K Cups are super convenient, and a lot of households in the United States have a Keurig coffee maker. But what if your Keurig decides to stop working one day, but you still need to have your cup of coffee? Can you open up and use K Cups in a regular coffee maker?
Note: This also works if you received a bunch of K cups as a gift but don’t have a Keurig. You can still use them to make a cup of coffee.
Using K Cups In A Regular Coffee Maker
K Cups are essentially mini coffee filters. Inside the plastic of a K Cup is a small paper filter filled with ground coffee. The Keurig pierces the top and bottom of the pod. It forces hot water through the top of the pod and the water filters through the coffee and paper, through the hole in the bottom and into your cup.
To use a K Cup without a Keurig, you’ll need to empty the coffee grounds from the K Cup and use them.
Step 1
Peel off the foil covering of the K Cup. A K Cup typically has 10-12 grams of coffee, which is perfect for making a 6 ounce cup of coffee. Use one K Cup for every cup of coffee you need.
Step 2
Placea coffee filter in your regular coffee maker and add water to the reservoir. Empty the conents of the K Cup into the paper filter and start brewing.
Step 3
Pour out your freshly brewed coffee into a cup and enjoy your coffee!
Using K Cups with the pour over method
If you own a Keurig machine, chances are you don’t have a regular coffee maker. So when your Keurig decides to stop working and you don’t have a coffee maker, you can still use the K Cups to brew a cup of coffee as long as you have some hot water.
If you have a pour over funnel, you can just empty the grounds into the pour over apparatus and brew coffee as you would normally.
Follow the steps below if you don’t have a pour over funnel.
Step 1
The design of the K Cup lets you use it as a pour over coffee maker. First, you’ll need a way to balance the K Cup on top of your coffee mug. A paper plate with a hole cut into it works great, or you can also use a strainer.
Step 2
Very carefully cut a small hole in the bottom of the K Cup. Make sure you only cut the plastic and not the paper filter inside. Remove the foil covering from the top of the K Cup.
Step 3
Fit the K Cup into the hole in your paper plate, or balance it on the strainer and place the whole thin =g on a coffee mug.
Step 4
Pour hot water into the opened K Cup and let it filter through the coffee and paper into your coffee cup below. K Cups are rather small, so you may need to do multiple pours before you get the amount of coffee you want.
Be very careful! If you pour the water too fast, the K Cup may tip over and you’ll spill hot water over your kitchen counter(or worse, yourself).
Once all the coffee filters through into your mug, enjoy your freshly brewed coffee!
Also read: 38 Best Gifts for Coffee Lovers
Pour Over Method Version 2
There’s another slightly more convoluted way for making coffee using K cups as a pour over.
Step 1
Remove the foil and empty the ground coffee into a mug.
Step 2
Add hot water to the mug and give the coffee mixture a little stir. Let it sit for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 3
Cut a small hole in the bottom of the K Cup.
Step 4
Pour the coffee mixture through the K Cup into a new mug. The K Cup will act as a coffee filter and you’ll end up with a fresh mug of K Cup coffee.
Using K Cups With Tea bag method
The tea bag method is our least favorite way to use K Cups without a Keurig machine, but it does indeed work, especially if you don’t have a coffee maker or any way to balance the K Cup on a coffee mug.
The K Cup holds the coffee grinds in a small paper filter. The idea here is to remove the filter and tie it up like a tea bag.
Step 1
Remove the foil covering from the K Cup.
Step 2
Using a knife or a small pair of scissors, cut the filter away from the plastic K Cup. Try to leave as much of the paper intact as possible.
Step 3
Remoe the coffee filter and ground coffee from the plastic. Twist the opening of the coffee filter closed, and use some kitchen twine to tie it and secure it. Voila! You now have a coffee bag.
Step 4
Add some hot water to a cup and place the bag of coffee inside. Steep for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 5
Enjoy your freshly brewed coffee!
Conclusion
Once your coffee has brewed, add milk and sugar to taste. Enjoy your fresh brew and go and get your Keurig fixed!
The methods above all work pretty well thanks to the simple design of K Cups. So if you’re using a regular coffee maker, a pour over, or even a teabag method, you’ll be able to make a decent cup without your trusty Keurig.
Of course, every method we’ve listed here is quite cumbersome compared to the ease of brewing coffee with a Keurig machine, but I guess that’s the price of needing your coffee in the morning!
Last update on 2024-07-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
