How to get the most out of your My-Kap products

This page is written to help everyone get more out of their Keurig® brewer and their My-Kap products. On this page, we'll attempt to tell you just about everything you need to know to successfully use our products to make a great cup of coffee. In this instruction guide, I'll not only tell you what to do, I'll tell you WHY you need to do it. We want you to enjoy using your My-Kap products for many years to come.

If you have suggestions that we have not included, please send them to us as we will continuously update this page to make it more complete.

The My-Kap lid was created for two reasons: 1) It just seemed like such a waste (and it is!) to throw away each K-cup® you use, and 2) K-Cups are expensive to buy and there needed to be a better way to get good coffee for less using your Keurig. So, the My-Kap system was created to solve both needs. It is a simple system, it is not hard to use, but there are a few things that you need to know to make it work well.

How to properly use a My-Kap lid

We'll assume you've never used a My-Kap product and want to reuse a K-cup. First, of course, brew the coffee to use the K-cup.

This is optional, you can dump out the other coffee if you don't like it or don't want to drink it first.

If you brewed it, let it cool just a bit first as the top and sides will still be around 190° after brewing. Once it's cool, take a knife or finger or stick and tear the foil so that you can tear it off around the edge, removing as much of the foil as possible, but trying not to get the edges of the filter. The filter is sealed to the cup and a clear plastic membrane on the inside of the cup that can be separated from the cup and cause leaking problems if you are careless at this point. We just need to remove the foil so the lid will fit properly.

Cleaning the cup

Once you have the foil cleared, dump the old grounds in to the trash or compost by tapping it on the side and bottom, but being careful not to bend the cup itself. If you bend the cup, it will weaken it so that it will not hold up to the pressure when brewing. That shortens the life of the cup and can cause leaks after a few uses.

After dumping the majority of the grounds, take the cup to the sink and hold it under the running water, rinsing the remaining grounds out. The cleaning brush that we sell on our website makes a great tool for this as it is designed to clean without damaging the filter. Do not use sharp or metal objects to clean the cup. If you use a sharp, metal or other hard object (including your fingers), you may cause damage to the filter. If the filter is stretched or punctured, it may cause leaks and allow coffee grounds to get into your coffee.

Decision time: Well, now you have two choices: 

1) If you are going to use the cup right then, fill it and make coffee.

2) If you plan to use it at a later time, then you need to let the cup and filter inside dry first.

You can place coffee into the wet filter and use it right then. If you put coffee into the wet cup and try to store it, the coffee will get stale, clog more, and may even mold if you leave it for a few days. It's better to dry the cups before putting coffee into them for later use.

Filling the cup

When you are ready to put coffee into the cup place the cup on a flat surface and use a spoon to place approximately two tablespoons of finely ground coffee into the cup. We have found that a finer grind makes a little better (stronger) coffee. Be careful not to overfill the cup. It is best to have a little room in the center so the water can be injected down into the coffee without spraying back upward. If you overfill the cup, there is no room for the injector to send the water down into the cup without splashing back out the top. Since the hole in the My-Kap lid has to be a larger than the one made in a foil top to fit a variety of Keurig machines, there is room around the injector that can allow "splash back" if the cup is too full of coffee. Normally the gasket around the injector would catch this, but if the seal there is not good, then it can leak out.

Inserting the Kap
The My-Kap lid has two different sides. The TOP has the writing on it and a circle near the center that is raised. The bottom is more smooth and has no writing on it. The kap does not fit OVER the top and sides of the top, it is inserted inside the cup opening. The lid should be placed TOP UP because has a bevelled edge that is smaller on the bottom than the top so the lid will fit in the cup more easily and get tighter as you press down on it. DO NOT PRESS IT DOWN ALL THE WAY. Press it so that part of the lid is still visible above the edge of the cup.The kap should extend upward about the height of the sides that come up from the top surface around the edge (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch). The My-Kap lid is designed to come in contact with the gasket at the top of the unit around the injector needle to make a seal. It makes the seal inside the circle around the center hole. The surface around the hole should make the seal. If you push the kap too far down into the cup, this seal cannot take place, allowing water and coffee grounds to escape the cup and spill all over the place.

Sealing the cup

If you plan to use the K-Cup right away, it's ready to go, skip this section. But if you are preparing a few in advance and want them to stay fresh, we recommend using our seal kit. These specially made seals are designed to seal the top and bottom of the cup, keeping the coffee fresher and to be easily removed when you are ready to use the cups.

Using your recycled K-cup

Now you're ready to use one of your refilled, recycled K-cups with a My-Kap lid on it. Before you place it in the brewer, glance at the bottom of the cup and check to see where the previous hole was punched into it and put that near the 12 o'clock position as you place it into the brewer.  This will allow you to move it around slightly and "find" the same hole. It will drop down when you find the right position. Whenever possible, use the same hole in the used cup. The K-Cup is a well-designed system. It was designed to have one hole in the top and one hole in the bottom as the coffee brews. If you use multiple holes in the bottom, there is a chance the water will run out too fast and keep the coffee from steeping as long. This results in a weaker coffee and could contribute to leaks around the edges of the coffeemaker as the coffee spills out.

Brew Your Coffee!

Close the lid and brew your coffee. If you have done all this right, then you should get a nice, clean, tasty cup of coffee.

Hints and Tips

Here are some hints and tips we've received from our users and from our own experience: (Send us yours to be added here)

- Leaks? If you have leaks after following the instructions above, refer to our Stopping Leaks page.

- Stronger Cups: The black K-Cups may be stronger and last longer than the thinner white K-Cups, one user reports.

- Cleaning: When dumping a reused K-Cup, a tap on the bottom will often jar the Kap and much of the coffee out. If you do this right after brewing, a lot more of the coffee will come out. Then just rinse it and you're ready to go.

- Drying: Try stacking your cups in a pyramid in the window sill to let them dry. They get lots of air and some sunshine as well.

- Dishwasher: You can clean your Kaps in the dishwasher in a number of ways. If your utensil holder has a top, just drop them in and close the lid. If not, place them on the tines in a row across the dishwasher and put a rubber band across the tines to keep them from flying off.

- Color Code: Of course, use the colors to designate the kind or flavor of coffee in the cup. For instance, Red for Caffeine, Green for DeCaf, etc.

- Handle with care! A little care to keep the cups from getting bent or stretched, will help them last longer and save more money.

- Get Green: Remember that every time you reuse a k-cup even one time, it cuts the "carbon footprint" in half from what it would have been. If you can use a cup 3, 5, or 10 times, that's just that much better!

My-Kap User Suggestions

These suggestions were submitted to us by users of the My-Kap system. Hopefully they will help you as well!

- An easy way to empty used k-cups is to do them in pairs – After removing the kaps, hold two above a trash can and tap the opened ends together and most of the grinds will fall out.  After that it is a simple matter to rinse out the few grinds left under the tap.

- After dumping the coffee out as best I can, I do the rinse under the water in the sink. However, I also use the sink's spray attachment to do a final rinse, as it will get out all the grounds in the filter better. I have done this with K-Cups that I have used over 20 times already! It does not seem to damage them, for me.

- I just want to say I LOVE my Kaps!   Genius idea! I like to prepare my cups ahead of time for a week and I often will have several different flavors going at once.

- Use certain color Kaps for certain flavors of coffee.

- I use these ALL THE TIME!! They work better than the expensive insert you can buy...it leaks, however when you use the KAP be sure to always use the same original hole that was made the first time you used it!

Keurig® and K-Cup® are registered trademarks of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. My-Kap is not Affiliated with GMCR or Keurig.