There are quite a few Keurig coffee makers. Which one is actually the best? Here’s what you need to know.
The best all-round Keurig machine is the K-Supreme Plus. It’s very well built, has plenty of adjustment options to tailor your cup of coffee and a large, removable reservoir. If all you need is cheap and simple, the K-mini is a good choice.
The different Keurig machines serve different purposes and what’s best for most people might not be best for every person. Below you can find the best Keurig machines for different situations.
What Is The Best Keurig Coffee Maker?
All Keurig K-cup coffee makers make pretty much the same tasting cup of coffee on the same settings. However, some machines have more settings and features which could slightly change the taste of the coffee although it’s not a huge difference. Which one is best is a question of which features suit your needs the best.
Some of the newer models have the so called ‘multi-stream’ technology. Which means instead of one stream of water into the K-cup, there are five. This does give a bit more even extraction which leads to more aroma and slightly more balanced taste. The machines that have this don’t cost much more so it’s worth looking for those.
Below you can find a few of the best options for certain situations, pick whichever one suits you best.
Best All-Round Keurig Machine
The Keurig with the best feature set and most coffee adjustability is the K-Supreme Plus (Amazon). It does pretty much everything you could want while also being the best built Keurig machine. It feels very solid and properly built.
One big benefit over most of the other brewers is that you have both temperature and strength control settings. This allows you to really dial in the strength you like. The K-Supreme has the longest (strongest) brew time of all Keurigs which is a big plus if you like more intense tasting coffee. The stronger the setting, the longer the brew time but even on the strongest setting it’s under 2 minutes.
The K-Supreme is a brewer that has quite few features already but the SMART version adds another layer to this. The main thing the SMART adds is BrewID. The machine recognizes the specific cup you’re using and shows you the best settings and recipes to brew that coffee. It also allows you to start brewing from your bed by pushing a button in the app. That does require you to set up a mug and K-cup before you go to bed. The SMART also has more strength and temperature settings.
If the extra smart functionality is worth $25 extra is up to you.
The downside? It’s quite expensive for a K-cup brewer and the many different features mean there are more buttons on the machine making it a touch more complicated to use. However, if you just want a simple cup of coffee, it’s still available with a single push of a button.
Best Compact Keurig Brewer
If you’re looking for small and simple, the Keurig K-Slim (Amazon) is the best option. This brewer is an evolution of the original K-mini and solves of the biggest issue with that brewer, the reservoir. The original K-mini had a single serve reservoir that wasn’t removable. So you had to fill the reservoir with another vessel before every brew, not very convenient.
The K-slim has a removable 46 oz. Reservoir which means you can brew multiple times on one fill. Having it removable makes it very easy to fill as well. It also has the newer multi-stream technology which means slightly more aromatic and better coffee than the original.
Simplicity is the key with this machine. There are three brew sizes: 8, 10 and 12 oz. There are no other buttons which makes this incredibly easy to use. There is nothing you have to think about.
Best Keurig Brewer For Milk Drinks
Need something that can froth milk at the same time as brewing coffee? The K-Cafe SMART (Amazon) is what you need.
The standard K-Cafe is also good but lacks the strength adjustment options for the coffee. The SMART version is very similar to the K-supreme in that department. It also adds a 2 and 4 oz. shot function. This brews extra strong, concentrated coffee for something closer to a real cappuccino or latte.
The K-Cafe SMART adds a milk frother to the machine. Just pour in milk and let it do its thing. It saves you getting a separate appliance that froths your milk. However, this is an expensive machine and getting the K-Supreme with separate milk frother would be cheaper.
The Smart functionality actually helps you to create milk drinks with this machine since it shows you the exact recipes you can use.
