This is a story of capitalism, big coffee, and the woman who would not be oppressed by their diabolical ways.
Okay, maybe that is a bit dramatic. Anyway . . .
I enjoy, crave, and need coffee, but I am often running short on time. When I was gifted a Keurig with its magical ability to deliver delicious coffee in minutes, it was this procrastinating caffeine addict’s dream come true. So when that one went kaput after years of service, I trotted out to buy a new one without one lick of research. The only thing on the shelf was the Keurig 2.0 and I thought, “Two point O? Fantastic! This will be even better!”
Except the 2.0 didn’t mean improved, it meant more proprietary. Seems the company’s K-Cup patent expired in 2012 and copycat K-Cups sprang up to take a bite out of Keurig’s profits. In response, Keurig developed the 2.0 that has a sensor to pick up the technology they embedded in the newly patented, next generation K-Cups.
This means old cups don’t work in your new machine even if they were designed by Keurig. Put an unlicensed or 1.0 K-Cup in your machine and you get this annoyingly cutesy message.
Okay, so no big deal. I only had three Earl Grey cups that weren’t working . . . or so I thought.
It all came to a head the weekend the Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms hosted a book signing party for Jessica and Norine from the illustrated humor blog, Science of Parenthood, to celebrate the release of Science of Parenthood: Thoroughly Unscientific Explanations for Utterly Baffling Parenting Solutions.
The ladies are from out of town so they spent the night at my house, and because my momma raised me right, I gave them full access to the Keurig with a refreshed and overflowing basket of K-Cups. I was feeling pretty smug about being a good hostess until I heard them call from the kitchen:
“Hey, none of these coffee things are working!”
Jessica is rightfully sad.
I have a penchant for buying in bulk at warehouse stores, but I lack the gumption and desire to rotate my stock. Seems I had just been dumping new K-Cups onto the old, but we had finally reached the bottom of the barrel so to speak. There were at least three dozen K-Cups that weren’t going to work in my machine. Now THAT is a big deal.
But there is a way around it! You just need heavy-duty scissors and scotch tape.
It’s really pretty simple. You just need to cut out the “ring” of a 2.0 K-cup. (There is also a gizmo you can buy on Amazon called a Freedom Clip, but I have not tested out how that works.)
You need to make sure to cut away the ridge or it will not fit in the machine.
Cut the foil out of the ring and just tape it on. While you really need to cut neatly, the taping is not as finicky. Just make sure the ring is seated on the cup and that you don’t tape across the center.
It worked! (To date, I have been able to brew ten cups of coffee with the one ring I cut out.)
And Jessica and Norine celebrated!
You know what would go great with that cup of coffee? Jess and Norine’s new book! These comic geniuses take all the highs and lows of parenting, apply the sciences to them, illustrate them up, and churn out humor we all can relate to.
Need an example? Check out this magnet gracing my refrigerator.
You can get your very own copy of their book on Amazon.
Happy Reading and Coffee Drinking!
Ellen
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Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”
