The Keurig 2.0 is a quality coffee maker, but it isn’t the right choice for everybody. While this latest revolution in K-Cup coffee makers offers new features, it may also remove some flexibility that folks enjoyed with earlier models and other brands. Consider some of the pros and cons of this machine to decide if it is the best machine for you.
What’s To Like About The Keurig 2.0?
Most of these new drip coffee makers are famous for their ability to make one quick cup of coffee at a time. The novel thing about this machine is that you can choose to make one or four cups at a time. That’s right. You can fill up a cup or the included carafe in order serve guests or simply have a few cups of coffee made.
Also, the machine produces a very consistently good cup of coffee each and every time when used according to the directions. With that said, not everybody has the same definition of a good cup of coffee and that will be covered later.
People who have already tried this new machine are delighted with two things. They love how quiet and quick it is. It is even programmable, so you can have a hot cup of coffee waiting for you when you stumble into the kitchen after you first wake up. This is a very neat feature, and this machine is also quite easy to program.
What Don’t Consumers Like About The Keurig 2.0?
The biggest problem is that this machine does not take other brands of coffee packs. That means they must be purchased with the brand label, and they may be quite expensive. K-Cups are available in many stores, and they may be cheaper online. Still it is not unusual to pay at least a dollar a cup for these disposable packs. When people have the option to shop for different brands of disposable packs they may save money.
The machine is fairly expensive too. It retails for over $160 online. It is a very good quality machine, and it appeals to people who like their machines to run well. Maybe some of these people are not as sensitive to the price of the disposable coffee packs either.
Reusable Keurig Filters
There is a solution to only buying K-Cup packs. You can also purchase a reusable coffee filter. To use it, you have to take out the K-Cup pack holder. Even though you may see these refillable filters sold in stores, make sure that you buy the Keurig brand. It retails for about $8, and it is probably a good accessory to consider in order to get the most out of the machine.
These filters let you grind your own coffee beans or buy any ground coffee. This might be a more frugal way to buy coffee. Also, it eliminates the waste of the K-Cup packaging. One of the biggest arguments against using this machine is all of the extra trash it generates when a pack has to get disposed of after each cup of coffee. A reusable filter seems like a more environmentally friendly and more frugal choice.
Buying K-Cup Packs
If you are set on using the disposable packs, you might consider joining Keurig’s special club that offers big discounts to members. Regular coffee drinkers are likely to save money this way. Since you have to use K-Cup packs, you might as well find the cheapest way to buy them. Since the cartons of packs can get delivered in the mail, it is also a pretty convenient way to buy coffee.
There are plenty of different flavors of K-Cups. This includes different blends of coffee and blends that have different flavors. It isn’t really likely that most coffee drinkers can complain that the company doesn’t make a blend they like.
Mixing Your Own Blends
Still, some people prefer mixing their own blends and flavors. Also, some folks would rather have more control over the strength of their coffee or even the amount of caffeine that they drink. For example, to mix strengths of caffeine, you would have to make one cup of decaf and one cup of non-decaf coffee. Then you have to mix them together. If you are not limited to using packs, it is a lot easier to just mix in 1/2 decaf with 1/2 non-decaf.
Approach To Latte
The company has this little powder packet which basically serves as a creamer. Even though there was some confusion about the machine’s ability to make lattes, it really doesn’t. If you want an express or latte maker, you need a different type of machine and not this one.
Problems With The Keurig 2.0
The main problems people seem to have are when they use the refillable and reusable filters. Some people say the stream of hot water just drills down through the ground coffee, so the cup comes out too week. Others have trouble figuring out how to get the little device to fit, and they don’t realize that they need to take out the original holder to put it in.
A cynical person might almost suspect that Keurig dropped their usual quality on these reusable filters as a way to encourage people to keep buying the disposables. When you consider the fact that the filter only costs about eight bucks and each pack may cost over one dollar, it wouldn’t be surprising.
Is The Keurig 2.0 A Good Choice?
There are a lot of good things about this machine. It is a quality machine that holds up over time. It is also easy to program, can produce up to four cups at a time, and produces a tasty and consistent cup of coffee. Besides, there are dozens of different flavor and blend choices, and the machine makes it very easy to make them. Also, there is little mess to clean up. If these benefits are important, this might be the perfect coffee machine for you.
