For those who follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may know that recently, I got a Keurig B60 Special Edition Coffee Maker. (You can make hot tea, iced tea, and hot chocolate with it, too.)
I don’t drink a ton of coffee, but there are some mornings when I want that extra ‘kick’. Plus the weather is getting nippy (as my dad used to say), so having a hot beverage on my way to work is not only comforting, but it keeps me from feeling like a human popsicle.
When a department store had a major friends and family sale, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. (In fact, I had been looking for a coffee machine for a while before I made the purchase, so I already knew the exact model I wanted and was just waiting for the best discount.)
I’ve been using it about 4-5 times a week, and it’s extremely convenient. Even when I’m not drinking coffee, I use it for the hot water to make oatmeal (like one of my readers suggested).
In case you’re unfamiliar with the way it works, you just have to pop in one of the “K-Cups” (i.e. coffee pods made especially for Keurig), press a button, and then within a few seconds, your coffee is ready.
This edition comes with 3 different drink sizes. For a regular cup, I used the middle button. For my travel mug, I use the button on the right.
There’s a wide variety of K-Cups available from many different brands, and I’ve already tried a bunch by Newman’s Own, Wolfgang Puck, Coffee People, Folgers, etc.
So far, my favourite is Coffee People Donut Shop. When I fill a travel mug and then stir in 2 teaspoons of sugar, it’s absolutely perfect!
It’s fun to be able to try a variety of coffee, not have to clean up much (i.e. you just throw out the used K-Cup), and program the machine to brew your coffee at any time.
However, I really dislike how the used K-Cup can’t be recycled and will end up in the landfill. So, I also bought the My K-Cup, which is a reusable cup that you can use with the Keurig to brew your own ground coffee. I really like this option because then you’re not so dependant on buying the K-Cups all the time.
So…for those who drink coffee and/or use a Keurig, I have some questions for you!
- What other coffee would you recommend I try considering that I like medium-roast coffee?
- Do you have any coffee recipes I should try?
- Can you recommend a milk frother? I’d love to start making my own lattes!
Have a great Sunday, everyone! 🙂
I personally love the Caribou Daybreak coffee. I keep coming back to it time and time again. It’s a medium roast breakfast blend. I’ll take a pic and post it for you on Twitter. I think you might also like it.
Hey Proudmar98!
Thanks for showing me the photo on Twitter! I’ll keep my eyes open for it! 🙂 I’m always up for trying new coffee.
That’s the same model I have! Look for Green Mountain Breakfast Blend. Anything with a Medium Roast will work for you. There are medium light and medium dark blends also.
My kids love the apple cider cups too!
Enjoy!
Hey The KnitMaster!
Will do – thanks for the suggestion! 🙂
Oohh, I didn’t even know there were apple cider cups. I must check those out. Sounds delicious!
I have been using a Keurig for 4 yrs now. I have tired tons of K-cups. I found most were too weak for me to make it a useful purchase. I did use My-Kup as my machine came with one (and the filter and 64 K-cups) – bought it on QVC – love the easy pay. I am on my 3rd machine so FYI – they can crap out! Only 2 went out on me – the other one I had to get a new one ASAP as it had a defective base for the water filter and it leaked. Keuring sent out a new one and let me use that box to return the defective one at their cost. Do keep it clean. They clog up. I just run white vinegar and water thought mine every 3 months and that works for me. I don’t use bottled water on mine – I do have a filter on my kitchen faucet and now since we got a new water supply system in the town I am in, the water is pretty good out of the tap. The K-cups are an issue with regard to the non-recycle thing. But I don’t have a garbage disposal and I rent out part of my house on a house share to a guy who has lived here 5 yrs now. He is great but not great with coffee grounds. The My K-cup needs to go outside and be final washed in the garden hose after dumping the grounds in the kitchen compose. I did just pick up some little filters that are made for another kind of K-cup thing…I think I can make my own filters out of regular filter paper and am going to do that next. That works for me to make it so I don’t have to wash out mine with the garden hose. Good news, Green Mt that at this point owns the patent on K-cups and is the co-owner of Keurig, is working on a k-cup that will be in a disintegrating material that still will have good shelf life and protect the coffee grind from getting any moisture in it before it gets used. So that’s on it’s way in time. My current brewer is the top of the line they make in the Quiet Brew Platinum line. It’s got 5 cup sizes to choose from, larger water reservoir, it’s really quite. I like a really bold cup of coffee most of the time. Right now some of my favs are Starbucks Christmas Blend, Starbucks Verona, Decaff I like to get Verona decaff and also Green Mountain Barista Prima (think that’s what it’s called) Italian Roast decaff. My renter is hooked on Mahogany and I have to look up who makes it – It’s sold on Green Mountain as well as Keurig.com. I do like the Gr. Mt. Pumpkin Spice coffee when it’s in season. It’s not quite strong enough for me so I use the middle button. The other stronger ones I can use the largest brew size which I think is 16 oz and then go back and use the smallest or the next smallest (think that’s 5 and 6 oz – it’s teacup size) out of that same K-cup (I have a huge hand made coffee mug). We do keep some cocoa, mocha, chi and I like to keep a few teas around too (I like Twinings Earl Gray best). Loose teas don’t work with the My K-cup – it’s too weak I found for me. I ordered enough coffee off Gr. Mountain (I used to live in VT and have used Green Mountain coffee since they got started more than 25 yrs ago). I also have an account on Keurig.com – I get better prices from Gr. Mt. because I am now a Platinum member – but there are more choices on Keurig.com I hord my 20% off coupons for Bed, Bath & Beyond and use those when I am low or out of one kind and pick them up there. I watch the local grocery store too for sales. I used to toss out a lot of coffee as I would make a short pot and then not like how it tastes 2 hrs later. I even had bought those pump things like they keep coffee in at the Barista. I still was over making coffee and did not like all the clean up of the pump keepers – also I never found any that were stainless inside and the plastic makes the coffee taste off. Plus with the house renter they always want a different coffee then I do – ditto when company drops by. Frother – I bought the one that BB&B sells that is around $20. It’s a little hand hold one that works fine for me…but gads, you need to try the new machine that Starbucks came out with and just see what that does when you drop in their pod of milk! It froths! Don’t know how but it’s perfection…only no My K-cup fits it – I won’t buy one just because you cannot get all the variety of coffees – they always will make only just Starbucks to fit it. I don’t use the hot water feature on mine because I don’t like cup o soup and I don’t eat Instant Oatmeal…oh and any kind of coffee works for iced coffee – you don’t need to buy special K-cups just for iced coffee. I do like some of the newer K-cups that have iced tea and one Keurig makes that is a Vitamin Burst drink. I love, love always having a fresh cup. I kept my old Cuisenart drip brewer but I don’t think I will ever use it…I don’t have a large enough house to ever have more than 3 people here – it’s a tiny beach cottage. If I had large parties with more than 5 people all the time, I might use the old brewer and old pump thermos holders to keep leaded and decaff.
Hey beachgal!
Wowwwww! That was a really long and informative comment you left me! 😀 THANKS!
Whoa, yours came with 64 K-Cups! Niiiice! Mine only came with a 12-cup variety pack, and I had to purchase the My K-Cup separately.
Oh man…that sucks how so many of yours crapped out on you. 🙁 I hope that mine doesn’t die too soon. I’m going to descale it with white vinegar after a month instead of the 3 months, just in case. I’d like to try to prevent any clogging instead of trying to fix it when it gets clogged. I’m also hoping that since I always use filtered water with it, that it’ll help.
Yeah, I heard about the new Starbucks machine, but I really am not crazy about being stuck with using just Starbucks coffee, as it’s more expensive.
The milk frothers I’ve seen sold separately are around $99 CAD, which, to me, is pricey. So, it looks like I won’t be making homemade lattes until it drops to $50. Dream? 😉
Can u use regular Tim Hortons hot chocolate in the k-cup?
Hey Suzie!
You can use regular powdered hot chocolate if you put it in the My K-Cup (which is a reusable K-Cup).
I have a Keurig as well, it’s not quite as fancy as yours 😉
One thing I like about it is you can go into coffee shops that make the K-cups (like Timothy’s) and buy the K-cups in singles rather than having to buy a whole box, so you can try them before you commit to them 🙂
The only thing I don’t like it for is hot chocolate. I always make my hot chocolate with hot milk (no water), so for me to make hot chocolate with the Keurig, you can only use water, so it’s just not the same.
I’m not a coffee drinker myself, but I do like it for making teas. And as you use it for hot water for oatmeal, you can use it to heat water for your favourite bagged tea (Tetley, Red Rose, etc.).
I hope you enjoy your machine Mary! Make sure to clean it using their instructions often, and make sure to use filtered water because you can get major build up on them, I have problems with mine not working properly/dispensing the water sometimes 🙁
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Hey Erica!
Oh, I didn’t know that places sell individual K-Cups. Thanks for letting me know! I guess I never paid attention before. That’s a great way to try something without committing, for sure!
You know what? I’m the opposite of you when it comes to hot chocolate. For some reason, I prefer it with hot water better, so the Keurig is perfect for that. Although I like lattes, when I have milk in hot chocolate, it makes my stomach feel funny. (I’ve been like that ever since I was a kid. It’s really weird. Even milkshakes would upset my stomach.) I haven’t bought any of the hot-chocolate cups yet, but I plan to! 🙂
Yes, I only use Brita-filtered water. (Tap water in general makes me a bit squeamish even if it’s technically safe to drink. It’s just psychologically, I don’t like drinking tap water.)
How long have you had your machine? I’m hoping mine will last for years before it starts acting up!
Cool (&Hot) post, Mary. Keurigs are fun. We have had one (or more) in our house since they came out. Myself, I can’t have caffeine, so have never become a coffee drinker, but I do like Tea. My husband loves coffee – it’s the only vice he hasn’t given up. We have used lots of pre made Cups and the my-cup too (ditto on that not being strong enuf for tea); but recently we bought a stainless pot coffee maker because we found the Keurigs to not be hot enough for coffee or tea…but it seems we weren’t alone in that issue as I understand there is at least one newer model out now that has a temp control feature. I do love the machine for guests and stuff though – great way to keep the kinds my visiting family like, without it getting stale, etc. My husband’s favorite Cup coffee is the Green Mountain Columbian. The only other thing I would add to what’s already been said, is that I have heard that the plastic used for Kcups have BPA in them…so a frequent user might want to keep that in mind…and hopefully in the companies’ efforts to improve the products (make them recyclable, etc.) they can work on that problem too.
Hey Kim!
Have you ever tried de-caffeinated coffee?
Hmm…so far, I haven’t had any issues with the temperature of the coffee. Actually, my tongue is really sensitive (apparently) because I can’t drink anything that’s too hot (soups, coffee, etc.). I always like to wait a while for it to cool off. But with the Keurig, it’s the right temperature for me – still hot enough, but not scalding. 🙂
Oh, I think one of the cups in my free variety pack included is that Columbian one you mentioned! Haven’t tried it yet. 🙂
BPA? Really? 🙁 Great…I didn’t even think of that. Not good!
Oh you lucky ducky you! I’m asking Santa for a Kurig B70, but I’m doubtful he’ll bring it, this year, anyway. 🙂 Congrats and enjoy your beverages! :0)
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Hey Angela!
Oh nice! That model has 5 cup sizes. That should come in handy!
I actually have the Tassimo brewer but I want both because of the variety of flavours with each brand.
Hey maddy!
The Tassimo is really cool. I love how it uses a barcode to brew. It’s what I imagine the Jetson’s had.
We have the Keurig Platinum model. It’s a bit bigger than yours, but we love it. We usually only drink the flavoured coffees. My favourites are Wolfgang Puck’s Creme Caramel (just delicious!) , Green Mountain’s Caramel Vanilla Cream and Pumpkin Spice and Gloria Jean’s French Vanilla Supreme. I also love the limited edition Green Mountain Golden French Toast, but it’s not available, yet. I also buy some of the cider drinks, the hot chocolate drinks and tea (I love the Mandarin Orange Spice from Celestial Seasonings).
There are a number of places you can go and buy an assorted set of K-Cups; I think Tweed and Hickory must have locations in TO. That is my default place to go here in Ottawa.
Hey Gwen!
I’ve tried the Wolfgang Puck’s Creme Caramel – it’s good, but I still like the Coffee People Donut Shop one a lot more. Maybe because it’s a medium roast? Before I thought I was more into light roasts, but I guess not!
Mmm…I must try the apple ciders and the hot chocolates soon! I keep hearing great things about them, and it’d be nice to not always have to reach for coffee.
I just got one of these for Christmas and, after 2 weeks of use, I am sending it back. It came with a mixed bag of Kcups and my gf was kind enough to buy a large variety pack to figure out which ones I liked. I, like you, use 16 oz travel mugs and the Keurig was not even close to filling it with just one button. It would take 2 (sometimes 3) k-cups to fill it. Making the coffee weak and expensive. I also noticed an uptick in power consumption when I left the unit on all the time as they recommend.
Hey Jim!
Sorry to hear that it didn’t perform as well as you wanted it to.
Yes, even with the large button, it only fills up 3/4 of my travel mug. However, I don’t usually like drinking more coffee than that at once, so it was okay for me. But I can see how it’d be a problem if you expected more. There’s another model (I forget the number) that has 5 buttons. Supposedly the largest size should fill a travel mug.
Ever since I got the Keurig, I always turn it off, even though they suggest leaving it on. I do keep it plugged in, but I make sure to press the power button off after each use. I don’t mind waiting the little time it takes for it to heat up the water.