Monday, July 6, 2026 | London 27°C · Overcast
DailyGlimpse

How Keurig saved — and ruined — your coffee

Technology
July 6, 2026 · 1:00 AM

Skip to main content

The homepage

SubscribeSign In

The homepage

Subscribe

Navigation Drawer

close

Search

Light System Dark

Subscribe

How Keurig saved—and ruined —your coffee

16

Comments Drawer

Comments

  • Podcasts Podcasts Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Podcasts

  • Gadgets Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Gadgets

  • Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Tech

How Keurig saved—and ruined —your coffee

On Version History: How one company filled the world with K-Cups, and changed our relationship with coffee.

On Version History: How one company filled the world with K-Cups, and changed our relationship with coffee.

by David Pierce

David Pierce

Editor-at-Large

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All by David Pierce

Jul 5, 2026, 1:51 PM UTC

1 6 16 Comments (All New)

Video 10

David Pierce

David Pierce

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All by David Pierce

is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

Before Keurig, the coffee in your office was almost certainly terrible. Old, burned, made by someone who would rather poorly eyeball than properly measure. Just altogether gross. After Keurig? You could make your own coffee, a cup at a time, exactly when you needed it. The single-cup brewer was an elegant solution to an extremely common problem. At least, that’s how it started.

On this episode of Version History, we dig into the history of the Keurig, and the ways in which the idea got vastly bigger than anyone expected. K-Cups and Keurig machines became ubiquitous in offices all across the US, then quickly began to invade our homes as well. But as David Pierce, Eater’sMelissa McCart, and creator and champion barista Morgan Eckroth discover, ultra-convenient coffee comes at a cost. To us, to the environment, and to the whole notion of “good coffee.” Keurig has spent years trying to reckon with all those things, while also trying to catch up to a coffee culture that might be leaving it behind.

This is the fourth episode of the fourth season of Version History. If you haven’t yet checked out the story of the Harmony remote, the Roomba vacuum, or the Nest thermostat, make sure you catch up! It’s smart home season this season, and we’re having a blast. Here’s how to get every episode, and all our other fun stuff, as soon as it drops:

If you’re a Verge subscriber, you can also get access to Version History (and all our other podcasts) with no ads. All you have to do is visit your account settings.

If you want to know more about the early days of Keurig, here are some links to get you started:

16 Comments

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

  • David Pierce David Pierce Editor-at-Large
    Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All by David Pierce

  • Gadgets Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Gadgets

  • Podcasts Podcasts Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Podcasts

  • Smart Home Smart Home Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Smart Home

  • Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Tech

  • Version History Version History Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow See All Version History

Most Popular

Most Popular

  1. Vizio accidentally made the best dumb TV on the market
  2. Xbox is a disaster
  3. White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US
  4. The Sourdough Sidekick automates the boring bit of baking
  5. NASA launched an emergency mission to stop the Swift Observatory from crashing to Earth

Video 111/1 Skip Ad Continue watching after the adVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE

Video 12

Video 13

Video 14

Video 15

Video 16

Video 17

Video 18

The Verge Daily

A free daily digest of the news that matters most.

Email (required)

Sign Up

By submitting your email, you agree to ourTerms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the GooglePrivacy PolicyandTerms of Serviceapply.

Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad

More in Podcasts

The video game disc is dead

AI won’t save advertising, says Digitas’ Amy Lanzi

Let him cook: How Weber Blackstone CEO Roger Dahle went from upstart to the biggest name in grilling

Nest’s quest to fix your thermostat

Of course Meta thinks gambling is the future

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

The video game disc is dead

David Pierce Jul 218

AI won’t save advertising, says Digitas’ Amy Lanzi

Nilay Patel Jul 24

Let him cook: How Weber Blackstone CEO Roger Dahle went from upstart to the biggest name in grilling

Nilay Patel Jun 297

Nest’s quest to fix your thermostat

David Pierce Jun 2812

Of course Meta thinks gambling is the future

David Pierce Jun 2610

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

Nilay Patel Jun 2214

Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad

Top Stories

Jul 5

Xbox is a disaster

Jul 5

Mr. Lif’s Emergency Rations EP is post-9/11 hip hop at its most daring

Jul 5

Vizio accidentally made the best dumb TV on the market

Jul 5

The Sourdough Sidekick automates the boring bit of baking

© 2026Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Notifications Drawer

Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.

Sign in

Privacy Center

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Cookie Policy Vendor List

Allow All

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Essential

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

  • Functional Cookies

Essential
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.

View Vendor Details

Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising

  • Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising

As a valued user, we are providing you the ability to opt-out from the sharing of your personal information to advertisers and social media companies at any time across business platform, services, businesses and devices. You can opt-out of the sharing of your personal information by using this toggle switch. For more information on your rights and options see our privacy notice.

  • Performance Cookies
  • Switch Label
    These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
  • Social Media & Embedded Content
  • Switch Label
    Content embedded on our sites (e.g. social media posts, video clips, polls and games) originates from third party sources such as social media platforms, video sharing sites, or other third party websites. When this content loads on pages you visit, any cookies or similar tracking technologies set by the third party source in connection with that content may also load. Vox Media doesn't set these cookies and doesn't control them. These cookies may be capable of tracking your browser across sites and/or building a profile of your interests. Not allowing these cookies will impact what content you can see and engage with on our sites.
  • Targeting Cookies
  • Switch Label
    These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

View Vendor Details

Vendors List

Clear

    • checkbox label label

Apply Cancel

Consent Leg.Interest

  • checkbox label label

  • checkbox label label

  • checkbox label label

Reject All Confirm My Choices

← More Technology View original