We tried out our new double wall glass mugs yesterday and I think the coffee stays hot longer in the new cup. Sena is a little doubtful. She ordered a thermometer and we’ll test it more scientifically.
The mugs are lighter than I thought they would be. They don’t get hot on the outside so I can safely set it in my lap while we’re sitting out in the sun room in the morning.
The ceramic mug transmits a little too much heat for that, at least initially. I went through the roof once and got picked up by a passing UFO. I offered the driver a sip and it just said, “You’re not experimenting on me!” They’re a little suspicious.
Sena also got a little K-pod drawer which neatly holds most of our pods. The whole setup makes morning brew really quick and easy.
We got our new coffee maker. It’s a Keurig K-Supreme Plus, and it’s as fancy as the name sounds. It’s compact enough to save room for our other coffee maker, a Black & Decker, a model with a carafe and which you have to press and hold the “On” button to start the cleaning mode.
It has options for making your coffee stronger and hotter and you can save your choices.
You can save 3 favorites. You have to press and hold the “Favorite” button until you see the word “saved” in the little window.
I emphasize the “press and hold” because if you don’t strictly obey the rule, you can wind up thinking your brand new appliance is defective.
It does make the coffee hotter. But I think Sena will be looking into other options for cups which will keep the brew hotter for a longer time.
The Keurig coffee makers are normally pricey but Sena got a bargain. And there is nothing wrong with the press and hold maneuver when it comes to your wallet—as in hold it shut.
Sena is returning yet another new coffee maker. It’s a Keurig K Supreme. The problem? The coffee doesn’t stay hot enough after brewing.
What’s the deal?
I think part of it is that we might need to get different coffee cups. On the other hand, we never seemed to notice our coffee cooling off too fast before-except with the current Black and Decker with a carafe that we’re trying to sort of replace with a K type pod coffee maker.
We used to have the original Keurig years ago. I don’t remember that there was ever a problem with the coffee not staying hot.
When I was a resident, I used to have a little Mr. Coffee I kept in my office for when I was on call. It got a lot of use. And it got really dirty. Well, you know, work… I never noticed a problem with the coffee temperature, though.
Why is the temperature of the coffee an issue now? Why are there coffee makers that allow you to set the temperature of the brew? There are 3 settings on some models, one of which Sena has just ordered.
That’s right. This is trial number 3. The MeCity coffee maker had a pod cartridge that made it difficult to remove the pod after brewing. If you don’t have fingernails, you pretty much have to use a tool to catch the pod edge to lift it out. Back to the store.
The Keurig K Supreme was discouraging because the coffee was tepid within a few sips after brewing. Back to the store.
Isn’t this way too much gassing about coffee makers?
I don’t trust customer reviews much. On the other hand, Sena saw one review where the hacked off guy wrote a one liner in all caps about one model of Keurig coffee maker: “WILL NOT WORK WITH ARC FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTERS!” I think there was an expletive deleted in that one.
We actually had that problem in one of the homes we owned years ago. There was only one option—buy a new house (just kidding).
And a previous coffee maker we had got zapped during the derecho here a few years ago. The numbers on the clock faded and it started to gain time. It’s not like we needed to use the clock. I had retired and didn’t need to set it to brew in the morning any more. So, we got a new one.
That’s when all the trouble started. Does any manufacturer make a decent coffee maker nowadays?
Where will this saga end? I don’t think we’ll return the next Keurig model Sena ordered—unless it doesn’t work at all or blows up.
We might have to start thinking about the cups we use. I guess there are different opinions about ceramic vs glass vs whatever kind of cups. Some hold heat better than others, you shouldn’t fill a cup all the way to the top because your coffee could lose heat faster, mug thickness matters damn it! Extraterrestrials are messing with heat transfer physics, blah, blah.
We got a new coffee maker the other day and it’s a Black and Decker. That brand name threw me for a loop just by itself. I’m used to hearing about Black and Decker power tools. But believe it or not, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of Black and Decker coffee makers.
I looked this up on the web. In fact, the Black and Decker company didn’t start marketing coffee makers until the 1980s, I think. It was called the Spacemaker Coffee Maker because it would fit under kitchen cabinets.
Sena tells me we had a Black and Decker coffee maker a long time ago, but I don’t remember it. Then we went with Hamilton Beach, then Mr. Coffee. We also had a Keurig, but the coffee pods were really expensive. This Black and Decker replaced an old Mr. Coffee. The clock didn’t work on it, a problem that I think got started after the derecho a couple of years ago.
Anyway, the Black and Decker is a 12-cup thermal programmable. The number of cups we get out of it is 8, and I think that happens with every coffee maker we ever had which bills itself as a 12-cup. I wonder how big they think most coffee cups are?
It has a smart-looking stainless steel thermal carafe and something with an interesting name, “VortexTM Showerhead.” It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it’s a gadget that looks like a red showerhead that’s designed to provide even saturation of the coffee grounds for “optimal water flow for maximum flavor.”
It has a digital LCD clock, like most coffee makers have, but it’s not backlit. You can see the clock but you have to squint at it. You almost have to use a magnifying glass to see the word “STRONG” which appears when you press the button for strong coffee, which we like.
The user manual suggests (in bold face type) to fill the carafe with hot tap water and empty it before brewing. This is an extra step which is supposed to warm up the carafe and help keep coffee hot. It takes extra time and we don’t think it makes a bit of difference.
We’ve been drinking coffee a long time. It’s actually good for you. Some claim it can even reduce the risk of depression, but I would take this with a grain of salt. If you took that sentence literally, then coffee might not do much of anything for you. You can get too much caffeine, but other than that, it’s good for your health.
I guess you can use it to dye your gray hair, which is funny. You just brew some coffee, rub it into your hair, and right away your hair is much more alert.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 