If only I’d taught my dad how to make Keurig K-Cups himself, he might not have sold his single serve brewer on Craigslist (Sad, sad). Instead of lamenting that, I’ll share these ideas with all of you and my mom, whose wonderful only daughter…ahem…bought her a Keurig for Mother’s Day 2012.
Two Ways to Save Money on K-Cups
Before I explain how you can make your own K-Cups, let me share two other tips that will help you save on your cup of joe.
- Know your target price. Between sales and coupons aim to pay no more than $0.50/cup when you buy a box of K-Cups. You might be surprised to find the best deals at non-grocery retailers like Staples, Kohls, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. (A little math tip from this former high school math team member: you’re under $0.50/cup when you double the box’s price and get a number that is equal to or greater than the number of cups in the box [a $10 box should have 20 or more cups in it])
- Reuse a single cup. Brew your coffee, then remove and shake the K-Cups to loosen the grounds. Shaking up the grounds will let you brew a second cup from the same single serve K-Cup. If you’ve ever tried to make two cups without shaking it, blech, then you’ve enjoyed brown water with a mild coffee flavor.
How to Make Keurig K-Cups
There are the two ways I know of to make your own K-Cups:
Invest in a reusable filter
For under $11 you can get a hard plastic, refillable, reusable K-Cup complete with built-in coffee filter. This lets you make your own k-cups. Just fill the device with your favorite coffee or tea and brew.
Use My-Kaps to make your own
My-Kaps are round plastic caps that replace the foil-sealed lid on an already-used store-bought K-cup. After putting a coffee filter in the plastic portion of the cup, then filling it with grounds, you’ve got a homemade K-cup. You can get 18 My-Kaps for under $30 shipped, which allows you to make a bunch of K-Cups in advance and preserve the convenience factor of a Keurig.
P.S. – Buy a gasket. If you plan to make your own K-Cups, then invest in an additional rubber gasket for the top needle of your Keurig. Adding an additional gasket to the upper needle of your Keurig machine will give it a tighter seal on your homemade K-Cups and prevent leaking.
Coffee lovers, it’s your turn. What else do you do to enjoy your Keurig (or other single serve coffee machine) while saving money on the individual K-Cups?
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About Carrie Rocha
