The Little-Known Keurig High Altitude Setting: Used The Right Way

What if you live in a high-altitude area such as Texas or Alburquerce or Peru? Can you use a common coffee maker to brew your everyday cup of joe? As you might have known the boiling temperature and the heating water temperature is slightly higher in high altitude, and luckily Keurig has manufactured coffee machines ideal for high-altitude settings. Let’s go over the Keurig high altitude settings. 

How does the Keurig high altitude setting work?

Keurig has come up with innovative ways to brew coffee at a lower temperature (187F) than the normal one, so you can brew coffee on the top of a mountain, and since you’re located on the pinnacle of a mountain it’s better to go for hot coffee instead of an iced Freddo or Frappuccino.

By the way, coffee makers are designed not to boil water, but they just heat it enough so you can get on with brewing.

Which Keurig models feature the high-altitude settings?

Here are the Keurig featuring the high-altitude settings:

• K-Elite and Keurig 2.0
• K-Cafe
• Special Edition
•  K-Select

How to really brew coffee with a K-Cup Pod at a high altitude

You need to be careful with the K-Cup Pod because you’re at a high altitude the pressure of the K-Cup is higher in order to avoid any kind of accidents, it’s wise to pre-puncture your pod, so it’s safer to use. 

How to go about it? 

One easy way is to move the handle up and push the cup down so the exit needle will make a small hole where the pressure will go through. 

How to turn the Keurig high-altitude mode on 

The Keurig coffee maker featuring the high-altitude mode has an option on their display; keep scrolling through the different modes until you find it and turn it on, so you’ll be able to brew coffee at a high altitude.

If your Keurig doesn’t have a specific button or a mode on its display menu, you can try this to see if it’s going to work: 

Turn your machine off 

Press the ‘8 oz’ and ‘strong’ buttons at the same time and hold on to them for a few seconds; when you see them flash three times it means the high-altitude mode has been activated. 

If you’re having trouble turning this special mode on or when your Keurig frother isn’t working, you can always contact Keurig’s customer service

How to turn the Keurig high-altitude mode off 

When you’re done with your brewing and want to turn it back on the normal mode, there are two ways to go about it: 

1. If your Keurig has a display with all the different modes, just scroll through them until you find the normal mode and turn it on.
2. Turn the machine off and press simultaneously the ‘8 oz’ and ‘strong’ buttons; when the buttons stop flashing it means that your Keurig is switched back to the normal mode. 

Are there any other reasons to use Keurig’s high-altitude settings? 

Yep, there is a bunch of other reasons you want to use it that are discussed below: 

• One good reason to use the mode is to make your brew less bitter; since coffee is brewed at a lower temperature it won’t be as bitter as it would have been if you had brewed it in the normal mode.
• If you want to heat water right below the temperature a typical coffee maker heats it which is 

Let’s wrap it up

Are you going on a trip to Thivet, or is it Everest this time? I’ve got you covered, just take your Keurig with you; I can’t imagine there are better things in life than enjoying a hot cup of coffee from the pinnacle of a mountain (even if the mountain is 8,634 high). 

The way of brewing on the top of a mountain is sorted, the only little challenge left is climbing. To learn how to descale a Keurig Supreme go here.