For Stronger Keurig Coffee, Use An Easy Pod Hack

The Keurig is a savior for many who want to brew a better cup of coffee at home without the luxury personal barista. But depending on how you like your coffee, the strength delivered by the grounds in one K-Cup may not be enough for you. The way to overcome this obstacle is to use a second K-Cup. No, you don't need to make yourself an oversized cup of coffee to do this either. Simply set the level of ounces to the lowest amount on your Keurig. This will add boldness without watering down your coffee.

If the lowest ounce setting makes the coffee too strong, play around with the settings until you've conjured up your perfect brew. Different types of coffee will also produce different results, and buying a stronger coffee may help your K-cups last longer, especially if you're of the majority of people in the United States who drink an average of two cups of coffee per day (according to Statista). This means that making a coffee strong enough to suit your preferences could run you four K-Cups per day. K-cups average out to about .60 cents per capsule, so this could become an expensive habit. Though there may be an alternative option that lets you have your coffee as strong as you want, without filling your trash bin with coffee pods every day.

If you're going to be using two pods per cup of coffee, it may be time to look into buying a reusable K-Cup. While Keurig debuted its compostable coffee pods in 2024, consumers will also need the new Keurig Alta machine in order to use them. However, Keurig has sold reusable K-Cups for a while that you can fill with your favorite grounds. This option can potentially save money and will certainly reduce waste and plastic use. 

Keurig has long been criticized for the mass plastic use and potential microplastics that coffee drinkers are consuming from each pod. While you may not be able to avoid eating or drinking microplastics altogether, there are other options. Stainless steel multi-use coffee pods like the Noalto Reusable K Cups on Amazon allow you to make as many cups of coffee as you want without the added microplastics (and without annihilating your wallet). If a stronger cup of Joe is what you seek, one tip for adding your own coffee to a reusable K-Cup is to use a finer grind. This will give you stronger coffee and likely a more bitter flavor.