Joined "Generation-K" today

Finally got a Keurig for my wife as a Mother's Day present (b.t.w. happy MD for all you mothers -- and those soon-to-be -- out there). A bit pricey as I was at Costco and they only had the Platinum mode; what got me in the end were the K-cups: box of 80 for $40 and it wasn't even listed as a sale.

Couple of questions:

1. Are the used K-cups recyclable and, if so, do I have to wash them out or anything?
2. Girls are too young for coffee, but I'm sure they'll enjoy a hot chocolate or an iced tea once in a while. Where's a good place to find inexpensive K-cups with hot chocolate and tea?
3. The unit comes with a reusable K-cup that you can fill with your own coffee. Anyone know if that can be used for hot chocolate? Or tea?

As a Tassimo user I must say "booooooo".

I am impartial to no brand of coffee so I can't say I chose one over the other for any reason other than price. I am a little peeved that Keurig seems to eb the elitist brewer and has all the selection, while Bosch has only select varieties and has exclusive flavours and brands you can only buy online.

Riprock wrote:As a Tassimo user I must say "booooooo".

I am impartial to no brand of coffee so I can't say I chose one over the other for any reason other than price. I am a little peeved that Keurig seems to eb the elitist brewer and has all the selection, while Bosch has only select varieties and has exclusive flavours and brands you can only buy online.

Tassimo represent!

I do like the Suchard Hot Chocolate, and the Cadbury's HC is a hit with my kids.

As I researched the name (Suchard), I found out there is a recall on a Tassimo machines part that causes the discs to spray whilst brewing. Fuckbeans.

http://www.tassimosafetyrecall.com/

I saw a box of Tassimo -- pretty big box -- that only had, like, 16 coffees in them. Over a buck a brew, of course that's with the separate milk discs (they call them discs, right?)

Like I said, $40 for 80 K-cups of either Timothy's or A.L. Van Houtte (remember I lived in Montreal 20 years and Van Houtte is well-represented there). 50 cents I can live with.

Anyhow, my brother in law has a Keurig (or two), so does my father-in-law and other in-laws. Keeping it in the family, I guess.

Anyhow, back to my question -- where can I get reasonably priced hot-chocolate K-cups? Or can I make my own?

Tassimo FTW!!!

Is there an advantage to these over your standard coffee maker ? Seems cheaper to just use a standard coffee maker.

The advantage of these systems is quick single serve with a large selection of varied flavours. The Tassimo we have is very quick and very quiet, and the coffee is piping hot when it comes out. And it's easy cleanup. Just toss the disc. If you just want a single cup, it's great. If I want a pot, I use my Tim Horton's coffee maker.

wprager wrote:
Anyhow, back to my question -- where can I get reasonably priced hot-chocolate K-cups? Or can I make my own?

Not sure about the price, but my friend buys her k-cups at Tweed & Hickory - they have a huge selection.

hemlock wrote:

Riprock wrote:As a Tassimo user I must say "booooooo".

I am impartial to no brand of coffee so I can't say I chose one over the other for any reason other than price. I am a little peeved that Keurig seems to eb the elitist brewer and has all the selection, while Bosch has only select varieties and has exclusive flavours and brands you can only buy online.

Tassimo represent!

I do like the Suchard Hot Chocolate, and the Cadbury's HC is a hit with my kids.

As I researched the name (Suchard), I found out there is a recall on a Tassimo machines part that causes the discs to spray whilst brewing. Fuckbeans.

http://www.tassimosafetyrecall.com/

The recall is no big deal - I never had an issue with it, but they sent the new holder anyways.

Hoags wrote:Is there an advantage to these over your standard coffee maker ? Seems cheaper to just use a standard coffee maker.

shabbs wrote:The advantage of these systems is quick single serve with a large selection of varied flavours. The Tassimo we have is very quick and very quiet, and the coffee is piping hot when it comes out. And it's easy cleanup. Just toss the disc. If you just want a single cup, it's great. If I want a pot, I use my Tim Horton's coffee maker.

Pretty much that - convenience. You pay a premium for it though. As Shabbs said , great for someone who drinks the odd cup, whereas for a lot of coffee or large servings, you go with a brewer.

Everything is pretty much set with Tassimo/Keurig - you push a button and they brew you the "perfect" cup. You have the option, at least on Tassimo I know for sure, to add more water after to water down your coffee.

OK, I found lots of very affordable K-cup hot cocoa on Amazon.com, but so far no seller that will ship to Canada. Don't they realize that we need hot cocoa so much more up here than they do?

Anyhow, you can get it on amazon.ca, too, but nowhere near the same cost (shades of $5 foot longs). EBay has the typical problem with sellers gouging your for shipping costs.

wprager wrote:OK, I found lots of very affordable K-cup hot cocoa on Amazon.com, but so far no seller that will ship to Canada. Don't they realize that we need hot cocoa so much more up here than they do?

Anyhow, you can get it on amazon.ca, too, but nowhere near the same cost (shades of $5 foot longs). EBay has the typical problem with sellers gouging your for shipping costs.

I also have a Keurig and am a big fan. The K-Cups aren't cheap, with Costco being the least expensive, but obviously the selection is limited. As mentioned, Tweed & Hickory has a big selection, although I think you end up paying somewhere around $0.75 to $0.80 per cup.

I haven't used the reuseable k-cup myself, but I have a friend that does and it seems to work just fine.

As to your question about each single-serve k-cup being reuseable...well they are not meant to be reuseable.

I have used cafe mocha and hot chocolate k-cups and they work fine, with the only downside being that I like my hot cocoa made with milk, and the Keurig only dispenses water. I've also made iced tea which turned out fine, but it's not something I do regularly.

Check Sears and The Bay for K-Cups (and Tassimo discs).

tim1_2 wrote:
I also have a Keurig and am a big fan. The K-Cups aren't cheap, with Costco being the least expensive, but obviously the selection is limited. As mentioned, Tweed & Hickory has a big selection, although I think you end up paying somewhere around $0.75 to $0.80 per cup.

I haven't used the reuseable k-cup myself, but I have a friend that does and it seems to work just fine.

As to your question about each single-serve k-cup being reuseable...well they are not meant to be reuseable.

I have used cafe mocha and hot chocolate k-cups and they work fine, with the only downside being that I like my hot cocoa made with milk, and the Keurig only dispenses water. I've also made iced tea which turned out fine, but it's not something I do regularly.

Actually I had two questions -- whether they are recyclable and whether the reusable one included in the box could be used for hot cocoa.

We recycle smaller plastic containers like pudding and applesauce cups, so I figured I'd give these a try. Well, it's not very easy to remove the top, then you've got the filter with the leftover coffeegrinds. The filter looks like it could be biodegradable (would need to verify that) so it could go in the green bin, and then the plastic cup would go in the blue bin. But, man, getting that lid of would be tough for every cup.

Can I rationalize it by saying I put out two blue boxes (and sometimes a third) every two weeks, and often two black boxes as well? Or is that simply a testament to how much of our food is pre-packaged? Who has time to cook with four kids and two jobs (more like two-and-a-half since one is in hightech).

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:
I also have a Keurig and am a big fan. The K-Cups aren't cheap, with Costco being the least expensive, but obviously the selection is limited. As mentioned, Tweed & Hickory has a big selection, although I think you end up paying somewhere around $0.75 to $0.80 per cup.

I haven't used the reuseable k-cup myself, but I have a friend that does and it seems to work just fine.

As to your question about each single-serve k-cup being reuseable...well they are not meant to be reuseable.

I have used cafe mocha and hot chocolate k-cups and they work fine, with the only downside being that I like my hot cocoa made with milk, and the Keurig only dispenses water. I've also made iced tea which turned out fine, but it's not something I do regularly.

Actually I had two questions -- whether they are recyclable and whether the reusable one included in the box could be used for hot cocoa.

We recycle smaller plastic containers like pudding and applesauce cups, so I figured I'd give these a try. Well, it's not very easy to remove the top, then you've got the filter with the leftover coffeegrinds. The filter looks like it could be biodegradable (would need to verify that) so it could go in the green bin, and then the plastic cup would go in the blue bin. But, man, getting that lid of would be tough for every cup.

Can I rationalize it by saying I put out two blue boxes (and sometimes a third) every two weeks, and often two black boxes as well? Or is that simply a testament to how much of our food is pre-packaged? Who has time to cook with four kids and two jobs (more like two-and-a-half since one is in hightech).

Heehee...sorry, apparently my reading comprehension is off this morning. Yeah, I have no idea if any parts of the k-cups are recyclable. Ours go in the trash. Along with my paint cans and propane cylinders.