Strong Coffee Keurig

In 2014, I transitioned to the Keurig Coffee system. The system is convenient. It is easy to use. The K Cups make nice coffee and other various types of hot drinks. The K Cups are also EXPENSIVE. If you are like me, you have a lot of dark roast coffee beans sitting around and prefer to use them over the commercially available K Cups.

Keurig helps in respect to using your own coffee by selling a screened reusable filter cup that can be used in place of a disposable K Cup. This reusable filter cup makes a very nice cup of hot steaming weak coffee. Try this at home, get a strainer and put ground coffee into the strainer. Quickly pour hot water into the strainer. The water will run through the coffee into a cup below. Look at the mixture. It is weak coffee. This is the exact system that you are faced with when using the Keurig reusable filter cup. Many other companies offer reusable filter cups, and they are not much better. The problem is the speed at which the water passes through the coffee grounds. It is too quick! Their performance is the same. The coffee ends up being weak every time.

The K Cups are designed to slow the water down quite a bit. I think this is what Keurig wants. You spend your money on screened filter cups, give up and go back to expensive K Cups. The price can be brought down in bulk, but I still think it is a high cost for mediocre coffee. It is annoying that each cup of coffee made with a K Cup requires frivolous disposal of part of the product every time. A lot of the cost goes into the non-coffee portion of the K Cup. For many the K Cup is the way to go, it is very convenient. You get a consistent cup of coffee. People still have a choice (as of this writing) in this country. Let me offer an extra option.

Finely Ground Coffee in the Grinder Cover

A product from a company called Ekobrew (I am not affiliated with this company) makes a product that works very well. They make a stainless steel K Cup replacement that will slows the water down as if runs through the coffee grounds. The stainless steel version of the K Cup is the desired product. It is much more durable than plastic. The filter holes are precisely drilled holes (not a screen). Screens will tear over time. Plastic hinges will break over time. Stainless steel does not have this issue.

Update: A similar product that works with both Keurig 2.0 and 1.0 Coffee Makers can be found here (sponsored link).

Remove Coffee From the Grinder Cover First

Add the Coffee From the Grinder Cover to the Filter

Using the Ekobrew filter cup solves many issues with the speed at which the water flows, but the coffee is still not entirely up to standards as being considered strong. One more issue needs to be dealt with in order to have strong coffee: coffee surface area. Contrary to the instructions that come with the stainless steel filter, the coffee grounds need to be ground very finely. Users are warned that this will clog the strainer. If the grinding process is performed correctly, clogging will not occur. If you want a strong cup of coffee, the grounds will need to be finely ground. How fine of a ground will you need: Something between coarsely ground (French press) and dust (Turkish coffee). If you have an adjustable burr grinder, it is pretty easy to set the right grind size. Most of us probably have a blade grinder. If you have a blade grinder, the best way the determine the right grind size is to time the grinding process. I found that 30-40 seconds of grind time works well. Too short, and the coffee will not be strong enough. Too long, and the coffee will heat up in the grinder.

One more piece of advice. Fill the filter to the top. This prevents water from spilling off the top of the coffee and out of the filter. Do not pack the ground coffee by pressing it. Tap the filter to loosely settle the coffee grounds. You want to slow the water, but not block it entirely. When the Keurig machine runs, the coffee will slowly exit the system into your cup. It will take up to a minute to fill a cup.

Here are some steps to follow.