Category Archives: Brewing Coffee

How Does a Keurig Work?

The Keurig has been on the Coffee Whisperer’s test bench for about two months now.  I’m impressed.  Does it make the absolute best cup of coffee that I’ve ever had?  No.  But it does create a perfectly drinkable cup with the lowest effort of any coffee system, including instants.  How does the K system make this happen?  How does it turn ground coffee into brew in under a minute?  It does this by blending together two traditional ways of making cafe:   It is part drip, part espresso.  A glimpse inside a K cup will illustrate this.

This cutaway view will show you what you’d see if you tore a used K cup apart … there’s a paper filter bonded to the top of the cup.  The cup holster assembly punches a hole in the top foil and pops a smaller passageway  in the bottom.  The 192 degree hot water is pushed through the top hole under pressure and moved through the grounds.  While not extremely high pressure, it IS greater than standard drip coffee makers that rely on gravity to pull the hot water down through the coffee and filter medium.  This pressurized process allows the 8- 10 ounces of water to move through the device in under a minute, extracting the flavors of the final product.  So while there are qualities of a drip system in place, the water mimics the characteristics of a pressurized espresso system.

The difference comes into play when it’s time to clear the spent grounds.  A espresso machine will require a swift rap on a knock box or trash bin to release the coffee “puck” and then a rinse under running water to clean the portafilter.  Then there’s some brushing to clean the metal screen that distributes water from the group head.  The Keurig requires a lift of the handle and cup removal.  We’ll talk later about the need or wisdom of running an empty shot through the machine as part of regular maintenance.  But here’s the real magic of the Keurig:  it’s EASY.  It’s easy to use, and easy to clean.  No brainer, grab a cup and you’ve got it  … coffee maker.  That is indeed the attraction of this system, you can’t make a fresh cup any easier.  Are there some downsides?  Any compromises?  Yes, sure.  But you get a solid cup without a bunch of hassle.  Actually no hassle.

And that’s how a Keurig works.   Basically.    There’s buttons and features and stuff.  But if you’re interested in how the coffee comes out….well, there you are.

The Blizkeurig!

They – Are – everywhere!

Leading up to the holidays, I noted that just about every store in my area had Keurig machines available for purchase.  Not just a couple, but damn near all of them, or so it seemed.  Sure the big-boxes had them, but also fashion-department stores, electronics stores, even home improvement centers had rows of coffee machines and stacks of small “kup” boxes.  It seems that the Koffee juggernaut had staged a world-wide conquest.  And if the picked over shelves were any indication, the blitzkrieg had been successful.  I decided that it was time to learn more about these machines, as they now seem to be firmly entrenched in homes across the globe.

Making fun of Keurig.

I have in recent months (now years) made fun of the Keurig coffee machine.  When I first looked at one, I immediately thought back to my very first career job, working in a place that had a coffee vending machine.  You may know what I’m talking about: a big, refrigerator-like device that had an itty bitty little door that would put on a show for 25 cents.  After eating your quarter a little paper cup would drop down and a stream of hot brown liquid would pour in.   This brown liquid was a mix of “brewed” coffee with a dusting of some instant flavor and coloring.  A healthy hit of powered creamer and sugar got this close to drinkable.  Close.  NOT drinkable.  I unfortunately associated this sad performance with the counter top Keurig.

The old coffee machine of the bad old days.

 Giving the Keurig a break.

While the Keurig could be accused of putting on a similar show, it is not fair to lump the K-machine into the same catagory of those old change-stealing machines.  For starters, the brewing technology is rather interesting.  Unlike that old refrigerator that tried to make coffee, Keurig says there is no “instant” flavorings or other accelerants to make up for a very brief brew time.  They’ve also made a brewing system that at the heart of things is very clean, very convenient and attractive on the countertop.  You’re always about 45 seconds away from a Keurig brewed cup, and that alone is reason for looking into this device.

And look into I will.  I turned a thoughtful but mis-sized clothing gift into a “Special Edition” Keurig, and I’ve been testing it since Christmas.  I will have a running report on the system, it’s ups and downs, and what I think of the available coffees for the system.

 

 

Coffee Basics Tip #1

Coffee Brewing Basics

While I am off roasting up special batches of Sumatran and Costa Rican for next week, it dawned on me that the basics of coffee making are really simple.  There are a few easy steps that will nearly insure a good cup for anyone who wishes to follow them.  These steps don’t require hyper premium, single origin beans or three thousand dollar espresso machines.  These are basic things that you can do today to have a better cup tomorrow.  I will share them with you now.

Tip #1 – Something is in the water

The quality of the water is critical to how good a cup of coffee you can brew.  If you have hard, nasty tasting water, your cup will taste similar to yak poop, no other way around it.  Water in different areas come from underground sources like aquifers and wells, and that water soaks up a great deal of dissolved minerals.  I’ve you’ve ever tasted really irony or limey water, you know what I mean: it is just terrible.  These dissolved minerals don’t go away when you heat your water…. they taint you coffee cup’s flavor and aftertaste.

Buy some good stuff…

We’ve all seen the condemning news reports telling us how expensive bottled water is no better than ordinary city tap water.  That may indeed be the case, but what’s important is where that city tap comes from.  If you have water that is drawn mainly from rain-fed lakes and streams, you have water that is most likely soft, lacking dissolved solids we’re trying to avoid.  If you have water that comes from wet, swampy areas (Southern Florida comes to mind) that is even better:  this water has passed through a great deal of vegetation.  The water takes on a bit of tannin from the wood and vegetation, which has a positive effect on the resulting cup of coffee.  The water is slightly acid, which works magic on the coffee.  Don’t ask me for the scientific explanation, I don’t have one.  Just trust me, if you can get bottled “drinking water”  from areas with surface fed lakes and rivers, then you’re on your way.

Can I treat my city water?

What about a “Brita” filter or something similar?  It is possible to pull out the bad stuff that makes your water taste funny.  But I found these countertop/faucet mounted filters are limited in ability and capacity.   I found that I had to go all the way and buy a real, multistage filter to get all the stuff out.  Like this one:

This little set up makes chemically pure water
This little set up makes chemically pure water

The filter goes for under 100 dollars, will filter about 1300 gallons of tap water and give you absolutely pure water.  There will be no dissolved solids of any kind in the water…. much like perfectly done distilled water.  I don’t know if you’ve ever drank water like this, but it is weird:  It has no flavor at all, and you actually feel like you haven’t drunk any thing at all.  There’s no “quench” from this water.  Funny, but what it does do is yield a cup of coffee that is flavored purely by the bean.  Nothing to color the taste, it is a case of what you brew is what you get.  Is this preferred?  If you could make your coffee with South Florida water, I’d say no.  But if you have water with lots of dissoved solids in it and you don’t want to spring big money for special water, a little filter system like this is worth the trouble.  Click on the photo to be taken to the vendor who makes/sells these.  I’ve dealt with them for many years and they are straight shooters.

The relationship of water to your brew is very important.  Where you get it, or more importantly how it comes to you is critical for getting the most from your brews.  In upcoming tips, I’ll talk about making a great drip … with common coffee makers, and some no-s0-common coffee makers.