Important Note Regarding Keurig Supreme Machines

We have had sporadic reports of issues with our Keurig-compatible Pods either producing weak coffee and/or spilling grinds. This post is intended to help you respond to customer inquiries.

We investigated and believe the issue is limited to the most recent release of Keurig machines called the Keurig Supreme and Keurig Supreme Plus machines. An interim resolution is provided below. The majority of Keurig users are not impacted.

The immediate fix to the issue is for end customers to remove the printed label on each cup directly before brewing. Draft instructions are available online (https://www.javamania.one/pages/important-message-for-keurig-supreme-and-keurig-supreme-plus-owners) and will be included on a preprinted card with each box going forward. You may want to incorporate the instructions into your site documentation.

We are working on a revised manufacturing process that will require no interim step for consumers. We have no time estimate currently but will inform you when we have an update.

 

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Background:

Fresh roasted coffee releases a substantial volume of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds during the first two weeks after roasting. Most K Cup manufacturers allow their coffee to sit for months before packing, which makes their coffee stable but also stale. Since they experience no changes in pressure, they can use thin materials.

Our pods are filled with coffee that is roasted the same day that they are packed. They have thicker walls and one-way permeable lids to allow the fresh coffee to withstand building internal pressure and to degas in transit, making for a great cup of coffee on arrival.

Most Keurig machines in homes and offices, as well as many still sold on the market, have a sole top needle that pierces the lid and injects heated water. This design works well with all version of K Cups, including ours. The Keurig Supreme machines have a new design with five prongs on top. This is designed to extract more flavor from stale coffee. The piercing pressure is spread across five points rather than one. With our thicker lids, only some prongs penetrate fully. The result can be water flowing across the pod rather than through, causing grinds to backflow and to spill water. Removing the top label reduces the thickness enough to allow all five prongs to penetrate.