As a coffee enthusiast, the Keurig home brewing system is one of the most ground-breaking coffee brewing techniques since the electric coffee pot. Gone are the days of wasted coffee and burnt coffee grounds. Today, coffee lovers can get fresh, perfectly brewed roasts with no more than a minute of time and fresh cold water. The Keurig single serve coffee brewers makes all this possible fitting whatever lifestyle you lead, whether you’re a busy soccer mom or a 24/7 on-the-go business leader.

Keurig Coffee Makers - Which Model is Right for You?

Keurig home brewers are known as single-serve coffee brewers, meaning each cup of coffee is brewed individually from what’s known as a “K-Cup”. Keurig K-Cups are innovative one-ounce cups of just the right amount of fresh coffee grounds to produce the size cup you want, at the strength you want. K-Cups are available in coffee, tea and even hot chocolate flavors. They also come in organic and fair trade options.

Keurig has made a home brewer to fit any budget and lifestyle. In this section, we are going to cover the special attributes and advantages of each system.

Keurig MINI Plus Coffee Maker: The Keurig MINI Plus Brewing System is the smallest Keurig brewer on the market. This brewer costs $99.95 and comes in three different colors: red, platinum and black. The water reservoir is single-use (meaning you have to refill in between each cup). This small brewer can fit up to a short travel mug and has three size options: 6 oz., 8 oz. and 10 oz. In between cups, the heating element takes about a minute to heat more water. This brewer is perfect for the college dorm or very small apartment.

Keurig Elite Brewing System AKA Keurig B40: The Keurig B40 Single-Serve Brewer is a moderately sized brewer and costs $119.95. It carries a 48 oz. water reservoir and comes with two choices of cup size: 8 oz. and 10 oz. This brewer also comes with an ice beverage feature. This is the perfect upgrade to the MINI Keurig brewer for the 2-4 person family or office and is also good for those who do not want a brewer with the smaller cup option.

Keurig Special Edition Brewing System AKA Keurig B60: The Keurig B40 Single-Cup Brewer is a more powerful version than the Elite brewing system, costing $149.95. This brewer comes with a 48 oz. water reservoir and fills three different sizes: 6 oz., 8 oz. and 10 oz. This brewer also comes with a fully interactive LCD screen and a powerful heating element. The LCD on this screen is very attractive and is one of the most favorite brewers on the market. It serves both small and medium sized families easily.

Keurig Platinum Brewing System AKA Keurig B70: The Keurig B70 single serve Coffee Maker is a very powerful brewer that costs $179.95. This system comes with 60 oz. water reservoir and can brew in five different sizes: 4 oz., 6 oz., 8 oz., 10 oz. and 12 oz. It’s also available in three different colors: red, platinum and black. This model also comes with a fully programmable LCD screen and a powerful heater for quick brewing. Many coffee lovers choose this brewing system for its less expensive price than the 155 model and diverse cup size options.

See also:

• Keurig-Cuisinart Single-Cup Brewer (av. price $199.95)
• Keurig-Breville Single Serve Coffee Maker (av. price $249.95)
• Keurig-Mr.Coffee Single Serve Coffeemaker (av. price $79.95)

Keurig OfficePRO Brewing System: The Keurig OfficePRO Brewing System is a moderately-sized brewer and costs $129.95. It comes in one color (black and silver) and has a 48-oz. water reservoir. This brewer has three cup sizes: 6 oz., 8 oz. and 10 oz. An important note about this specific brewer is that it cannot fit the My K-Cup (a refillable cup that allows brewers to use their own grinds). It has a powerful heating element that only requires about 15 seconds in between cups for brewing. This brewer will not service an entire office building, but it is perfect for the desktop Keurig brewer.

Keurig B155 Brewing System: The Keurig B155 Brewing System is the largest home brewer that Keurig offers at $. This brewer comes with a 90 oz. water reservoir and can fill four different cup sizes: 4 oz., 6 oz., 8 oz. and 10 oz. This brewer can also make iced cold drinks and comes complete with a fully interactive LCD panel. This model does not support the My K-Cup. This brewer also has a powerful heating unit that only requires 15 seconds in between cups for brewing. This is the most powerful private home Keurig coffee brewer and can handle almost any heavy-duty use application. If you have a big family or a lot of people in your home that love coffee, this is the brewer for you.

Starter Packs (Keurig K-Cup) for New Keurig Owners

For the new Keurig owner, the amount of Keurig K-Cups available can be quite overwhelming, especially when there are so many varieties and brands. Luckily, Keurig comes prepared with three sampler packs of popular K-Cup varieties that most everyone loves. Better yet, with Keurig’s signature coffee club, frequent K-Cup purchasers can get 10-15% off their coffee supply.

Keurig The Entertainer Coffee Sampler: This coffee sampler comes packed with lots of variety to please a large crowd with diverse tastes. Everything from super light to hard dark coffee is in this pack. The four flavors in this pack are Donut Shop, Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend, Caribou Blends and Mountain Coffee Dark Magic Extra Bold. Donut Shop is one of the most popular Keurig K-Cup blends today, although almost any of these flavors will suit almost every coffee lover.

Keurig Bold Brews Sampler: This pack comes with all-bold flavors for those coffee drinkers who love lots of flavor. The four flavors in this pack are Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold, Jet Fuel, Big Easy Bold and French Roast. These flavors offer a lot of punch from the first sip and work great with larger mug sizes. The most popular bold flavor is the Diamond Extra Bold, cherished for its light nuttiness and rich deep coffee flavor.

Keurig Flavored Favorites Coffee Sampler: This pack comes with extra flavored K-Cups that give your coffee a little bit of kick. This pack comes with Green Mountain Hazelnut, Caramel Vanilla Cream, Cinnamon Pastry and Southern Pecans. The favorite Keurig flavored blend is the Hazelnut and Caramel Vanilla Cream. These flavors work with all sizes.

During the holidays, Keurig also offers special Christmas blends and Cinnamon-based coffees. These are perfect for the night by the fire or the workweek before a long holiday. There’s nothing like your special favorite blend with family and friends.

Easy Keurig Maintenance: Keeping Your Keurig Brewer Like New

Keurig coffee brewers are easy to maintain and clean to keep your brewer operating like new. There are a few very basic steps you should take from day one of Keurig ownership to safeguard and protect your brewer’s long life. These steps also ensure your Keurig warranty isn’t voided with improper use.

First and foremost, you should always use only Keurig-certified K-Cups and My K-Cups. This keeps your machine’s brewing needle clean and extends the mechanical life of your brewer. Using a K-Cup that doesn’t fit or forcing a non-Keurig model cup into the K-Cup assembly will cause the brewer to overflow, brew unevenly and possibly pose a safety risk. The last thing you want to do is to burn yourself on your brewer!

Keurig doesn’t just produce coffee K-Cups, they also produce delicious cappuccino and hot cocoa K-Cups. These do come with a little bit extra cleaning. When using K-Cups that have milk or chocolate-based solutions, always run your Keurig without a K-Cup to flush the brewing needle. The K-Cups that come with milk creamer or dairy-based powder are very delicious, but they can also clog the brewing needle.

After you’ve brewed your favorite milk-based coffee or flavored drink, always run a cycle on your Keurig that doesn’t use any K-Cup or uses an empty My K-Cup. This cleanses the brewing needle and keeps it free and clear. Doing this extra step also keeps the brewer from tainting your next cup of coffee with milk residue.

While many coffee enthusiasts are adamant about the quality of their coffee, they can sometimes neglect the most important part of the brewing process: the water. Water can make or break a cup of coffee. Only use pure and filtered water when brewing coffee in your Keurig. This will prevent most hard water scaling and will keep your coffee’s lines clear. It also leads to much better tasting coffee. Minerals and unbalanced water taints the taste of coffee and can make it taste too salty or too metallic. Pure water prevents these problems from the get-go.

Along with fresh water, nothing beats a clean Keurig coffee brewer. You must clean your K-Cup holder assembly on occasion every one to three months. The Keurig brewer has a lot of moving parts, but don’t let this stop you from cleaning it. The Keurig brewers are very hard to break! To remove the K-Cup assembly, simply press on the two front ribs with the handle elevated. The holder assembly will pop out and you can either wash this by hand or in the dishwasher (on low temperature setting).

Within the K-Cup holder assembly, there’s also a funnel and the K-Cup needle that punctures the top of the K-Cups for water to flow through during brewing. Both of these mechanical items snap out of the K-Cup holder assembly when the holder is snapped out of the unit. To clean the funnel, you should use a mild detergent and clean by hand. To clean the needle, mild detergent also works. If you suspect a clog in the needle assembly, you can use a sharp item such as a paperclip to clear the needle. Always be very careful when cleaning the needle- it can easily puncture skin.

Descaling your brewer… Descaling your Keurig brewer gets rid of any existing hard water stains and heavy metal deposits. This prevents your brewing needle from getting clogged, which can spell the end for your Keurig brewer if not properly cleaned. For descaling, you can use white vinegar mixed with water or you can use the patented Keurig descaling mixture for maximum descaling effectiveness.

To descale using vinegar and water, buy enough white vinegar to completely fill your water reservoir. Brew the vinegar until the water reservoir has been completely emptied, but do not use a K-Cup during these cycles. Allow your Keurig brewing machine to sit for four hours. Once this is done, fill the water reservoir completely with fresh pure water and brew the entire reservoir to “rinse” your brewer, much like you did with the vinegar.

Once complete, your brewer is ready for a new brew with whatever beverage you like. Keep in mind that if you have a residual vinegar taste, you may need to repeat this process. Also, if you still have hard water or mineral scaling, then you need to repeat the entire process.

The LCD-equipped Keurig models have a special “De-scale” warning on their LCD panels. When you see this on the panel, it’s time to descale your Keurig. If you have great quality water and you never see “De-scale”, you should still clean your Keurig brewer with vinegar every 3-6 months.

There is also Keurig descaling solution available direct from Keurig that uses less solution and descales faster than white vinegar alone. No matter what solution you use, you need to descale your Keurig every three to six months.

Wrapping it all together… Having a Keurig coffee maker is like bringing a new member into your family. Coffee lovers never underestimate the importance of their favorite brew in the morning. Almost every coffee enthusiast can attest to the annoyance of finding their coffee maker broken and non-functioning in the morning. The Keurig coffee brewing system makes getting a great cup of coffee simple, easy and fast. With care and maintenance, your Keurig will provide years of wonderful fresh coffee brewed in less than a minute.