Before we get into what’s inside a K-Cup, let’s define what Instant Coffee is:
You’ve probably seen instant coffee or tried it before. You scoop a spoonful of coffee into a mug, add hot water and the coffee dissolved in the water. This type of coffee is actually made from brew coffee that has been crystalized and dried. And that’s why it melts into the water
A Keurig Brewer can brew you a quick of coffee in under a minute. That’s a quick cup of coffee, but it is certainly not instant.
photo source: coffeeforless.com
A K-Cup pod is filled with ground coffee, much like the ground coffee you use in a traditional coffee maker. A Keurig brewer forces hot water through the pod and it starts steeping and brewing the coffee ground, soon you’ll see that delicious coffee come out into your cup.
What we’re saying here is, Keurig’s K-Cups are not filled with instant coffee. It is definitely brewed coffee. And just to make sure, open up a used K-Cup and you’ll find that it still has the ground coffee in it. However, there’s an exception to this…
Cappuccino or Latte K-Cups might actually contain some type of instant mixes. These pods have powdered milk and flavors packed into them, so they’re quite similar to those packets with instant coffee drinks.
But for black coffee, these pods are 100% coffee grounds.
Is K-Cup Coffee Considered Filtered Coffee?
Yes. If you look inside a K-Cup pod, you’ll see that it has a paper filter between the actual coffee and pod. This filters out any coffee residues or oils to give out the best coffee brew, just like any filter coffee maker would.
Can I Use K-Cup As Instant Coffee?
This is an interesting question. While some people are wondering if K-Cups are instant coffee (They are not), others are wondering if they can be used as instant coffee. I would assume you could stumble upon a bunch of pods, but don’t have the machine to brew them. So can you open up the pod, empty out the coffee into a cup and use it as instant coffee?
The answer is no, this cannot be done. Because, like we’ve already established, K-Cup pods are filled with ground coffee and not instant coffee. It will not melt into hot water like instant coffee would.
Can You Use K-cups in a Regular Coffee Maker?
If you empty out the ground coffee inside K-Cup pods into a coffee maker (as in drip coffee maker), would that work?
If, for any reason, you needed to do that, yes, it should work. This should work in any type of brewing method that would use a filter a medium ground coffee: drip coffee maker, manual coffee drip or possibly french press pot (although it uses ground coffee coarser than K-Cup pods’).
Where To Buy K-Cup Pods?
If you live in the United States, then you’ve probably seen K-Cups in most major stores like Target, Walmart or Bed, Bath and Beyond. They’re also available directly from Keurig’s website or from Amazon.
If you want to try K-Cup pods from different brands, then you’ll find sampler packs like the ones listed above to be very convenient. They’re available in many different counts (40 – 60 – or even 100 and more), and nicely packed by preference like bold coffee, flavored, a mix of coffee and other beverages like hot chocolate or tea and more!
How To Save on K-Cup Pods:
We all love how convenient Keurig machines are. And although K-Cup pods are not really expensive, you can spend quite a sum after a while, and it’s always nice to save whenever possible.
One of the best ways to get the lowest price on K-Cup pods is to buy directly from factory, therefore cutting the middle man and getting your pods at its true cost. Our favorite source of factory direct K-Cup pods is Intelligent Blends. They sell pods for as low as 33¢/pod and you’ll find many coffee blends, flavored coffee and tea pods available on their website. And the best part is, their pods are made of recyclable materials.