OK, so I laughed at these things for a long time. An
expensive machine to make a cup of coffee. Mostly my ridicule was over the cost
of the little pre-filled portion packs that you had to buy for it. Expensive! I
checked them out at the supermarket the other day and the cost came to about $1
a cup, although I’m sure that I have seen them cheaper elsewhere.
But then I visited a couple of friends who had them.
Fresh, hot coffee in a minute! (literally). I still thought it all a bit silly
until one friend explained that you could buy a “K-cup filter” that you could
fill with your own coffee. Less environmental impact from throwing away the
commercial packets, less cost, more satisfaction from being able to use your
favorite coffees.
I was watching sales, but most of the units on sale were
for models that required the commercial packages. Then the other night Gary
came home from his weekly hiking outing with a big grin on his face. He usually
stops at Costco for a Polish dog for “supper” when the hike is over, and
proceeds on to a local bookstore to check out magazines and new books. So it
seems that he saw this Keurig on sale at Costco, with 60 “portion packs”
included, and a nice rebate.
So when he came in with that grin and a look of
excitement, he was holding something behind his back. “Do you believe in Santa
Claus?” says he, and when I nodded expectantly he revealed the box with Keurig
in it.
In a word, I love it! My usual routine had been to
prepare the coffee maker at night, stumble into the kitchen in the morning and
turn it on – feed the cat – return for coffee. And then throughout the day go
back for another cup of the coffee that had already sat on the hotplate for two
hours to “gain strength” and reheat it. Sometimes I reheated it a couple of times if I
forgot to drink it. By late afternoon it resembled run-off from a street
freshly surfaced with macadam but I didn’t want to make another pot, and it was
too much trouble to boil water and pour through one of those little plastic
things that sit on top of the cup (usually my cup runneth over when I do that.)
Now it takes no more time to brew a fresh cup (one
minute!) than it did to reheat one (1 minute 40 seconds) and the preparation
time of filling the filter makes it about even – but so much more satisfying. I
find I am drinking less coffee but enjoying it more.
Of course, since my counter space is limited and my
kitchen cupboards are full, I had to rearrange things a bit to make space for
the Keurig. That meant removing a few appliances (including the old
coffee-maker, which I’ll keep for gatherings) and the only place they could go
would be the set of closets in the hallway – where I already keep things like the
Dutch oven and the waffle maker. BUT of course, the hall closets were full. So
I wound up cleaning out the closets, which was a chore I had already planned on
doing (again). But then I had to find space for some of the closet contents. I
moved the sheet sets that we use regularly, including pillow cases, to the
cedar chest at the foot of the bed, where only some extra blankets and throws
were stored. I eliminated five or six sets of old sheets – about 20 years worth
– and donated them to St. Vinnie’s. (They
were fine: we had just found fabrics and colors that we preferred.)
After a day’s work (which involved some additional
cleaning and rearranging) we were good to go! It has only been a couple of weeks,
but we’re already comfortable with our routines. And the closet is tidy. No
small feat!
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