Keurig Coming Out With A Cold-Drink Machine

[erpowers]

Keurig Green Mountain, which is known for single-serve pods of coffee and tea, is hoping a new cold-drink machine will tempt lukewarm buyers.

The coffee maker announced the release of Keurig Kold Tuesday. The new machine allows customers to make single-serve soda and carbonated beverages, including Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite and flavored seltzer water.

snip

In addition to Coca-Cola products, the company is offering pods of Keurig original flavors, and will soon be offering cocktail mixers, according to the statement.

This isn't Keurig's first stab at producing products other than K-cups of coffee. Earlier this month, Keurig and Campbell's Soup Co. launched single-serve Fresh-Brewed Soup in K-Cup pods. The 70-calorie soup servings are available in Homestyle Chicken Broth & Noodle Soup Mix and Southwest Style Chicken Broth & Noodle Soup Mix.

http://www.khou.com/story/money/business/2015/09/29/make-your-own-coke-home-keurigs-kold/73018946/

[LiberalElite]

1. Oh goody more non-recyclable stuff -

what's wrong with pouring a glass from a bottle of soda or seltzer? Then you can recycle the empty container.

[hibbing]

5. +1

[Major Nikon]

6. It's nice to be able to make your own seltzer

Particularly if you go through a lot of it, but not at a dollar or more a pop. I have a 20lb CO2 tank that I have refilled ever so often at the homebrew store. It makes gallons of fizzy water dirt cheap.

[PoliticAverse]

2. "cold drinks from Keurig are expensive ... The pods sell for $4.49 to $4.99 for a pack of four."

From:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/09/28/keurig-debuts-cold-drinks-machine-after-years-development/bo2qetzKkFczecfetZPzMK/story.html

[eShirl]

9. holy crap, what a racket (n/t)

[meow2u3]

14. The guy who make Keurig doesn't even use the machines

He knows it's a ripoff.

[NightWatcher]

3. I already consume single serving drinks. They're called cans of beer and soda

Also, we have plastic bottles of soda or water too.

[cyberswede]

7. LOL

...plus, I bet their idea of a single serving is smaller than mine.

[jmowreader]

10. More than likely...a "single serving" on this machine is 8 ounces

Which is the "official" serving size for soda, but most people are used to drinking the stuff 12 to 20 ounces at a time.

[cyberswede]

12. Or a liter...

[jmowreader]

13. Here's the sickest part of it all

When Coca-Cola started selling its wares, a "drink of Coca-Cola" was 6-1/2 ounces. They sold special Coca-Cola glasses that held that much. They also sold a "King Size" Coke, a bottle that held four 6-1/2 ounce servings. IIRC the New York City Jewish community desired a bottle of Coke that would serve a family of four, and the King Size was the answer.

[Snobblevitch]

4. Soup? WTF?

What are those packets of instant soup called where you just add hot water? Oh, Lipton Cup-a-Soup. I can't believe a K-cup would be any better. (It's salt and dehydrated carrots and onion.)

Edit to ad: there is no way Keurit can sell a single serve sift drink that is cheaper than buying alrady prepard soda.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

8. I heard Clark Howard mention this on his show today.

He said the cost of making soda with their produts is ridiculous and you are better off buying soda from the store than using their machine. He is a supporter of Soda Stream, though.

[jmowreader]

11. It contains clever adaptations that make it better than SodaStream

...well, better for the vendor, anyway.

A SodaStream is just a carbonation machine. You can carbonate anything you damn well please with it - hell, you could stick a flat beer in a SodaStream and revitalize it in a flash. This also means that if you buy the special cylinder fitting they sell on eBay, you can use CO2 from the local welding supply store and Torani syrup from the supermarket like everyone else does.

The Keurig machine puts "carbonation beads" in a container glued to the top of the syrup container. Since you can't use the machine without an Official Keurig Kold Kup (please tell me these morans noticed that!) you're (1) tied to the vendor for all your soft-drink goodness and (2) totally fucked if Keurig goes out of business - which, considering some of the knotheaded decisions they've made over the last few years like building a coffee pot with DRM and not noticing that (a) the number of people who regularly drink soda in this country is on a downward slope and (2) you can buy a shitload of Coca-Cola for the price of this thing, is not outside the realm of possibility.