THE K-CUP CONSPIRACY

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What exactly is a K-CUP and why are they so damn expensive?  A K-CUP is a small container of ground coffee used by the Keurig Brewing System. It brews a single cup of fresh coffee with little effort and no hassle. It's an amazing little machine. In fact, I have one. I use it all the time.

So what's the big fuss about?  Well, for one -- they're expensive.

A box of these K-CUPS can run you more than an entire large can of ground coffee. They've become all the craze. It seems everywhere you go, you can find different brands of K-CUPS, from Dunkin Donuts to Green Mountain Coffee to everything in between. A box of 24 generic K-CUPS will run you approximately $17.00. That works out to 70 cents a cup!

Maybe you like Dunkin Donuts coffee. Well, they sell a package of 14 K-CUPS for $23.00. That works out to a whopping $1.64 per cup for home brewed coffee. Are you kidding me? A quick look at the Starbucks website shows they have a selection of K-CUPS for sale, but oddly the site doesn't advertise a price. Hmmm. Suspicious.

Further searching on the web revealed the following prices. If you buy in bulk. That's (3) 10 packs for a total of 30 single cups, the price is $49.98. Let's just call that an even $50.00. That works out to be $1.67 per cup of their over-roasted, burnt tasting coffee. Oddly, if you buy their Sumatran blend in a 16 pack, it will run you $20.38 or a modest $1.27 per cup.

You have to admit, this is a license to print money. The fact that Keurig has managed to get Americans to pay coffee house prices for home brewed coffee is astounding to me. Of course, you're probably asking yourself, can you use your own coffee with the Keurig Brewing System?

Well, yes, you can, but that requires you purchase a separate adapter and filter for around $17.95. This is what I use when I make coffee in the morning. The catch, however, is that you use much more coffee per cup that you would using a conventional brewing system.

So, is it worth it?   It is for somebody.

Of course, they forgot the part where you feel like you got violated by a household appliance.