Updated on December 7, 2022
Without that first cup of coffee in the morning, you aren’t your normal self. You organize your entire life around this ritual. A perfect day begins with the first taste, and it all begins with your Keurig coffee maker. But what happens if the plastic flavor from the Keurig won’t go away?
You’ve experienced the flavor before: a harsh, synthetic flavor that overpowers the robustness of your newly brewed cup of coffee. So where does the flavor of the plastic K-cup from a Keurig come from? And how can you eliminate it if it keeps happening cup after cup?
What is that Keurig plastic taste?
The most frequent cause of coffee tasting plastic is using a new Keurig. However, it can also occur with older models. The fumes released by off-gassing plastic components can contaminate your water and coffee cup. One way to get rid of the plastic flavor is to clean. Understanding the source of the persistent Keurig plastic flavor is necessary before you can address it. Outgassing is the key to everything.
When a freshly created item comes off the assembly line and is firmly wrapped in packing material, a phenomenon known as outgassing takes place. Gases are released during this process from the coffee maker’s plastic components. The packaging absorbs the plastic odor, which then seeps into every piece of plastic in your machine and taints your coffee. In order to get rid of the plastic odors, you normally need to wash the product and give it ample time to air out.
Why My Keurig Coffee Tastes Like Plastic?
Keurig Machine Is New
While you might anticipate that the first time you set up your Keurig, it will brew a perfect cup of coffee. The truth is that plastic that has just left the factory needs to be broken in and tempered. This is particularly valid when heating water that is running through plastic piping. It passes through your K-CUP after off-gassing, collecting in the water. Your coffee may taste awful as a result.
Using Reusable Plastic K-CUP Filters
But plastics will deteriorate over time and more quickly in a hot environment. It is therefore best to replace your old filter if it is causing your coffee to taste like plastic.
Water Filter Needs To Be Changed
It can be challenging to recognize that your plastic reservoir is to blame and that the taste of plastic has been diminished by your charcoal filter. You don’t begin putting the pieces together until your charcoal filter is empty. If your Keurig has a filter, you should maintain a regular schedule to prevent this from happening before that happens.
How to Get Rid of the Keurig Plastic Taste
Fortunately, there are a few fixes you can try if the Keurig plastic taste persists.
Vinegar Rinse
The most popular technique for getting rid of a smelly coffee maker’s plastic Keurig taste is to rinse it with white vinegar. A mouthful of plastic flavor still lingers in the mouths of hundreds of people the day after using vinegar and water to disinfect equipment. It’s important to understand that some people can taste some chemicals, though. There are a few different techniques to execute a vinegar rinse. Running pure vinegar straight through your machine is the most forceful method. A more reasonable course of action would be to dilute your vinegar solution with water in an equal ratio.
Start by giving your machine, including the water reservoir and all of the parts that can be taken apart, a thorough cleaning. Use a tiny bit of soap and warm water. Clean the item as thoroughly as you can, inside and out.
Next, take the water filter out of the reservoir. This will prevent damage to the charcoal filter and enable all of the vinegar rinse to reach the machine’s inside. The vinegar solution, whether diluted or not, should then be poured into the polycarbonate water reservoir until it reaches the fill line.
Run the brew cycle on your Keurig while setting it to brew at the maximum temperature possible. Run more brew cycles when that one is finished up until the reservoir is empty. Repeat the process with plain water after that up until you can no longer taste vinegar once the brew cycle has finished.
Hot Water Rinse
The vinegar rinse is comparable to the hot water rinse. Although it lacks vinegar’s odor-suppressing abilities, some people believe it to be a successful remedy for the persistent Keurig plastic flavor. Wash your machine completely inside and out, including all removable components, in warm, soapy water. Then pour water into your reservoir until it reaches the fill line.
The next step is to turn the Keurig’s water temperature all the way up and perform the brew cycle without inserting a K-cup. Brew cycles should be run until the reservoir is empty. To ensure that the taste of plastic has been completely eliminated, repeat these steps with a second reservoir.
Outgassing is the idea behind why the hot water rinse works. The plastic remnants from the manufacturing process that are still on your equipment should be removed. The taste of plastic will vanish once those leftovers are removed.
Reusable K-Cups
The amount of plastic that the water you use to brew your coffee touches is one of the main causes of the plastic flavor you may be tasting in your cup. The plastic K-cup is a component that you might not have considered, though. It contains your coffee grounds, but because it is made of plastic, it contributes to the plastic waste problem.
Invest in a reusable K-cup to get rid of this extra plastic component. You can fill a variety of stainless steel containers with the coffee of your choice. Using a reusable K-cup has a number of advantages in addition to removing a potential source of plastic that may be causing your Keurig to taste plastic.
You’ll first use less plastic. With increased environmental awareness, choosing reusable alternatives for common products is not only fashionable but also beneficial to the earth. You can save money by using a reusable K-cup. For instance, buying bulk quantities of gourmet coffee grinds in the flavors of your choice is less expensive than buying K-cups that are produced individually.