Why Does Keurig Coffee Taste Bad? – 2022 Guide

most popular type of coffee

“ But even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all.”

Bonjour all coffee lovers out there, after brushing, has become a ritual of drinking coffee early morning, so in the order, you could cope with the people throughout that day. Well, that’s how I still survive around here!

According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey, drinking 2-3 cups each day is the most common coffee consumption pattern among us.

The fun part is 50% of American adults agreed with the statement “coffee is pure pleasure to me”. Are you among them?

According to the survey, it was determined that the most popular type of coffee in the U.S is good old drip coffee, do you agree with me guys?

Let’s say, there are three classifications of coffee drinkers in the U.S.

  • 63% saying that they consumed good old drip coffee.
  • 22% of Americans consumed iced coffee.
  • And the remaining 18% goes to people with instant coffee.

Before getting into the topic, have you guys ever wondered “ why Keurig coffees are famous even though they suck?” and the reason is…the Keurig is the original single-serve brewer and coffee-pod manufacturing company. Thereby they are widely used in almost every household and office.

Fun fact: Keurig is excellent in Dutch.

On the part of Keurig coffee, I still do remember the weird taste of it. Yuck!!

When I experienced it for the first time, I immediately googled to know the reason behind the bad taste, but the google searches were ahead of me. Ha-ha, they showed up like “ why does Keurig coffee taste bad?”, “Why is my Keurig coffee weak?”, “why Keurig coffee tastes like plastic?”, “why does Keurig coffee taste weird?”, “why does Keurig coffee taste awful?”, “Why does it taste burnt and bitter?”.pfffff !! Well,everyone is on the same page about keurig coffee’s bad taste.

Alright, I believe this article might give some answers to your questions about KEURIG COFFEE.

3 reasons why Keurig coffee tastes bad

Well, the answer to the commonly asked question about Keurig coffee is right down there.

Read forward to improvise your knowledge over Keurig coffee .

  • The ground coffee beans inside the K-Cups might be poor quality, umm best to say K-CUPS.
  • The water filter in the machine might have not been changed for a while.
  • And maybe the Keurig coffee needed descale.

Still, you got the time to have a better cup of coffee by resolving the problems above in a couple of moments.

How to find the best K-cups for Keurig coffee

img source: gannett-cdn.com

So yeah, K-Cups basically consists of a plastic cup, aluminum lid, and a filter.

There are literally 100 types of K-Cup pods, each filled with different types of beverages. FASCINATING, right?

Before getting, let me clarify to you the difference between K-Cup PODS and K-Cups. A POD is a coffee/tea that is sealed inside a filter paper whereas K-CUP is a coffee/tea/any beverage is sealed inside a plastic cup. Well, that’s the reason why sometimes your coffee tastes like plastic.

Depending on the flavor and size of K-CUP, helps you to have a better Keurig coffee, but how do I get to find the perfect K-CUP for my morning?

For a good cup of coffee, I would recommend you to go for dark-roasted K-CUPS for a strong coffee, therefore to overcome the bad taste. I guess, most of them prefer strong coffee over any kind of coffee flavor as it gives the essence as well as the energy to flourish that day.

Top dark-roast K-Cups for Keurig

1. Green Mountain Dark-Roast’s Dark magic:

Green Mountain Dark-Roast’s Dark magic

Arouse to this intense smell of espresso! It is rich as well as toasty without being too bitter. I assure you that the aroma of dark magic itself brings freshness and pleasure to your day.

2. Illy’s Extra Dark K-Cups:

Illy’s Extra Dark K-Cups :

It is composed of nine varieties of 100% Arabica beans. It is consistent, smooth, not bitter, rich, and full-bodied K-Cup. The Illy’s extra dark provides perfect and air-cooled K-Cups to give a distinctive, smooth balanced taste in the convenience of a single-serve pod.

3. Variety pack of Dark-roast coffee K-Cups:

Well, to taste every kind of dark and strong coffee, I would like you to go and grab this option as quickly as possible. This pack has picked the top brand’s dark-roasted K-Cups such as Crazy Cups, Eko Cups, and so on. Explore, guys, it’s really tempting!! The pack is a sample of different styles of roast techniques starting from Italian roast, French roast, Espresso Roast, Americano, and more!!

Size of the K-Cup as a key to a better Keurig Coffee

Okay, the flavors of K-Cups are clear, what about the size of K-Cup to get a luscious coffee? Well, the size of K-Cup does matter in the taste of the coffee. You’re marveling why, right’?Keurig brewers feature sizes varying from 2-5 cup sizes. Consider the Keurig Platinum K75 K-Cup Coffee Brewer can hold 4oz., 6oz., 8oz., and 12oz. cup sizes.

But here is the profitable advice, always use a small cup because it will have a higher concentration of caffeine and zest of brewed coffee than a large cup.

2. It’s time to change or clean your Keurig’s water filter

Water is a fundamental thing to make any kind of beverage!!

The better the water is, the better the drink. Keurig itself says that its filters should be changed every two months in order to have a better cup of coffee every morning.

How to change or renew your water filter?

  • First, you need to purchase a new Keurig filter package, which is available on Amazon.
  • Now dispose of the old filter inside your water filter.
  • Before setting your new cartridge, submerge it completely in water for 5-10 minutes.
  • Rinse the cartridge/filter for 1 minute and place it inside the water filter.
  • And insert the water filter into your reservoir and lock it into place.
  • The silver lining is it reminds you to change the water filter by setting a chart.

Ta-da one of your problems is down!!

3. Last but not least, to descale your machine.

Yeah, vinegar is the most popular ingredient used to descale any coffee maker. Simpler than you think!! Follow the below steps to make your cleaning process much easier.

  1. Unplug your Keurig Coffee appliance before getting electrocuted.
  2. Grab a clean and dry cloth to clean every area of your machine.
  3. Fill the water reservoir by one half with white vinegar( a good disinfectant) and the other half with water from the tap.
  4. Switch ON your Keurig Coffee machine, but do not use K-Cups and place a mug as we keep when we want our coffee.
  5. Repeat the process until the water reservoir is empty.
  6. This descaling method helps you to remove lime and scale buildup in your machine.
  7. Allow the vinegar to sit for a maximum of four hours so that the vinegar can do its wonders.
  8. Rinse the reservoir until the vinegar smell vanishes.
  9. Now fill the reservoir with water to brew your coffee for your hard work.

Problems with Pod Coffee

img source: eatthis.com

Sometimes the problem could be from the beginning itself.

Grinding of coffee beans :

One of the biggest problems with pod coffee essence is by the time the product is in the hands of the customer, the coffee has already begun to be poor in quality.The reason behind this trouble, while grinding, the coffee beans tend to expose to oxygen. Thereby oxidation takes place by deteriorating the coffee’s aroma, flavor, and taste.

A piece of advice: always brew your coffee immediately after grinding the coffee beans.

Packaging of ground coffee:

When the coffee beans are highly roasted, inside the beans, carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, lipids, water and caffeine help the coffee to have a wonderful taste and smell. But when they are packed immediately, the roasted beans tend to release CO2 gas, which will later cause an explosion to the seal with high pressure of CO2. So as per the safety measures, it is said that the beans should be packed only after 15days of roasting. Thus, by the time, the coffee loses its essence.

Tips and tricks to get a better cup of Keurig Coffee

Well, however, the work seems easy, we always expect a shortcut. Ha-Ha, Hi-Fi!! The overall conclusion to make your morning better with better coffee:

  1. Pour fresh water regularly after cleansing your water filter.
  2. Sometimes if you can’t take up the bitterness of the coffee, add a pinch of salt to the coffee.
  3. Always adjust the settings to smaller ounces to get intense and pleasant coffee.
  4. According to the NATIONAL COFFEE ASSOCIATION, the optimum temperature for brewing a perfect cup of coffee should be between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. So always modify your temperature around the optimum level.
  5. Anyhow allow the brewing of your coffee to take some time to purify because as per the reports, the contact time between hot water and ground coffee beans is about 5 minutes. Good things take time. So wait to have the best coffee.
  6. As already told, brew your coffee shortly after grinding.
  7. Always take your cup of coffee soon after brewing, because at the climax, the water slips from the filter which brings about the coffee more watery.
  8. And DO DESCALE YOUR MACHINE every three months.