Keurig Platinum Gourmet Single Cup Coffee Maker

by Jim Ross
(Ohio, USA)

We received our Platinum Keurig coffee maker as a gift. I had seen the price in stores and never even considered purchasing one, the hefty $150+ price tag easily scared me off as I like coffee, but could use my $20 coffee maker on a semi-regular basis as I had been doing and be satisfied.

When we received the gift, I was surprised, I had not expressed a desire for it. Then I found out that the style of coffee pods it uses are called KCups. These came in not only a huge variety of coffee, but teas and hot chocolate as well. Chai, which I love, is also available as well as a new favorite of mine, Cafe Mocha which is like mixing your coffee with hot chocolate.

I purchased some KCups, also somewhat expensive, anywhere from .30 - .60 each. My first thought when purchasing was that this was going to be an occasional thing, a few cups of coffee or tea a week most likely. But then I brewed...and I brewed...and I brewed. The convenience is unbelievable.

Put your cup on the base, put a KCup in the Keurig coffee maker and press brew. In seconds you have a perfect cup of coffee, any size you want. If you have a big cup and you want strong coffee, you can just pop another KCup in and press brew again, no need to wait for the water to heat, it brews immediately.

Want to make your own Cafe Mocha? Brew a cup of coffee, regular size, then a small size of Dark Hot Chocolate, mmmmm...delicious.

One thing I also find interesting, I used to use cream and sugar in my coffee always. Never black. The coffee in the KCups is so delicious that I never use either anymore. I drink about 3 cups a day now.

I have also found multiple websites which offer really good prices on KCups and have gotten them down to about .25 each, so when I figure how much I spend for a cup of coffee when we go out for breakfast, usually around $1.25 for unlimited despite the one or maybe two cups I drink, the price isn't so bad.

Since I'm drinking more coffee, I have been drinking less soda and not putting sugar in my coffee means my sugar intake has greatly reduced.

My one complaint with our Keurig besides the cost would be regarding the water reservoir. It needs to be filled daily in my house, sometimes a couple times.

I prefer to use filtered water so I use the refrigerator water as it is filtered but when I use the sink, it can be hard to fit under the faucet and if there are any dirty dishes, which is common, it won't really fit.

I wish there was an attachment directly from a water source so that you didn't have to keep the reservoir filled constantly. The Keurig is very attractive and despite seeming big, doesn't take up that much counter space.

You can set your own automatic shut-off timer, we have ours set at 2 hours so once it hasn't been used for 2 hours it shuts off. When you turn it back on it takes about 30 seconds to be ready to brew and is ready immediately thereafter until it turns off.

You can set the temperature so that it brews at a temperature you prefer. The amount of K-Cups available should please any consumer, the variety is endless. Also, you can buy an insert for about $15 which makes it so that you can use your own coffee grounds, making the cost of the coffee as cheap as using a regular coffee pot but the convenience is superior to any coffeemaker I've ever used.

I'm so glad I received the Keurig Platinum Gourmet single cup coffee maker as a gift, due to the high price tag I probably wouldn't have ever spent the money on it myself unless I used someone else's and got as addicted to it as I have.

Definitely a 5 out of 5 from this household.