Smaller Single Cup Coffee Makers – The Keurig Mini And The Cuisinart 1 Cup

Great for the office, college dorm, an RV or boat, the smaller sized single cup coffee makers fill a niche in more ways than one. Their small, compact size allows them to slip easily into a backpack or suitcase and they don’t require much room on the kitchen counter or a desk. They brew up a hot cup of coffee quickly and this certainly reduces the amount of stale coffee that is dumped down the drain.

When you get down to the bare essentials of coffee brewing, the smaller machine doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. It is basically a water reservoir and a brewing mechanism that turns out the coffee. Evaluate these two machines and you will see numerous similarities.

Special Features Of The Keurig Mini

• Brews coffee within 60 seconds of heating
• Brews an 8 ounce cup
• Has 8 ounce water reservoir
• Refill water for each cup
• Has Auto-Off feature
• Brews K-Cups of coffee, tea, or cocoa
• Available in 3 colors: red, white, black
• Has travel tote bag
• Price $79.95

Special Features Of The Cuisinart One Cup Coffee Maker

• Brews in less than 3 minutes
• Brews an 8 ounce cup of coffee
• Has 8 ounce water reservoir
• Refill water for each cup
• Uses standard 1 cup sized coffee pods
• Has illuminated power button
• Has Auto-Off  feature
• Available in black
• Price $29.70 to $43.89

So when you are trying to decide on a single cup brewer, evaluate how well each works. How good is the coffee that each one brews? After all, that’s why you are buying it.

The Keurig coffee makers, from the top of the line to the smallest machine, use the identical brewing mechanism. These coffee makers have all earned #1 ratings for their reliability and durability – and also for making a great cup of coffee. Says one user, who has the larger Keurig Special Edition for home use, “ The B30, Mini, is perfect for my desk. It’s attractive…makes coffee just as well as my full-sized machine. I plan to use it regularly…I think the design is nice and sleek overall.” Another user comments, “The coffee tastes just as good as with my larger K-Cup brewer, though, with the smaller water volume the darker roasts have more ‘punch’ –especially darker ones like the Coffee People’s Black Tiger and Caribou Coffee’s Mahogany. I’m sticking mostly with medium roasts like CP’s Donut Shop and Green Mountain’s Nantucket Blend with good results.”

A user of the Cuisinart 1 Cup says, “The coffee that comes out of this little maker is very weak. If you like the flavor of a strong cup of coffee, this isn’t the unit for you. What I do like about it is the small size. I bought it for my desk…it fits perfectly…easy to use. The instructions say not to use more than one pod at a time but I think I may have to. I’m a little disappointed.” That solution will depend upon the pod space in the machine – some will hold only one standard sized pod.

Evaluate the single cup coffee makers well so you are not disappointed with a bad cup of coffee or a sputtering brewer that won’t brew.