It’s the holidays, and people are always looking for gift ideas. One item that often comes up is a Keurig. We thought we’d give our take on it, since it’s a frequent question that we get (what makes them bad?) but we also understand why people like them.

We’ll leave the environmental concerns aside since others have written on this and most people understand that significant downside. We also won’t address how ridiculous it is that someone would lock themselves into a a proprietary coffee brewing system. Instead we’ll focus on the coffee quality and what the brewer is capable of doing (or not doing).

Problem #1: Your pod can only brew a 6oz cup

So first, let’s talk about what’s in the pod. Have you ever thought about how much coffee is in there? Have you considered that there’s only one amount of water that should be used to brew that coffee? Go ahead and open up one of your pods and weigh the coffee by itself. You’ll find that it’s only 10g. Using the universal brewing ratio of 60g of coffee per 1L of water, that means that 10g is only sufficient to brew a 166ml cup, which isn’t even a 6 ounce cup. There’s no magic that enables 10g of coffee to brew a 16 or 20oz cup.

Problem #2: You’re paying $24/lb for mediocre coffee

Okay, so let’s now do the math on how much you’re paying for that coffee. Using the price of $31.99 for a box of 60 pods from Costco, you’re paying $24/lb!!! Supermarket coffee ranges from $4/lb (Folgers) to $12/lb (Blanchard’s). Specialty coffee from us ranges from $18-$25/lb. You’re paying 3x how much you should be for what you’re actually brewing, so assuming consumption of 2 pods per day, that’s a waste of $260/yr. Think of what you could buy with that money.

Solution #1: Go with a high-end traditional drip-brewer

We understand that you want something easy, but you probably also want more than a 6oz cup for your effort. For your annual savings of $260 you could buy: an electric adjustable burr grinder ($140 for Baratza Encore), a great drip brewer with thermal dispenser ($70 for the Bonavita BV1500TS ) and a digital scale ($28 for the Jennings CJ-4000). You’re still ahead by $22…and you also didn’t buy the Keurig.

Solution #2: Go with a ‘single’ cup brewer

If you want everything contained with easy clean-up, purchase the Capresso Infinity burr grinder ($100), Clever Coffee Dripper ($22) and mini digital scale ($11). You’ve saved $100, which you can now spend on buying better, specialty grade coffee for the entire year. Said a different way, you just upgraded the quality of your coffee from $8/lb to $18/lb and bought $133 of high-grade coffee equipment.

Final Thoughts

There’s nothing magic about the Keurig brewer, it’s only capable of brewing a 6 oz cup, and you’re paying specialty-grade coffee prices for mediocre supermarket coffee. There’s a reason they make the brewer so inexpensive: it’s to get you in so they can make money on the pods. Don’t fall for it. There are still very simple ways to make your morning coffee but with the added benefit of getting the most out of the coffee that you’re using. You’ll pay more for it up front, but easily make back that money within a year.

If you have any questions or would like to see this demonstrated, feel free to come on by!