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Thanks to Keurig’s pod-based brewing systems, all coffee lovers can get their caffeine boost within seconds. Talk about convenience.
And the good thing about them is that you can enjoy a wide range of beans, blends, and roasts, from all over the world, by the best coffee brands. Plus, your coffee vice doesn’t have to come steep either — isn’t it incredible how you can now get a Starbucks for less than a dollar?
But what about coffee that doesn’t come in pods? And you better believe it, you’ll be missing out on much of the world’s best coffees if you’ll confine yourself to what’s available in pods. What about the coffee from that artisan roaster you love? What about the coveted Colombian you snagged at an auction and the civet coffee a friend brought back from Vietnam?
So if you want to add more options to your brew and expand your world, please read on! We have prepared the following article to show you this hack on how to use regular coffee in a Keurig.
Is It Possible to Brew Regular Coffee in a Keurig?
Yes, you can brew any grounds using your Keurig. The folks at Keurig themselves came up with My K-Cup Universal Reusable filter for just this purpose. Or you can actually clean out a used K-Cup, refill it, and reseal with a specialized filter. And irrespective of the contraption you select, you can experiment with numerous grinds, roasts, or more.
After all, your Keurig brewer is not only convenient, but with the right knowledge and tools, it can be customized. This means that you can try different flavors and even switch to freshly grounded coffee beans forever without worrying about your machine getting damaged.
How to Use Regular Coffee in a Keurig: The Steps
Brewing freshly grounded coffee in a Keurig is not a complicated process. It is a simple as brewing using your K-Cup. And the only thing you have to do is replace your machine’s K-Cup with a reusable universal K-Cup filter. Other than giving you delicious coffee at a lower price, brewing regular coffee has numerous environmental and health benefits. To brew regular coffee, you need the following:
- Fresh coffee grounds
- A reusable K-Cup filter
- Keurig coffee machine (plus series and classic series Keurig machines)
Step 1: Prepare the Reusable K-Cup
The reusable K-Cup comprises four parts, including the lid, filter, filter holder, and a plus series adapter. Make sure everything’s clean.
The plus series adapter is only used by people who own the plus series Keurig machines. But if you’re using a normal Keurig mini, you won’t need the plus series adapter.
Step 2: Remove the Existing K-Cup From the Keurig Machine
To do this, you need to open the cover of the Keurig to access the K-Cup housing. Once the cover is opened, you can pull the K-Cup housing while pushing it from the bottom (where the coffee comes out). And then put it aside.
Step 3: Remove the Plus Series Adapter, If You Don’t Need It
With a Keurig mini, you only need to assemble the three parts of the reusable K-Cup. If it’s already assembled, then you need to hold the top part of the filter with one hand. And push the plus series adapter with your opposite thumb while holding the base.
Step 4: Fill the Reusable K-Cup
A reusable K-Cup can hold about 17 grams of freshly grounded coffee and make a travel mug size of your favorite drink. So you can make between 6-16 ounces of your favorite drink at the push of a button. Remove the reusable K-Cup’s lid by turning it anti-clockwise and then fill it with coffee grounds.
Make sure you fill it to the top line, and if it exceeds the line, do not try to compress the grounds. Instead, you should remove the excess grounds as overfilling it will affect your machine’s performance. Insert the filter in the filter holder, and then place the lid on top while it’s in the unlocked position. And then turn it clockwise to lock it.
Step 5: Place the Reusable K-Cup in the Keurig
Once it’s filled and locked safely, you can insert it in the place where the K-Cup holder is normally placed. When inserted, the reusable K-Cup should be a bit loose and not locked tightly. The arrow on your K-Cup’s lid must line up with the one on the Keurig.
Step 6: Brew Your Coffee
Once the filter filled with coffee is safely installed in the Keurig, you can add some water into the reservoir. Close the reservoir and the brewer’s cover and brew your coffee as you normally do.
Step 7: Clean the K-Cup
After you have finished brewing your beverage, you can remove the reusable K-Cup from your brewer. Disassemble the K-Cup into three parts and then discard the used coffee grounds or recycle them. Wash your reusable K-Cup and then store it until the next time you brew. Make sure you also wash the different parts using warm soapy water and then air dry them.
How to Brew Regular Coffee Using a Plus Series Keurig
When using a Plus Series unit, you will need all the components of the reusable filter. So after filling the filter with coffee, you should reassemble the reusable K-Cup making sure that you reattach the plus series adapter. And then insert it in the Keurig machine.
When inserting the reusable Keurig, you should ensure that the brewer adapter is lined up with the filter holder hook before sliding it in place. Make sure it’s fastened before you start brewing your coffee.
What Are the Benefits of Brewing Freshly Grounded Coffee in a Keurig?
You Get to Drink Your Beverage of Choice
While this brewer is popular for its wide range of flavors, you might want to try freshly grounded coffee beans. Some people are also not fond of the coffee that comes in Keurig flavor pods. Luckily, you are no longer limited to these flavor pods. And that is because you can make any type of coffee using your Keurig, even a cup of cappuccino. So using regular coffee allows you to enjoy your favorite freshly grounded coffee every morning.
Using Regular Coffee Can Help You Save Some Cash
K-Cups can cost a coffee lover who takes about two cups per day over $800 every year. And this is about four times the cost of regular coffee. So, instead of using an expensive disposable K-Cup pod, you can use the reusable universal K-Cup to make your coffee. You can save a lot of cash by brewing regular coffee at the comfort of your house without sacrificing convenience.
It Can Help Protect Our Environment
With the number of non-biodegradable wastes finding their way into our oceans and ground, most of us are trying to go green. And this means doing everything humanly possible to protect our environment. And one of the best ways to go green is switching from K-Cup pods to brewing regular coffee in your Keurig.
After all, a K-Cup pod is a single-serve disposable cup that must be thrown away after being used. A K-Cup pod can seem like a small thing to damage our environment. But when you multiply the number of cups used per day for a year, you will realize how your love for coffee affects the environment. Therefore, brewing regular coffee using a universal K-Cup can prevent a huge amount of waste from reaching the landfills.
You Can Recycle the Used Coffee Grounds
Instead of discarding the used coffee grounds, you can recycle them. There are numerous practical ways you can use the grounds in your garden, home, or even enhance your beauty. Coffee grounds are rich in chromium, phosphorus, nitrogen, iron, potassium, and magnesium, which can help fertilize your garden. The grounds can also absorb heavy metals from the soil.
You can also compost it and use it later. Composting can help turn the grounds into humus which can help our plants thrive. Some of the compounds found on these grounds, like diterpenes and caffeine, are highly toxic and can repel bugs. Therefore, it can be quite effective when dealing with beetles, fruit flies, and mosquitos. You can also keep the snail and slugs away by scattering used coffee grounds around the plants.
Final Thoughts
A Keurig can guarantee you a fresh cup of your favorite drink every morning. But with time, coffee lovers get tired of the coffee-based pods and need to spice things up with freshly grounded coffee beans. Some coffee lovers just get tired of pod-based coffee and want to switch to regular coffee. So instead of purchasing another coffee brewer, you can upgrade your current Keurig by replacing the K-Cup with a My K-Cup universal reusable filter.
With this filter, you can brew your favorite grounded coffee beans and enjoy a cup of coffee in seconds. You can use and reuse this for a very long time instead of using and discarding regular K-Cups.
