cup is called Black Tiger, made by Coffee People.

56

I’ve used the k-cups at work - I’d highly suggest people that like that try my suggestion, as it makes coffee that’s FAR better, with little effort or cost.

57

Your name is Espresso Jim, though. It sounds interesting, but I don’t think my wife would appreciate a jug of coffee sludge in the fridge.

58

Gotta grind your own!!
Also, beware bulk bins of anything. Who knows how long those beans have been sitting there? Buy pre-packaged bags of beans.

For me, I just fresh grind coffee into a re-usable senseo pod thing I have.
But I think that this
Grinder
and this
French Press
or an aeropress

and you can’t get much cheaper/faster than that.

Fill up your mug with water, microwave, or boil in a kettle, let sit for just 30 seconds or so (don’t want it too hot) and pour over 3 tablespoons of coffee in the press. About 6 minutes later… fresh, hot, delicious coffee

I might have to upgrade to that solution, it sounds pretty easy to me, easier than using one of those cup machines, also… far cheaper.

59

My office has a Keurig machine and a wide assortment of cups. It’s better than Folger’s, but it doesn’t even hold a candle to actual, freshly prepared coffee. Every Keurig coffee I’ve tried is bitter, and it’s bitter because it’s pre-ground and stale. With sugar and cream you can mask this and make it somewhat drinkable, but “good” coffee isn’t bitter and doesn’t need condiments to hide the off flavors.

I sometimes wonder if people have ever even had a real, proper cup of hot black coffee in their lives.

60

My wife cold-brews coffee during the summers. We like to alternate between that and iced tea as a refreshing summer drink. I’ve never tried microwaving it though - it seems a waste to heat up something that was so specifically processed to be good cold.