Why You Should Avoid Setting Your Keurig Higher Than A 6-Ounce Cup

The Keurig coffee machine and other such near-instant coffee makers are a godsend for those of us who are only semi-lucid in the mornings. On top of making the task of getting your morning cup of joe ridiculously quick and easy, your Keurig is also a sneakily multipurpose tool in the kitchen. But what if we told you that you're actually making a critical error every time you brew a hot cup of coffee with your Keurig machine?

Unfortunately, single-use coffee pods are not a bottomless well of ground-up caffeinated goodness, and they only hold a limited supply of coffee. Since the amount of coffee within each pod is constant, adding more water to the mix by selecting a larger serving size might not be the best idea. A 10- or 12-ounce serving of coffee uses significantly more water than, say, a 6-ounce serving, meaning you're making your coffee much weaker when you brew a heftier cup. On the other hand, choosing a smaller serving size will yield stronger coffee that's more in line with the ideal serving size for the pod's coffee content. For those who simply want an approachable, mild coffee, a larger serving is perfectly fine. But if you're the kind of coffee drinker where every detail matters — even the type of coffee mug you use — you'll want to take this into consideration next time you're prompted to select your Keurig's serving size.

We've established that a larger serving of coffee from your Keurig is going to be weaker than you might desire, but don't ring the alarm bells just yet. Even if 6 ounces is the ideal limit for any one coffee pod, that doesn't mean you can't innovate ways to get a flavorful, punchy cup of coffee while also enjoying a big, full mug of the stuff.

The first and most obvious way to work around this K-Cup limitation is to simply use more than one coffee pod per brew (in other words, brew two small cups of coffee in the same mug). If you do this, you can ensure that you'll be getting the intended flavor from your coffee while also doubling your serving size. You'll also be ingesting twice as much caffeine, though, so if you're sensitive to such things, you might want to be careful with this one before you get too jittery. Remember, you can always use a less-caffeinated coffee for one or both of your pods. This split-pod method is also a cool way to seamlessly incorporate different flavors into your coffee, and there are plenty of additions that can boost your coffee's flavor beyond the strength of the brew itself. So, whether you use two coffee pods or grab extra additions from elsewhere in the kitchen, you already have all the tools necessary to work with — not against — your Keurig.