Wellon Dowd: I find those machines fascinating but have never had the chance to use one. Is the coffee any good? How about if you get one of the refillable cups and use your own beans? I don't fancy paying $25 per pound for coffee already in the cup, especially when the cup and its packaging will end up in a landfill.

I got one for my wife and the coffee was undrinkable to both of us. The taste lingered for a couple of hours and we just sipped it, and we were drinking the milder stuff. Returned it later that evening.

Any method that does not involve a French Press is an inferior method.

//That is all.

Nothing will beat an Aeropress. It's the French Press 2.0 and makes the best damned coffee I've ever had at home. I encouraged my husband to get one and he is in love with the low-acidity of it.

Bladel: I was never a coffee drinker until my wife switched to K cups. Not sure if it's "good" or "not good" but it is definitely consistent: same cup every time.

You sound like a Bud Light drinker.

It is fun to watch the cultural pendulum swing back and forth between efficiency & monoculture versus personalization & process focus.

We used to have Keurig machines at my workplace, but the same coworkers who break the copiers on a regular basis did the same thing with the Keurigs. Now we have Dunkin Donuts-style coffee dispensers.

Of course, Keurigs are infamously cantankerous to begin with.

I just tell the pissed of hipster barista at Starbucks to make mine.

I need to see an actual "K cup". Seems like anything over DD is more than enough.

Amateurs...

You also forgot to add water

Iceboxxx: Wellon Dowd: I find those machines fascinating but have never had the chance to use one. Is the coffee any good? How about if you get one of the refillable cups and use your own beans? I don't fancy paying $25 per pound for coffee already in the cup, especially when the cup and its packaging will end up in a landfill.

I got one for my wife and the coffee was undrinkable to both of us. The taste lingered for a couple of hours and we just sipped it, and we were drinking the milder stuff. Returned it later that evening.

Sounds like you just had sh*tty k-cups. There's a freaking infinite number of varieties out there.

Even easier; google the location of your nearest White Castle, and follow the directions to get there.

What America's best barista really looks like:

Googles "K cups"...

"Related searches: K cup size, K cup bra"

/Will be in my bunk

IntertubeUser: Any method that does not involve a French Press is an inferior method.

//That is all.

French Press??? Aeropress! Heathen!!

...and if you're talking about those pod coffee machines, it seems like a lot of people say Nespresso is better than Keurig, albeit at a higher cost and less variety.

jurisenpai: Nothing will beat an Aeropress. It's the French Press 2.0 and makes the best damned coffee I've ever had at home. I encouraged my husband to get one and he is in love with the low-acidity of it.

I second the Aeropress. Great cup of coffee, and you can just have an espresso if you don't add extra water after you are pressed out.

Hipsters used to like coffee, back when it was cool. Now they're all on yerba mate.

Here's my problem with all these fancy ways of making coffee:

Before I've had my coffee in the morning, its damn near impossible to do anything, nevermind grinding the beans, doing the french press thing.

Its a challenge just to turn on the Keurig, load a K-cup and push 1 button with no caffeine in my system. Also, by the time I'm finished my coffee its time to dash out the door, so cleanup wouldn't happen until I get home.

On the weekend I stumble into a local coffeehouse where they grind their own beans, and the taste is way better, but there is no way I could do that at home.

/Of course once I'm at work I have all the time in the world to post on Fark, as long as I'm at my desk ;-)

Pfft. Here is my daily ritual.

1. Grind one scoop of coffee from here in this.
2. Boil water in an electric kettle.
3. Set up my Aeropress on its end, with the plunger just below the 3 mark.
4. When the water's boiled, pour in water until it hits the 2 mark.
5. Add ground beans. Stir. Let sit for about 45 seconds.
6. Press with a wet filter in the Aeropress into a regular coffee cup. Add one scoop of sugar and a dash of skim milk. Add leftover hot water until it's good to go.
7. Dispose of grounds and filter in the garbage disposal in the sink.

I can do this in my sleep at this point. I've got the timing down such that I can make my fiber drink, take my vitamins, and then have coffee in the same cup using the same spoon. I love my frickin' coffee.

SacriliciousBeerSwiller: Iceboxxx: Wellon Dowd: I find those machines fascinating but have never had the chance to use one. Is the coffee any good? How about if you get one of the refillable cups and use your own beans? I don't fancy paying $25 per pound for coffee already in the cup, especially when the cup and its packaging will end up in a landfill.

I got one for my wife and the coffee was undrinkable to both of us. The taste lingered for a couple of hours and we just sipped it, and we were drinking the milder stuff. Returned it later that evening.

Sounds like you just had sh*tty k-cups. There's a freaking infinite number of varieties out there.

Either that, or you failed to run a few tanks of water through it first. They have a sort of uh... new car taste... that needs to be rinsed out.

1. lay out line of anhydrous caffeine on table
2. snort

It's just coffee

MrMouse: I second the Aeropress. Great cup of coffee, and you can just have an espresso if you don't add extra water after you are pressed out.

I may also lick the foam off the bottom of the plunger cap after pressing. OMG it's just amazing.

Prank Call of Cthulhu: Hipsters used to like coffee, back when it was cool. Now they're all on yerba mate.

People were talking about yerba mate on weightlifting and bodybuilding forums some years back. Haven't heard about it on a while. People love to jump on bandwagons about supposed miracle drug shiat like this, though.

I use to buy expensive beans to grind at home in hopes of making the perfect pot of coffee, but I finally realized I only cared about the caffeine. So, now I just buy instant coffee. It's quick and has little mess to clean up later.

Sure, go ahead and get the pitchforks and torches, but at least I am honest about it.

Weekday mornings are more about an efficient caffeine delivery system, not a good tasting cup of coffee.

Anyone tried caffeine-infused soap in the shower? Does that stuff actually work?

notmtwain: The English Major: Wellon Dowd: How about if you get one of the refillable cups and use your own beans?

That's what I do with mine. We'll get some of the coffee packs too--they've got some unique flavors--and it brews a quick, efficient cup of coffee. I still have my Bunn coffeemaker for use on the weekends but during the week when I just want a cup, not a pot, I use the Keurig.

The Keurigs have the same problem mentioned in the article. Making the coffee concentrate months or years before loses all the best parts of the aroma.

// Take 30 seconds to grind your own beans and don't forget to wash the damned pot. It's not hard.

They make refillable Kurig cup filters now that you can put your own coffee in. After i started grinding my own in to this my old K-cups tasted rather bland - granted they get me by at work but when i can i like to take the time to do that at home.

Inexpensive easy solution - and from Amazon!

Wellon Dowd: I find those machines fascinating but have never had the chance to use one. Is the coffee any good? How about if you get one of the refillable cups and use your own beans? I don't fancy paying $25 per pound for coffee already in the cup, especially when the cup and its packaging will end up in a landfill.

The coffee is okay but not that good. You'll get better coffee at a cafe of course, but it's 4x the price or more and for most people more of a time commitment. You can brew better coffee with other methods, but most take more time. It's a convenience machine above all else. It's the frozen pizza of coffee.

I live on cold brew in the summer. You take 1/3 cup coarse ground coffee to 1.5 cups of filtered water, put it in a vessel, and let it sit for 12-18 hours, and then strain. I make about a week's worth at a time. It stays good in the fridge that long and makes delicious cold coffee all summer long. It's less delicious when heated in the winter, at least to me, but still better than anything I've gotten out of a Keurig and some coffee shops. It's really cheap and is as fast as the Keurig to heat it up every morning plus about 5 minutes once a week. That's my preferred method for convenient coffee.

My Keurig stopped working after a year, bought another one and it did the same thing. I drink too much coffee to use them so I went back to one of these.

kabloink: I use to buy expensive beans to grind at home in hopes of making the perfect pot of coffee, but I finally realized I only cared about the caffeine. So, now I just buy instant coffee. It's quick and has little mess to clean up later.

Sure, go ahead and get the pitchforks and torches, but at least I am honest about it.

I've pondered buying an expensive grinder (which you should ideally spend more on than the brewing apparatus itself) and a high quality plumbed-in espresso machine.

Then I realized the only way I use espresso is by mixing it with milk or half and half, and sweetener, and that I don't need a perfect shot. Still, I'm sure for the discerning coffeephile, even when mixed with something they want it perfect. I can't justify spending a lot when I'm losing a lot of the flavor in the mix. Maybe if I drank straight shots it'd be different.

I bet it's Hell getting that woman to orgasm.

To make great cup of coffee you have to drink it. It's key. It will taste great, wake you up, warm you up and probably make you want to hit the bathroom if you haven't already that day.

Drink it. Ends up a great cup everytime for me. Don't pour it over your eyes or anything. That would be a tremendously awful cup of coffee.

kabloink: I use to buy expensive beans to grind at home in hopes of making the perfect pot of coffee, but I finally realized I only cared about the caffeine. So, now I just buy instant coffee. It's quick and has little mess to clean up later.

Sure, go ahead and get the pitchforks and torches, but at least I am honest about it.

Yeeeeeep!

Wellon Dowd: ...especially when the cup and its packaging will end up in a landfill.

We recycle the used K-cups in batches: the filters and grounds go into the compost bin, the foils get wadded into a ball and go into the metal / plastic recycle bin with the cups after a quick rinse. It can be a bit of a pain in the ass when they build up after a few days but overall it's still less effort than making a whole pot of coffee, especially a pot that will largely go to waste when it burns in between cups.

Iceboxxx: I got one for my wife and the coffee was undrinkable to both of us. The taste lingered for a couple of hours and we just sipped it, and we were drinking the milder stuff. Returned it later that evening.

You need to run plain water through it several times, after taking it out of the box. Otherwise the first batch of cups will taste of plastic.

(my parents almost returned theirs for the same reason, until I pointed out the "setup guide" in the box said you needed to do that.)

louiedog: I live on cold brew in the summer. You take 1/3 cup coarse ground coffee to 1.5 cups of filtered water, put it in a vessel, and let it sit for 12-18 hours, and then strain. I make about a week's worth at a time. It stays good in the fridge that long and makes delicious cold coffee all summer long. It's less delicious when heated in the winter, at least to me, but still better than anything I've gotten out of a Keurig and some coffee shops. It's really cheap and is as fast as the Keurig to heat it up every morning plus about 5 minutes once a week. That's my preferred method for convenient coffee.

I should also add that this makes concentrated coffee. 9 cups by volume turns into a dozen or more mugs of coffee after it's cut with water.