I've been drinking Starbucks French Roast for some time. It's never been great but was acceptable. Recently it just tastes off. Muddy, not even like coffee. I want rich smooth coffee. I use heavy cream an no sugar (keto).

Any recommendations?

Can’t recommend K cup options as I still do it old school… However, Peet’s Major Dickinson’s blend seems to go over really well for people seeking that stronger rich smooth flavor.

I like McCafe French roast.

Green Mountain Dark Magic.

Or, if you can get it, Tim's Parisian Nights.

Have a look at Caribou Coffee. I’ve been getting their dark roast decafs for months since I dumped BRCC. I don’t use K-cups, though…regular Mr. Coffee brewer. I think it’s a good cup of coffee. Like you, I use cream only in my coffee.

https://www.cariboucoffee.com/...uct-category/coffee/

Costco - pacific bold

a commonly available and surprisingly good dark roast k-cup is 1850 Black Gold.

They recently changed the box

Newman's Own Special Blend I found to be an acceptable K-cup option with a smooth, bold flavor.

I tried to enjoy k-cup coffee but could never find anything strong enough.

I put 4 scoops into my coffee machine to make one cup.

Has anyone tried Nespresso? Any stronger?

The problem with any K-Cup coffee, is that IME it's not really possible to get a 'rich' cup of coffee. IMO the issue is that too much water and/or not enough coffee is used in the brewing process. In order to get a strong rich cup of coffee, another brewing process is necessary. Though K-Cups are quick and easy, brewing a small pot of drip coffee is NOT much longer/harder, and the end result is MUCH better! If you want 'strong rich coffee' K-Cups ain't the way...

Peet's is probably the best mass market coffee available. It is, however pretty expensive stuff.

My Publix regularly has Gevalia Majestic Roast on BOGO and at that price, it's a bargain, and excellent.

Community Coffee Dark Roast is also pretty good, but not 'special' in any way.

Compared to what's out there, the selection available as K-cups is pretty meager.

A combination of whole-bean coffee, a good burr grinder, and reusable K-Cup containers will get you the flexibility to get whatever style of coffee you want.

LavAzza Classico Medium Roast. That's my favorite by far. Tastes like coffee, no chemical or bitter flavors. I don't use any cream.

I have had great K-Cups in the past. I switched to K-cups when I found that the difference in flavor wasn't enough to warrant the cost and time I was spending on my French Press.

But the quality of most seems to have dropped. A long time ago there was this Van Houtte's Eclipse Blend. It was awesome but discontinued.f.

I may get back into trying different grinds and brew methods, but for now I'm just looking for the quick cup when heading out to work.

I will try some of the options noted and report back.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I have had great K-Cups in the past. I switched to K-cups when I found that the difference in flavor wasn't enough to warrant the cost and time I was spending on my French Press.

I may get back into trying different grinds and brew methods, but for now I'm just looking for the quick cup when heading out to work.

Grab an inexpensive electric kettle (~$30), an inexpensive coffee grinder (~$30), some #2 paper filters, some whole coffee beans, and this ~$18 Oxo pour-over: https://www.oxo.com/pour-over-...with-water-tank.html

For well under $100, you'll have the ability to quickly and easily make a much-better-than-average cup of coffee, with minimal hassle and cleanup. (Then from there, you can get fancier if you so choose, with a higher end burr coffee grinder, a better/faster kettle, etc.)

1. Put water in electric kettle and turn on. Within a couple minutes, you'll have boiling water.
2. While water is boiling, grind coffee beans to a medium grind, put a filter in the bottom half of the pour-over, and add the freshly ground coffee to the filter. Then put the water reservoir top half on the pour-over, and put the whole thing on top of your travel coffee mug.
3. Once the water is ready, pour hot water from the kettle into the water reservoir, filling to the line that corresponds to the size of your coffee cup. (I fill to the very top of the reservoir, which is ~14 oz and fills my 16 oz travel mug with enough space for a splash of milk plus a little extra room to spare for potholes.)
4. Wait a couple minutes for the hot water to filter through the pour-over. Once the water is gone, toss the used grounds and filter in the trash, and head out to work with your fresh cup of coffee. Put the pour-over in the dishwasher once a week or so.

Takes about the same amount of time as a Keurig does to heat water and brew a cup, and makes a much higher quality cup of coffee, all without having to buy overpriced single-use K cups.

(And unlike fancier pour-overs, there's no need to follow convoluted pouring instructions, some of which are very literally like: "Pour 50 grams of 205 degree water over grounds and wait 45 seconds to bloom, then slowly pour 275 grams of 205 degree water over top of the grounds in four counter-clockwise rotations taking 35 seconds to make each complete rotation..." With the Oxo, you just fill with hot water and go on with your morning routine while it takes care of all the water metering.)

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I have had great K-Cups in the past. I switched to K-cups when I found that the difference in flavor wasn't enough to warrant the cost and time I was spending on my French Press.

My situation was similar. I now use the "My K-cup" with Kona coffee I grind at the house.

The new Keurig machines allow you to set the Brew Strength and Temperature. Definitely a major improvement.

Longbottom

Pricey, but worth it!

Only downside is they are so densely full of coffee that sometimes selecting an 8 oz fill for example doesn't give a full run of coffee. Easy solution was just to pick 10 oz and walk away with my ~8 oz full cup of much stronger/richer coffee.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
The new Keurig machines allow you to set the Brew Strength and Temperature. Definitely a major improvement.

Our Keurig K-Cup machine had those features, but I could still never get a 'rich' cup of coffee out of it...Too much water (even on the smallest cup setting) and/or not enough coffee for my taste. To me, even if the coffee had good flavor, it still tasted diluted/watered down. My other issue was that most all of the strong(er) coffee blends (basically French Roast and beyond) always seems to just taste burnt, kinda like ALL Starbucks coffee!

To me the Keurig/K-Cup machine is kinda' like the iPhone of coffee makers. It's easy and you can do almost any flavor you want...As long as you do it the K-Cup way! To add context, my recipe for what IMO is a rich cup of coffee is 4 rounded scoops (1/8 cup size) of coffee for every 10 oz. of water. And honestly, how long does it really take to set up a drip coffee maker to brew a small poet (10-20 oz) of coffee. In the meantime, I just do other shit (that I have to do anyway!) while it's brewing. Ultimately it's ready when I'm ready to drink it, or need to head out the door!