If you’re always on the go, the best single cup coffee maker can quickly become your best friend.
The Advantages of a Single Serve Coffee Maker
These stylish little units can make life easier for you, bringing you:
- Speed
Since single serve coffee makers are only using water for one cup, it’s quicker to heat and steep.
- Better Coffee
They’re designed specifically to make one cup of coffee at a time, so you can expect better results than from a 12 cup coffee maker you’ve underfilled.
- Less Waste
You won’t need to brew four cups of coffee into your carafe anymore just so you can get one. This saves coffee and energy.
- Convenience
Some can take coffee pods, so there’s no fuss, no measuring, and almost no cleaning.
How Do I Find the Best One for Me?
To find the best single serve coffee maker for you, you just need to decide on a couple of things:
- Cup Size
Will you be filling your big travel mug, or just drinking it at your table?
- Coffee grounds, K-Cup packs, soft pods, tea, or all of these?
The best ones can do more than brew your trusty coffee grounds.
If you’re in a fancy mood, you can pick out a gourmet K-Cup from your home selection to enjoy.
Or if you’re in a rush and don’t want any mess, just throw in one of your soft pods (cheaper than K-Cups).
If you enjoy tea as well, some can take tea bags and loose tea also.
Or maybe you just want the best dedicated K-Cup coffee maker?
There are lots of machines available, so to help you find the coffee maker with exactly the features you need, I’ve created the ultimate single serve coffee maker guide.
The Ultimate Single Cup Coffee Maker Guide
You can search and sort this table so it shows only the coffee makers with the features you want.
For example, if you want to only see the best single serve coffee makers which take ground coffee, K-Cup packs and soft pods, and then sort them in order of price, simply type:
ground coffee, k-cup, soft pods into the ‘Search’ box, and then click the ‘Price’ heading.
Coffee Maker | Coffee Type | Features | Size | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black & Decker DCM18S Brew 'n Go Personal Coffeemaker with Travel Mug | Ground coffee, soft pods (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E). | Insulated travel mug included. | 15 oz. | $ |
Black & Decker Single Serve Coffee Maker | Ground coffee, soft pods (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E). | Insulated travel mug included. | 16 oz. | $ |
Hamilton Beach 49970 Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer | Soft pods only (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E). | Up to 12 oz. | $ | |
Kitchen Selectives CM-688 1-Cup Single Serve Drip Coffee Maker | Ground coffee only. | Regular mug included. | Up to 12 oz. | $ |
Hamilton Beach 49981A Single Serve Scoop Coffee Maker | Ground coffee only. | Up to 14 oz. | $$ | |
Mr. Coffee BVMC-KG6-001 Single Serve Coffee Brewer Powered by Keurig Brewing Technology | K-Cup packs only. | 6, 8 or 10 oz. | $$ | |
BUNN MCU Single Cup Multi-Use Home Coffee Brewer | Ground coffee, K-Cup packs, soft pods (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E.), tea bags, loose tea. | Brews in under a minute. | 4 - 14 oz. | $$$$ |
Keurig K60/K65 Special Edition Single Serve Coffee Maker | K-Cup packs only. | 6, 8 or 10 oz. | $$$ | |
Hamilton Beach 49983 2-Way FlexBrew Coffeemaker | Ground coffee, K-Cup packs, soft pods (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E.) | 2 machines in 1: Single travel mug maker + 12 cup carafe. Travel mug not included. | Single cup: up to 14 oz. | $$ |
Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Personal Cup Pod Coffeemaker 49990Z | Soft pods only (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E.) | Up to 14 oz. | $ | |
Keurig B145 OfficePRO Brewing System | K-Cup packs only. | Heats and brews in 1 minute. | 6, 8 or 10 oz. | $$$ |
Hamilton Beach 49999A FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffeemaker | Ground coffee, K-Cup packs, soft pods (Senseo, Melitta, E.S.E.) | Up to 10 oz. | $$ | |
Keurig K75 Single-Cup Home-Brewing System with Water Filter Kit | K-Cup packs only. | Premium design and features, adjustable temperature, large water tank. | 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 oz. | $$$$$ |
Cuisinart SS-700 Single Serve Brewing System - Powered by Keurig | K-Cup packs only. | Premium design and features, adjustable temperature, large water tank. | 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 oz. | $$$$$ |
The Best Single Cup Coffee Maker Reviews:
Budget Coffee Makers
Black & Decker DCM18S Brew ‘n Go Personal Coffeemaker with Travel Mug
Best if: You’re on a budget and on the go!
The Black & Decker Brew ‘n’ Go is a cheap single cup coffee maker, which even comes with an insulated travel mug.
It brews 15 oz straight into the mug, exactly the right amount to fill it up.
It uses a permanent filter so it doesn’t need paper filters. You’ll never again have to experience the panic of waking up and finding you’ve run out of paper filters! It’s also easy to clean – just tap out the grinds and rinse.
It will also take soft pods, which is great for when you don’t have much time, or you don’t want to clean the machine.
On the downside, it’s not a heavyweight machine, it takes a while to prepare (maybe around 7 minutes altogether), and you won’t get the best tasting coffee in the world. But for the price, it’s hard to complain.
The Black & Decker Brew ‘n’ Go is ideal if price is the most important thing to you.
- Click here for the best price at Amazon.
Hamilton Beach 49981A Single Serve Scoop Coffee Maker
Best if: You want a sturdy, stylish, user friendly machine at a great price.
The Hamilton Beach Single Serve Scoop Coffee Maker is a great machine for coffee grounds.
Not only is it sturdy and stylish with its stainless steel design, but it’s also very easy to use. The metal permanent filter doubles as a scoop – so you can scoop your coffee using the filter, then place the whole thing into the unit!
It has two strength settings, Regular and Bold, and brews up to 14 oz of coffee at once – it’s tall enough to house your insulated travel mug if you need to run.
It’s quick to brew (taking only a couple of minutes) and quick to clean.
The Hamilton Beach Single Scoop Coffee Maker is the best single serve coffee maker for coffee grounds only, at a reasonable price.
- Click here for the best price at Amazon.
Hamilton Beach 49999A FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffeemaker
Best if: You want the flexibility of coffee grounds, K-Cups and soft pods, with a budget price tag.
The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Single Serve is a very basic coffee maker with the ultimate in flexibility. With each cup, you can have whatever you fancy – old fashioned ground coffee, a gourmet K-Cup, or a mess-free soft pod.
It’s a compact machine, so its great for smaller apartments. It brews up to 10 oz, and there’s enough space in the unit to fit your travel mug.
On the downside, its water tank is a little small and needs refilling after each cup. But this does help to keep its size down. And K-Cups also take longer than an official Keurig powered machine would.
The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Single Serve is the best single cup coffee machine if you need flexibility on a budget.
- Click here for the best price on Amazon.
The Best Single Cup Coffee Maker for Quality Coffee
BUNN MCU Single Cup Multi-Use Home Coffee Brewer
Best if: You want flexibility and the best quality coffee from a single serve coffee maker.
BUNN are well known for producing coffee makers to precise standards, and delivering the best tasting coffee. The MCU Single Cup Multi-Use Home Coffee Brewer is no exception.
Not only can the BUNN brew ground coffee, K-Cups, soft pods, teabags and loose tea, but the taste is fantastic across them all. There’s also a ‘pulse brew’ setting for a bolder flavor.
It brews up to 14 oz, which is enough for travel mugs, and it brews quickly in under a minute.
This is a fantastic machine, and the best single serve coffee maker of 2021 to tick all the boxes.
- Click here for the best price on Amazon.
Best K-Cup Coffee Maker
Keurig B145 OfficePRO Brewing System
Best if: You want a reliable, dedicated K-Cup coffee maker.
The Keurig B145 OfficePRO is a commercial grade K-Cup coffee maker.
One of the most common complaints with Keurig K-Cup coffee makers is with the pump – it seems to be the first thing to break.
The OfficePRO doesn’t suffer from this problem at all – it uses a heavy duty pump, one which is much tougher than the one used in the home models.
The trade-off is with the noise – the heavy duty pump is louder than the weaker pump in the home machine. For most people, a few seconds of noise is not as much of a problem as a broken pump could be.
It has a large 48 oz tank, and brews in 6, 8 or 10 oz sizes.
Being an official Keurig K-Cup machine, it is quick to brew and produces perfect results every time.
This is the best single cup coffee maker for you if you only drink K-Cups and want a reliable machine.
- Click here for the best price at Amazon.
Jennifer says
Hi, this is definetly a top-notch collection here. I was interested in the Hamilton Beach scoop model for awhile-my sister-in-law owns one and enjoys it. It looks like it is pretty similar to the FlexBrew except that it only uses premeasured grounds . In terms of electric footprint and performance, I think those two could easily stand toe to toe =)
Zequek Estrada says
I always get my coffee from the cafe just down stairs but I wouldn’t mind a single cup coffee maker when I’m on the go. What is the difference between soft pods and K-Cups? Price difference doesn’t really matter to me as much as quality does.
Dylan says
One of the main differences is that K-Cups are completely sealed, whereas soft pods are more like tea bags. K-Cups give the fresher taste and will keep for longer.