Keurig coffee tastes great when you first buy your machine.
You excitedly try brew after brew of various coffee creations that come in a tiny K-cup.
The day arrives, though, when your Keurig coffee tastes bad.
It may take on a burnt taste or perhaps it tastes bitter.
Your Keurig coffee also might seem stale or even watery.
Sure, you might have bought a bad batch of coffee, but it is more likely that it boils down to a problem with the machine.
You can easily check the grounds to make sure they’re okay.
Carefully cut open the top of the K-cup you used.
Examine the grounds inside.
If you spot mold, mildew, or bugs, you found the problem.
Since water could have washed away the problem right into your coffee cup, you should also cut open one of the unused K-cups to check the dry, unused grounds for problems.
You may become bereft at the bitterness in your coffee.
What happened to turn your barista machine that saves you from going broke on coffeehouse coffee into a bitter icky bad cup of Joe?
When a Good Coffee Maker Goes Bad
Your Keurig may only make one cup of coffee at a time, but otherwise it works just like any other coffeemaker.
That means you need to clean it regularly.
You know how limey and scaly you old coffeemaker got every few months?
Your Keurig goes through that same thing. It just needs you to show it a little love.
You need to:
- Clean it,
- Descale it,
- Change the water filter.
Keurig Cleaning Tips for Yummy Coffee
Keurig makes specific cleaning agents for its coffeemakers.
Purchase those and use them regularly.
You need to descale your machine at least every six months.
Change your water filter every two months if you use your Keurig daily.
You can make your coffee taste much better by only using high-quality coffee.
If you brew using K-cups, make sure to buy the ones that contain only 100% Arabica coffee.
Once per week, remove the parts that come away, such as the water reservoir and the reusable K-cups and provide them with a thorough washing.
You will instantly get better tasting coffee with a completely clean Keurig machine.
Keurig Brewing Tips for Yummy Coffee
Of course, you can also use washable, reusable K-cups that let you use your favorite coffee that has yet to come in K-cups.
When you do this, add a few grains of salt to the top of the grounds.
You won’t taste the salt in the coffee, but it will kill off the bitterness.
Perhaps you tried to get more out of the K-cups you bought.
While some websites say you can make two cups of coffee with one K-cup, this isn’t a good idea.
You should only brew one cup per K-cup for the best taste.
You should also use better water.
Your tap water might not taste great.
You can use a reverse osmosis filter to remove some impurities, but this also removes the fluoride that your city puts in the water to help keep your teeth healthy and cavity-free.
You can find bottled water that also contains fluoride.
When you use the bottled water to make your coffee, it tends to taste better.
Notes on Coffee
Some coffee is brewed to taste a little bitter.
If you just began your foray into becoming a coffee connoisseur, you should know upfront that espresso tastes bitter.
It is supposed to taste bitter.
If it doesn’t, it wasn’t made properly.
The Keurig wasn’t meant to work with anything besides water in its water reservoir.
You should not try to make double strength coffee by brewing a few cups of java, then pouring them into the water reservoir to rebrew them.
That won’t work and you could damage your Keurig.
The better alternative for that need is to buy stronger coffee.
Try an espresso or a dark or medium coffee.
If you need extra caffeine, Maxwell House makes two options that have enhanced caffeine levels.
Keurig also partnered with a company that makes coffee sold on the coffeemaker’s website.
These extra strong coffees should not be consumed by those with heart conditions, however, because some of them contain more caffeine that diet pills or caffeine pills.
Another thing people try that hurts their Keurig is brewing coffee with milk in the water reservoir.
Liquids have thickness to them.
Water is a thin liquid, while milk – even skim milk – is thicker.
The Keurig design cannot handle the thickness of milk and the coffee won’t get enough moisture.
Your cup of coffee will brew smaller than typical and probably will taste awful because it didn’t get enough liquid.
You might as well eat the coffee grounds. (No, that isn’t a recommendation. Don’t try that either.)
Follow these tips and instructions and your Keurig should make you a tasty cup of coffee.
Remember to clean it regularly and use good coffee and water. Happy coffee drinking!