I just used Keurig’s new hybrid K-Brew and Chill machine that can quickly cool down freshly brewed pod coffee (and fruity “refreshers”) to a temperature “as cold as, if not colder,” than an iced coffee and sweet drinks you could order at a local coffee shop. For me, there was something unexpectedly satisfying about making an instantly cold drink from a standalone and solidly built machine — even if the cup of La Colombe medium roast it made tasted disappointingly burnt.
I’m not sure why I was expecting a better taste — it’s not like the machine uses some premium new coffee. It starts with just your run-of-the-mill K-Cup and does not support any of the company’s fancy K-Carafe, K-Mug, Vue, or Rivo pods. Like many models, you pop one into the chamber and use the handle to clamp it, although this machine has the “Multistream” feature that pokes five holes instead of one to better saturate the grounds.
From there, I pressed the Cold button, selected 10 ounces, and pressed the big K button in the middle. Then, something sounded unexpected. “You heard that little click, which is a little bit different for a Keurig,” the company’s SVP of coffee marketing, Becky Opdyke, tells me during a live demonstration. “It’s closing it out so instead of the hot coffee coming out here, it’s now going through the bypass and into the cold system.”
Keurig’s new cooling system, called “Quick Chill Technology,” promises to chill a drink “in under three minutes,” so you don’t have to brew a standard hot beverage over ice that can melt and dilute the drink to something worse than, well, pod-brewed coffee. The company says that after the machine extracts the hot coffee, it cools it to “sub-60 degrees” by liquid cooling the coffee in the back of the machine before returning it to the front spout. It’s kind of like an AIO cooler inside custom PCs — you just drink the cooled processor.
But do not confuse the resulting drink with “cold brew coffee,” which involves steeping coarse coffee grounds in cold water for an extended period. This is hot coffee that’s been promptly chilled. Companies like SharkNinja literally call its reduced-temperature espresso over ice “cold brew,” which can confuse customers as “cold” coffee machines continue to trend.
Both the temperature and brew time claims by Keurig worked as advertised during my demonstration. Still, you must also account for a rinse cycle to clear the pipes, which, according to Opdyke, takes 45 seconds after every cold drink process. And you’ll need to clear the drip tray once it fills up.
Out of the box, the K-Brew and Chill needs you to fill its rear chill tank with water, which is separate from the main reservoir (and does not mix with the drinks). It will initially take six hours to “charge up” the system so you can make cold drinks. Once both cold indicator lights are lit up, you can get about four 12-ounce cold drinks in a row before it has to recharge, which can take up to four hours.
A previous Keurig attempt at an instant cold drive machine was the “Kold” dispenser in 2016 that could make a tasty instant Coca-Cola, but it was quickly discontinued due to high cost and low demand. Opdyke tells me the K-Brew and Chill goes beyond the Kold’s technology.
The K-Brew and Chill is the first in a line of products, with options coming that will be cheaper than the current $199.99 price. “We always want to have a good, better, best,” Opdyke says.
According to Opdyke, Keurig is marketing the machine to budget-minded Gen Z and Millennials who go to the coffee shop a lot. Keurig calculated that each drink is about one-fifth the cost of an iced coffee from Starbucks. However, that may not account for the extra desserty versions of iced coffees that Starbucks popularized, which helps mask the horrid-tasting coffee it sells.
If I wasn’t clear earlier, pod coffee is not my thing. But the fruity “refreshers” drinks Keurig has are a good value add to the K-Brew and Chill since they taste good and have the right amount of sweetness (and caffeine) built in. Additionally, instant iced tea is also welcome.
Costs aside, I think the K-Brew and Chill may be tough to market to the intended customer, especially with the gaining popularity of high-end coffee, local roasteries, and machines like the Breville Barista Express, which provides a craft coffeemaking experience at home. However, I think Keurig could sell this to current customers who are happy with the company’s K-Cup coffee offerings and are ready for a solid replacement — people like my dad, who has a cabinet full of Donut Shop pods and Splenda packets and just loves his office Keurig.
However, there are still questions about the environmental impact of pod drinks from companies like Keurig and Nestle. Opdyke says the pod’s plastics are recyclable, and some places like NYC process them in standard recycling. The company is also launching a ship-in recycling service later this year.
