confused about k-cups

[WendyLovesPeter]

looking at either the mini personal or the Elite. The Elite can brew either an 8 or 10 ounce cup. Are the k-cups all standard size? I guess I am wondering how you don't end up with either a very strong or very weak brew if the K-cups are a standard....

 

[dizneemom]

You choose your cup size by how strong you like your coffee. If you like a weak coffee you choose a larger cup size. Stronger coffee-smaller cup. Also w/ the different coffees comes different strengths. I have an elite sz off qvc and I love it. Mine also came w/some K-cups to try so now I know which one is my favorite. I was not a coffee drinker before my Keurig but I love it now. It tastes so good. I also got a few filters w/mine. I buy my K-cups off Amazon and you get them cheaper if you sign up for their auto ship thing. Love, Love, Love it. Its my new favorite thing!

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

You choose your cup size by how strong you like your coffee. If you like a weak coffee you choose a larger cup size. Stronger coffee-smaller cup. Also w/ the different coffees comes different strengths. I have an elite sz off qvc and I love it. Mine also came w/some K-cups to try so now I know which one is my favorite. I was not a coffee drinker before my Keurig but I love it now. It tastes so good. I also got a few filters w/mine. I buy my K-cups off Amazon and you get them cheaper if you sign up for their auto ship thing. Love, Love, Love it. Its my new favorite thing!

oh.. the description makes it sound like so it can accomodate different mug sizes like a standard home mug versus a large travel mug. So with the Mini Personal system it would be all STRONG cups of coffee? I am not sure I like that idea...

 

[maggiew]

The K cups are all the same size. So the size cup you choose will depend on how strong you like your coffee. It took my DH a few tries to figure out how he liked the coffee. He likes it on the big size (travel mug size) and with light roast. I guess he is a coffee wimp! I use the next size down to make my tea water because that size fits nicely into my mug (I don't use tea K-cups, but just use a tea bag).

You also need to put in the correct mug size. If you use the travel mug size setting, you need to put in a larger mug to accomodate the amount of water. (I only point this out because the amount of water actually does vary with the size setting you choose.)

Maggie

 

[phorsenuf]

The K cups are all the same size. So the size cup you choose will depend on how strong you like your coffee. It took my DH a few tries to figure out how he liked the coffee. He likes it on the big size (travel mug size) and with light roast. I guess he is a coffee wimp! I use the next size down to make my tea water because that size fits nicely into my mug (I don't use tea K-cups, but just use a tea bag).

You also need to put in the correct mug size. If you use the travel mug size setting, you need to put in a larger mug to accomodate the amount of water. (I only point this out because the amount of water actually does vary with the size setting you choose.)

Maggie

Do you have the my K-cup insert? Do you put your tea bag in that? I have some tea K-cups but if I can us tea bags that would be awesome.

I also just got mine so I am experimenting quite a bit. I have tall mugs and I found that if I use a strong blend (or bold) than I can brew a cup on the large setting and using the same same K-cup a small cup and it fills my mug and gives a not so bold taste, but doesn't make it weak but reusing the cup.

 

[a1tinkfans]

oh.. the description makes it sound like so it can accomodate different mug sizes like a standard home mug versus a large travel mug. So with the Mini Personal system it would be all STRONG cups of coffee? I am not sure I like that idea...

FYI:
The mini takes 3 minutes for each cup, you have to keep refilling it for each cup as well.
the other takes Under a minute AND you put in more water, so you get several cups without refilling.
I have bought both, my dad the mini (he is by himself) and for us the elite....to say I LOVE it is an understatement, JUST had a YUMMY cup.
BY the way, Bed Bath and Beyond has great sales, and coupons, comes to .41 a cup. QVC has them and you can usually spread payments with no interest if that helps...both costco and Bjs has them too, pretty much price locked but there ARE sales....You'll love it I am sure!
(I also like the cocoa )

 

[a1tinkfans]

Do you have the my K-cup insert? Do you put your tea bag in that? I have some tea K-cups but if I can us tea bags that would be awesome.

I also just got mine so I am experimenting quite a bit. I have tall mugs and I found that if I use a strong blend (or bold) than I can brew a cup on the large setting and using the same same K-cup a small cup and it fills my mug and gives a not so bold taste, but doesn't make it weak but reusing the cup.

I have the insert and have never used it. I just use the boiled water and my own (since I got so many flavors of teas as a gift). I think that you can use it for both loose tea AND packets....let us know............

 

[CTdiznymom]

There are so many ways to use your Keurig. If you like a larger mug of coffee, use a bolder flavor and run the larger size. OR, you can actually run 2 smalls using the Kcup twice for a weaker blend. Hot Chocolate/tea/cup of soups/instant noodle bowls can be done simply by running the hot water. Takes a lot less time than boiling a tea pot. It takes some playing around, but you find your faves rather quickly. Try ordering sampler packs-what you don't like, save for company!!! Also, if you do MYPOINTS, there are places to order thru them to rack up some points.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Just a reminder that when you do buy the Keurig-register it! You will get an opportunity to buy 2 boxes-get two free. I did this (code WARRANTY) and got 4 boxes-24 cups/each for $25.01 including S&H (which was free!)

 

[maggiew]

Do you have the my K-cup insert? Do you put your tea bag in that? I have some tea K-cups but if I can us tea bags that would be awesome.

I also just got mine so I am experimenting quite a bit. I have tall mugs and I found that if I use a strong blend (or bold) than I can brew a cup on the large setting and using the same same K-cup a small cup and it fills my mug and gives a not so bold taste, but doesn't make it weak but reusing the cup.

I have used a tea bag in the My K cup thing. But then I had to clean it out, dry it and put away. So now I just use the Keurig to boil my water and use a regular teabag in my mug. Its faster than boiling water in my tea kettle.

Maggie

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

so there is only one size Kcup?... and it can be used only one time?... Are these like instant where it all dissolves or do you have some grounds left in the machine? I am really trying to imagine these things... wondering what the clean up is like for the machine. I have seen mention of filters - I don't understand what these would be for as I thought this was different than an ordinary coffee machine. Thanks with any insight you can shed

 

[HeatherC]

WendyLovesPeter: The K-cups can only be used once. They actually look similar to the little sauces you may get a McDonald's for like sweet and sour. Does that make sense?

You pop it in the machine and it brews your cup instantly. This way you don't have to make a full pot of coffee. It is almost instant and the clean up is just take out the k-cup pretty much. No messy grinds/filters.

Hope this helps!

 

[dgthree]

so there is only one size Kcup?... and it can be used only one time?... Are these like instant where it all dissolves or do you have some grounds left in the machine? I am really trying to imagine these things... wondering what the clean up is like for the machine. I have seen mention of filters - I don't understand what these would be for as I thought this was different than an ordinary coffee machine. Thanks with any insight you can shed

The Keurig machine primarily uses sealed containers called k-cups that have the coffee grounds and filter together. You pick out what you want, pop it into the cup holder, and close the unit, which stabs holes in the container so the water can flow through and brew your cup of coffee (or tea). When you're done, open the unit back up, and just toss the spent k-cup. No cleaning, no handling coffee grounds, no messy filters. Because the coffee cups are sealed, the coffee stays nice & fresh, too.

There's also a unit called the My K-Cup, which is a reusable filter cup so you can use your own favorite coffee. This would have to be cleaned out like any other reusable filter you have in a standard coffee maker.

Hope this helps.

There's also a demo of how the brewer units work on Keurig's website:
http://www.keurig.com/explore/brew.asp

 

[lindsmom]

so there is only one size Kcup?... and it can be used only one time?... Are these like instant where it all dissolves or do you have some grounds left in the machine? I am really trying to imagine these things... wondering what the clean up is like for the machine. I have seen mention of filters - I don't understand what these would be for as I thought this was different than an ordinary coffee machine. Thanks with any insight you can shed

Here's the keurig site picture of how the k-cup works:

http://www.keurig.com/explore/brew.asp?mscsid=FQ7WXEAWU3UA9PDDCFCDSE708NSC5MNE

There is no clean up, which is REALLY nice! You pop the cup in and toss it afterwards, no grounds or filters to deal with. The "filters" that some people talk about is the "my k cup" which allows you to fill it with your own coffee. I don't have one, so I can't discuss that one.

 

[lindsmom]

Dgthree and I posted at the same time But the links aren't working. On the keurig page, roll over "explore" and click on "keurig brewing" for the picture of how the cups work.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

thank you so much! you are very helpful

 

[DarleneW]

We bought the Elite for ourselves for Christmas and love it. My husband drinks coffee and I drink tea. We like to use large mugs and even the large size on the machine doesn't fill the cup so we just open the top and leaving the K-cup in there close it and chose the small cup so our mugs fill to where we like it. The coffee and tea still taste just fine. We bought the Elite for our daughter and son-in-law for Christmas and they have become adicted to it. It is the best!

 

[dgthree]

Dgthree and I posted at the same time But the links aren't working.

I think the extra text at the end of the link is what made it not work.
Guess you really *do* learn something new every day! =)

 

[puffkin]

We are not coffee drinkers normally but love our Keurig! The flavored coffees just taste so good out of it that we both drink a cup a day now!

The largest setting our Keurig (B60 model) has is the 10 oz. We don't like a horribly strong coffee so we use this setting usually with the light-medium roasts. It fills up my travel mug fairly well with enough room to add creamer. I think the 12 oz. size would be good too for my mug and not too weak for my tastes is we had that option. You can also brew a cycle twice on a smaller setting to get similar results, but my mug isn't that big. You just have to play around to see what you like.

My husband has tried some of the hot tea kcups and thought they were very good. We did buy the my kcup for tea. He will dump the teabag into the filter and run it through that way. He thinks the tea tastes better that way rather than running just the hot water through the machine and steeping the tea in the bag. Since he doesn't drink tea as much, it isn't too big of a deal to empty and clean the my kcup (i run it through the dishwasher on the top rack). The teabags are a fraction of the cost of the kcups. We save the tea kcups for company.

I don't mind the hot chocolate, but it is a bit watery. I usually run that on the medium setting so it doesn't get too watered down. I love though that we can brew multiple cups of coffee if company is over and there is ZERO cross contamination between cups. We our Keurig.

 

[lindsmom]

I don't mind the hot chocolate, but it is a bit watery.

We got the cafe escapes milk chocolate (hot chocolate) for DD, and I had read that you need to be sure to shake the cup before using it. We shake the cup each time, and use the smallest setting - found it to be rather creamy. We add a bit of milk also to help cool down and make it a bit richer. JMO.

Also I make sure to run a plain cup of hot water after every hot chocolate so the machine needles are rinsed out before we have coffee.