Coffee is one of the most important beverages in the world. It helps many people get through their day with its stimulative properties. It has an important role in social gatherings. It can also be quite tasty, considering its massive usage in desserts or as a pairing with desserts. Coffee is very varied, with over 120 species, and, a myriad of methods of growing and processing it, all of which can substantially affect its flavor and aroma. But, the fun part is brewing and consuming it. There are various methods of brewing coffee, alongside the infinite combinations of serving it (sweeteners, creamers, spices).
The most used brewing methods of coffee are already convenient, fast, and don’t compromise on its quality. So, what the Keurig? They decided that coffee brewing was too hard and time consuming, so much so they made it into a 3 step process. Insert a K-Cup into their proprietary coffee maker, press a button, place your cup, and wait 1-3 minutes for your single serving of coffee. Simple and convenient, right? Except, it’s not. Their coffee maker is useless on its own, as it entirely depends on K-Cups.
K-Cups are proprietary, tiny plastic cups that contain coffee grounds; various coffee brands manufacture these. Their coffee maker simply punctures the cup and brews it. The most basic machine has a starting price of around $50, with pricier ones providing additional brewing options (there’s not much you can customize, however). K-Cups are a significantly more expensive purchase than a bag of coffee too. At minimum, 200% more, and up to 500% more.
When you consider that a real coffee maker, such as this Black & Decker, can make a cup of coffee a minute (12 cups; 12 minutes), is $60 and has a built in grinder. Keurig is the Apple of coffee; trying to oversimplify something that is already simple, and overpricing everything with inferior quality. K-Cups are rather polluting; mass manufactured plastic cups never bode well with the environment. And as mass produced goods go, Keurig K-Cups tend to be more inferior in quality than a normal bag of coffee (maximum freshness comes from using whole coffee beans, by the way)