But last week, as I was chatting with my mother, who is 87,  she mentioned how she absolutley loved her Keurig Machine.  (She saw mine when she visited and “just had to have one”!)  She told me that she enjoyed how easy it was to operate, how she could have a cup of coffee (or tea) whenever she wanted and without much trouble.

When we ended our conversation, I began thinking more about the Keurig system and how it really would be ideal for many seniors.  Even my father, who had dementia, would have been able to use it with minimal supervision.

Listed below are what I believe to be the benefits of the Keurig Coffee Brewing System for our elders:

1.  It is very simple to operate.  Just open the k-cup compartment; plop in a k-cup; close it and push the blinking start button.
2. It brews one cup at a time and takes less than a minute to brew.
3. The cup sits on a platform under the brew spout so that there is no need to POUR hot coffee into a cup.  (This is good because elders can be a bit shakey or have some weakness and can be burned, slip in liquid that spills or simply have difficulty cleaning up a spill .)
4. The coffee cup can remain on the platform until it is cool enough for the elder to handle.
5. There is a water resevoir (with models that hold up to 73 ounces) which again, takes away the need for the elder to fill the brewing system each time.  (The resevoir can be removed to be filled but can also be filled while connected to the brewing system.  Although the resevoir is a sturdy but not heavy plastic, it could also be filled using a  light plastic container.)
6. It’s very easy to clean.  The water resevoir and the drip platform, where the coffee cup sits during brewing, can go into the dishwasher and the K-Cup compartment can simply be wiped clean.
7. Yes, the system and the K-Cups are a bit expensive but aren’t we always trying to find a new and exciting gift for Mom, Grandpa or other aging loved one?  And by brewing just one cup at a time, less coffee beans or ground coffee is wasted.
8. The Keurig system also brews tea, iced tea concoctions and hot chocolate.

I would recommend a system with at least a 48 ounce resevoir so that the elder will need to fill it less often. 

K-Cups can be purchased in different amounts, flavors, etc.  Costco usually carries a large package of assorted varities.  Kohl’s will often have K-Cups on sale and then if they are purchased on a 10% or 15% off sale, they are even less expensive.  K-Cups can also be ordered on-line at www.Keurig.com.  A box of 24 K-Cups is $13.90 which is about 58 cents a cup (certainly less than a latte’). 

If you’re worried about the increased amount of waste going into landfills by using K-Cups, Keurig makes a “My K-Cup” which utilizes your own ground coffee or….. here is a You Tube video about how to reuse the K-Cups using Press N Seal and ground coffee.  When using the system for an elder, I wouldn’t recommend this).

This may not sound like it’s related to caregiving at all, but indirectly, it is.  My father was a coffee drinker.  He probably went through about 2 pots a day up until his last year. He decreased his coffee intake due to “bathroom issues”.  I, on the other hand, will drink one cup, maybe one and a half cups per day (and I’m told I make weak coffee).  After my father died, it seemed wasteful to brew even half a pot of coffee when I would never finish it………..especially when it was Starbuck’s whole bean coffee that I brewed in the Grind-and-Brew system.

So when my kids asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, I suggested the Keurig coffee system; you know, the one that comes with little pods of coffee ( Keurig’s are called K-Cups)  that brew one cup at a time AND in less than one minute!  There are a choice of coffees – for instance, Tully’s, Gloria Jeans, Newman’s Own, and several others.  There are also K-Cups of various teas and hot chocolate mixes.  I was SO excited !  THIS would be a great way not to waste money!  Or so I thought.

I was even more excited when I found a Keurig “commercial model” at the Food show.  The commercial had more stainless steel, I was told, and would “last longer”.  It was also less expensive that day (show special) and came with a display rack.  YES! I called my daughter and asked if I could go ahead and order it. 

But then it arrived and I tried my first cup.  YIKES…way too strong.  But fear not, it has a choice of brewing sizes so I then tried the 10 oz size thinking “more water/less strength”.  NO, not the case………it was still very strong.  My next attempt at coffee making was to brew a cup of coffee, dump half of it out, brew a cup of plain water, dump half of THAT out and mix the two together.  Ok, so now I’m using 2 cups and it takes 2 minutes to make coffee and I’m still not liking the taste of ANY of the coffees that came with it.  That’s okay; I’ll just go buy the Starbuck’s K-Cups.  Guess what?  They don’t MAKE Starbuck’s K-Cups.  UGH!

They do, however; make a little adapter K-Cup where you can add your own coffee and still make one cup at a time.  So things are looking up again. Another trip to the store for the adapter (at $14.95) and a pound of pre-ground Starbuck’s (pre-ground is not my fav; I prefer to grind my own beans, but the bean grinder would be another expense).  (And yes, I really do like Starbuck’s.) 

The next morning, I wake up excited for a cup of  ”not too strong” Starbuck’s, place the coffee into the adapter, place it into the machine and …………the lid won’t close !  OK, what did I do wrong?  I re-read the directions and can’t find the answer.  I rearrange everything and try it again………still, no go.  Grrrrrr

There’s a phone support number on the K-Cup adapter so I called and spoke to a nice lady who attempted to be helpful.  We went through the K-Cup adapter procedure and affirmed that it should work.  As an after-thought, she asked “what model coffee brewer do you own”.  When I told her, she said “Oooh, that’s why.  They don’t make K-Cup adapters for the commercial model”.  WHAT???? 

OK, as I’m getting ready to pack the whole thing up and sell it on eBay, she asks “what specifically did you not like about the K-Cup coffees that you’ve tried”?  When I told her that it was the strength of the coffee I didn’t like and which ones I tried,  she suggested some different K-Cup coffees that I could try for a “milder” cup of coffee. 

With renewed hope, BACK to the store I went……….but of course, they don’t carry the milder choices at the store; they’re available on-line though at Keurig.com.  Yesterday I ordered the “milder” choices on-line.  The on-line prices are more expensive and of course, they weren’t having a sale, but thankfully shipping was free with a “code”. 

While I wait for the (hopefully) “more to my taste” K-Cups of coffee, I have almost perfected my morning cup of coffee by following these steps: Brew a cup of coffee; dump one-third of it out; microwave 1/2 cup milk with an added  dash of vanilla caramel creamer to it; Combine the two.  It now takes 4 minutes to make the one-minute cup of coffee (PLUS an additional amount of time to pry open the K-Cup and place the grounds in the compost container).

Let me summarize for you the cost of “not wanting to waste money by brewing a whole pot of coffee with my former Grind and Brew system”: Keurig coffee system- $169.00; K-Cup adapter (that cannot be used) – $14.95; “milder” K-Cups purchased on-line-$68.00 for 72 cups of coffee !  Additional plastic empty K-Cups added to land-fill………..NOT priceless.

Now that I’ve written this out on “paper”, I think I’ll go back to my Grind and Brew.