If you value ease of use, convenience, and guaranteed consistent results, you'll enjoy using a Keurig. These compact single-serve coffee makers can be used to brew everything from iced lattes to carafes of pour-over coffee, and all you need to do is add your K-Cup and press a button.
You may note that this brand isn't featured in our guide to the best coffee makers. If we're talking flavor alone, an espresso machine or a drip coffee maker would be a smarter choice than any single-serve coffee maker. Not to mention, Keurigs have a high ongoing cost and produce a lot of plastic waste.
However, over 40% of American households own a single-serve coffee maker, and when it comes to single-serve, Keurig reigns supreme in the U.S. market. Many members of the Tom's Guide team own Keurigs and would never switch. So if you're dead set on buying a neat, affordable, and easy-to-use single-serve machine, this is the guide for you.
We tested 11 leading Keurig machines, and put the top six in our list of the best Keurig machines you can buy. Our number one Keurig machine is the immensely versatile Keurig K-Duo Hot and Iced, but if you're on a budget or want a more compact option, we recommend the stylish Keurig K-Mini Mate.
For our full reviews, keep reading.
The quick list
Here are the best Keurig coffee makers you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews. Scroll on for our full in-depth reviews.
The Keurig K-Duo Hot and Iced has something for everyone. With a fully functional drip coffee maker on the left hand side, and a traditional Keurig design (complete with iced functionality) on the right, it's the most capable option we tried.
Keurig's most recent and compact release, the K-Mini Mate comes in a fun range of colors and measures under 4 inches wide, meaning you could even pack it in your suitcase for a caffeine kick anywhere. This compact option is ideal for small spaces, and it won't break the bank, either.
The Keurig K-Cafe features both ‘strong’ and ‘shot’ brew options for a more concentrated flavor. Plus, this allows for espresso-like servings. There’s a built-in milk frother to open up more recipe possibilities, such as lattes and cappuccinos. There’s little it can’t do.
Didn't expect to see a non-Keurig brand coffee maker? Well, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve comes with a K-Cup sized filter, so it can brew any brand K-Cup you choose, and can also grind and brew fresh beans in its reusable capsule. Genius.
Want to make back-to-back brews? The Keurig K-Supreme Coffee Maker makes rich and flavorful coffee thanks to its multistream technology and its dual-position water reservoir lets you customize its shape to fit your space.
Keurig's first dedicated iced coffee maker can brew coffee that's not just room-temperature, but actually cold. It does this using somewhat quirky technology called QuickChill, which has an always-on design. If your default is a hot coffee, it's not for you, but iced coffee lovers should look no further for flavorful brews.
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The Keurig K-Elite can produce 5 different brew sizes, ranging from 4-12 oz. It features that same ‘strong’ brew option to concentrate the flavor, and the large water reservoir comes in handy when catering for guests. It can also brew iced coffee and dispense hot water for tea.
The Keurig K-Mini is attractive and compact, with a range of fun colors and the most slimline design of all the Keurig machines we tested. It's not our top pick for flavor, but it does brew fast and doesn't make too much noise, making it ideal for small homes and students.
The K-Select is the quiestest option we reviewed. It features that coveted “strong” button found in few Keurigs that kicks up the flavor of K-Cups, and it didn’t disappoint.
The best Keurig coffee makers you can buy today
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The best Keurig coffee makers available now
If you enjoy the ability to make a batch brew for the family but still want the occasional espresso from your Keurig, the Keurig K-Duo Hot & Iced is the machine for you. It features a Keurig dispenser on the right hand side and a conventional drip brewer on the left, with a handy joint control panel that allows you to simultaneously manage both.
Coffee quality
You can adjust both the strength and the heat of your Keurig coffee with the Keurig K-Duo Hot & Iced. We found that it dispensed 165 degrees Fahrenheit coffee as standard. As the name suggests, it can even do iced drinks, although this is better described as drinks over ice because they only brew slightly less hot that typical coffee, as opposed to the K-Brew+Chill which brews actually cold coffee.
Flavor-wise, we had no complaints with our results when testing this machine. It was rich and full-bodied, and holds its own among other Keurig machines. The carafe setting came out a little colder than we'd have liked, but the hot plate keeps it warm for 2 hours after brewing.
Time
The Keurig K-Duo Hot & Iced 10 seconds to warm up and start dispensing, and 60 seconds from start to finish to brew an 8-oz whole drink. For contrast, the K-Cafe brewed acup in 36 seconds, making it significantly speedier. The drip side took 5 minutes to brew a 6-cup carafe, which is pretty standard for drip coffee makers. You don't want to rush this, or you'll end up with a weaker brew.
Noise
When measuring the noise level in the Keurig K-Duo Hot & Iced we registered a fairly standard level of 58-60dB when dispensing pod coffee. Predictably, the drip side was almost silent.
Read our full Keurig K-Duo Hot & Iced review.
Best compact
Ousting the Keurig K-Mini as the brand's smallest coffee maker, the all-new Keurig Mini Mate is the ideal companion for your college dorm or cozy kitchen. t can hold and brew up between 6- to 12-ounces and features a 12-ounce removable water reservoir for easy refills. At under 10 inches tall and long and only 4 inches wide, coffee makers don't come much smaller!
Flavor
Like many barebones Keurigs that lack a ‘strong’ setting or multistream technology, the K-Mini Mate can’t produce a deep flavor profile. The coffee produced by this machine is just okay, but that doesn’t match up to some of the higher-ranked models on our list. The K-Mini Mate brewed coffee at 178 degrees Fahrenheit—hotter than some other Keurig machines, but 10 degrees cooler than the coffee we made in the original K-Mini, which actually brewed hottest of any Keurig we've tested.
Time
Every drink we made in the K-Mini Mate took under two minutes, and the smallest size, a 4-ounce drink, took only one minute and 10 seconds to brew in total. This neat and efficient machine is ideal for those mad dash mornings, and it also automatically switches off five minutes after use.
Design
Everything about the K-Mini Mate is user-friendly, and while it lacks some of the flashier cold brew or milk frothing options you'll get if you spend a little extra, but if a compact machine is your top requirement, the Mini Mate is the one to get.
It's exclusively available at Target and comes in a range of fun colors, including sage green and rose gold.
Read our full review of the Keurig K-Mini Mate.
Best Keurig coffee maker for milky drinks
Though it’s quite pricey, this premium Keurig is a superhero for those mornings when you want a barista experience with little time to spare. If you're in search of a Keurig that can replicate that coffeehouse feel at home, or you just want a bolder flavor of K-Cup in the morning, the K-Cafe is your go-to machine. Its incredibly easy-to-use functionality makes it all the better.
Coffee quality
During testing, we found the “strong” brew function provided a deeper, richer flavor of K-Cup coffee, while its “shot” feature, which brews a concentrated, espresso-like 2-ounce pour of coffee, is a terrific recreation of tasty espresso. Its milk frother is an added bonus, with the ability to heat and froth dairy and milk alternatives for lattes and cappuccinos––both iced and hot––at the push of a button, and in less than two minutes.
Time
After brewing three cups of each serving size, we measured the average time it takes for the K-Cafe to brew a cup at 36 seconds, just behind the slightly faster K-Elite and K-Classic. Meanwhile, the frother is a longer process, averaging about one minute and 35 seconds per pitcher. It must be noted that the K-Cafe cannot brew and froth milk at the same time. The frother is also located on the right side of the machine, which could frustrate those who are left-handed during operation. However, this is the only model from Keurig with a built-in milk frother, which makes it arguably the versatile offering from the brand.
Energy
The K-Cafe uses about 160 kWh of energy, the highest we recorded for a Keurig machine, but that’s to be expected from a machine that can both brew and froth. We also measured 75 decibels of noise from the K-Cafe’s brew cycle––the second loudest across all Keurigs––but its warm-up process averaged around a much quieter 65 decibels.
Read our full Keurig K-Cafe review.
Best sustainable
Eco-conscious shoppers will be pleased to see an option with a reusable pod in this guide, even if it's not Keurig brand. However, it's not just a sustainable option, you can also enjoy freshly ground coffee when you use the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve coffee maker — making it a one-way ticket to better tasting brews.
Coffee quality
Any coffee expert will tell you that a coffee maker's only as good as the beans you're giving it, and far from being restrained by Keurig's range of K-Cups, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve actually comes with its own in-built grinder that will dispense grounds directly into a reusable mesh filter. You can still use your K-Cups if you're fond of a particular brew, but it's a nice option to have, and tastier than the majority of pre-ground coffee.
Time
Grinding your coffee will always take longer, but the brewing time with the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve isn't too bad. It took just over a minute to brew a 12-oz cup of coffee. The biggest issue you might encounter is that the pod is hot to touch after use, so if you plan on using the reusable filter for back-to-back brews, it could be a bit fiddly.
Other features
We didn't measure energy usage when testing the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve, but we did measure noise, which hit 82dB when grinding. The controls are simple enough to use, as the top panel features just six buttons: on/off, grind, add water, and a button for each of the three drink sizes. We noted some pre-infusion with this machine, which gives your coffee time to bloom and develop flavor before extraction. There are less complicated machines on the market, but this is a definite step-up if you want the option of fresh-ground beans.
Read our full Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve review.
The best Keurig coffee maker for flavor
The Keurig K-Supreme is one of the more modern releases from Keurig and fatures its new MultiStream Technology for a more flavorful brew. It also features a removable water reservoir that can be positioned in two ways depending on your ideal countertop setup.
Coffee quality
To be quite honest, if flavor is your top consideration, you can get a tastier brew from non-Keurig machines. But if you're committed to the Keurig and K-Cup ecosystem, you'll find that the K-Supreme gives you a richer and juicier brew thanks to its MultiStream Technology that punctures the K-Cup from multiple needles to ensure grounds are evenly soaked and extracted, like you'd get from an espresso machine. Other Keurigs we've tested run hotter, but the 160-162 degrees Fahrenheit mark was suitable for drinking straight after brewing, which we liked.
Time
The MultiStream tech takes a little longer than some other Keurig machines. It took 10 seconds for the machine to heat up, and from there it took around 55 seconds for an 8-ounce drink to brew. Iced coffee took a bit longer, with a 70-second brew time.
Noise
This is a quiet option. The Keurig K-Supreme hit just 65 decibels when brewing, and won't be irritating when brewing back-to-back coffees.
Read our full Keurig K-Supreme review.
Best for iced coffee
The K-Brew+Chill is Keurig's latest release, and it's designed (as the name would suggest) with iced coffee lovers in mind. Lots of coffee makers are now being released with cold brew settings, but I've yet to find another machine that can brew coffee that comes out cold. Not room temperature, cold. This means it won't melt your ice and water down your coffee. However, it has some quirks.
Flavor
Iced coffee aside, the K-Brew+Chill has some extra flavor-enhancing features such as its new MultiStream technology. This punctures the K-Cup in multiple places to evenly infuse and extract the coffee grounds, which will lead to a more flavorful brew. Hot coffee came out at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which is lower than the ideal range of 195-200 degrees. Other picks such as the K-Slim and K-Mini came out in the 180 range, closer to the ideal temperature.
When it came to iced coffee, our first brew came out an impressively cold 54 degrees and the second consecutive brew came out at 68.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the machine's QuickChill technology will need to re-acclimatise between drinks, you won't be able to brew consistently cold coffee without allowing it to re-charge, which could be annoying if you plan on sharing the machine with your family.
Time
We found that the machine took about 15 seconds to head up when first turned on, and then took a full 80 seconds to brew an 8-oz mug. So it's a lot slower than the likes of the K-Mini, but this could be attributed to a more meaningful infusion, which will give you a fuller flavor.
In terms of iced coffee, it takes longer to brew and then chill your drink, so it's to be expected that this is a more intensive process. The machine took 45 seconds to begin brewing and a total of 105 seconds to fully dispense the drink.
Noise
Perhaps the biggest issue you might encounter with this machine is that, if you plan on churning out iced drink after iced drink, you will need to leave it on to allow the QuickChill technology to stay cold. And this comes with a baseline noise level of around 45dB when we tested it. It's not noisy, but it is another constant whirring noise which you could grow to resent. When brewing, it was relatively quiet compared to the likes of the K-Cafe's 75dB. It only hit 55dB when brewing, and the following rinse cycle hit a top level of 65dB.
Read our full review of the Keurig K-Brew+Chill
How we test
Millie has been reviewing coffee makers for nearly five years and a range of leading review publications including TopTenReviews, Homes&Gardens, Real Homes, Livingetc, and Ideal Home.
Her interest in coffee first started when she worked as a barista at university, but she has since learned all about the art of a good cup of joe through a lot of taste testing and trips to the De'Longhi factory in Treviso, Italy, and a coffee tour of Naples with Sage.
Camryn is a freelance product reviewer based in Rhode Island.
She's tested dozens of coffee makers from leading brands such as Keurig, Breville, and Ninja.
When she's not testing though, Camryn loves simple and consistently flavorful coffees, and enjoys using a Keurig for single-servings every morning.
Her preference is strong black coffee served over ice.
Kevin Cortez has been a culture and product journalist for over nine years.
He also has seven years of professional hands-on experience with coffee roasting, tasting, and brewing, as well as hand-crafting espresso drinks, and has tested a wide range of capsule coffee makers for Tom's Guide.
Testing coffee makers requires a balance of objective and subjective tests. And by subjective, we're of course referring to that all-important taste test.
For our objective metrics, we looked at comparable factors between the different Keurig machines we tried. This included:
- Time taken to heat up
- Time taken to brew
- Energy consumption over 30 minutes of use
- Size of the machine
- Noise level in dB during brewing
- Temperature of fresh-brewed coffee
For tasting, we brewed at least three cups of the same K-Cup variety, per machine, using a variety of brew settings, like “strong” and iced. We used a decaf roast from Publix so we could taste each cup without keeping our tester awake through the night. (That’s a lot of caffeine!)
We also measured the temperature of every serving size each Keurig machine produced, and recorded our ratings with regards to the depth and flavor of each K-Cup brewed.
The National Coffee Association considers the optimal brew temperature to be between 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. Each cup of coffee we produced with a Keurig measured lower than this, between 160 to 189 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, most Keurig machines have a preset temperature and cap of 192 degrees, which is lower than the optimal suggestion of the NCA.
Any machine with a water reservoir that seemed flimsy or tough to grasp and fill was graded lower than those that featured inserts for fingers or a handle. As most Keurigs have top rack dishwasher-safe pieces, nearly all the machines scored well in terms of cleanliness.
Model | Average time to brew (mins/secs) | Noise produced brewing (dB) | Brew temperature (°F) |
K-Duo Hot + Iced | 1.10 | 60 | 170 |
K-Supreme | 1.15 | 55 | 162 |
K-Brew+Chill | 1.35 | 55 | 160 |
K-Classic | 0:35 | 66 | 186 |
K-Mini | 2:12 | 80 | 180 |
K-Cafe | 0:36 | 75 | 160 |
K-Elite | 0:34 | 67 | 182 |
K-155 Office Pro | 0:17 | 70 | 180 |
K-Slim | 1:25 | 74 | 181 |
K-Select | 0:54 | 67 | 182 |
Which didn't make the list?
We also tested the K-Classic as well as the K-155 Office Pro, however neither of these machines performed well enough to make the list of the best Keurig coffee makers. We found the K-Classic brewed coffee both quietly and quickly, but its bulky design held it back. It also produced coffee which lacked in both depth and flavor. Meanwhile the K-155, while featuring a more modern and advanced design, also struggled in terms of flavor and didn’t offer great value for money as a consequence.
Keurig coffee maker FAQs
How does a Keurig coffee maker work?
Keurig coffee makers use K-Cups, small sealed pods containing ground coffee. After inserting the pod into a compartment in the coffee maker, you then select the size drink you want. The machine then pierces holes in either end of the pod and forces water through the ground coffee in the pod and down into your mug. Once the water is hot, the brewing process takes just a little over a minute.
How long do Keurig coffee makers last?
Keurig offers a one year warranty on all of its home coffee makers, under usual everyday use. That means you're covered for the first year of your coffee maker's life, but consumers generally report that their Keurig coffee makers can last from between two to five years. To make the most out of your machine, then, it's advised to keep regular maintenance and follow the top tips below.
Keurig coffee makers and the environment
Historically, K-Cups have given rise to a lot of environmental concerns. Made of non-recyclable plastic which is destined for landfill, it's significantly less sustainable than opting for a bean-to-cup machine which only produces biodegradable coffee grounds in the brewing process. There's positive news though, as Keurig announced its sustainable K-Round plastic-free pods in March of 2024. The brand had previously promised to produce a line of recyclable pods in 2020, but has now gone one step further with plastic and aluminum free pods made of ground coffee, pressed and wrapped to be placed directly into the brewing unit of your Keurig machine.
Designed to be used alongside Keurig's new Alta system, which we're excited to review once it hits the market, the K-Rounds are expected to be certified recyclable. However, it seems like you'll need to buy the new Alta to partake.
