Single Serve Coffee Forums

We 've purchased a Keurig B60 a few days ago, and tried out various k-cups from flavored to extra bold .

All of the k-cups we tried tasted watery and weak to me (small cup setting!)
Is it just me or do American Keurig k-cups drinkers like watery weak coffee?

I guess I'm used to European coffee (lived in Europe all my life, just moved to the U.S.) I don't expect an "extra bold" k-cup on the small cup setting to be of espresso strength, but it shouldn't be watery and weak.

Or could there be an issue with my B60? If so, what would be the likely problem?

Can't say I've ever had European coffee...so I won't be of much help.

Read some of the threads on PULSING the keurig machine. It tends to change the result a bit. Little better extraction. Try some of the dark bold K-cups, such as VH Eclipse.

Thanks for the tip! Going to try that out tomorrow!

I actually just tried a k-cup tea, and it was stronger than any of the coffees I tasted so far! Now that doesn't seem right...

I hope I can make this work, because although I think the convenience of the Keurig is great, I would like it to be able to make me an acceptable cup of dark full-bodied coffee.

In comparison to European coffee, you will find even the heavier, bolder coffees much different. If you enjoy that type, I'd suggest making sure you stick to the extra bolds as well as pre-wetting the Kcups, as previously suggested. It does tend to make a bit of a lighter coffee than you would be used to.

The only possible machine problem I can think of is if the Temp of the water is not hot enough.
Extra bold dark Roast k-cups at the 5.25 oz drop size should be plenty strong enough unless you’re looking for espresso.
Try Emrils big bold easy,Van Houtte Eclipse,Coffee people black tiger or Jet fuel,Gloria jeans black gold,timothys midnight magic and Tully's French Roast.
If these are not strong enough for you I seriously doubt any kcup or pod machine would satisfy you. I suggest you return the machine and look at a Cuisinart SS-1 cup-o-matic . It uses pods or up to 4 scoops of your own coffee so you could make a single serve cup at the higher strength you require.

This morning I tried a Reserve Sumatra (Extra Bold) and stopped the brewing process twice by opening the lid and closing it. It definitely made the coffee much stronger, a bit too strong for the small cup. Can't say the taste matched that of regular drip coffee (quality beans) though, but still...without this trick I had the feeling I was drinking water with a little hint of coffee! This at least tasted like coffee!

Next time I'll try opening the lid only once, see how that works.

The temperature is set on 192F, so that is probably not the issue. Like mentioned, it's probaby just a difference between Americans and Europeans on what coffee should taste like.

Still I think the Keurig needs some work on the extraction process. without the pre-wetting trick it just doesn't seem to extract enough aroma's out of the k-cup. I've read the new B70 should do a better job, but I think I'll just wait until I see more reviews on that one.

One more thing, I did have Senseo coffee in The Netherlands quite a bit (in the small cups ofcourse), and it did taste pretty good and relatively strong compared to what I've been able to produce with the B60. I don't know if the Senseo (or pods) here are modified to cater to the American consumer's coffee palette though.

The Cuisinart SS1 seems like a very nice machine...almost tempted to return my B60...

I share your opinion about the Keurig coffee quality, but I kept searching for a K-cup that delivered something I could tolerate. Of course keep in mind that the Keurig was going up against the Bunn My Cafee which was the machine to beat until the latest Cuisinart model. The K-cup that I found that satisfied me in the Green Mountain Dark Magic. My K-cup selection in stores is quite limited and I prefer buying that way in my search for a coffee.

It's good to know it's not just me! I actually bought the B60 after reading the k-cup reviews on amazon. After a few k-cups I was thinking, what are these people talking about?? And started thinking I must have a defective B60!

I don't think I'm a coffee snob at all, drip coffee is fine with me, but I guess I do have some basic requirements on what coffee should taste like.

I guess I am used to quality ground coffee (roasted the European way), and I did notice that some of the (cheaper) American brands of ground coffee sold in the supermarkets can be pretty bad (Folgers was probably the worst of them all) and just to avoid them.

I'll have to try the Dark Magic and some of the other Extra Bold's in this thread.

Later on I might try one of those podholders to see how they work. I'm not about to give up yet and get the Cuisinart SS1. My wife (not a coffee drinker) thinks the B60 is pretty, I doubt she will think the looks of the SS1 on the kitchen counter will be an improvement over the B60!

One thing about the podster and such though. Wouldn't the Senseo make a better cup of coffee with pods than a Keurig, since the Senseo uses a pressure system (better extraction of the coffee oils) ?

As mentioned the Senseo coffee I was drinking back in the "Old World' tasted much better than my B60 coffee. I just want to find out why...

As I understand it the Keurig is more like a drip coffee machine with a short brewing cycle, which probably explains the lack of strength and depth in the coffee it produces?

dinmir...

Maybe the Keurig just isn't right for you. If, after running all these samples, you don't 'fall in love' with the coffee...I'd return it and try another machine.

In my experience...
When I switched to single serve coffee, I started with a Senseo machine. Once I found the right pods, I was mostly satisfied overall. When the opportunity to get a Keurig machine came along...I jumped. At first, I thought the K-cups had less...thickness or body to them. They felt thinner than regular coffee. Then, I found some K-cups I really liked and never looked back. I love the machine, and the coffee I get.

I guess what I'm saying is...keep looking for YOUR cup of coffee. It's out there, and you may just find it in another machine. Not every machine suits everybody. If you don't LOVE the coffee...keep searching. You'll find it.

dinmir wrote:One thing about the podster and such though. Wouldn't the Senseo make a better cup of coffee with pods than a Keurig, since the Senseo uses a pressure system (better extraction of the coffee oils) ?
As mentioned the Senseo coffee I was drinking back in the "Old World' tasted much better than my B60 coffee. I just want to find out why...

The Temp the Senseo brews at is lower so the extraction is not the best possible.
My experience is the pods extract better in my keurig using the podster than the same pod in my Senseo.
Timothys rainforest pod comes out real weak in my senseo but brews one of my favorite cup of coffee in the keurig.
If you like the Senseo put in for a $15 Share Senseo offer.

It was my opinion that most of the K-Cups were too weak. I don't like dark roast either, so some of the favorite stronger varieties were not going to work for me. I did, however, find some K-Cups I like and that's good enough for me. Having the podslayer (or that new gizmo they came up with that doesn't even need a My K-Cup) is a nice thing to have to increase your variety as well as save some money on coffee.

My idea of roasting "European style" is fine grind, very strong coffee, but not dark-roasted. At least that's what I remember of the way the Finnish drink it. So if dark roasts don't make you happy, try these:

Timothy's Mocha Java
Timothy's Ethipian Kimsaa
Van Houtte Columbian (not as strong, but strong enough)

There are a number of extra-bolds you may like to try, too. The few extra bolds I tried that weren't dark roasted tasted kinda 'muddy' to me, so I stick with what I like -- how many kinds of coffee do I really need anyways, so long as I can enjoy my Keurig coffee!

You don't have to buy another coffeemaker, though, to enjoy good pods and / or ground coffee made in T-Sacs (stuffed into one of the Keurig adaptor-gizmos). That's the good news : )

(That SS-1 **is** kinda ugly, though, isn't it?)

Alice2 wrote:(That SS-1 **is** kinda ugly, though, isn't it?)

Oh, you cut me to the quick!. The SS-1 is beautiful because it makes great coffee (think of it as an inner beauty).

I didn't think it looked too stylish either. Tough to beat Keurig on that look. (but I did like the look of Senseo as well!)