Keurigs aren’t perfect. They’re usually great, reliable machines that brew us our morning coffee at the single touch of a button! But they do have some occasional flaws and annoying occurrences. One of those experiences is your Keurig making weak coffee that tastes a bit watery or not as strong as you once remember.
We’ve experienced this at Gamble Bay more than we prefer, but we’ve also come up with a myriad of unique ways to really fix the issue for good. A lot of them have to do with general maintenance and routine cleaning but not all of them.
One of the reason we love our Keurigs is because they help us decide for ourselves how much coffee, (or actual liquid) we want to drink that day, such as 6 ounces, 8 ounces, or more.
This differs from the Nespresso Original Line Machines; they have pre-determined cup-sizes, so you brew a specific coffee blend consistently every time. This can be good, but if you feel like having a larger drink, it can get annoying.
In fact if you’re interested in seeing a side-by-side comparison piece on Keurig vs. Nespresso, this article will steer you in the right direction, and drastically simplify your choice.
And we know what you might be thinking right now, looking at your watery coffee.
When the first image that blinks into your mind’s eye is your shattered Keurig with pieces all over your kitchen, half of your hair pulled out, curled up in the fetal position…
Have an iced coffee and chill out.
You’re not going to have to disassemble your machine into a million pieces that you can’t put back together (probably). Today, we’ll clear up all these misconceptions for you, show you how to fix a tasteless, watery cup of Keurig coffee, and get you back to enjoying your steady caffeine drips in no time.
Let’s get down to the grinds…
Why Do Keurigs All Of The Sudden Make Weak & Watery Coffee?
It’s a valid question.
And obviously the simplest fix for a stronger cup of Keurig coffee is to just use a bit less water and/or a stronger K-cup roast to make a more potent, concentrated cup.
The strongest, most potent and face-punching K-cup I’ve ever experienced is the REVV NO SURRENDER. As indicated by its all-caps type and unique name, this coffee takes no prisoners and is simply no joke.
Strong is an understatement here; you’ve been warned.
You can also check out our top 5 strongest K-cup pods that’ll equip you with a strong and steady caffeine buzz in a moment’s notice here. We’ve compared the best of the best, the Hercules brands of the K-cup industry for you here, and you can test and decide which you’d like!
But if you’ve already tried that to your wit’s end, we’ve come up with five all-new unique fixes, separate from just trying less water and more coffee with a stronger blend.
But before we give you those, we need to cover why all of the sudden your Keurig coffee doesn’t taste good anymore. To fix the real problem, you have to know the real issue causing it!
So… why do Keurigs abruptly shift to diluted coffee-water that sucks?
It has to do with your Keurig needles that puncture the K-cup.
If you didn’t know, Keurigs actually use two separate needles to pierce the cup, one at the top and one at the bottom of your K-cups. One hole for entry and one for exit.
Near boiling first water shoots through the upper needle into the K-cup. If this upper needle gets a blockage, then the water sometimes will leak out of the needle, never running through your K-cup to brew coffee like it’s supposed to.
In this case, the water drips out and flows around the K-cup, instead of through it. This results in a highly disappointing start to your day, and innocent children getting screamed at for nothing in your household.
To fix this common problem, you’ve got to remove the upper Keurig needle and clear out the blockage, plain and simple.
We thoroughly cover this process in our guide to deep cleaning your Keurig but you can also see a summary of needle maintenance below.
How to Safely Remove & Clean Your Keurig Needles
Keep in mind that every Keurig (or other third party K-cup coffee maker) has a slightly different method of removing the upper needle for cleansing.
It’s a wise idea to check out your manual first…
You know, the one in Chinese, Russian and Spanish, that reads like legalese and everybody throws away immediately? Yeah, take that thing out and see whether your fingers will get pricked if you try some DIY ninja-stuff on your Keurig.
This is important because some methods vary slightly; you might have to clean out the needle without removing it, or you might be able to access, remove, and dislodge anything inside it with ease.
Let’s cover the “unofficial” way to un-obstruct the stuff inside your needle. The way with no personal liability to be held of Gamble Bay.
The do it yourself, the all-the-risk-of-poking-yourself-silly-with-sharp-stuff-is-on-you-and-we-warned-you way.
Step #1 – Grab a toothpick (or a slender sewing needle).
Step #2 – Dislodge obstructions in the K-needle.
Yep, it really can be that simple in most cases! And if that’s all it takes for you to get back to scrumptious blends of dark caffeine cups, sweet! If you’ll grab a sharp object like a toothpick or needle, and stick it in the upper K-needle to dislodge anything stuck in there, that works in many cases.
If at this point, you’re thinking “Really? I could’ve thought of that!”, or “I already tried this and it didn’t work James, what the @#*!!”
… then we’ll look at five unique ways to fix this problem for good, and then never have to experience it again. Learning how to fix a Keurig making watery coffee isn’t that hard; unfortunately we’ve had to learn it here again and again.
Our suffering experiences will save you from the same fate… Let’s go:
Method #1 – Keep Your Keurig Squeaky Clean
Image Source: CNET
First off, a dirty machine is much more prone to blocks and stoppages.
There’s more residue, dirt, and filth that easily stops up your machine and gives you that crappy, watery coffee cup of suck. This is why it’s important to keep it clean consistently; it could even prevent those clear differences in taste, where it doesn’t seem as fresh to you.
Think about it. Your needle can’t be exceptionally fresh if it collects a new bit of K-cup coffee residue inside every time, without being cleaned out in between.
We put this step first for you on purpose, because you should give it a good clean in the important places (the water + coffee flow pieces) before doing anything else.
If you were to skip ahead without doing number one, then come back and clean out your needle, you might experience a far too strong cup of coffee. This is the first fix.
See the following post for complete cleaning instructions: How to Clean a Keurig Coffee Maker
Let’s move on to number two…
Method #2 – Simply Use Darker Roasts!
Image Source: homedepot.com
While several people love blonde, lighter roasts, they generally offer up a mix of less coffee, more water.
This is preferable for some, but for those who like their coffee deep and dark, this is not acceptable. Unless you’re an unrelenting lover of the light roasts, high acidity and bitter, fruitier flavors, consider giving it a switch and checking out the dark roasts.
Why not check out Workhorse Coffee’s ‘Dark & Bold’, and become a caffeine-fueled work horse for the long day ahead? This one works wonders for us.
Method #3 – Apply Double-Cup K-Cup Power For Maximum Strength
Image Source: Amazon.com
Some people are dark roast lovers, some love the light.
Some have extremely sensitive tastes to coffee and caffeine, and others need to chug gallons of black stuff each day. If you feel that your K-cups make wimpy and weak 8 ounce cups of coffee, you might consider using two of them at a time!
On your next trip to the kitchen, you can try brewing up two K-cups instead of one. Just use one right after the other in the same cup of coffee, and see what results you get.
Side effects may include extreme productivity, a focused and clear head, or staying up for a week straight reading our whole stack of posts here at GBC.
If you do that, don’t blame us; you’ve been warned again…
Method #4 – Test-Run With Only Hot Water One Time
Image Source: Amazon.com
You might be of the opinion that Keurig’s pre-set amount of water simply isn’t enough for a complete cup of potent, concentrated joe.
If so, you can try and run your machine without a K-cup, to first heat up your machine.
This ensures that every single time, your water is piping hot, squeezing all the potential out of your K-cups, and roasting every last ground at an acceptable temperature.
It’ll also help clear out the Keurig needle that much more, since you’re not adding to its clogging by just piercing another K-cup.
You can make this a personal Keurig-coffee-making habit for yourself if it works, since it’s easy and optimizes your machine pretty well, from where we stand!
Method #5 – Remember to Pull Out Just In Time…
Image Source: MarketWatch
Er… we’re talking about removing your mug before the last water drops get inside…
What were you thinking about?
Anyway, the last few drops usually consist of only hot water, since your K-cup has already been used. In other words, the grounds have already been roasted into the cup you’re longingly staring into.
So it makes sense to pull the cup away from the Keurig when it’s basically done brewing, instead of sitting there waiting for the flow to stop completely. The latter is sure to leave you wanting, in terms of taste and real roasted arabica or robusta flavors.
Just be careful you don’t burn yourself when pulling it away!
If You Really, Really Think You Need to Take it Apart…
Okay, let’s reiterate… Hopefully it doesn’t ever come to this; it can be a real pain.
And on the bright side, you’re usually able to fix any issues you have with this big ol’ black coffee box without annihilating it. That said, sometimes you’ve got to get your hands dirty if you’ve tried everything and nothing’s working.
So if you’re post-step five and it’s still not working, (and you’ve read this post fully to be aware of the overall structure of the machine!)…
It might be necessary to take it apart. We said might!!
This assumes you kind of know what you’re doing, have some mechanical skills or a technical/analytical mind, and have read our post on exactly how to disassemble it here.
By The Way, Does Your Keurig Have a ‘Strong’ Button?
Another option here is just pushing the magic button.
This “strong” button on your Keurig might just be enough to fix your Keurig weak coffee problem forever.
Wouldn’t that be simple? If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t… your machine might have the option to brew super strong blends of coffee for you, but it might take a bit more time.
If you’re not in a hurry, and you want a bold blend of brewed happiness, remember press the button (if your model’s got one) and get strong coffee on demand.
How Many Times Should I Use a K-Cup?
Once, and only once.
This is simple; these little K-cups are great for one cup, because they come measured out enough to make one cup of coffee about 6-8 ounces in size.
If you have a large mug or thermos with 10 or more ounces in it, and you want to fill it to the brim, just be ready to sacrifice some strength of taste and depth of flavor.
The Final Brew
With this article, we aimed to fix your problem of weak, watery Keurig coffee as quickly and simply as possible.
Remember that simple problems have simple fixes, and the easiest way to fix this watery coffee issue is by going through all separate Keurig-cures in this article, (especially since none of them suggest taking apart your machine!)
And if you’re well ahead of all of these steps, have tried everything, and are still angrily sipping hot brown water, you might do well to take the machine apart.
Alternatively, send us a quick message here at Gamble Bay, because we’ve got the experience necessary to help you with top-notch coffee making information.
And if you’re wisely considering picking up your own push-button instant coffee maker, you can check out which Keurig is best for you here! We compare the major differences between the K525 and the K575 models.
Until next time…
Keep sipping happily, and don’t let watery coffees ruin your vibe.
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Gamble Bay Coffee
