Keurig Platinum: Geeky Techno Coffee bliss

Geeks and caffeine go hand in hand, and my weapon of choice to blast away drowsiness has always been coffee. I've been around coffee, in all it's varied forms, my whole life. The aroma of coffee brewing was always the first thing I smelled when waking up as a kid. It kept me awake when cramming for finals in high school, and when working midnight shifts in the military. I like many different varieties, even your run of the mill Folgers and Maxwell House...as long as it's plenty strong and very fresh.

I've had my share of good (and bad) coffee makers over the years. The last one was a Cuisinart that was very, very good. One thing always bugged me though; since I'm usually the only one in the house drinking coffee I always seemed to be wasting a lot of it. I'd brew either 6 or 8 cups, have a mug or sometimes two, then the rest would go down the sink. Short term, not that big of a deal. Long term, it adds up.

Earlier this year a friend introduced me to the Keurig system, and two months ago I bought their Platinum brewer. The Keurig system uses what the manufacturer calls K-cups to brew coffee one cup at a time...one K-cup makes one cup of coffee. After you brew a cup, you throw the K-cup away. There is an accessory filter you can purchase that will let you use your own bulk coffee with this machine, but the whole point is the convenience and freshness...going away from the K-cup would negate these benefits in my opinion. This brewer has a 60 ounce water reservoir and is fully programmable and will brew a choice of 5 cup sizes ranging from 4 to 12 ounces. You can also buy other K-cup beverages for use in this machine, such as tea and hot chocolate (my son's favorite).

Beam up my coffee, Scotty!

After two months of use, I am very happy with the Keurig. The per cup price is higher than the per cup price using bulk coffee, but there's no waste so over the long run I believe I will be better off or break even. If you compare the per cup cost to say, a cup of coffee at a trendy coffee shop, then it's very economical. The individually sealed K-cups mean that the coffee is always fresh, and means you can keep a variety of different blends and flavors on hand without having the flavors you rarely use go stale. It also means I can have a cup whenever I want without having to brew a whole pot. The technology works very well, the LCD display is easy to read and the menus are easy to understand. The blue lighting is pretty intense and reminds me of something your might find in a J.J. Abrams Star Trek production. The LEDs beneath the water reservoir also have another unique function: They will blink on and off when the water in the tank gets too low. Although some might find this annoying, I think it's a great idea as it's much easier to see from across the room than the small text on the LCD. And besides, wouldn't it be more annoying to go back for your second cup and find that your brewer's not ready?

So, whether you're a drowsy Geek looking for a jolt while you knock out that last few lines of code, or just a coffee lover who adores convenience, the Keurig Platinum brewer is a fantastic machine. At $179 it isn't cheap, but it makes great coffee with single serve convenience. This is just one of the many different machines Keurig sells on their website and in select retail stores. With over 200 varieties of coffee, tea, hot cocoa and iced beverages there is bound to be a K-cup flavor that you'll love. Oh, and Dunkin Donuts just started selling their different coffee varieties as K-cups, which is icing on the proverbial cake for me.