Over the hot days of summer the usual brew of hot coffee loses some of its appeal.

Not that those of us who are die-hard coffee drinkers stop drinking coffee, but maybe we slow down a little.

Unless, of course, we turn to iced coffee or some other kind of cold coffee recipe.

If you have a Keurig brewer, you can make a quick and easy iced coffee, as you can see from the short video above.

The challenge with the Keurig is that the brew still comes out hot, so you need a lot of ice to cool it down quickly. And, with a lot of ice, the coffee taste can become diluted as the ice melts.

This is why Keurig sells a special selection of Brew Over Ice K-Cups. They contain more coffee than regular K-Cups, making a stronger brew.

In other words, the extra strong brew from these k-Cups compensates for the diluting effect of the ice.

This is a great way to make a quick and easy iced coffee beverage at any time of the day.

You can buy these special Brew Over Ice K-Cups online at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

This is a great little system for anyone who wants totally portable coffee.

Each sealed package contains a single-use filter cone and enough ground coffee to make one cup.

You simply open the package, unzip the top of the cardboard filter. Once placed on your mug, you then pour in hot water, just like using a regular filter cone.

As you can see from the video, it takes a few moments to figure out how it works. After that, it’s easy.

The coffee we tried – The Premium Signature Blend – has a great taste. It’s a medium roast, with a nice strong taste, and a touch of sweetness.

The other coffees they offer are:

Organic Blend

Dark Roasted Sumatra Blend

Decaffeinated Blend.

When would I use one of these? Not at home, but certainly if I was traveling, whether on business or on vacation. It would be perfect for camping, and also for when you’re not sure whether your hotel offers in-room coffee making.

This is a neat idea, and I think I’ll be stocking up on a box or two before my next trip away from home.

You can learn more at the Dr. Drip Coffee website.

A while ago I posted about the My K-Cup Keurig reusable filter, and its various benefits. This is the filter I use myself for my Keurig B60. In fact, I don’t buy K-Cups at all. I know that with a reusable filter I can save a ton of money and also save adding to all the used K-Cups that end up in the garbage.

But I’m tempted by this new Ekobrew system, simply because it seems to address some of the issues I have with my My K-Cup filter.

First, the Ekobrew has a flat bottom, so I can place it on the counter while I fill it with loose coffee. That may not sound like a big deal, but there have been many times when I have fumbled with my filter in the left hand while trying to fill it with coffee with my right hand.

Second, it has heat resistant grips on the side. Again, this may not mean much to you if you don’t already have a My K-Cup filter. If you do, you know how hot the sides can be if you want to take the filter out immediately after brewing.

Third, to use the My K-Cup you first have to remove the K-Cup holster from the brewer. This isn’t a problem for me, as I don’t buy regular K-Cups. But it is a pain if you want to sometimes use K-Cups and sometime want to use a reusable filter. That K-Cup holster isn’t always easy to take out.

The Ekobrew filter offers a few other benefits which I won’t be able to check out until I have tried it in person.

But from what I can see from the video, it’s certainly worth a try.

BTW – both of these reusable coffee filter systems can be used across all the different K-Cup brewers, including those made by Keurig, Cuisinart, Breville and Mr. Coffee.

You can buy the Ekobrew reusable filter at Amazon.com.

One of the disadvantages of single serve coffee systems is that you are always limited in the coffees you can brew. You have to choose from the available line-up of coffee pods, K-Cups, T-Discs etc.

With Keurig K-Cup brewers, you can address this with their My K-Cup Coffee Filter. This enables you to brew any coffee you want in your Keurig machine.

And now you can get the Coffeeduck for your Senseo brewer. It serves the same purpose, allowing you to buy loose ground coffee, or grind your own, and then brew it using your Senseo machine.

In addition to giving you an unlimited choice of coffees, the Coffeeduck, and the My K-Cup, also help you save money.

It costs a lot less to buy a pound of coffee and use one of these reusable filters than it does to keep buying K-Cups or coffee pods.

If you have a Senseo brewer, I recommend you try the Coffeeduck. You can buy the Coffeeduck at Amazon.com.

Why is making a cup of gourmet coffee so complicated, and expensive?

I have always found it odd how many expensive coffee brewing systems there are out there. Why? Because none of them will produce a cup of coffee that tastes any better than the coffee you can make with a $10 French press.

All you have to worry about when making gourmet coffee is the quality and freshness of the coffee you grind, the temperature of the water you use, and the time spent brewing.

Our cousins, the tea lovers of the world, have got it right.

Grab a tea bag, boil a kettle of water, pour the hot water into a cup, dunk the tea bag in the water for a while…and you’re done.

Well, now it seems someone has come up with the same approach for making gourmet coffee.

The folks at singlebrew.com will send you coffee bags, each containing enough coffee for a single cup of coffee. The process is the same as for making tea. Nothing complicated there.

In the photo above you can see the coffee bag at the bottom right. Looks just like a tea bag. Each bag is individually wrapped in a foil wrapper and is guaranteed to stay fresh for up to 12 months.

Will the simplicity and economy of a single-serve coffee bag catch on? Who knows. But maybe we are too addicted to gadgets, and to the perceived convenience of high-tech single serve brewing systems.

One thing is for sure. We could all reduce the amount of plastic we put in the trash each week if we used simpler brewing methods…like the coffee bag or a simple French press or filter cone.