I’m no coffee snob, I’m too frugal to be. In fact I wouldn’t have a Keurig at all if it weren’t for the fact that one was gifted to a family member who didn’t want it and gave it to me. I was ecstatic! A FREE Keurig! I squee’d and hugged and giggled and was super excited.
I wasn’t however, prepared for the cost of switching from the cheapest coffee to k-cups.
I was using K-Cups that come in 18packs for $10.98. That’s .61cents per cup of coffee. I was a 3-4 large cup per day coffee drinker. Since switching to the Keurig I am happy to say I don’t drink as much because I am not brewing a whole pot. I use about 2 k-cups per day, sometimes 3. This breaks down to about 13.00 per week on coffee. Before I got a Keurig I was probably spending $13 a month.
I knew I needed to find an eco-friendly and wallet friendly alternative to the store bought k-cups. I was recommended the ekoBrew reusable k-cup quite a few times and I finally got one!
With my ekoBrew cup I also purchased a bag of Starbucks coffee. Pretty expensive but I wanted to see how the cost of drinking Starbucks with the ekoBrew would compare to buying the pre-made k-cups.
ekoBrew Savings:
I was able to figure out that my ekoBrew cup holds 1/2 oz. of Starbucks and the bag was a 12oz. bag for $7.98. That’s equates to .33 per cup as opposed to .61 for the k-cups! That means you can technically cut your k-cup cost in half, reduce waste and STILL use an expensive coffee, if you want to.
Did it work and did the coffee taste good?
The ekoBrew gets rave reviews so I am giving it the benefit of the doubt. The Starbucks coffee I purchased I believe was too finely ground and did not actually work with the ekoBrew cup. Go with a more coarsely ground coffee, one designed for a drip brewer and start light instead of bold or dark, you’ll be surprised at how much stronger your coffee is with the ekoBrew cup. According to the other reviews I have read, it takes trial and error to find the right grind for the ekoBrew cup.
Other ways to save on k-cups are: Subscribe on Amazon. By subscribing and having k-cups automatically sent to you each month you get an added discount and often free shipping. Here’s an example of k-cups you can subscribe to: Brooklyn Beans K-Cups 40 count.
Do you have a Keurig? Use a reusable cup? How does it work for you?
*This post contains affiliate links! Ooh Ahh!
Kate says
Warehouse clubs! Costco, Sams… you can get great prices on large boxes of cups. My Costco gets more options all the time. Last night I saw 100 cups for about $38, which works out to about $0.38 a cup. Or, if you’re like us, even less. My husband likes dark, bold roast and I don’t. So I brew a second cup off of his after he’s brewed his. Not every coffee works for that, of course.
Kate says
We have the ecobrew and the keurig my k-cup and my husband prefers the keurig one. You do have to have the right grind though. We get our coffee at Trader Joes and you can grind it however you want right there so that’s not a problem.
sweeneysindigo says
Hi, my name is Jenna and I am a Keurig-a-holic. (Hi Jenna). My whole reason for loving the Keurig was because I was spending a lot of $ on coffee I never got around to drinking. I mean, I bought a pound of coffee for $15, then made a couple of cups each morning, and I had one, and there it sat while I changed dipes, made breakfast, forgot about it etc. By the time I wanted more it was either burned, or “old-tasting” (does that qualify me as a coffee-snob?!). So, I was dumping coffee daily. My Keurig was a gift, and I thought, what kind of wasteful person uses these Keurigs…apparently me. Each cup is super hot, and fresh, and only takes 1 minute (which I can find) to make. Heaven. So, I too wanted to try to make the reusable cup work. It didn’t. It spilled all over. I tried several times, thinking about all of my K-cups (I only have 1 maybe 2 on a really needy day) sitting in a landfill. But, alas, I cannot master this little plastic cuppy-thing. This post will make me go and try it again. My true solution would be that the K-cups would be made of corn or some other biodegradeable product. That way the convenience factor would still be there to simply “pop in cup”, and not have to measure, fill, etc., that was part of the reason I love the Keurig-NO CLEANING! I have found though that you can use the refill-cup for loose tea, and then simply float the cup in your tea until it has steeped long enough. Happy brewing!
Ashley @ Bottles, Diapers... Babies says
We got a Keurig for Christmas… I was against it at first because of the cost. We are drinking more coffee now, because of how easy it is to make a cup. I have a reusable though so that helps a little.
Tosia Drew says
I love my Keurig but like you was extremely put off by the price of Kcups and the amount of waste involved. That’s why I got the Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter and I have to say it is awesome. I have a zillion flavored coffees that I love but my hubby hates anything other than plain old coffee and complains of an after taste in the pot anytime I brew one. With this little gem I can make only as much as I want and no complaining from him. I highly recomend it and have found no coffees it doesn’t work with.