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File:K-Cup-Silo.gif
Five K-Cups
The inside of a used K-Cup, with the top foil and the used coffee grounds removed. This shows the filter inside.

K-Cup portion packs are used with Keurig or other single cup brewing systems to brew a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Each K-Cup is a plastic container with a coffee filter inside. Ground coffee beans are packed in the K-Cup and sealed air-tight with a combination plastic and foil lid. When the K-Cup is placed in a Keurig brewer, the brewer punctures the foil lid and the bottom of the K-Cup and forces hot water under pressure through the K-Cup and into a mug. Keurig licenses its K-Cup technology to coffee roasters and tea makers such as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Diedrich/Gloria Jeans, Timothy's World Coffee, Van Houtte, Caribou Coffee, Celestial Seasonings, Bigelow Tea Company, Twinings, Tully's, Coffee People and Newman's Own.

Keurig's patents on the original K-Cup design expired in September 2012.[1] Keurig holds at least one additional, still-active US patent[2] and another patent application,[3] detailing improvements that have subsequently been incorporated in their K-Cup design.

K-Cup Varieties

Keurig K-Cups come in a range of varieties, flavors, and blend options. They offer single-origin coffees from Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sumatra. They also offer custom coffee blends, Organic Coffees, Fair Trade and flavored coffees. And a variety of roasts including Extra Bold Roasts - with 30% more ground coffee, Dark Roast, Medium Roast, Light Roast, Flavored, Decaf, Fair Trade Certified and Organic Coffee Roasts.

Patent drawing showing the placement of the filter in the plastic "cup".

K-Cups also offer English Breakfast, Chamomile and Earl Grey decaf, Chai, Peppermint and Mango tea, from a wide range of companies such as Bigelow, Cafe Escapes, Celestial Seasonings, Gloria Jean's Tea, Timothy's Tea and Twinings Tea.

They also offer premium hot chocolate from brands such as Cafe Escapes, Green Mountain Coffee, Timothy's and Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.

K-Cup Controversy

Keurig K-Cups are often cited as an environmental concern because they are not easily recyclable.[4] Keurig has developed a reusable k-cup that is fillable with any fine ground coffee.[5]

K-cups also are more costly than brewing a regular cup of coffee. Many estimates put the cost of a k-cup at double the price of a regular cup of coffee.[6] Some estimates of the same brand of coffee point out that although a k-cup may cost three times as much as brewing a regular cup at home, it is still only one third the cost of buying that same cup at a coffee shop.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2012/11/28/the-k-cup-patent-is-dead-long-live-the-k-cup/
  2. ^ http://www.google.com/patents/US6645537
  3. ^ http://www.sandiegopatentattorney.pro/2012/07/green-mountain-coffee-roasters-patent-expiration-could-create-glut-of-k-cup-copies.html
  4. ^ LA Times - Keurig Environmental Impact
  5. ^ Kuerig's Social Responsibility
  6. ^ Time Magazine
  7. ^ [1]
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