I’ve considered getting a single-cup coffee brewer - like the Keurig Gourmet Coffee Maker - before. I never took the plunge, though, because I feared the coffee would be too expensive.

For Christmas, I had little choice in the matter. Some friends of mine got me a Keurig B40 Elite Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System. I tested it out the next morning… and I love it.

First Impressions - Brewing the Morning Coffee

One thing I love about the Keurig coffee maker is that it simplifies the process of making my morning coffee. I typically grind the beans fresh which means a series of steps:

1. Measure out a few scoops of beans.
2. Grind the beans.
3. Add filter and beans to coffee maker.
4. Add water to coffee maker.
5. Wait ~5 minutes while the coffee brews.

Not a terribly taxing process, but it takes 5 to 10 minutes. First thing in the morning, I’d rather take that time to sit down and drink the coffee rather than make it.

With the Keurig system, it’s a lot simpler. I keep it pre-loaded with water, so I insert the K-Cup, place my coffee mug under the spout, and hit the brew button. Thirty seconds and my coffee is done, nice and hot.

Alternative Uses

I’ve found another nifty use for the Keurig machine besides brewing the prepackaged K-Cups.

Later in the day, I like to drink tea - either green tea or some type of herbal tea. This is my attempt to cut back on my coffee/caffeine consumption. For a while, it was sky-high, and I figured it would be good in the long term to scale it back a bit.

This, too, can be a semi-lengthy process. After filling the tea kettle with water, it takes a few minutes (5 minutes or so) for the water to come to a boil. If I’m working down in my office, this is too long for me to patiently sit there and wait - but too short for me to go downstairs and accomplish something productive.

Can you tell that I’m impatient?

The Keurig machine can also be used to just pour hot water. Place the coffee cup under the spout, open and close the coffee-grind-holder, and press the appropriate size button. In less than thirty seconds, you’ll have a piping hot cup of water poured over your tea bag.

Drawbacks

Although I love the machine, there are some drawbacks.

It only makes one cup. That’s to be expected, but that poses a problem for me in the mornings. I take a travel mug with me to work, and this holds approximately two cups of coffee.

I typically set up my Mr. Coffee on a timer to brew a small pot in the morning, so that I can grab it and run. I think for this, the Keurig pot would be a bit more inconvenient.

K-Cups are expensive. I’ve looked around, and it seems the best price I can find for K-Cups is about $0.40 to $0.50 per cup.  That seems expensive, but maybe it’s just because I can easily figure out a per-cup price.

Come to think of it, I don’t know how much my regular coffee costs on a per-cup basis. I get a lot as gifts, but it’s typically $8-10 per pound. I found an estimate online that a pound of beans should yield 30-40 cups of coffee, which would suggest a net price of $0.25 to $0.35 per cup. I guess I’ll have to keep track and see how many pots/cups I make with a pound of beans.

I have a ton of beans. I just got four pounds of coffee beans for Christmas. I can’t switch to the Keurig full time, because I can’t use those coffee beans with it. Some of the K-Cups are delicious, so it’s not that I don’t like the available coffee. But I have a lot, and my parents like to bring me coffee beans from their travels.

There is a resuable coffee filter that you can get for use with the Keurig. I plan on getting one eventually and trying it out, but in the meantime I’ll still use my Mr. Coffee part of the time.

Bottom Line - Thumbs Up

The bottom line is this is a great machine and I love it.

I will most likely use it to brew my morning coffee on the weekends. It’ll also be nice to be able to brew a single cup on weekday afternoons after I get home from work, without going to the trouble of fixing a small pot. I’ll also continue to use it as a tea-kettle - it’s so much more convenient than the stove top.

However, I’m not giving up my Mr. Coffee. I’m definitely going to use that on weekday mornings to brew my coffee-to-go. I’ll probably also use it to brew a pot of afternoon coffee on the weekends, when one cup might not sate my caffeine craving.

I’ll follow up on this review in a week or two after I’ve continued to use it, and after I’ve decided on a source for more K-Cups. In the meantime, I definitely recommend the Keurig B40 Elite Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System if you’re looking for a convenient coffee maker.