A pour-over brewing system for K-Cups
Now: with updates (see end of article)
It’s a well-known fact that web developers are fueled by coffee, so at my office, we have several different ways of making coffee. The more persnickity of us (me, admittedly) use a burr grinder and an Aeropress with our Intelligentsia coffee. Some of the middle-of-the-roaders brew pre-ground Starbucks in the 12-cup drip machine, and those who just need an instant cup settle, er, use the Keurig.
I’m not really a fan. But I admit it is convenient. The K-cups themselves are hermetically sealed with nitrogen so the grounds don’t spoil. And there’s just enough for a large cup.
The Keurig machine, on the other hand — we’ve had no end of problems with it. It clogs, it jams, and for $250, it’s a glorified squirt gun.
What if we could save some money and bypass the machine altogether?
In a particular moment of caffeine-depleted desperation, when we were out of coffee grounds and the Keurig was jammed, I opened the top of a K-cup, punctured the bottom a few times, and poured near-boiling water (from our water cooler/heater) through.
It was slow, mostly because it’s small, the out-holes are small, and the water is not injected in with a pressurized nozzle. But the resulting coffee was — well, just as good as if I used the Keurig machine.
What if they made a pour-over system,but to insert a K-Cup into? I imagine it might look a little something like this:
(Bow before my amazing Photoshop skills!)
I know that in a real pour-over like a Hario or a Chemex, the grounds have a chance to be immersed in the water for a bit longer. This, technically, would be closer to a drip brewers. But with the right size of a bowl to pour hot water into, you can create the necessary pressure to emulate a Keurig machine and get optimum brewing conditions. And it’d be WAY cheaper and last WAY longer than a finicky Keurig machine.
Also, I know that Keurig protects the heck out of their brand and holds the K-Cup name close to their chest. After all,they’ve spent a lot of time and made a lot of money (probably way more than I can even imagine) on these things.
But someone must have a 3D printer somewhere, right?
Update: My friend Brian just invented his own. A bit cruder in implementation than my concept, but definitely more concrete.
Upate 5/13/13: A more different Brian just tweeted me that Amazon has a coffee press made to work with K-Cups! I didn’t see this when I was writing this originally. I may have to pick one up.
