Okay, maybe not quite. But I couldn’t think of a better title for this post, so there it is. And let’s be honest, sometimes it is enough. Sometimes the only word that we can get out in the morning is “coffee”.
But I digress. Shocking, I know.
There was a article floating around Facebook recently about how the Keurig k-cups might actually be bad for you. I shared it and proceeded to freak out a couple of friends and my wife. The short version: the hot water hits the plastic cups and may cause chemicals in the plastic to bleed into the water that hits the grounds that goes into the mug that goes into your mouth that goes…you get the idea.
And naturally, when the chemicals in plastic go into your body, badness ensues.
Whether or not this had any merit of truth to it is irrelevant. The idea is out there and can’t be taken back. Can’t unring the bell.
So what to do? Well, Keurig, and a couple of other companies no doubt, make an insert that you can substitute for the k-cups. Ostensibly, this is so you can use your own favored brand of coffee that hasn’t put out a k-cup version yet, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t put one out by now?
Okay, so we bought the insert. Here’s what it looks like:
It’s basically three pieces: a mesh filter that goes inside another two piece insert that fits into the brewer.
How well does it work? Pretty well, actually. You fill up the mesh filter with grounds. (I’ll clarify here and say “fresh unused grounds”, which you wouldn’t think I’d need to do, but you never know.) The filter accommodates two levels, one tablespoon or two tablespoons. This obviously goes to your personal preference. Do you like your coffee to resemble coffee, or do you like the stirring spoon to stand up straight in the coffee without you having to hold it? Put the filter in the insert bottom, twist on the insert top, insert the inset into the brewer, and off you go.
What are the drawbacks? Well, after each brew, you have to take the mesh filter out and clean it. You can’t just chuck it it the trash like you would with the k-cups. It doesn’t take long to do, under a minute, but it’s a little bit of extra time. And you can’t clean it immediate after brewing cause that sucker’s hot. The best bet might be to have two inserts so you can always have one ready to go when the other is done and cooling off before cleaning. This is an especially good idea in households where coffee consumption is measured in gallons. Like mine.
The other drawback (but maybe not) is that you might have leftover k-cups to deal with. Not a huge deal. You can simply slice open the top and use the grounds inside.
An interesting discovery in doing this is that the amount of grounds in a k-cup is more than the mesh filter will comfortably hold. So, balancing out the drawback of slicing open your old k-cups is the fact that you’re likely to end up with more brew-able mugs than you would have gotten otherwise.
Speaking of which, I think it’s time for a mug of decaf.
Scott C Lyerly 