Love my Keurig!

Best gift I *ever* received. I have used my Keurig for almost a year now on a daily basis, and I love it. I have tried Tassimo, and owned the Senseo, and neither of them compare to the quality of the coffee, the simplicity of the system, or the sheer pleasure you get from the Keurig. I like my coffee with cream (and occasionally with sugar) but can drink it black from the Keurig as well, since it's just really good coffee. My favorite K-Cups are Newman's Special Bold, Newman's Decaf, and Caribou Colombian. I like the more dense flavors of coffee in general, but also enjoyed the "Donut Shop" blend and have had the other Caribou and Gloria Jean's flavors as well and enjoyed them too. Yes, the coffee can be a little expensive when you break it down by the cost per cup, compared to other home coffee makers. That said, if you shop around for deals or buy in quantity, you can get Keurig coffee for 25 cents to 50 cents a cup in the flavors and blends you like. (Right now, for example, the Obama or McCain blends which are the "Donut Shop" k-cups, just repackaged, are $8.00 a box of 24, which comes to 33 cents a cup, and they qualify for free Amazon super saver shipping.

As for the Keurig unit itself, it is SO easy. I fill it with water every other day or so, but there is virtually NO cleanup or maintenance necessary. My wife doesn't drink coffee, so I used to waste a lot, and I hated making a pot and then having to clean up the grounds and filter, or clean out the glass pot or metal carafe. I used to use a Krups coffee maker with a thermal carafe that made great coffee, but I have not been disappointed in the slightest with the Keurig's quality of coffee. Plus, there is something cool about having friends over and asking them if they want a cup of coffee, and then making one specific to their preferences, brewed in less than a minute at 192 degrees. Even better, this Thanksgiving we had people over and three wanted regular coffee, two wanted decaf, and one asked if we had any hazelnut coffee. Not a problem for any of them!

If you want good coffee, and a fast way to make a single cup, the Keurig will serve you well. I definitely consider it my favorite home appliance, and I even take it on weekend golf getaways so that I am not without my Keurig in the morning!

[Sunday, November 30, 2008]

Owned three- here's my review

I've owned three of these brewers and a few friends also own one. Here's my humble opinion after several years of use:
1. I wish the Kcups were a bit larger so I could make stronger coffee at the larger size. To get around it, I bought the cup that let's me fill with my own coffee. I grind it fine and can get a pretty strong cup- even at 15 ozs.
2. Most people that use the brewer punch the medium followed by the small fill size to make a 15oz. cup. Most seem to like the flavor, but I think it's a bit weak. See point #1.
3. MOST IMPORTANT: Every Keurig coffee maker that I own has failed. Even every one of my friends have all had their's fail. This seems very abnormal- even when we've bought ours years apart (it's not just a bad batch). I've owned these brewers since early 2000 and I just bought another replacement with the same issue. I've had 3 different models- the most recent was a B60. Now I'm trying the Platinum. The problem appears to be with some sort of sensor that fills the cup which seems to wear out quickly. The problem starts: either it only fills half way (compared to what it should do) or it just does not fill at all when pressing the flashing fill button.
to Keurig's defense- they replace it with no questions AS LONG AS IT's UNDER the 1 yr WARRANTY. I buy all my coffee from Keurig and they did not give me a break. I spend approx $75 every three months. That is a bit disappointing.
When I spoke with customer service on my last brewer- they told to expect 3 yrs from the maker. I find this a bit of a problem for a coffee maker that costs $150 (B60 and 70). why do I keep buying it? Because I have all this coffee that will go to waste and when it works- I like it.
4. I use the brewer at home in my home-based business and everyone that uses it- ends up buying one. But, we've ALL had problems with the brewer.

If it was more reliable, I would rate it a 5, but I'm rating it a 2 because of reliability issues.

[Wednesday, November 26, 2008]

I want very much to like this coffee maker, but . . .

As someone who researches a product extensively before purchase, I thought I had found a winner in the Keurig B60 Special Edition brewing system. And honestly, there IS a lot to like about it. No grinding or measuring of coffee is a HUGE plus. There are lots of different brands of K-Cups out there to choose from, so the coffee choice is not limited, which was one of my fears when I purchased this brewer. On top of that, being able to brew one cup at a time at a preferred size setting is incredibly convenient.

However, there are enough negatives about this coffee maker that I just can't recommend it. First, the coffee is weak, even on the smallest size setting. It's not bitter, which is good, but most of the K-Cups produce a less-than-flavorful blend. Regular coffee, flavored coffee, decaf coffee -- I tried it all with the same results. In desperation (because I am actually a light-to-medium roast fan), I tried the Extra Bold K-Cups that are out there with MUCH better results, but there aren't too many varieties of Extra Bold to choose from at this time. So I ended up with a limited coffee choice after all.

The other issue I had with this brewer is that about six months after I purchased it, the display would say "ready to brew," but when I pushed the button, nothing happened for a few minutes. Then it did brew -- the entire contents of the reservoir! I had a huge mess all over my kitchen. I called Keurig to get support and was told that 1) I probably needed to descale (run vinegar through it for a full cleaning); and 2) to unplug it for a few hours to let it "reset."

I did both of these things, and lo and behold, the coffee maker worked like new again -- for about three weeks. Then it was back to its old tricks. At Keurig's suggestion, I kept descaling and unplugging until one day, about a year and a half after purchase, it started brewing and spitting water and steam out the top, and nothing I could do would get it to stop. Of course, this was after the warranty period had expired!

I will admit that it's entirely possible I got a lemon. I know and fully accept that this happens sometimes with electronic devices. With all the other folks on here raving about this exact coffee maker, I wonder if I just got a bad one. Or maybe I didn't descale enough in the first six months that I had it and that caused some kind of problem.

Still, I have heard and read similar comments about the weakness of the brew these coffee makers produce. And it would have been nice if Keurig customer service had seen fit to replace my coffee maker within the warranty period rather than simply telling me to descale and unplug.

The Keurig brewers are expensive, and so I expected something very solid and exceptional. Unfortunately, I think my old Hamilton Beach Brewstation did a better job at half the price. I see why people like these Keurig brewers, and maybe someday I'll try one again to see if they've been improved. But for now, I think I'll replace this brewer with something completely different.

[Tuesday, November 25, 2008]

Customers who bought this item also bought: