Ok this doesn't fit anywhere and maybe no one will care to reply but I just wanted to ask and my gaming communities would surely look at me even more strangely if I ask there!

Ok my son just broke the only carafe that we had for our coffee maker. I have to replace it or get something else.

The thing is I've been eyeing the keurig line of coffee makers. Since we drink a bit of coffee but dont' really drink an entire pot all at once (3 of us) ... it tends to last the whole day and we end up reheating our coffee a lot. So a single cup maker has me intrigued.

I'm wondering, I do like the coffee from Keurig but the only showstopper would be, does it end up costing more this way? Just curious of anyone's experience if you have one of these makers.

Thanks!
~S4

[Inedible]

You can get single cup coffee filter holders. They sit over your mug and you pour boiling water through them. You will tend to use more grounds to get the same taste, but not too much more.

Some coffee makers brew into a large thermos bottle rather than having a hot plate. This will be the next kind I get when eventually I need to. They stay hot for hours and do not scorch your coffee.

If you don't grind your own beans right before brewing, it is totally worth it.

Cone filters are best.

There are re-usable filters, but I don't like the taste.

Course ground coffee works best in a french press. You can get large french presses for multiple drinks. This is another solution to consider. The taste is slightly different.

Cold brew coffee. It makes a sort of concentrated extract that you keep in your fridge. When you are ready you just add some to boiling water.

For hot water solutions, there are electric water heaters that look like teapots but they sit on the counter and plug in. They boil water faster than a microwave.

And if you have never made cocoa mix with hot coffee you don't know what you are missing.

[Permanent Pajamas]

I recommend a french press. It's a bit labor intensive to clean up but short of an espresso machine it brews the best cup and you can easily adjust the number of cups you brew.

I never make grind recommendations because everyone's palate is different. You have to experiment with that. I will say that you shouldn't use a blade grinder if you want a really good cup, but if that's all you have that's okay.

There's no comparing fresh and reheated coffee S4m4...I think you know that and any small expense extra for fresher cups would soon have you thinking it's worth the while! God I could use a fresh brewed right now...ya got me salivating!

[Inedible]

Originally Posted by Permanent Pajamas

I never make grind recommendations because everyone's palate is different. You have to experiment with that. I will say that you shouldn't use a blade grinder if you want a really good cup, but if that's all you have that's okay.

I just mean that the grounds should be coarse enough to not go through the filter of the french press.

[Permanent Pajamas]

Originally Posted by Inedible

I just mean that the grounds should be coarse enough to not go through the filter of the french press.

I understand. With most grinds he should be okay.

[Inedible]

My preference is for really fine grounds. I have them go through the filter every time I use a french press. That's why I have given away every french press I have ever owned. Every few years I think about trying again because I like the idea.

We have a Keurig. If you shop around you can have coffee for about 50 cents a cup. Does it get any cheaper than that? My only qualm is all the wasted plastic.

The Keurig is a great devise and works well but I can't guarantee how much money you'd save. You can buy a devise for the Keurig where you can use your regular ground coffee brand as long as you don't mind cleaning it in between cups.

[radio_flyer]

My sister has a Keurig and she loves it.. I use a French Press and I love it. I never heard of a French Press until AJ brought one home. Mine is a one cup which works for me because I can only drink fresh coffee...

[AAAAA]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Keurig. The K cups are more expensive, BUT you can buy the insert for $20 and fill it with your own coffee. There is a trick to getting it in so let me know if you need directions how, I did.

[ibex]

Im surprised percolators aren't back in vogue. I had coffee from a keurig and it comes no where close to as good as my grandparents serve. I know what Im getting for myself. My two cents though.

[Permanent Pajamas]

Percolators are the absolute worst way to make coffee. They boil the coffee, recycling it through the old grounds.

I recommend the following web site if you want information about making good coffee:

CoffeeGeek

[RomanSunburn]

I'd have to agree, my favorite cup of coffee is a peculator. My mother had one that was all glass pieces that sat on the stovetop. Made amazing coffee. It seems the only ones you can get now are giant metal versions for camping or electric ones. I don't think s4 would like one, though, because he'd probably end up reheating coffee all day. (Which, I have to ask, what's the difference between "recycling" the water and the coffee grounds just sitting in the water...?)

One warning about the French press -- it brews a stronger cup of coffee than a drip pot. I also only like French press if someone else is in charge of cleaning the darn thing. I do like the slightly thicker texture of French press, though. Again, unless you only brew one cup at a time (which is possible), you'll be reheating coffee. It also takes some work figuring out how much coffee grounds you need for your specific taste.

I think a Keurig is good for people who just want a quick, decent cup of coffee. Like someone mentioned, you can get itty bitty filters so you can use your own grounds instead of a million k-cups. This will definitely be cheaper than k-cups, if you compare the cost of a box of k-cups with cost of a can of ground coffee in the grocery store. I'm not sure how long it would take to break even, though, with the cost of the keurig itself. But the other nice thing about keurig is you can also make hot chocolate, hot cider, and tea with it. My one compliant (or, I suppose my biggest complaint) is how hot the water gets. Seriously, it's hot. It's worse than when I use my tea kettle... One other thing to consider with the keurig is there are several different models in different price ranges. It mostly comes down to how often you want to fill the water reservoir. The cheapest model you have to fill every time you make a drink. Also, different versions have the option to make different cup sizes, which generally makes your coffee stronger or weaker because there's only one size k-cup. They do have "extra strong" or "bold" flavor coffees, which people generally recommend using when you're brewing, say, a travel mug size cup of coffee. But again, it's still the same amount of coffee... I DID hear that some brand of instant coffee makers (I can't remember if it was keurig, or a different brand) was making some that somehow have extra coffee for bigger cups? But I don't know much about that at all.

Anyways, that's all the information I got... Hope it helped a little!

[ibex]

Originally Posted by Permanent Pajamas

Percolators are the absolute worst way to make coffee. They boil the coffee, recycling it through the old grounds.

I recommend the following web site if you want information about making good coffee:

CoffeeGeek

Umm and tastes so much better than under cooked grounds. Drip coffee makers do a major suck at proper heating temp. And my stomach doth protest. A perk is much better , it keeps the coffee hot longer than a glass carafe on a heating element. Yes it cooks the grounds over and over. Its supposed to so it can have thorough saturation and cooking. Theres other perks to a perco. I am biased.

When it comes down to gourmet if you are lookingat a kuerig I think it such a waste of money. You could buy one from the netherlands with consistent water heating temps. The kuerig has all these cool whistle and bells, novel thingies but it does not ALWAYS cook the coffee properly. Its a 200 to 300 dollar investment, its your money. I lean more towards european, eg, an espresso maker the Bailetti. I see this in the department store I shop in. I wonder how much that saves compared to starbucks. That espresso maker is common to have in kitchens of italy. Its 30 dollars. And don't forget the French press.

So much diversity to choose from but in all the novelty we sometimes forget that it should come with quality.

[Permanent Pajamas]

[Inedible]

My grandmother had a percolator, too. I agree that it is the worst way to brew.

[ibex]

Another great thing about a perco. They last a long time. my gp's died after 34 years. Replaced it with a shiny new one from wal mart for forty buckes about 5 years ago. It just makes the family proud, oorah. Cant beat that savings. Tried and true. Ha Ha Ha

[sweathers81]

i would look at coffee4less.com last time i checked it was 41 cents a cup for the keurig. i love mine. and you can get a box of assorted flavors if you like. theres alot to choose from. i think its a great investment for coffee lovers

[Permanent Pajamas]

My objective is to encourage people to have the best possible experience with coffee for their money, which is why I am steering them away from the percolator.

[RomanSunburn]

I still want to know the difference between the grounds sitting in the water and the water repeatedly flowing through the grounds..?

[Permanent Pajamas]

The percolator method is the least desirable for a couple of reasons.

First, it "brews" at too high a temperature and burns the oils in the beans resulting in a bitter cup.

Second, because it continuously cycles the "brew" over the grounds it overextracts, also resulting in a bitter cup.

Properly brewed coffee has a myriad of flavors and aromas. I'd be crucified by my coffee snob friends for saying this but buy a bag of whole bean arabica from the grocery store and grind it right before you brew it, preferably not in a percolator.

You will taste the difference. Now imagine a cup with the right equipment and freshly roasted beans.

It's pure heaven.

We get little enough pleasure in this world. I believe we at least deserve a great cup of coffee.

[AAAAA]

I agree that with any method, you are going to get a better cup of coffee if you grind your own beans. I have never had a good cup of coffee from a perculator, but then again, the only coffee I've had from a perculator was either camping or an electric one at our family's cottage.

I perfer strong coffee. Even so, I use the largest setting on my Keurig to make my coffee. My daughter had the smaller one (one size, fill every time) in college and that was much too strong for my tastes.

For some people their opinion's on coffee are just as sensitive as politics or religion. At my husband's last duty station he would trade his duty for the weekends so that the kids and I could be out there with him. Part of the duty included cleaning. I jumped in and helped him out and got him in a whole lot of trouble. I took an SOS pad and comet to the coffee cups out there and got them sparkling clean. Turns out that the Master Chief had had the same coffee cup for the last 25 years and it had never been washed . Well I got it as white as snow. He was not happy.

[Permanent Pajamas]

Thanks for the laugh. That was gross.

Tbh I didn't think this thread would get much attention. Boy you people really love your coffee huh!? Wow I feel like i'm on a gamer site with fanbois of one console opposing the other consoles here haha only now it's coffee and brewing methods!

Actually I've tried every method there is mentioned here. I do like the french press coffee but it's a pain. Good coffee though. Percolators, well it's been years since I've had coffee that way so I can't speak to the taste or quality. I've had many espresso machines and when I have the space for one I'll surely get another. Had a very expensive Pump driven system that made perfect espresso with beautiful crema on top - sign of good espresso (when it's made quickly and very hot, you get a sort of "tan" foam on top, that's the crema). I've tried the microground instant starbucks, freeze dried folgers crap, and everything in between. I say it's all a matter of taste and all of us are different.

I ended up getting a Keurig Mini. Not super expensive and you have to fill it each time but then having water sitting there for awhile isn't all that great for good coffee anyway. I had tried keurigs before and I did like it so it wasn't a question of taste. I was able to pick up 16 or 18 packs of kcups for about $7.50 at walmart so not too expensive. I tried the samples it came with and so far I like all that's come out. The french roast (dark) is very bold and strong as it should be, the medium roast was pretty good too. One that I really liked was the caramel flavored, that i bought a whole pack of. I like it because it's a mix, not just coffee, it came out creamer, sweetened and everything muss no fuss with that! We have a winner! For a regular cup I like the Donut shop which I also got a pack of.

My kids that love coffee too are loving the machine. The love that they can just grab a kcup start it up, fill it and voila! great coffee (and no more broken carafes!)

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and input on this!