Can You Open K Cups and Use in Regular Coffee Maker?

K cups are the best alternative to a standard coffee maker. There are tons of great Keurig K machines to choose from. Each one offers great features and allows you to make delicious instant coffee without the hassle of using ground coffee and a coffee maker.

But what do you do when your Keurig K machine malfunctions? What happens when you have no ground coffee, a working regular coffee maker, and a handful of K cups?

When this happens, you can open up your favorite K-cup and use it to make your own brewed coffee. All you need is a normal coffee filter, your regular coffee maker, and a bit of patience. Oh, and don’t forget your favorite coffee cup!

The steps for doing this are pretty simple. Remember that inside each K-cup is ground coffee. These machines work by forcing pressurized hot water through the special K-cup to deliver you fresh and delicious coffee.

To gain access to this scrumptious coffee without a Keurig, you can use a regular coffee maker. Simply peel the foil off the K-cup, pour the coffee into a filter, and then use the coffee maker just like you normally would with regular coffee grinds.

This is the simplest method for using K-cups without a Keurig. Extract the coffee from the K-cup and use it in a normal machine! It’s important that you use the right amount of coffee, too, which means you will probably need more than one K-cup.

Depending on how you like the strength of your coffee, we suggest using at least 2 K-cups for this process.

How to Use K Cup Without Machine

But what if you don’t even have a coffee maker? No Keurig machine, no coffee machine, no ground coffee, but a whole bunch of K-cups and some leftover filters. In this case, you need to learn how to use your K cups without a machine.

There are a few different ways you can do this. You will require a coffee filter, a mug, hot water, and your own milk and sugar as needed. Alternatively, you can use a tea bag to make coffee. However, using a tea bag is one of the most time-consuming and bothersome methods.

If you choose to use a tea bag to make your coffee, you must be desperate. But who can blame you? People do crazy things for a hot cup of coffee.

Also see: Are All K-Cups the Same Size?

Pour Over

The pour-over method is definitely the preferred method for making coffee without a machine. Yes, it is a little time-consuming. You might even get a little messy. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will definitely get some coffee dust on your tongue and in your drink.

However, if you do it right, you will get a steaming cup of coffee just the way you like it. Some cups are better to use than others, and we suggest using a short cup that fits nicely in your hand. If the cup is too big, you could lose control of the filter and make a mess.

Method 1

There is a proper technique to use here. The first step is to remove the foil of the K-cup. Next, pour the coffee into your coffee mug from the pod. Then cut the bottom of your pod in such a way that it will allow the flow of hot coffee. Just be careful not to cut the actual filter inside the K-cup.

Now you will fill your coffee mug with hot water and let the mixture of water and loose coffee sit and stew for about 5 minutes. After your coffee mixture is nice and toasty, hold the top of the cut-open pod and pour the mixture through it into an empty coffee mug.

The pod will catch the loose grounds inside its built-in filter, and the liquid coffee will pour into your fresh cup. This should leave you with exactly the kind of coffee you would have gotten with an actual Keurig machine.

Method 2

The second method is a bit easier and doesn’t require almost burning your fingers with hot water. Rather than using the actual K-cup for a filter, use a real coffee filter. Strain the coffee from inside the Keurig pod and dump it all in a coffee filter.

You can use as many pods as you want to get the desired taste. You might have to experiment a few times to see what you like. Once you have emptied the pods into a single filter, place the filter over an empty mug and then slowly pour hot water over the coffee.

It’s OK if the bottom of the filter touches the liquid. Just don’t let any of the coffee out of the filter. You may need to pinch the sides of the filter and hold it above the mug to get all the juicy coffee water out of it. Just be careful it doesn’t rip.

Teabags

When all else fails, you can always use the teabag method to make your coffee. It’s super easy, it doesn’t take that long, and it’s actually a traditional style that many people still use in remote places of the world. It’s also much less messy than using other methods.

All you need is a K-cup, a filter, hot water, and whatever milk and sugar you require. Even though it is called the teabag method, you don’t actually use a teabag. Though, if you were really desperate and had no filters, you could probably jimmy rig a teabag to work properly.

The Method

The one and only method requires the following steps. Remove the foil of your K-cup and dump the grounds into your filter. If you don’t have a filter or a teabag, and you’re seriously desperate, you could use a thin towel or a cheesecloth.

Twist the filter’s top tightly to make sure the coffee stays inside. You’re basically making your own teabag by sealing the coffee inside the thin filter. If you have a teabag string, use it to tie the filter. If not, just keep it pinched with something you have handy.

Now dump the coffee teabag into your cup just like you would with a tea packet. Pour in the hot water and allow the coffee bag to do its thing. If you want a funky taste, you can mix one K-cup with another K-cup of a different flavor.

It will take about 5 minutes for your coffee to be properly filtered. Make sure the water is scalding hot when you begin, as you don’t want your coffee to be too cold when it’s time to drink it. After five or so minutes, remove the coffee bag.

Conclusion

The lesson to be learned here is that you can make your favorite caffeinated beverage regardless of what equipment you have handy. Whether you have an actual Keurig machine, a normal pot-brewer, or nothing but some loose grinds and an old, ratty teabag– you can always make coffee!

Plus, now you know how to make use of your old Keurig pods. Use them to make yourself fresh coffee, even if you’re Keurig isn’t working.