For many people, an entire pot of coffee is just too much. Keurig single serve brewers are the answer to that problem. Keurig coffee makers let you create the perfect cup of coffee every time! Almost every coffee company in the world has embraced the K-Cup and allows people to get delicious single serving coffees whenever they feel like one.
If you want to take your coffee game to the next level, you need to pick a great coffee. Everyone likes different roasts of coffee with different flavor profiles. Finding a great type of coffee at a great price is ideal. Beyond that, keeping your Keurig coffee maker clean and in good repair will help make sure you’re drinking the best coffee possible.
Top Level K-Cup Brands and Coffees
After sampling a lot of coffee, it’s clear that K-Cups are a step above the rest. Some feature interesting and bold flavor. Others give a solid performance while maintaining excellent value. Others do all of the above, but still manage to be environmentally friendly. What follows are some of the best coffees tried and a great way for anyone to start their day.
1 – Military Grade Coffee K-Cups (USDA Organic Premium Roast Coffee)
There’s a reason this coffee is called “military grade”. It packs a fantastic caffeinated punch that gets you out of bed in the morning, as well as being a company that was founded and run by Veterans. Despite the kick, the coffee itself is much smoother than you may expect. It’s truly a premium coffee. The price per unit can be a bit higher than some other coffees on this list. While it's on the expensive side, the flavor is worth it!
2 – Glory Brew (The Duke, Medium Roast)
Great coffee can be environmentally friendly and sustainable as well. Glory brew cups are completely compostable and they have been certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Costs for Glory Brew coffees tend to come in mid-tier, which is an excellent value for a coffee this good. However, in addition to being environmentally friendly it still needs to taste good! While many coffees can feel a bit watered down, there’s no worry about that here. That first sip of Glory Brew will provide a cornucopia of rich and bold flavor. Glory brew avoids tasting too acidic and instead is incredibly smooth. Darker roasts are also available, but “The Duke” is a wonderful place to start with Glory Brew.
3 – Bestpresso Coffee (Single Serve Variety Pack)
Specifically we’re looking at the Bestpression variety pack. This pack contains four fantastic coffees in one box, letting you get the most out of them. Breakfast blend features a nice balanced flavor with excellent scent impressions. “Donut shop” is incredibly smooth from the first sip to the last. This lighter roast is easy to drink and if you’re not careful, you may find yourself going back for more. One disappointment was the roast on the Italian blend. While it’s stated as a dark roast, it’s more of a medium roast. This is not to say it’s not tasty! The flavor is there, it’s just not a true dark roast. One of the best aspects of Bestpresso is a really good price point. Bestpresson tends to be one of the most inexpensive options out there. No coffee beats it on a pure value proposition.
4 – Starbucks Flavored Coffee Variety Pack (40 Pack/5 Roasts)
If you’re going to drink Starbucks coffee from a Keurig, it needs to match up with the high level of quality you get from the store. Thankfully, this pack does just that. The “Flavor Variety” pack has 5 tasty flavors including Vanilla, Toffeenut, Caramel, Toasted Graham and Cinnamon Dolce. The surprise star of the pack is the Toasted Graham. The light flavor of honey mixes with cinnamon to give you something surprisingly refreshing. It’s not overpowering like so many flavored coffees can be. Pricing is usually reasonable for something with the Starbucks name on it, but certainly not in the bargain area.
5 – SF Bay Coffee – Fog Chaser (Medium Dark Roast)
The smell of Fog Chaser as it brews is absolutely incredible. This roast falls somewhere between medium and dark on the roast scale. The taste has just the right amount of acid without going too far. This perfect balance goes a long way to appreciating the coffee day after day. One great thing to consider is how inexpensive the pods are. Oftentimes, people have to pay more for environmentally friendly versions of products. SF Bay Coffee is actually among the lower priced pods on the market! That’s great value for a company that offers up completely compostable K-cups that won’t contribute to the growing trash epidemic.
6 – Keurig Coffee Lovers’ Collection (Sample Pack – Coffee Variety Pack)
One way to get a real feel for your Keurig is to buy the Keurig branded sample pack. This option gives 20 different types of coffee with 2 cups of each! The cost of the pack is solidly mid-range per pod. The variety in each pack makes this a solid value play though. A guilty pleasure favorite is the Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll coffee. The light roast is smooth, while the brown sugar and cinnamon flavors hit your tongue without being overwhelming like so many other flavored coffees.
Making Sure Your Keurig “Game” Is On Point
If you want to enjoy a wide variety of high quality coffee, you need to start with the machine itself. Keurig offers many different models for the home coffee connoisseur, from the simple small models, to our current favorite which also allows for the brewing of ice coffee as well as controlling the strength of your brew.
An overlooked part of keeping the Keurig running smoothly is keeping it clean. The same can be said for almost all single use coffee makers. To keep it clean, try using Essential Values Universal Descaling Solution. Learning to use it is quite easy. All you do is pour the solution in the water reservoir, then run the brew cycle. After that, run the cycle with water only a few times and voila, your Keurig is clean.
If you’re someone who likes to have multiple types of roasts and flavors available, a simple K Cup storage rack will let you quickly find the one you want, while showing off your excellent coffee taste to guests. Using the “AmazonBasics Coffee Storage Carousel Rack Holder” makes every cup easily available.