It cost $64 with a 20% discount from Target, though my k-cup machine carried a Mr. Coffee Brand, perhaps the first challenge to Keurig exclusivity. While I remember the circumstances of its purchase, I do not remember the year, though it was in the early days of K-cups replacing other brewing methods. It changed morning coffee rituals, mostly for the better. I did not abandon my French press or Melitta cone but used them much less frequency. The K-cup increased the cost per serving of morning coffee, probably diminished the quality of the final brew compared to other methods, and probably harmed Planet Earth in a big way. But it expanded the variety of what is available. Purchasing a couple of 12 oz containers, and even some grind in store beans from Sprouts when on sale locks me into those varieties for a very long time. I try to keep just two open bags or cans at a time. With the K-cup, I can buy boxes with several types. Typically, my box of 40 will last a little under a month, though when I am a Costco member on alternate years, their boxes of 100 are the best buy, lasting several months but without the desired variety. Just pop into the machine, pour some water from the cup I will be using, then do something else while it brews. No need to watch the cone and refill it to maximize its coefficient of extraction. No need to set a kitchen timer for 4 minutes for the French press.
This Mr. Coffee device served me well. It clogged a few time, usually easily remediable by brewing some vinegar without coffee, then flushing with a few brews of plain water. On rare occasions the piercing pins clogged. The Internet had some You Tubes and related guidance on fixing that. I learned troubleshooting and my limited dexterity rose to the occasion with a safety pin as the proper tool. Alas, this time the home remedies failed. So after somewhere between a decade or two, when K-cup coffee has become something of a population norm, Mr. Coffee could take its place in an appliance recycling bin or landfill in favor of a more modern replacement.
During that span, technology and patent law have changed. Keurig still dominates the market, but other brands have entered. And for the most part, the price of the machines has declined while most machines no longer require the user to pour a cup of water into a receptacle to be heated, though a few at the low end still do. A search on amazon.com and walmart.com offers a plethora of models, from No Frills to expensive. I started my search at Target, all expensive Keurig. Boscov's had only a few models, one a chintzy off-brand, the others expensive with a lot of frills that I won't use. Then Walmart which had what people like me would buy. Two models interested me, but only one in stock for $55 so I took a box with the black plastic model, carried it to self-checkout which did not register, but with the rescue of their checkout attendant, I had a new Keurig maker.
It came with instructions to prime the machine, which I did. Then set it up where its predecessor stood. First coffee this morning. Chose a Costco K-cup, put it in the place it goes, pushed the 8 ounce option, and in less than a minute my cup filled. Just the right amount of water, though it also gives options for a 6 and 12 ounce brew. Came out good. And with the water coming from a reservoir instead of from my mug, I can use the same mug for consecutive cups, fewer for me to wash.
Now some discards. The Mr. Coffee. I think I'll put it in ordinary trash with a mixture of sadness and appreciation. The new box goes in recycling. Probably don't need to keep the instructions, or could put them in the folder I keep for instructions. The device has a signal to tell the user when it needs to be descaled. YouTube or the Keurig site should tell me how to do it.
But after two days of Melitta cones, I've returned to K-cups.
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