Does Keurig 2.0 Take Regular K-Cups?(No, But)

Does Keurig 2.0 Take Regular K-Cups?

Keurig 2.0 is a brewing machine upgraded with a new technology to scan K-Cup pods.

Keurig 2.0 is designed to scan K-Cup pods, and it only allows the use of Keurig licensed pods.

The Keurig 2.0 is also designed to control the brew temperature, and it can also brew big-sized K Cup pods by using the new technology installed in it to detect the pod size.

No. Keurig 2.0 is designed to scan K-Cups before brewing; it only brews the original Keurig K-Cup pods. They have a unique labeled rim to distinguish them from regular K-Cups. Once you insert a pod in the Keurig 2.0, it gets detected immediately.

As if that’s not enough, the Keurig 2.0 can brew the best cup(s) of coffee and a carafe too.

Keurig 2.0 was invented because the first Keurig had grown popular, as well as other types of brewing machines that were pod-designed.

The growth of Keurig’s popularity made many companies start producing unlicensed K-Cup pods.

This would remove them from business, and so in 2014, Keurig 2.0 was introduced to the market with new technology. 

Keurig K-Cup pods have a unique labeled rim to distinguish them from regular K-Cups. Once you insert a pod in the Keurig 2.0, it gets detected immediately.

Reusable K-Cups are an environmentally friendly practice any Keurig user can implement into their coffee routine. https://t.co/mRcnbTTY06

— Food & Wine (@foodandwine) August 16, 2021

And if it’s the right pod, the machine will adjust the settings for you to be compatible with the pod; these settings can be changed by the user to their liking too.

So, if you had Keurig and upgraded to Keurig 2.0 but still have extra K-Cup pods, be sure you will not need them because Keurig 2.0 has unique Keurig K-Cup pods.

Does Keurig 2.0 need special K-Cups?

Yes. Keurig 2.0 needs special K-Cups. Keurig 2.0 is programmed to use unique Keurig K-Cup pods.

Keurig 2.0 is programmed to scan the lid of a k-Cup pod to see whether the pod is Keurig 2.0 compatible.

Keurig 2.0 was also designed to scan the pod lid to determine the water and temperature needed for brewing.

The temperature and water amount-scanning invention were mainly for the larger pods like the K-Carafe or larger Keurig K-Cup pods.

But it also works for the regular size Keurig k-Cup pods. 

To determine whether the K-Cup in use is Keurig licensed, the Keurig 2.0 scans the lid with some infrared printings to identify the pod.

If the K-Cup is not Keurig licensed, the machine will discontinue the brewing process, but if the results show the K-Cup is Keurig approved, the brewing process will begin immediately.

Are K-Cups being discontinued?

Yes, K-Cups are being discontinued. They have been receiving complaints all over America for their disability to be reused.

Keurig made K-Cups disposable plastic, and many did not find this to be something worth buying.

Many saw it as an environmental hazard because the number of disposable K-Cups collected in a year was enough to cover the earth ten times. 

Can I use ground coffee in a Keurig?

Yes. You can use ground coffee in a Keurig. You can use or brew any coffee in a Keurig; all you need is to do so correctly.

You can use ground coffee in a Keurig in two ways; one is by using My K-Cup reusable filter for a cup or have your carafe covered in a gold-tone mesh filter for brewing.

The other way is by using the old K-Cups; you can recycle them and have your favorite coffee brewed.

Brewing your coffee, ground coffee, has its advantages such that; you save on money by cutting the costs of having to buy a K-Cup of coffee daily, yet you can make it at your home.

Having 2 cups of coffee daily for staunch coffee drinkers might cost them more than $800 in a year; this is four times the market price of regular coffee grounds.

So having your own Keurig and coffee grounds saves you a pretty big chunk of money you would have used to buy K-Cup coffee from a coffee shop. 

Another advantage of brewing your ground coffee, you get to have the coffee of your choice.

Keurig allows coffee makers to brew any flavor of coffee, and that means you can have all the flavors of coffee you want in your home and brew them at any time of your liking.

Brewing your coffee at home also saves the environment.

For instance, those who buy an average of 2 cups of coffee daily in K-Cups, if multiplied by the number of days in a year, make an enormous number of K-Cups.

As we know, K-Cup pods are disposable, meaning once you are done with it, you have to throw it away.

Come to think of it, you will not be the only one using a K-Cup on that day, so the number grows even more significant, and this is a considerable risk to our environment.

Destroying these cups since they are not reusable causes harm to our environment, especially global warming. 

Brewing your ground coffee is a big win and is not as complex as rocket science. All you need to do is put your coffee grounds in the reusable coffee filter.

Next, you will put the reusable coffee filter in the Keurig coffee maker, cover the lid of the filter and finally brew the coffee.

Does Keurig still use DRM 2020?

Yes, Keurig still uses DRM 2020. DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a way people use to protect their digital media copyrights.

DRM prevents unauthorized product redistribution and modes in which consumers can reproduce the content they have acquired.

Keurig still uses DRM to restrict the usage of K-Cups that are not approved.

As much as Keurig still uses DRM, they have licensed various pod brands to be compatible with their coffee maker.

You can also use the reusable My K-Cups, which can be purchased online or in big malls. 

Keurig’s move to DRM attracted many cries from coffee users all over America, so they decided to fight it.

To some point, Mitch Stoltz, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was quoted saying.

“Unfortunately, people are used to their computers telling them ‘I’m sorry you can’t do that” she continued.

“But if it’s your coffee maker or your car saying ‘I’m sorry you can’t do that,’ that strikes people as very strange.”

People continued complaining to Keurig on their Facebook page, and the business even faced multiple lawsuits on anticompetitive and exclusionary moves by the company.

This led to plummeting in Keurig machinery and accessories sales by 23 percent during the first quarter yearly.

To ease the tensions, Brian Kelley, Keurig CEO, announced the return of My K-Cup, which had been discontinued earlier on. 

The return of the reusable My K-Cups helped reduce the disposal of the licensed Keurig pods and cater to those who have a phobia of using disposable cups for coffee.

Stoltz then claimed that Keurig’s DRM was not as onerous as it could have been because they had not yet attempted to legalize it through the courts.

So Freedom Clip and various companies put about freely. 

From the customers’ revolt, we see that if people come together to speak out their grievances in large numbers, the change would be inevitable despite the capacity of the change made.

Keurig tried to limit their customers to Keurig-approved disposable K-Cups, and many did not like the idea hence the revolt.

Why do my K-Cups keep exploding?

There are various reasons why K-Cups explode. We will look at some of why K-cups explode and if they could pose a threat to the coffee maker. 

Your K-Cup will explode when there is too much air in it. During the manufacturing process, a mistake is made, and extra air is added to the K-Cup.

So, when the K-Cup is placed in the Keurig, the machine will puncture the lid to allow hot water into the K-Cup.

It’s at this point, the extra air in the K-Cup will make pressure buildup inside the cup and eventually burst.

It’s advisable to always inspect your cups before using them to ensure they are not filled with air which will later explode and cause a mess on the machine.

You can poke a small hole on the lid to release some air before putting the cup in the Keurig as a way of preventing the explosion. 

Another reason for your K-Cups exploding is because they might lack a strong seal. If your K-Cups are not sealed properly, it can lead to them exploding and causing a big mess.

Again, always check the cups before using them to avoid such scenarios of explosions.

Having a K-Cup that is not correctly sealed might cause even more problems because the coffee grounds in it will have come into contact with air which might ruin them. 

A bizarre yet factual reason why K-Cups explode is the use of K-Cups to brew coffee at high altitudes—

Yes, using K-Cups at altitudes higher than 6000 feet can cause them to explode.

The high altitude causes pressure to build up in the cup to a point where it can explode. So, to avoid this, always puncture a small hole using a pin in the lid before brewing. 

Lastly, if your Keurig machine has clogged, it can lead to your K-Cup exploding.

How a Keurig works is that it has two needles, one for making a hole in the K-Cup lid, and the other needle pokes a hole at the bottom.

If the needles get clogged, this will interrupt the whole process allowing air into the K-Cup and thus exploding.

You should always make regular checks on the Keurig to ensure it is working correctly.

You can clean the needles by inserting straightened paper clips to clear the dirt in the needles.

After removing the dirt in the needles, run hot water through the machine to get rid of any other dirt that might have accumulated in the machine.

The hot water helps flush out the dirt from the machine to avoid causing any more problems. 

Do you need a filter for reusable K-Cup?

Yes. You need filters for reusable K-Cup.

The pre-existing metallic or plastic mesh found in the reusable K-Cups will reach a point where they cannot handle smaller gains of coffee.

The smaller grinds will go through the mesh, and nobody wants to have a gritty drink. So, putting a paper filter in the reusable K-Cup before brewing helps have a smooth drink.

The pre-existing filters in a K-Cup allow the water to pass through the filter quite fast, making the coffee brew weak.

Adding a paper filter helps slow the water hence allowing it to collect the flavor as it goes through. 

Conclusion

Keurig is a brewing machine used to make coffee at home and for commercial use, introduced in America in 1998 by Dr. Pepper.

Keurig could use regular K-Cup pods, and Keurig designed K-Cups which the company later abolished.

With the growing popularity of Keurig and other brewing machines that were pod designed, other companies started manufacturing unlicensed K-Cup pods.

This led to the Keurig being discontinued. The unlicensed K-Cup pods meant that Keurig K-Cups would go out of the market because people now had various K-Cups to choose from. 

Keurig 2.0 was unveiled to the public in 2014 and discontinuing the first Keurig. Keurig 2.0 was to succeed Keurig and curb people using unlicensed K-Cup pods on Keurig machinery.

Keurig 2.0 had a new scanning technology to identify Keurig licensed cups by scanning the infrared prints on the lid.

If the scan is successful, the machine will automatically begin the coffee brewing process by setting the required temperature and size of the Keurig K-Cup.

The introduction of the new K-Cups, disposable, stirred an unending fight against the company by its customers for using disposable cups.

And only restricting them to their accessories for the coffee maker to work. 

The fight against the disposable Keurig K-Cups continued, and the company faced several lawsuits for that.

This made the CEO, Stoltz, announce the return of the reusable K-Cups to cool down the tension.

As much as all the fights against Keurig have been, it is still ranked among the best coffee makers ever invented.