Keurig Elite Coffee Brewer

Most of you know, I'm not much of a coffee drinker. Actually I've never even stepped foot in a Starbucks before. If that doesn't illustrate it for you, I don't even own a coffee maker in my house, never have. On the flip side, I am a tea drinker during the colder months in the wonderful world just south of the Frozen Tundra.

This past Christmas, the parents gifted the Handyman a Keurig Elite Coffee Brewer (which you can purchase in many retailers, but at Kohls you can at least wait for a 30% coupon to purchase it).



An interesting gift I wasn't sure how I felt about because I knew there was a hidden agenda behind it. I wasn't sure if my parents felt sorry for the Handyman (he likes to drink coffee only when someone else makes it, hence why I don't have a coffee maker because it would just sit there unless I made the coffee) or if it was self serving for when they come over to visit. Plus I didn't really want a gadget to sit on my already overcrowded counter tops.

Anyway, it took me a little while to warm up to the gift, but my curiosity over powered my initial hesitation and I opened the box only because it claimed you could make tea or hot chocolate with it. It even came with a sample variety pack. How cute is that.

In my attempt to try all the coffee samples, I started out with a french roast. Nope didn't like it so I added whip cream to it. Now it is more tolerable, but still not a must have. Continuing through the variety pack, the only one I really liked was the tea sample so I ventured to the store to see what they offer beyond the variety pack. I find a french vanilla box and I have a coupon for the Nestle Coffee-mate.

At this point, you're probably asking yourself wasn't the Keurig gifted to the Handyman. You would be right, but I showed him how to use it and he made one cup of coffee and never touched it again. I was determined to make use of this thing.

Using the creamer is definitely the way to go. We also received the optional K-cup adapter where you can use coffee grounds too. I've been putting my tea bags into it to make my cup of tea, which works marvelously (and I'm saving on electricity because it only takes a few minutes to warm up versus warming water up on the stove). On the other hand, the Keurig K-Cups are much more expensive than using coffee grounds. In comparison to Starbucks prices, you would be saving 90% of the cost of a $5 Starbucks coffee I have to admit the convenience is worth it. If you want to be really frugal, you can even reuse the K-cup once and still get a descent cup of coffee out of it. I actually prefer the second cup. It's not as strong.

Now that I am hopped up on caffeine, I can spend more time writing. During my experiments, I realized that anything more than two cups of coffee makes me shake (my body doesn't absorb caffeine all that well). I may have to stick to the tea more often. At least, I know my limits. The caffeine headache is definitely going to be hard to withdraw from.
 
Have a great day!