Review: My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews Mykcup Want to use your own coffee in your Keurig home brewer? Look no further than the My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter filter. The reusable K-Cup® filter assembly allows you to use your own gourmet ground coffee in your Keurig® brewer. The My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter will work in your Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, Keurig B70 Brewer, and the Breville BKC600XL Gourmet Single Cup Brewer.

The reusable K-Cup filter is also now available to the general public via Green Mountain Coffee's web site. You can purchase both the reusable K-Cup assembly and extra filters. We received just an assembly and one filter for testing but can tell if you really wanted to enjoy this for a couple of cups of coffee in the morning having an extra filters will make repeat cups of coffee much easier.

We embarked on our first round of testing using Pete's House Blend coffee. We frequent Pete's Coffee Shop in Harvard Square here in Cambridge, MA all the time and know that special flavor you get from any Pete's Coffee. How would the My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter do when brewing up a cup of coffee? How hard would it be to fill? What would the mess be like? How hard would the clean up be?

Update: You can now purchase the My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter at Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's web site.

Getting Familiar with the Reusable K-Cup Filter

There are really just three main parts to the filter: the cap, the stem, and the filter. To use the filter you'll need to remove the K-Cup holder in your Keurig home brewer (remember only B40, B50, and B60 brewers) and place the reusable filter into the empty hole. You can think of the reusable filter as a big K-Cup that fits the entire hole.

Grinding Up Some Reusable K-Cup Coffee

As we stated above, we decided on Pete's House blend coffee. We really wanted to see if we could get a similiar bite with the My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter. We opened a few K-Cups of French Roast and others to match the grind and then fired up our trusty Starbucks blade grinder to match the standard K-Cup grind.

After grinding a good amount of ground Pete's coffee, we then got out the Single Serve Coffee.com scale and made sure to tare the filter. My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter weighs in at 5.1 grams. We were able to then put in 12.1 grams of coffee for the filter. If you're trying to compare how much coffee that is - a typical coffee pod is in the 10-12 gram range so we're dealing with a similar amount of coffee here and we think 12 grams is pretty impressive.

We then decided on the middle 7.25 oz cup size for our brew. Brewing time for the reusable K-Cup filter is the same as a regular K-Cup but the sound is much quieter. We noticed right away we were getting a very rich extraction. Yes!

Sampling the Reusable K-Cup Coffee
Wow. This is s good cup of coffee. Right away we had a cup of coffee with Pete's bite and a very non-bitter brew. We decided to add a little cream and sugar and sit back with our cup of freshly brewed - freshly ground - single serve coffee. Excellent.

We then finished up a cup and decided to go about making another cup and see how clean up would be. Removing the My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter from the machine was trivial. The filter will drip out the bottom a bit more than you would get with a K-Cup and it's good to hold your hand while you take it to your sink or waste basket to empty out.

After removing the cap, the filter slipped out easily and then running it under the faucet cleaned out the filter quite nicely. We were impressed there wasn't more mess here. We reviewed the Cafe Filter for the Senseo last year and let me tell you - the mess was much higher and the filter is much harder to fill. If you're used to washing out a gold filter on a drip machine then the process of cleaning the reusable K-Cup filter is about the same.

Conclusions

For current or new Keurig owners - if you want to brew you own coffee using a Keurig home brewer - then the reusable My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter is for you. We recommend getting a couple of extra filter baskets to allow brewing multiple cups of coffee with less fuss over washing out the filter right away for reuse, but for an investment of $14.95 for the filter assembly that includes one filter and two additional filters at $9.95 totaling just under $25 bucks this is a great thing to have around.

The My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter will work in your Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, Keurig B70 Brewer, and the Breville BKC600XL Gourmet Single Cup Brewer.

At My K-Cup Keurig Reusable Filter

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Posted by Jay Brewer at January 5, 2006 8:52 AM

I also got a Keurig for Christmas this year and just got the My K-Cup to try to use my own coffee and tea blends. If you are a tea drinker, yes this can work for you. There are a couple of options. If you are used to teabags, I have found the simplest thing to do is rip off the top of the teabag and dump the contents directly into the filter for the My K-Cup. It works great and you don't have to wait for the bag to brew. If you are used to loose-leaf tea, then the leaves need to be wet first or else you'll get weak tea (as Walter pointed out in the previous review). You can follow his suggestion or... another option, if you want to make a large cup of tea, is to use a little more loose tea and run the machine twice with the same leaves. The first run will produce a somewhat weak tea, but when combined with the second run (after the leaves are wet), the flavor will even out and be about right. I tend to like making myself large cups of freshly brewed iced tea, so I fill a large cup with ice, then use the machine twice with the same leaves, and I have a cup of fully flavored iced tea in a fraction of the time it usually takes me to heat the water, pour into a teapot, brew, and then pour over ice. It's now only one step for me. One last thing -- if you're into gourmet, high-quality full-leaf teas, this isn't going to work (just as the Keurig isn't suited for those used to brewing dark roasts in a French press for full flavor). For that you need appropriate temperature control and full control over infusion time. I enjoy the convenience of the Keurig for a quick cup of hot or iced tea, but if I want to brew up my best Silver Needle White Tea, I'm still going to stick to a traditional pot.
Posted by: john at January 13, 2007 7:57 PM

I used the k-cup units to allow me to use my own coffee as well as to be a bit environmentally friendly and they work very well with fine and medium ground coffee. It works well with local coffee shop grinds and the national brands. I have use anything from gevalia, starbucks, green mountain, dunkin donuts to name a few... I've used it with loose ground green tea, although proper rinsing/cleaning is needed before switching back to coffee. I find I can get 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of coffee without any issues... over filling can cause the machine to stop midway through the drip process. I purchased mine through Green Mountain and at Target. One last note, I have to agree with Rhonda+Bob, both the lids and the top of the container start to chip after a month or two. I use ours primarily at work so it's about a cup or two a day, alternating k-cups... and the chipping occurs at the lid, with the plastic lips chipping off or there's cracking at the top rim of the main container. It's either through repeated use, over-tightening of the k-cup, heat or pressure from the keurig coffee maker... possibly a combination of all of the above; however, it is a bit annoying. Seems like the product designers need to search for a better plastic... hopefully one that is safe for food preparation and that will not leach plastics/resin into the coffee at these high temperatures. At $15+ a pop, these filters should last as long as if not better then the "24k Gold" filters for traditional coffee pots. Overall it is a pretty good system, I wasn't aware of the 500 brew cycles for the filters but that's good to keep in mind.
Posted by: William Cherry at January 24, 2008 12:23 PM

I have been using the My K-cups for about 2 years now. Yes, the lips that hold the cap down chip away rather quickly. Especially if one leaves any bits of coffee grounds on the mating surface of the filter gasket. The tolerances are tight as is, and having coffee in there is just to much for the hold down tabs to take. So, make certain to wipe down the gasket of the filter before snapping into place. Even though the tabs are nearly gone they do still hold the cap in place and the My K-cup still works though it does occasionally leak down into the filter housing of the Keurig brewing unit. Despite my patience with sticking with these defunct filters I give this product a thumbs down. If Keurig wants to stick with 3 tabs to hold down the cap then they need to go to metal construction. If they want to stick with plastic materials then they should replace the slot/tab design with a threaded screw on cap design. The fact that Keurig chose the hold down tab design makes me think that Keurig purposely engineered obsolescence into this product. Buying the expensive K-cups represents a continual profit beyond the initial brewer purchase. The price of a My K-cup equals about what one would spend on 1 month supply of disposable K-cups. I've bought 2 My K-cups and they both showed signs of fatigue failure after about a month and a half. That is just too much of a coincidence in my opinion.
Posted by: Josh Reiter at January 27, 2008 11:51 PM

Great review! Glad you found this to be such a nice product. This feature was the reason I bought my B60 from Williams Sonoma, and though I don't use it often (too many K-Cups to try still), it is nice to have it. Funny how you went to a high-end coffee, while my first thought was to see how drinkable my budget-conscious wife's Folgers was. I found it to be better than the stuff she brewed in our auto-drip (probably because she has no sense of how large a tablespoon is and refuses to use one :-)). I then tried Starbucks Cafe Verona Decaf and found it to be very similar to the auto-drip brewed equivalent. Keurig is a great company and it shows in everything that they do.
Posted by: MichFan at January 5, 2006 11:45 AM

One thing I've done since I had the resuable filter, is to open up some leftover pods I had and put the ground coffee into the K-cup filter. I don't think that it was the ideal grind to use, but I wasn't letting the Kona pods go to waste!!!
Posted by: Tracey Rowley at January 5, 2006 1:52 PM

Hello, I don't really know a lot about single serve coffee makers. Are they different from one cup coffee makers? I'd like to buy a machine that allows me to make just one cup of coffee in the morning, but that doesn't require pods. I'm also looking for a machine that won't require me to grind my own coffee. Do such machines exist? Thank you.
Posted by: Toni at January 6, 2006 11:33 PM

I am interested in this Keurig machine with the reusable filter. In the above description where they used Peet's coffee, the grind wasn't mentioned. Now I have been a Peet's coffee drinker for 20yrs. When I lived in MA. I frequently went to the Cambridge location. I always get it shipped to my home. I love it. When I contacted Peet's about single serve and asked if they would be selling pods, they told me they have tried. But the fresher the coffee the harder it was. The pods kept exploding! So, since I normally grind my coffee to espresso grind, what grind would be best for this machine and appox. how much coffee in normal measurements would one put it?
Posted by: Sunny at January 8, 2006 6:25 PM

The grind is mentioned. I ground the coffee to match a standard K-Cup's grind type - I'm sorry if it wasn't clearer. You'll need to match this grind type and 12.1 grams of coffee per the article. We also played around and got differing extractions but always a pretty good cup of coffee.
Posted by: Jay Brewer at January 8, 2006 6:32 PM

I read your review: It was very informative. (Now if they'll just come back in stock at Keurig...) A question came to my mind while I was looking at the photos. How does reusable K-cup filter handle the "pins" which normally pierce the top and bottom of the K-cup? The photos don't show any holes in the filter that would match up with the holes in the K-cup.
Posted by: Bill at January 11, 2006 10:10 PM

I received my re-usable filter today -- very nice indeed. I was somewhat apprehensive about removing the k-cup seat to replace it with the filter "seat", but it all went very well. Ran a cup with a drip-french press size grind of some beans I had, and it was great. Particularly with how easy it is to switch between the re-usable cup "seat" and the k-cup piercing "seat", I'll probably use this more than I had originally thought even.
Posted by: John B at January 12, 2006 12:51 AM

I am a newcomer to the Keurig B50 and am also interested in the grind type for the reuseable filter. I read the review and did not see anywhere where it said the grind type. I am not experienced with coffee beans, grinding ,etc. so would it be possible to tell me if I need to get coffee beans and grind them to ...(i.e. fine grind, medium grind, etc.) Or are there other grind types as well? Or does it even matter what type of grind? ...still learning
Posted by: Nick Kucharw at January 14, 2006 6:42 PM

I got this directly from Keurig Dear Reginald, Thank you for your inquiry. Keurig’s new “My K-Cup”, a reusable K-Cup that can be filled with the coffee grounds of your choice, is compatible with the Elite B40, Ultra B50, and Special Edition. You can find this new product at www.keurig.com under the “accessories” section. The entire assembly will cost $14.95, and a set of 2 filters costs $9.95. Each filter is good for over 500 brew cycles. We are temporarily out of stock on the My K-Cup, but will receive more in the beginning of next week. Currently, the only brewer that comes with a My K-Cup included is the Special Edition B60 purchased from Williams-Sonoma. Brewers purchased through www.Keurig.com or other retail outlets do not include this accessory. The My K-Cup will not be available in retail stores until February 2006. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Jennifer Zimmerman Keurig Customer Service At Home Division (866) 901-BREW (2739)
Posted by: reggie at January 19, 2006 12:27 AM

I love my Keurig B50 but use it mainly for tea rather than coffee. The brew is so much better than you get from a tea bag. Has anyone tried the reusable filter with tea? Any idea if it's even possible? There seems to be a lot more tea in a kcup than in a tea bag and the grind seems finer. thanks in advance for any input.
Posted by: Hally at April 24, 2006 1:10 AM

keurig- anything related to that name is simply amazing! i have used many different coffees and teas - all excellant! i love, yes LOVE, this filter! i use it all the time and grind my coffee fairly fine to get a really flavorful non-acid cup of coffee. i am buying another one, or two maybe, so i can make a large mug without having to clean out the filter to reload. a good idea for those of us who don't function well in the morning: just load up your filters at night and in the morning you have the convenience of k-cups! the filter can be put in the top wrack of the dishwasher, just make sure the won't fly around.
Posted by: doreen at April 30, 2006 9:37 AM

Can you use the My K-Cup with tea? I am getting the Keurig B60 and My K-Cup for Christmas and I was thinking about using my favorite Tea (Republic of Tea Green Pomogranate)by just dropping the tea bag in the K-Cup? Any thoughts, suggestions?
Posted by: Sara at December 15, 2006 12:24 PM

We just bought a Keurig B60 and I have noticed that the K-cups work fine, but the My K-Cup does not work fine at all. The coffee comes out like water almost. I was told that the grind may not be fine enough, but after seeing these reviews I am not sure if that is the case. I use the Folgers brand ground coffee. Any help would be appreciated thanks. If people are ginding there onwn coffee what is the grind setting you use? thanks again
Posted by: steven at December 19, 2006 4:02 PM

I was given a B60 for XMAS and purchased the My K-Cup to use with tea. I am not a coffee drinker but have a wide selection of loose teas that I wanted to try. The first time I tried it the tea was very watered down. After a while, I finally worked it out. I fill the filter 1/2-2/3 full with the loose dry tea. I then place the filter into the cup and run hot water through it to hydrate the tea. This can be done quickly by covering the bottom hole so that the water just sits in the filter. Once the tea is all wet, I put the top on and place the My K-Cup in the unit. I press the "cup" bottom rather than mug and run it twice on this setting to fill the mug (the second pass is a bit stronger). This all sounds time consuming but it only takes a minute or two and that is much quicker than making loose tea the old fashioned way. I leave the tea in the My K-Cup and can get many cups out of one fill.
Posted by: Walter at December 27, 2006 4:17 PM

We just tried Japanese loose leaf green tea in our My K-Cup and it was delicious! One teaspoon on the 7.25 setting + re-running it on the 5.25 setting = 12 oz of lovely, addictive stuff!
Posted by: stephanie at February 24, 2007 2:43 PM

I use the K-cup reusable filter and while I like it, I find that it doesn't last very long. At best, in a 2 person hh, both drinking 1 to 3 cups per day, that the reusable filter housing lasts about maybe a month and then the 3 plastic lips that hold the top on begin to break off, causing the lid to not hold down tight. This means grounds get into the cup. The concept is great, but the workmanship needs ... well ... work. Sad considering how much the coffee & the replacement filter housings cost.
Posted by: Rhonda at October 21, 2007 10:58 PM

I have been using the "My K-cup" for a couple of weeks and the edges are starting to break away. You have to be careful how you tighten it. If it isn't tight enough you will get grounds comming out the top and into your cup. To tight and the lips start to chip away. I wonder if Keurig is doing any thing about this?
Posted by: Bob Tyndall at October 23, 2007 11:52 PM

Is there a way to make your own k-cups out of Starbuck's coffees. I've been using their Caffe Verona in the My K-Cup, but you have to clean it out after every cup. It would be real nice to be able to use the disposable cups, that make my Keurig such a pleasure to own, with my favorite coffee. Does anyone make empty k-cups with a stick-on foil top, so that you could make your own ahead of time?
Posted by: AndyWegmann at January 24, 2008 12:28 PM

I'm going to agree completely with "josh" just above this comment... This thing breaks no matter what technique you use (wiping, being sure to not overfill, emptying and washing right away... etc) Which leads me to thing it is made of shoddy material which WILL break down after a certain amount of exposures to the heat and pressure... usually after a month to a few months of use (depending upon how much coffee you drink a day!) coincidence? I think not... for the price it would be nice to get something that will last a reasonable length of time... I don't like the huge amount of waste generated by the disposable kcups...not to mention the large expense compared to buying coffee by the pound... Until keurig makes a better reusable filter system I will NEVER recommend this coffee maker to others...
Posted by: Kalee Lennon at March 3, 2008 12:51 PM

POOR BUILD QUALITY. The plastic becomes brittle due to the heat of the coffee maker and IT BREAKS! I've been able to extend its use by treating it very gingerly but the tabs under the cap break, the cap itself will crack along the side...eventually the seal will be so compromised that hot water spews from the side during brewing. Shame on Keurig for releasing such a poor quality product and not correcting it. Since the My K-Cup was released, I've used four of them. I'm down to one now. At 14.95 each, we would expect them to last longer than a few months each with regular use.
Posted by: Vern at April 14, 2008 2:04 AM

It is surprising that more than two years later, no one has mentioned the issue of dumping the spent coffee down the drain. Cleaning the filter is much more difficult if you want to avoid it. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Richard at April 24, 2008 9:36 PM

Any one try the My K-cup accessory on a B100? I tested it twice so far and it seem to work ok but I think my downfall was the coffee beans were ground to fine. If I tamped down the grounds (directions tell you not to) or half filled the filter I ended up with a huge mess on my counter. It seems the force of the hot water in both of those cases pushed the grinds out of the way. But if I filled the filter up to the top like the directions said, the coffee came out ok sorta (had coffee grounds in it). I going to try again with coarse grounds. I really don't see why this shouldn't work with a B100.
Posted by: R B at May 11, 2008 9:21 PM