Amazing Facts about the Keurig Coffee Maker

Since Keurig launched their coffee maker in the 1990s and the 2000’s, it has revolutionized everyone’s morning rituals. With their single-serve brewers and their signature K-Cup coffee pods, people won’t have to brew a big pot of coffee, or they will be able to have their quick coffee fix as they’re hurrying for work or other engagements. For people in this kind of lifestyle, they see the Keurig machines as the best coffee makers they’ve ever had as they don’t have to break a sweat in making fresh gourmet coffee.

Here are some of the fascinating facts about the Keurig coffee maker:

1. “Keurig” means “excellent” in Dutch

One of the machine’s inventors, John Sylvan, named the appliance “Keurig” with hopes of providing coffee lovers an “excellent” cup of gourmet coffee at any time they wish.

2. Environmentalists denounce it

Despite Keurig being a revolutionary product, it doesn’t sit well with environmentalists because the company’s proprietary coffee pods are not recyclable and thus create lots of garbage. They claimed that Green Mountain Coffee (Keurig’s former name) coughed up a lot of coffee pods enough to circle around the equator over 10 times.

It was too much for Keurig to ignore these allegations, so it answered the protesting environmentalists that it would develop a sustainability program which aims that all K-Cups will be recyclable by 2020.

One of the founders/inventors suffered caffeine poisoning as a result of testing their invention3. One of the founders/inventors suffered caffeine poisoning as a result of testing their invention

In 1995, Sylvan began experiencing headaches and tunnel vision, and because of this, he had to be rushed to the emergency room. Doctors asked him in regards to his daily coffee intake. He replied that he took around 30 to 40 cups of coffee while developing the prototype machine.

4. At first, the machine was meant only for office use

Units of the Keurig coffee maker were distributed in the offices on the East Coast during the late 1990s. It was only in 2004 that the company launched their first model for home use. Now, several Keurig coffee makers are designed for both home and office use.

5. There are more than 500 types of K-Cup beverages

K-Cups aren’t just limited to coffee, but also other beverages that range from tea to hot chocolate to cider, even sodas. Decaffeinated K-Cups are also available in retail stores like Walmart. About 75 different brands, from Starbucks to Dunkin’ Donuts, are selling their own K-Cups.

The great thing about Keurig single serve coffees and K-Cups is that they give a lot of choices for coffee lovers to brew their own preferred cup of coffee flavor.

6. Nowadays, one of Keurig’s inventors doesn’t even use the coffee brewing pods

It surprising to think that an inventor doesn’t bother to use his creation, but that’s the case with Sylvan. He has said he doesn’t use the the plastic coffee brewing pods simply because they’re expensive. Besides, he has added, “It’s not like drip coffee is tough to make.” In fact, when learning that the coffee pods are not recyclable, Sylvan has said that he now regrets inventing them.

7. Most of Keurig’s profits come from K-Cup sales

The point of Keurig’s K-Cups not being recyclable is that it will lead to Keurig brewer owners to buy new K-Cups. Their purchases add up to the sales of K-Cups, quite fast. In 2010, the company posted sales of $800 million worth of K-Cups — even much more than their brewers.

The Keurig coffee maker is, without a doubt, one of the top rated coffee makers on the market today. Check out other coffee maker reviews from the consumers themselves to help you decide if the Keurig coffee maker is best suited to your caffeine needs.