I had mixed emotions when my wife bought the family a Keurig brewer.  I knew that we benefited from each family member being able to choose his or her different flavors of coffee without fighting over the one drip coffee maker.  However, I was not feeling particularly green.  Although, we keep hearing that Keurig, and folks like Green Mountain are working on developing recyclable K-cups, as of yet they are yet eco-friendly.  My wife solved my problem by buying me a re-useable K-cup for the single-cup brewer.

I love my refillable, reuseable K-cup for the ecological reasons and because I am saving money using coffee by the pound vs. coffee by the K-cup  (see an earlier post where we analyze the cost of a cup of coffee).  And, if you cannot find your favorite coffee offered in a K-cup, no worries, the refillable K-cup solves that problem.

However, over time I found a few things about it that bothered me about the reuseable K-cup I was using, a Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter 5048 (currently $14.29 on Amazon).  The most obvious deficiency is how you need to pop out a Keurig brewing K-cup holder and replace it with a reusable K-cup holder.  This is not a big deal until the first time you forget to put the Keurig brewing K-cup holder back in.  Wait for the next person to use the brewer, put their K-cup into what they think is the working holder to find that water goes flying all over the place and you have wasted the anywhere between 40 and 70 cent K-cup of coffee, not to mention made a mess on the kitchen counter. 

 

(Please note: some consumers say that the coffee too often clogs the filter and you will always make a bit of a leaky mess with Keurig’s My K-Cup Resuable Coffee Filter, even when you are careful using the two-piece apparatus.)  Forget two or three times, or more like I have, and you start to look for alternatives.

I found the Solofill Cup, Refillable K-Cup For Keurig Brewers (currently $14.11 at Amazon).  It is so much more logical.  For starters, it is more like all the other one and done K-cups.  You insert the Solofill Cup into the Keurig K-Cup Brewer the same as you would insert any other K-cup.    I love how this product works.  Some consumers suggest that you take care not to use super fine grounds (as suggested on the package). Super fine coffee grounds will plug up the mesh and result in a half brew of coffee too strong to enjoy.

I have not yet tried the Ekobrew Refillable K-Cup to compare coffee making and drinking experience.  I will check them out and report back.  (Of course, we welcome comments from anyone who has had some experience to share - on any or all of these reuseable K-Cups.)
I have also not tried the EZ-Cup for Keurig Coffee Machines By Perfect Pod.  You need to also buy disposable filter papers.  If I am trying to save the ecology, the need for paper filters seems to defeat the purpose.

Cleaning note: With all the reusable K-cups that I have tried, you need to be prepared for a (I would consider minor) cleanup hassle. To get out all the grounds, you will need to bang the filter cup into the garbage bag and then rinse the remaining grinds out.  Some price to pay compared to paying the price for K-cups.

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Solofill Cup, Refillable K-Cup For Keurig Brewers ($14.11 at Amazon)

Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter 5048 ($14.29 at Amazon)

Ekobrew Cup, Refillable K-Cup For Keurig K-Cup Brewers ($13.95 at Amazon)  

 

EZ-Cup for Keurig Coffee Machines By Perfect Pod ($14.95 at Amazon)
Plus the EZ-Cup Filter Papers by Perfect Pod ($10.78 for 50 filters at Amazon)