Keurig good for a college student?

[linnylu]

My DS is a freshman in college and I am trying to think of some things for his Christmas list. He likes hot chocolate a lot. Does a Keurig make a good cup of hot chocolate? What model Keurig would be the best for a college student living in the dorms? If he or his roommate make a cup of coffee and then make hot chocolate afterwards, will the hot chocolate have a coffee taste in it? Where is the best place to get a good price on a Keurig? Do you think these will be a Black Friday item? And where is the best place to buy the K cups?

 

[luvmy3]

Honestly I wouldn't get one for a college student who loves hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love my Keurig but I think the hot cocoa comes out weak. I use mine for the hot water and use regular hot cocoa packets. It wouldn't be worth the cost of teh machine if he just ends up using it as a hot water dispenser. The K-cups keep going up in price and its getting harder and harder to find great deals on the coffee. If you plan on maintaining the supply for him it might help but I don't think a college student is going to use their own precious funds for hot cocoa k-cups

If i am going to use the Keurig for the hot water to make tea or cocoa or oatmeal, I will pour out the first run through before I use the water. Its very simple to use and there is no mess, but there can be a tiny bit of coffee that sits in the cup holder part after use.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think it would be great for a college student, especially one who enjoys hot drinks! It would save a lot of money if he regularly buys coffee or hot chocolate elsewhere.

I personally don't like the hot chocolate or teas in the K cups, so in our house we just use hot chocolate packets and tea bags with the hot water from the Keurig. It took me a while to figure out which coffees I like, but now I know and I do buy those in cups - just bought some at Dunkin Donuts the other day which I haven't a chance to try yet. (I was thinking these would make great XMas gifts.) You can also buy a filter so you can use any ground coffee at a lesser price than the cups. (I'm assuming you'll be supplying these things for him?)

I do not find that tastes blend as the water goes through the cup or the filter without touching anything else.

He could probably get away with the smaller size Keurig. BBB has them with a 20% online coupon (via email) and I've had great customer service there when my first Keurig broke (not uncommon so save your slip). WalMart and other places sell them now, too. I'm sure there'll be sales.

 

[Skatermom23]

Personally, I love the Keurig for coffee and tea only. The hot chocolate is not very good and I have tried them all. I sent my college DD a Sunbeam Hot Shot water dispenser ($20) with a mug and her favorite packaged hot chocolate. This seems to work better for her and her roommate. If you decide to go with the Keurig, Kohl's is the best place to buy them when you have a 30% off coupon.

 

[Robmom]

If they drank coffee, maybe. But just hot chocolate, I don't think it would be good. It just gets too expensive. You could get an electric kettle that boils the water, and then put the packets of hot chocolate in the cup. I was actually in my DD's dorm over the weekend, and I saw 3 electric kettles!

 

[pediatric-rnp]

He could probably get away with the smaller size Keurig. BBB has them with a 20% online coupon (via email) and I've had great customer service there when my first Keurig broke (not uncommon so save your slip). WalMart and other places sell them now, too. I'm sure there'll be sales.

Don't need to save your receipt. Just make sure you register the Keurig. Mine broke after almost two years, I called them, they looked me up from my registration of the machine, and they walked me thru a few processes, and then said it was not fixable and they would ship out a new one - free. (All they asked was that I send the little cup holder back to them.) They really stand by their warantee!

He did ask if I used the hot chocoloate or the cup you can buy to use your own coffe. I said no, and he said both are problematic to the machine.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Don't need to save your receipt. Just make sure you register the Keurig. Mine broke after almost two years, I called them, they looked me up from my registration of the machine, and they walked me thru a few processes, and then said it was not fixable and they would ship out a new one - free. (All they asked was that I send the little cup holder back to them.) They really stand by their warantee!

He did ask if I used the hot chocoloate or the cup you can buy to use your own coffe. I said no, and he said both are problematic to the machine.

I didn't have my receipt, nor had I registered it and they gave me a new one! All she said was, "Yeah, they had a lot of problems with this model". (I did actually have it somewhere at home if I looked hard enough, but when I went in it wasn't a problem.)

There is a youtube video that shows how to fix one of the common problems with the machine, grinds getting stuck in some of the ports. We've fixed someone else's machine after watching the video.

 

[4shinystars]

While personally I think the Keurig makes very weak drinks, one important thing to consider is if the college allows them in the rooms. The university that my daughter is at only allows a microwave oven and dorm sized fridge, no other appliances are allowed.

 

[Sagginit]

we have those at work and they got hot coco last winter. we all thought it was gross and it had this odd oily thing going on. they ended up going back to swiss miss packets b/c no one like the K cups. i agree if he is not a coffee drinker a hot water machine may be better. he can also use the for ramen noodles, a college staple

 

[puffkin]

I will continue the trend. I my Keurig and it is ok for an occassional cup of hot chocolate, but it probably isn't the best option if that is its primary purpose. The hot chocolate is pretty gross and expensive. If he drinks coffee too it may be a good idea, but not if he only drinks hot chocolate.

 

[4formickey]

Honestly I wouldn't get one for a college student who loves hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love my Keurig but I think the hot cocoa comes out weak. I use mine for the hot water and use regular hot cocoa packets. It wouldn't be worth the cost of teh machine if he just ends up using it as a hot water dispenser. The K-cups keep going up in price and its getting harder and harder to find great deals on the coffee. If you plan on maintaining the supply for him it might help but I don't think a college student is going to use their own precious funds for hot cocoa k-cups

.

When I use my keurig for hot cocoa, I mix a couple of spoonfuls of Tim Horton hot cocoa, It taste great and it doesn't have that weak taste to it.

 

[Grimley]

We like the coffee but the hot chocolate is not good. I'd get an electric tea kettle and some Swiss Miss.

 

[TaraPA]

Well it's unanimous, the K-cups of hot chocolate are NOT good! We had some in a mixed box of K-cups & thought they were awful.

 

[linnylu]

Thanks, everyone. He will NOT be getting a Keurig. The hot water thing is interesting, although on Amazon it's gotten bad reviews lately. Anyone have a hot water maker that they would recommend?

 

[akcire]

The reason my husband bought a Tassimo was because the hot chocolate was so much better than any produced with K-cups. His machine uses T-disks. I don't drink hot beverages, so this purchase was his to investigate alone.

If you just want a hot water machine, I bought an electric tea kettle at Walmart for my grandmother-in-law for less than $25.

 

[maggiew]

At my daughter's dorm, they are not allowed to have any type of regular coffee maker (with an exposed heat element). However, they are allowed to have a Keurig type machine.

I bought my DD one at Target last year around Christmas when it was on sale and gave a Target gift card. It was actually a Mr. Coffee style Keurig.

Maggie

 

[tink576]

I sent my college DD a Sunbeam Hot Shot water dispenser ($20) with a mug and her favorite packaged hot chocolate. This seems to work better for her and her roommate.

My roommate had this and we loved it! It was cheep but it made a nice cup of hot water quickly. Great for Hot Chocolate, Tea, Oatmeal, etc...

 

[MrsPete]

If the student has a microwave in his room, I wouldn't bother with a separate item -- not with the limited space in a dorm. We use the microwave to make hot chocolate at home anyway.

Plus, perhaps I've spoiled my girls, but mine will not drink thin hot chocolate made with water -- they've always had it made with milk. It tastes much better. A cup of milk you can heat in the microwave more easily than in a pot of some sort.

 

[leebee]

My roommate had this and we loved it! It was cheep but it made a nice cup of hot water quickly. Great for Hot Chocolate, Tea, Oatmeal, etc...

OH GOOD I just ordered one of these for my DD's birthday. Her dorm won't let them have anything with exposed elements, and no electric tea kettles either because they don't all have an automatic shut-off. DD isn't a huge coffee fan but loves tea, hot cocoa, oatmeal, etc. A friend has also said the Folgers single serve coffee bags (like tea bags only for coffee) aren't all that bad. I got the Hot Shot online through Kohl's; 30% off and free delivery means I paid <$15 for it

 

[bpesch]

KCups are really expensive, so I'm not sure it would be the best gift for a college student.