Is Pour Over Coffee Better Than a Keurig?

Is Pour Over Coffee Better Than a Keurig?

Pour over coffee is better than any fancy single-cup machine. I cannot think of anything a Keurig does better than pour over. Okay, they’re neat and shiny. Fine. I like neat and shiny things. I have an iPhone 14, and it is cool. It may not be worth $800, but it works great and is the best phone I have ever had. It does far more than the phone I grew up with and far more than a cheap phone. But the Keurig does nothing better than my inexpensive pour over. 

I remember the first time I used a Keurig. It was in Stowe, Vermont, almost twenty years ago. My wife and I discussed the convenience of it and how we thought the company would do well. Little did we know how well. I have owned a few of them since. Then why don’t I own one now? There are many reasons.

First and foremost is the cost. Whether something is worth the money depends on the user’s needs and likes. In my case, Keurig and similar machines are not worth the money. 

The least expensive Keurig machine costs about $60, and the expensive models can cost over $200. The coffee they make is okay but not superb. I am by no means a connoisseur of coffee, and maybe there are single-cup machines that make coffee that tastes better than my pour over, but I doubt it. Either way, the coffee they make costs much more.

The pods are at least $0.30 each, and most are over $0.50. Making a pour-over uses about $0.12 of coffee with average-priced beans. The filter is about two cents.

I use the Melitta pour over device I bought years ago. It has gone up in price but is $8 on Amazon as of this writing. They last a long time, maybe forever. There are fancier devices, but Melitta Bentz invented the pour over and the coffee filter, so I will stick with Melitta. I bought an electric kettle for $15; a stovetop one is less, and you can always use a kettle or pot you already have. 

You can choose any coffee you want in your pour over, with far more choices than Keurig. We have been drinking the excellent Velvet Moon Dark Roast from Cameron’s that we buy at Costco for $5.50 a pound, but you can use anything you want. Even Peet’s Major Dickason will come in cheaper than Folgers K cups.

And Keurig machines break down. That is why I have owned several. At the very least, you will feel they are obsolete in a few years (like an Apple watch). My electric kettle hasn’t broken down or become obsolete, and a stovetop kettle can last generations.

The next problem is cleaning. Try this if you use a Keurig (I occasionally use one in a hotel room if I don’t bring my Melitta). Run the machine with no pod and look at the water in the cup. It is almost always dirty. I ran the one in my office break room ten times, and it still had dreck in the cup. If there’s dreck, then you know there are germs. Drop the Melitta in the dishwasher top rack, and you’re good to go.

Some coffee experts claim a gooseneck water kettle and a Chemex for $50 plus expensive filters beat my Melitta. Maybe, but most reviews talk theoretically about flow rate and filtering quality and all that. If you judge on taste, then I only trust blind taste tests. Don’t trust someone about how a medicine supplement helps you unless you have blinded studies. And don’t trust a taste review without doing a blind taste test. 

Now for the most important reason that pour over coffee is better than Keurig, and I only discovered it recently. It takes a few minutes to make, and while watching the water and grounds mix, with the beautiful coffee filling the mug, you cannot help but relax. At my office, people tell me Keurig is faster and more convenient. But why rush? Most of the stress in my life comes when I feel rushed. With pour over, I can relax and make my coffee. Then, I relax and drink my coffee. I don’t need an expensive machine to rush my life.

So, drink better, cleaner, less expensive coffee. Buy some filters, a kettle if you need one, a single-use filter holder, and Bob’s your Uncle.