Keurig Platinum Brewing System & Brew Over Ice K-Cups

This woman walks into a bar (see the set up?) and there are all these great peeps she has wanted to meet and these great companies she wants to talk to but can’t: she is blinded by the light.

This light is reflecting off of the line of Keurig machines and so she must go see them. These machines have been in her dreams for years so she floats over to the table. This woman mutters something about her husband not condoning getting a Keurig since they have a standard coffee pot but she knows that someday it will be hers.

What? Oh, I snapped out of it. See this story is what happened to me the first night of Blogher Food when I attended the RockHer Bash and how I came to own the Keurig Platinum Brewing System. So yes, what I stated above is true although slightly exaggerated.

See, apparently my desire to experience was of these machines was evident as the lovely representatives of Keurig contacted me a few days after the conference and asked me if I wanted to review one. Yes I did indeedy!

Here is what I enjoy about the Keurig Platinum (have been using 6 weeks now) and even some not my favorite aspects:
*Quick and easy to set up

*I can make hot or iced coffee or tea, one after the other with only a switch of the K-cup

*Each time you fill the reservoir, the machine takes the max of 4 minutes to be ready and since you can brew a number of cups each fill, you can make a number of cups of coffee/tea quickly. When you don’t have to fill the reservoir and the machine is on, the machine will give you some coffee in less than 30 seconds.

*The machine is pretty quiet. I rarely hear it with normal household sounds going on. The few times I have used it at 3am (don’t ask) the warming up of the machine can is noticeable but that is mostly because it is 3 am.

*Fully Programmable

*Appealing design that looks nice on my kitchen counter

*Choice of 5 cup sizes (4 oz., 6 oz., 8 oz., 10 oz. and 12 oz.)

*Removable 60 oz. water reservoir

*Many fair trade coffees available in K-cups

*Energy Savings Mode – Auto On/Off

This summer, Keurig has been really promoting their iced coffee and iced tea selections. So, far I have tried the following iced K-Cups (No need to run to the drive-thru on hot summer days) and love them:

*Nantucket Blend Iced Coffee: enjoy as it is not too strong and fresh taste.

*Iced French Vanilla: light and pleasant flavor

*Sweet Raspberry Tea: A true sun brewed taste which is not my favorite in general, however, if you are a brewed tea lover, this is for you.

*Southern Sweet Black Tea: ready to go as already sweetened.

Also, you can brew these (as with all K-cups) at 6 or 8 oz. so you can brew them a bit stronger or less so depending on your taste preference.

Now some of you are thinking that those dang K-cups can get expensive. Yes they can. I do notice paying more attention to the prices when buying the K-cups and wondered how much I have been paying per cup. Then I remembered why I thought this was a good fit to start with: even when I only brew 3-4 cups, I usually ended up dumping much of it. It seemed when I made 2 cups, my husband wanted some so we brewed more but when I brewed a larger pot, it was not consumed.

You can also buy a K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter which is a reusable K-cup and you can then brew regular bagged/canned coffee in the Keurig and that will cost less. Also, I have heard that Amazon has some great deals on the K-cups.

How do you take your coffee: straight up or flavored?