Should I buy a Keurig B40 Elite single cup coffee maker?

[dennis thompson]

My wife has been saying she'd like a single cup coffee maker, so I thought that it would make a good Christmas gift. The Keurig Elite B40 seems to be the most popular. Anyone have any experience with this one?
Any other one in this price range ($120) Pros? Cons?
Thanks
Dennis

[Matt Meiser]

I don't know the exact model of ours but we've had it 2 years and I like it. K-Cups are a little expensive, but the fresh cup each time is worth it. We buy most of our K-cups at Costco, but sometimes Kohls has them on sale (well maybe they frequently have them on sale but I only go in there some times) at a good price as well. I've also ordered online.

I also have the filter insert so I can use my own coffee. It usually works well but removes a lot of the convenience. It can be problematic if the coffee is ground to fine--not really their fault.

[Craig D Peltier]

I don't know the exact model of ours but we've had it 2 years and I like it. K-Cups are a little expensive, but the fresh cup each time is worth it. We buy most of our K-cups at Costco, but sometimes Kohls has them on sale (well maybe they frequently have them on sale but I only go in there some times) at a good price as well. I've also ordered online.

I also have the filter insert so I can use my own coffee. It usually works well but removes a lot of the convenience. It can be problematic if the coffee is ground to fine--not really their fault.

I have had mine a little over a year. It has had many problems asking me to descale it. I only use ground coffee in it. I have been on the phone with Keurig. Currently as of yesterday it wont brew at all so cant even descale it. If you search descaling keurig online you will see many complaints of people saying the outside of the machine is very nice but the parts inside arent very good. My folks have had it for 2 years an love it.

[Matt Meiser]

I haven't seen anything like that, but I did descale it as a precaution a couple times the first year, and most of the past year I've only used RO water in it. We have a well with a softener and used to have a ton of iron, now much less so after it had to be deepened this past winter.

[Jeff Monson]

I bought one for my wife last christmas, she really likes it. I bought the adaptor? or whatever it takes to use grounds instead of the cups they sell, she comments it "doesnt taste as good" so she uses her old coffee maker when she is out of Keurig cups. IMO the Keurig cups are vey expensive....but I'm not a coffee drinker.

[David Helm]

Seems to me this is just like computer printers. They give you a cheap price for the printer, then sock it to you for ink. I spent more (around $400 for a good espresso machine [still only makes one cup at a time]), and use coffee beans I like and grind myself.

[Craig D Peltier]

I didnt add that I only use filtered water and still wanted me to descale 3 times in a row. I did speak with keurig this morning and there sending a new one free of charge.

[Chris Kennedy]

I think the Keurig is reasonable and convenient. The coffee is decent and okay on cost -- I have a standing order that arrives every three weeks, and it is okay at that price. Where it excels is the lack of mess. I have mine in the office. I used to have an espresso machine here, and it was a hassle to constantly have to clean things up. Now the espresso machine is at home.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ron Natalie]

I keep a K-CUP machine down at my weekend place where it's real convenient. I tend to drink flavored and decaf down there more than I do at home because it's a pita to change the beans in the machine at home. Check around, COSTCO and other places deep discount both the machines themselves and a lot of the mainstream K-CUPS. My favorite place to reorder is Big Cat Coffee.

I've got both the gold filter (which I've never used) plus these things called K-CAPS which are essentially new lids for the disposable K-CUPS (you peel off the original foil top, rinse out the old grounds and then load up your new coffee and put one of the new caps on).

[Mike Cutler]

Yep, you should get it.
I have the same one at work and it's become the impromptu community coffee maker. It's a nice unit.
Don't leave it running when not making coffee. It keeps the reservoir heated and over nite which causes you to get a short cup of coffee the first cup.

[Walter Plummer]

We have been using one at work for maybe three years and no problems. We buy coffee online. Depending on the grind sometimes you get some grounds in your cup.

[Joe Angrisani]

I'm sorry. I gotta play the other side of the coin.

I think the whole K-cup thing is a ridculous gimmick and makes for some terribly overpriced coffee (dispite the fact GMCR made me some money on the way up before their patents closed in on expiration). I can make a single large mug of coffee in my $15 Mr. Coffee or preferably in my French press, using whatever beans I want, and cleanup takes 30 seconds.

Buy a selection of fine beans and a French press. That's a MUCH better gift for a coffee lover.

[Rod Sheridan]

We have one at work, it probably makes 50 or 60 cups per day for the last 3 years without incident.

We change the water filter every 6 months on a scheduled basis.

No problems yet.............Regards, Rod.

[Joe Angrisani]

We have one at work, it probably makes 50 or 60 cups per day for the last 3 years.....

$60 a day for five pots of coffee? That's just silly. (no personal disrespect intended, Rod)

[Dan Friedrichs]

I have to agree with Joe - we have many of these fancy Keurig machines at work....and the coffee tastes horrible. I'm no coffee snob, and have tried many of the different pods we have, but this stuff is gross. If you drink Folgers out of a drip maker, you may really like these machines - but if you're the kind of person who can taste the difference fresh ground beans makes, the poor taste from this system may outweigh the convenience.

(edit: I think we buy a pretty gourmet brand of pods, but I admittedly haven't tried a huge variety of them. YMMV)

[Peter Elliott]

Don't let them fool you. It makes great coffee. It's all in finding the right kcup of taste. There are tons of them. Buy online once you find out a few you like. There are cups that are strong, med and light in taste and are posted on the box. Add to that the special flavored ones which is nice change of pace. I have owned a ton of coffee makers. Even french press which makes a great cup, but you need to hit the right temp and then clean up is mess.

Most coffee brewing makers do not hit the right temperature to make a good cup. Fact there was a review of most common brands stating so. Keurig makes a great cup of coffee and is very convenient and you don't waste coffee sitting in the pot. Far from being a gimmick!

Look at costco to buy the unit - great about warranties if needed. Or Bed Bath Beyond with a coupon.
shoffee dot com is a great place to buy. When you buy online at a store like this, you get 24 cups compared to the 16 found in stores. Ice tea and Ice coffee never tasted better at home.

Coffee is very subjective to personal taste and you'll get a lot of opinions.. including mine!
Best of luck!
Peter

[Joe Angrisani]

I said nothing negative about the taste. I've had several that tasted pretty darn good, and now that the format is open to competition, there will be plenty of tasty K-cups.

My issue is with the silly price per cup.

[Kevin Lucas]

The regular Kuerig elite size does 8 and 10 ounce cups. We also run them through twice. Two 8's or an 8 and a 10 for really big mugs. An added bonus is if you run it with no K cup in it you get nice hot water for making tea with a tea bag. The hot chocolate cups are a little thin. I do both coffee and green tea cups a lot. A good place to get the cups is coffeeicon.com they seem to have good pricing.

[Matt Meiser]

Even the new Starbucks cups aren't $1/cup (very close though.) In bulk/on sale/on line $0.50 per cup is much more realistic for most varieties. But for the price you get the benefits of:

- essentially zero cleanup (basically wash the tray and wipe off the machine once in a while)
- ability to have many different varieties available
- fresh cup every time

I've tried doing 2 small cups from one k-cup to fill a travel mug but thought it tasted very watered down.

[Peter Elliott]

The cool thing about (or maybe confusing thing) about the Keurig is the many options. It's certainly not just drop a cup in and press go. You need to figure out how you like your coffee and everyone has different tastes.

On my machine, I have 4 levels of water amount. Once being ice coffee/tea...
Then add into the mix the 100's of kinds of coffee, you need to hunt and peck on how strong/light you like your coffee.

Some cups, I go max water for a big cup. Other blends, I go med. water because the coffee is light in strength. You'll know right away.

With the specialty ones, figured out if they are too strong or weak and can adjust how much you brew.

It's all like going to the community pot saying "who made this coffee" ??? because it was either great or taste like garbage.

Working in firehouses for 20yrs and having coffee and non coffee people make coffee, I have taste it all.

[Rod Sheridan]

$60 a day for five pots of coffee? That's just silly. (no personal disrespect intended, Rod)

Hi Joe, no offence taken.

The issue is that we're a 24 hour a day operation so that's 2 cups per hour. We had 2 standard commercial coffee makers and we poured 75% of the coffee down the drain because it was stale by the time the second cup was wanted.

The single cup brewer is actually saving us money.

The other issue is that with the standard coffee makers we often had two kinds of coffee on the go, so only one cup may have been consumed from a pot. Now we have 6 coffee choices, as well as hot chocolate.

For tea we stuck with the bags because I'm a snob and like Earl Grey, made with boiling water, I don't find that the coffee makers make good tea. (It's also less expensive, a tea bag is only about 6 cents).

regards, Rod.

[Matt Meiser]

I suspect its more energy efficient in a case like that too. Instead of keeping multiple open pots warm on hot plates hot 24/7, you are keeping one cup's worth of water hot in a enclosed container ready to go.

[Myk Rian]

A neighbor of ours has a Keurig. I will admit the coffee is good, but pricey.
We prefer our Bunn over ANY other coffee maker.

[Stephen Cherry]

I prefer a coffee press, it's basically a glass cup you put the coffee, then hot water in. Then you stir it, and press a filter over the brew. The whole process takes as little as 30 seconds. I have a small and large press, and they come in many sizes. I really do not like the idea of wasting coffee, and they make a super cup of coffee. Here is one example:

http://www.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/1783-01/?navid=262


I would also recomend a decent grinder. I have this one, and it has worked fine for several years:

http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-560-01-Infinity-Grinder-Black/dp/B0000AR7SY


Between the press, and the grinder, I am very happy with my coffee setup. It goes well with my strategy of buying "ingredients" rather than highly processed and packaged foods. I just do not like the waste of the packaging in K-cup type system. Plus I do not want to be locked into a higher cost system when the coffee press is just as fast and easy. Plus, the press can be used to make frothed milk.

[Matt Meiser]

I just do not like the waste of the packaging in K-cup type system.

That's a definite drawback to the system. I don't really understand why the cup isn't at least recyclable. There are hot-fill PET bottles so it shouldn't be a temperature problem.

[Joe Angrisani]

Good points, Rod and Matt. But you gotta admit that Rod's situation is far from the norm.

I still think it's silly in the average home situation. :rolleyes:

[Peter Elliott]

I prefer a coffee press, it's basically a glass cup you put the coffee, then hot water in. Then you stir it, and press a filter over the brew. The whole process takes as little as 30 seconds.

How do you get your water at 198f to 204f in 30 seconds?

I'm a big fan of the press and use it in addition to my k-cup..

[Stephen Cherry]

How do you get your water at 198f to 204f in 30 seconds?

I'm a big fan of the press and use it in addition to my k-cup..

Oops- 30 seconds after you have the hot water

[Peter Elliott]

I still think it's silly in the average home situation. :rolleyes:

Silly to you...
Cost effective to me at 58cents per cup and I don't throw old coffee down the drain.

Recycle - I really hope they work on this and come up with recyclable materials.

[Greg Cuetara]

I still think it's silly in the average home situation. :rolleyes:

I bought one for the LOML last Christmas. She was making a full pot of coffee every morning and maybe getting to drink 1 cup so dumping out the rest. Every evening it was time to clean up and worry about the next morning. Now just empty the water out and fill it up in the morning. It is a bit more expensive but if you only drink a few cups a day it works great. LOML drinks decaf and i drink tea, iced tea, hot cocoa, cider etc. so we can get whatever we feel like. I have found that there are some other brands of misc. coffee where the cost is a lot less and we are trying those right now. If you drink 10 cups of coffee a day then no you are right that it would be silly in the average home but if you only drink a cup or two a day and want some variety then it makes a lot of sense. Very easy to brew decaf, then french vanilla regular, then iced tea then hot cocoa then cider all in about 10 minutes, which did happen on thanksgiving morning when we had a bunch of family over.

[tyler mckee]

I love my keurig platinum, got it on sale at Costco for 150 with a sixty cup variety pack and the make a cup filter. I'm the only coffee drinker on my house do the single serve us perfect, plus my wife and kid love it for tea and hot chocolate. I switch between kcups and grinding my own. One thing I bought was the ecobrew filter, it's a kcup size one piece filter, fits like a normal cup, easier to and clean, and I think makes a better cup than the standard my kcup.

[Joe Angrisani]

Silly to you...
Cost effective to me at 58cents per cup and I don't throw old coffee down the drain.

Caught a discussion on CNBC yesterday. The average K-cup serving works out to just over $50/pound. FIFTY DOLLARS A POUND. I knew it had to be bad, but I had no idea it was that inflated.

That's five to six times what I pay for my yummy beans. And as stated before, I make one big mug at a time (about the "3" mark on my 12-cup Mr Coffee, or an equal volume in my French press). I don't throw old coffee down the drain, either. :)

[David Weaver]

Joe - I'm in agreement with you. 50 cents a cup is too much for me. My old PA german sense makes it so that when I spend money, I like to have something permanent in return.

I may not be a coffee highbrow, but I think that the plain medium roast from folgers is about as good for a daily drinker as anything I've been exposed to, and I've had just about everything except that type of coffee that gets crapped out by an animal. Most of the super-dark roasts (that are burnt in my opinion) and high acidity beans aren't pleasant black with no sugar (and I never drink anything but the coffee straight out of the caraffe with nothing else added).

Every time I see a single serve coffee maker, my head instantly blurts out the annual cost of 2 cups a day over ground coffee and i get a facial tick for a couple of seconds.

[Paul McGaha]

I suggest you get a Bunn coffee maker.

You can brew half a pot of coffee (Enough for about 2 cups) in 1 to 2 minutes.

We do this a lot at home. At work they have those larger Bunn makers that warm several pots at the same time.

PHM

[Myk Rian]

I suggest you get a Bunn coffee maker.
Since it was an Xmas gift, a coffee maker may have been purchased already.