July 27, 2020 by clearlycoffee
Single-serve beverages are not all made the same. K Cups have become quite popular and are something of a cultural phenomenon.
And, K Cup pods have only become more of a staple in recent times. This is no surprise. Staying at home has kept many away from the coffee shop for their daily (or hourly) fix of coffee
And yet, there are times your Keurig K Cup coffee isn’t up to scratch.
Say you’ve gotten yourself a box of your Starbucks K Cup favorites. You pop a cup into your Keurig machine and let it work its magic. You can’t wait to take a sip of the good stuff.
But when you eventually do, you are disappointed in the taste of your coffee. You check the date and find you have fresh coffee.
So, what could be the issue? Try the five hacks covered below. These are easy ways that will help you get better-tasting coffee out of your Starbucks K Cups, ensuring your cup of joe tastes as good as it should.
Why Keurig K Cups Are Such a Hit
When Green Mountain Inc started out, no one could have foreseen the K Cup phenomenon. Green mountain started off as a coffee store and specialty roaster in Vermont. In 1981, Robert Stiller purchased the store but it took four years to become profitable.
The company found success as the years went by, leading to an IPO in 1993. That same year, the founders of Keurig, then a startup, approached Green Mountain. They sought to develop a single-cup coffee brewing system.
The company invested in Keurig and by 1997, it had become the first to offer K Cup coffee pods. Investment in Keurig continued, leading to an acquisition in 2006.
The success of K Cups brought high-margin revenue growth for Keurig Green Mountain. The company generated revenue exceeding $4 billion in 2014, 95% of which came from K Cup sales.
K-cup pods are a hit as they offer two key benefits to coffee lovers:
- Variety. With K Cups, you’re truly spoiled for choice. From Starbucks K Cups to Green Mountain cup pods, these single-serve coffees come in a range of flavors from leading brands.
- This wide variety caters to just about any taste and preference. And, they come in three roast variants – however, you like your coffee – blonde roast, medium roast, or dark roast.
Source: courtesy- Convenience. K Cups allow you to brew your Green Mountain or Starbucks favorites from the comfort of your home. You can buy them in packs of 10, 16, or 24 to keep your supply steady.
So how can you get the best out of your morning brew?
Clean Your Keurig
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The more you use your Keurig, the dirtier it gets. There may be buildup in the water tank or brewer pipes. As such, this can give your flavored coffee an unpleasant taste.
Thankfully, Keurig coffee machines are built to withstand frequent use. Using the machine’s inbuilt “Descale” feature, you can clean your Keurig easily.
Simply take the following steps:
- Fill the Keurig’s chamber with white vinegar.
- Run brew cycles until all the vinegar empties out.
- Next, fill the chamber with water. You can squeeze a lemon into the chamber to help remove the taste of vinegar.
- Run as many brew cycles as needed to empty out all the water.
Your Keurig should be good as new, and your Keurig K Cup coffee should produce great-tasting coffee.
Add-In Your Own Ground Coffee
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Starbucks flavored K Cups produce a good cup of coffee, that much is certain. But, if you would like to give your coffee a more intense taste, the easiest way to do that is to add in your own coffee grounds.
You can buy a reusable coffee filter online for your Keurig (there are several varieties). Simply empty the contents of your favorite K Cup into the filter. Add in your own ground coffee and enjoy a richer brew.
Use More K Cups
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When it comes to K Cups, the principle that more is better holds true. If you find your pods are making weak keurig coffee simply double up your K Cup pods per cup for flavored coffee that’s twice as good.
Ditch Light Roasts
If you’re on a quest for coffee that tastes better, you may want to reconsider buying the light roast K cups Starbucks offers. While Starbucks light roasts are a great option, you just might enjoy something more intense.
This comes down to the way your Keurig works. Hot water in the coffee maker saturates the Starbucks coffee grounds. Pressure then extracts coffee with as much flavor as is possible.
This means the cup of coffee you end up with is as tasty as it gets. Going for medium roasts or darker roast Starbucks Coffee varieties can help deliver a strong coffee flavor.
Try the following medium roast regular and flavored coffee K Cups from Starbucks:
Golden Turmeric 4.4 out of 5 stars |
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Medium Roast Coffee With 2x Caffeine
4.5 out of 5 stars |
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Pike Place Roast 4.5 out of 5 starts |
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Sweet Mornings Blend
4.7 out of 5 stars |
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Try the following dark roast regular and flavored coffee K Cups from Starbucks:
French Roast
4.7 out of 5 stars |
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Sumatra 4.7 out of 5 stars |
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Caffè Verona
4.7 out of 5 stars |
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Take Your Starbucks Coffee With A Pinch Of Salt, Literally
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You’re probably wondering if you read the point above right. You did. And, the word literally is in italics for emphasis. So, what business does salt have with your cuppa?
Salt is alkaline. When it mixes with coffee which is acidic, it lowers the acidity. This neutralization effect will, therefore, make your coffee less bitter. In addition, adding a pinch of salt is a great way to give your coffee a smoother taste. It achieves this by reducing the tank-like taste of stored water.
So, the next time you brew Starbucks coffee from a K Cup Pod, add a bit of salt and let it work its magic.
K Cups and Sustainability
You may not be enjoying your Starbucks coffee experience owing to guilt. It’s likely that you’re considering the impact of all the K Cup pods ever used and discarded on the environment. Don’t worry, even the maker of K Cups feels this way.
In a 2015 interview, John Sylvan expressed regrets that he had ever invented K Cup pods. Sylvan came up with the mechanism of packing coffee in pods in the ‘90s.
The good news is, some K Cups come ready for recycling in three easy steps as shown below.
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Source: Moreover, Keurig is working to make all K Cups 100% recyclable by the end of 2020.
In the meantime, confirm whether it’s possible to recycle the plastics in K Cups within your area. If so, collect your used pods and drop them off at the nearest recycling facility.
Check Out More Posts on Clearly Coffee
Your coffee now tastes as good as it should. Grab your favorite roast variant of Starbucks coffee pods. Make a cuppa and keep reading Clearly Coffee for more awesome content on all things coffee.