Best Keurig Coffee Maker For A Single Person? A Useful Guide

Are you alone and want to make single serving of coffee easily? Most machines make more coffee than you need or are a bit difficult to use. A Keurig coffee maker is a great option but which one is best? Here’s what you want to know. 

All domestic K-cup brewers are great for a single person since they all brew single servings of coffee easily and quickly. Different models of Keurig brewers have different functionalities. The cheaper/smaller models just brew coffee while the more expensive models can also change strength and more. 

Are Keurig K-cup Brewers Good For Singles?

Luckily this is a very easy question to answer. Pretty much all Keurig K-cup brewers brew one cup at a time and are therefore very suitable for single person households. Put a K-cup in the brewer, push the button and you’ve got a full mug of coffee. Most of these brewers don’t even have the option of brewing more than a single cup. 

But which one is the best for you? Well, that depends on the features you’d like. The cheaper and smaller models tend to have fewer features although they do pretty much brew the same coffee. However, the more expensive models have bigger reservoirs, different brew settings (strength and size), etc. 

So if you just want the simplest cup of coffee possible, get a cheap Keurig machine and spend the money on high quality coffee. That will yield good results with very little effort. But which machines are worth considering?

Which Keurig K-Cup Brewer For a Single Person?

There are a few Keurig coffee brewers which are worth considering. They are all good for singles, it just depends on which features you want. 

If all you want is coffee brewed in 8, 10 or 12 oz portions, the Keurig K-Slim is the best option. It’s simple but affordable and very compact. You can read more about the best keurig machines here. They’re basically all for single servings.

In case you need more size options, an option to brew extra strong and to brew over ice, the Keurig K-Elite is a better option. You can also get just hot water out of it for soups or noodles and set a timer. It does cost a bit more and is a bit bigger than the K-Slim but it can do quite a bit more as well. 

For people that like milk drinks, the K-Cafe is a good option. It comes with a milk steamer/frother built in which makes making drinks like cappuccino or latte very easy. 

Learn more about what features there are on K-cup brewers and how to use the buttons.

Other Single Cup Coffee Brewers 

If you are just looking for a good coffee brewer that does single servings, there are a few more options than a Keurig K-cup brewer; 

Nespresso

The most obvious alternative to a K-cup brewer is a Nespresso machine. In the USA Keurig is more popular while elsewhere Nespresso is more popular although Nespresso is catching up in the USA as well. 

In general there aren’t huge differences although Nespresso has the edge on drink and machine quality. There are more different official Nespresso cups available than Keurig cups but if you don’t need original cups, there are tons available for both.

Nespresso tends to be a bit more espresso focused where Keurig is more normal coffee focused. If you like espresso type drinks, Nespresso is a better choice. On the flip side, Keurig machines and cups tend to be cheaper 

Single serve drip brewer

If you don’t necessarily need a machine that takes K-cups or Nespresso cups, there are simple automatic drip brewers that brew single servings. These are the same as a normal drip brewer just smaller. That means you have to fill the reservoir and put in a paper filter. 

It takes a little bit more work than brewing a K-cup but it’s not that much more difficult. It just takes a bit of thinking and experimenting to get the taste you like where a K-cup is always the same. 

These single serve brewers tend to be quite cheap. 

Aeropress

If you don’t necessarily need a machine to do everything for you, an Aeropress is a great choice. An Aeropress makes it very easy to brew a good cup of coffee. 

It might seem a little intimidating at first but it’s really easy to use once you get the hang of it. Just boil some water, pour two scoops of coffee grounds into the Aeropress, pour the water on top and wait 2 minutes before pushing down. 

The Aeropress is my personal go-to brewer for brewing a single mug of good coffee. It’s quick and easy although not as easy as popping a cup into a Keurig but in my opinion the Aeropress makes much better tasting coffee and is cheaper to use as well. 

Learn more about the Aeropress and how to brew it here.

An Aeropress brews 200 to 250 ml of coffee at a time which is a perfect amount for a single cup of morning coffee. 

French Press

Another manual option is the French press. It’s even easier to use than the Aeropress in some ways since there is no paper filter. However that lack of paper filter means the French press results in more residue in your cup. Many people (including me) aren’t a big fan of that which is why the Aeropress might be preferable. 

French presses are available in different sizes some of which quite big. However, they are available in 12 oz. Sizes which are perfect for a single serving. 

Learn more about the French press here.