I have a single serve Keurig that does what I want it to. And the pods are convenient and not too expensive (thank you Costco). But I want to broaden my choices so got one of the purple filter/cup things to load my own. Worst tasting coffee ever. Weak as a new-born kitten. Tried with/without paper filter; fancy-schmancy gold filter; loose fill, packed fill. Nada. Am I doing something wrong? What success has anyone else had? Thanks.

I've only been able to "brew my own" with the my cup by using a coarse grind packed full, and 6oz cup size.

It makes it so much work to empty/clean/repeat for anything larger that I just use pre-made k-cups and use my drip brewer for "regular" coffee.

My wife is the larger coffee snob in our house, so we have a regular drip brewer, K-Cup machine, and a Nespresso machine, I'm just glad we have the space for her "coffee" station and it all fits/stay organized!

I used to buy the expensive K-cup filter pods but after realizing that the cheap ones from Amazon work just as well, I started using them. I use 6 in rotation then toss them after a year and put 6 new ones into rotation. I think I paid like $15 for 10-12 of them from Amazon. I always wash them in the dishwasher after use or at least rinse well with very hot water.

The KEY is the coffee has to be on the FINER side, your typical Folgers with its coarser grind makes a crappy, weak cup of coffee. I use these two coffees with good results and both are more finely ground than American coffee:


From supermarket/Walmart etc:


From Aldi:

Community Coffee K-cups are dirt cheap on Amazon . Not worth the effort for the reusable pods .

I've never read anything good about those pack-/fill-your-own K-Cup baskets.

Was at my local roaster's a couple weeks ago, picking up coffee, and they were loading K-Cup pods. Asked the guy how well they worked. He said they worked very well & were quite popular.

When I asked him how they compared to their freshly-roasted whole bean, freshly-ground just before brewing, in an Aeropress, he replied "Not as good as that."

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:


When I asked him how they compared to their freshly-roasted whole bean, freshly-ground just before brewing, in an Aeropress, he replied "Not as good as that."

Well duh

You're going apples and oranges here

I still have good results with the two coffees I posted, as good as brewing in a drip coffee pot.

I make my own paper filters from Market Basket brand filters for a fraction of a penny for each filter. I can make 3 pod filters with one full sized paper filter. The coffee comes out good, with a nice clean taste.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
When I asked him how they compared to their freshly-roasted whole bean, freshly-ground just before brewing, in an Aeropress, he replied "Not as good as that."

Well duh

You're going apples and oranges here

They were loading those pods with freshly-roasted, freshly-ground estate Arabica coffee, so explain, please, why that's a "Well duh " question?

I can't wait. Particularly in light of...

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I still have good results with the two coffees I posted, as good as brewing in a drip coffee pot.

Oh really? Since the coffee I can brew in a good drip machine is essentially indistinguishable from that I prepare using an Aeropress, from the same freshly-roasted, freshly-ground coffee, please explain the dichotomy between your two comments.

I already explained that...

The coffee has to be more finely ground, is the coffee you are referring to more finely ground or is it the typical American grind?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I already explained that...

The coffee has to be more finely ground, is the coffee you are referring to more finely ground or is it the typical American grind?

It was being packaged by the roaster, in a commercial machine.

In addition to selling direct-to-consumer, they sell roasted whole-bean and ground coffee to restaurants and stores across the country. They have drum roasters as tall as our house. Maybe taller. They manufacture and sell a commercial fluid-bed air roaster they developed in-house. (Last I knew those started at somewhere around $20k.)

They have buyers they send to green coffee auctions where the offerings are rated in cupping competitions. They buy the stuff by the pallet-loads.

One presumes they know what they're doing

Coffee threads always seem to turn into pissing contests . It's COFFEE for God's sakes .

Check out Maud's Coffee. Very reasonable and good.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Coffee threads always seem to turn into pissing contests . It's COFFEE for God's sakes .

Kinda like any thread talking about using a 22 for self defense!

I have had an off brand filter basket for a couple years and was never satisfied. I used it but at some point misplaced the thing. 6 months or so ago I replaced it with a Kuerig brand, I’m happy as could be.

The Keureg model hold roughly twice as many grounds and puts out a pretty good cup of coffee. If you’re intent on using your own grind through a Kuereg I’d urge you to get the real thing.

I found the same thing-turns out weak. I started brewing it in “BOLD” mode for our kuerig.

Make a cup of coffee in regular and one in BOLD and pour into a clear glass..you can’t see thru the BOLD stuff and that’s what I like.

Tastes great (I think-still can’t taste or smell since September when I had C19)

Also, my machine will hold enough grounds for what they call “two” cups of coffee…but let’s be real no one , and I mean NO ONE, drinks an 8oz cup of coffee….so grounds for two cups and set on bold….it’s a step away from espresso it not watered down river water.

I use the paper filters, they catch more grinds than the fancy gold mesh basket

I've been using the "my k-cup" devices for years and years.

However, I buy Kona coffee only and grind my own before brewing and that works very well.

Thanks, all. This is the cheap-o Mini with no strength settings. I'll try some of your suggestions and grind my beans on a finer setting.

Yup like PASig said it’s all in the grind.

https://www.deathwishcoffee.co...talk/reusable-k-cups

I find an 80% fill works best. A full load of coffee actually come out weaker for me.

quote:

Originally posted by yanici:
I make my own paper filters from Market Basket brand filters for a fraction of a penny for each filter. I can make 3 pod filters with one full sized paper filter. The coffee comes out good, with a nice clean taste.

maybe I don't understand here... doesn't the little spike on the bottom of the K-cup holder put a hole in the home-made filter?

or are you putting the home-made filter in something else and making a k-cup type of thing.

???