Yeah, yeah - I know. My life is pretty boring, and subsequently the things on my mind come from a limited number of topics. That said, some of you now might be saying, "Ummm....dude? That's a nice picture - but it's not a Keurig." And you would be correct....but read on.
The Keurig coffee maker is a single cup coffee brew system, and if you've never heard of it - surely you're living under a rock or despise coffee. You might think with a name like Keurig that it's from some exotic European country, but the 1990 start-up happened in Massachusetts. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters bought the company in 2006...and that's when the popularity really started to take off. They are now immensely popular, and the ready to brew "K-cups" that contain the coffee are available in just about every grocery and big box store you can think of.
Admittedly - a Keurig machine makes a decent cup of coffee...and it's damned convenient. Most machines have a reservoir tank that keeps water ready to use, so you just pop a K-cup in the machine, prop your cup under the spout and press the brew button. Ta-da! A minute or two later, you've got a delicious, fresh brewed cup of coffee.
The main reason I've never jumped on this bandwagon is because I love to buy coffee that's roasted locally, and roasted recently...preferably within the last few weeks. Furthermore, I like to grind right before I brew, as the flavor profiles in coffee can change within an hour after after grinding. K-cups are mass-manufactured, and there's no way to know fresh it is. There are cups you can load yourself...but that kinda shoots the convenience factor in the foot.
So I still use old-school, conventional methods to make coffee. I have a french press, a pour-over, an espresso machine, and most mornings I use a good 'ol drip coffee machine. 10 or 12 years ago I bought my first drip coffee machine with a thermal carafe. I find these to be vastly superior to the old glass carafe versions because the coffee doesn't sit on a burner, and therefore doesn't cook down into a coffee reduction with flavors resembling asphalt.
A few days ago, my 8 year-old Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker kicked the bucket. I've historically been lax about running a vinegar solution through the machine regularly to prevent mineral buildups, and it finally caught up with me on this one. However, it was only 50 bucks, and 8 years ain't bad for a $50 kitchen appliance that gets used almost every day.
Being a little short on cash, I decided against buying a high end machine right now - and instead decided to go for the band-aid approach at the local Goodwill thrift store. What I found is what you see in the picture; a stainless thermal Mr. Coffee complete with removable water tank and water filtration system. I examined it pretty closely in the store, looking for the mineral build-ups that took the life of my last one. Not only were there no mineral build-ups, but I couldn't even see any coffee residue...nothing! Everything including the water filter looked to be unused. Brand new...just no box. They had it marked $30....pricey for a thrift store, but I guessed there was no way I'd get one with a box for that price - so I nabbed it. I brought it home, cleaned it well, and fired it up...and it works beautifully.
Why am I telling this story and what's the connection to the Keurig machines? Well - I have Keurig to thank for this find, and I'll tell you why.
Because Keurig machines have become so incredibly popular, once people are hooked on them - they look at their old coffee equipment and say, "Now what the hell am I going to do with that?" I'm sure a lot of borderline hoarders stash the old machines in the closet or pantry...but lots of them end up getting donated to a thrift store. I'm a thrift store regular...you never know what you'll find in those places. Sometimes it's stuff I want for myself, and other times it's something I'll stick on eBay and sell for profit. I started noticing really nice coffee equipment flooding into thrift stores several years ago and dubbed it, "The Keurig Effect".
Thanks to the Keurig effect, I now have a perfectly functioning burr grinder and a stainless thermal drip coffee maker. The retail value of those two machines is around $200, but the thrift store price was $40.
Thank you, Keurig.
