Keurig Kold can make good seltzer water and bad margaritas

Keurig Green Mountain made a name for itself as a home coffee maker that uses pods that it brews with hot water. Now, the Keurig Kold can do the same for cold beverages. I tried it out at the 2016 International CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas last week. The machine can make Rita’s & Tina’s margaritas and Mojitos.

You peel a foil sticker off the pod, place it in the machine, and hit the button to brew. The pods have little beads that create the carbonation. You can make everything from Coca-Cola to strawberry margaritas. It takes 60 to 90 seconds.

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I tried out a seltzer water pod. It turned out to be good, complete with carbonation. My friend Chris Morris said he tried the strawberry margarita — and it was terrible. CNET’s editors did blind taste tests, and they said they found they could almost always tell the difference between the real thing and the Keurig versions.

The Keurig Kold ranges from $300 to $370. The pods are $4 for a pack of four. So you’ll have to make a lot of drinks at home to justify the cost of the device. Keurig Hot and Keurig Kold can together make more than 575 beverages. You can make Snapple drinks, iced teas, flavored waters, sodas like Dr Pepper, and sports hydration drinks.

The Keurig Kold cocktail mixer pods do not contain alcohol. You can add your own alcohol if you wish. The idea is to create “perfectly portioned ingredients to ensure quality cocktails without time-consuming, messy preparation.”

So there you have it. Keurig Kold: Just in case you don’t want to shake your drinks, I guess. Or just in case you don’t want to reach into a refrigerator to get a can of a possibly less-expensive real drink.

Here’s a video of the Keurig Kold in action.