Single Serve Coffee Maker

I absolutely adore coffee, and although people's tastes may vary, we all pretty much agree that fresh coffee is the best coffee.

Single serve coffee makers, sometimes called single cup coffee makers or 1 cup coffee makers, make a single super fresh cup of coffee every time. There is no wondering how old the pot of coffee is, if it's still hot, what kind of coffee it is, or anything else, as you make each cup to order.

They can also be fast and convenient as preparation and cleanup is trivial with many single cup coffee makers and they make coffee fast. There are many brands and varieties of machines available. Read on for specific machine details.

Most people think pod based machines when they thing of single cup coffee makers.  Examples include the Senseo, Keurig (although they call their pods "K cups"), and many others. So what's a pod? It's a pre-packaged single serve amount of coffee, roasted, ground, and packed into a little pod complete with built in filter paper and usually in some sort of foil or other pouch to preserve its freshness.

They are also very popular in office environments. There are no pots to clean, the machines are easy to maintain, and it's quick and easy to make a high quality cup of coffee easily. Who knows, maybe they improve productivity? They certainly do with me!

There are many types of pods available with a wide variety of coffees. Some complaints include that they are more expensive than just straight coffee (duhhh, you pay for convenience!) and that variety is good but not great. You can make your own pods with any type of coffee you like, certainly for Senseo and presumably most if not all others. (My sister digs the Green Mountain Kenya for her Keurig, and can't imagine going to the trouble to make her own K-cup).

Not all single serve coffee makers are pod based however. For example the Black and Decker I mentioned earlier doesn't use pods. It's a drip machine with a built in reusable metal filter, and it even comes with a cup you brew the coffee into. And French press style coffee makers certainly do not use pods either.

I have tried many different ones, and can report that they are all good. I am retrying them all again, together with friends, and reviewing them here.

I've recently tried the following:

The Black & Decker coffee maker single serve coffee maker, which I own. It's my office machine: Click Here -> Black & Decker Brew 'n Go It's a simple single cup drip coffee maker - no pods, no disposable filers, to K-cups, just load coffee/water and brew.

The Keurig coffee maker, my sister's personal machine and her all time favorite.
Read the review here: Keurig Single Cup Coffee Maker.

A small single cup French press coffeemaker (a Bodum), my mother in laws favorite and one I use very commonly.

And also two very popular ones, the Senseo Single Serve Coffee Makers and the Tassimo Single Serve Coffee Makers.

Any other suggestions? I'll review any machine I can find, invite reviews from others, and of course you may donate machines and you'll get an honest review. We'll also look at a dual cup coffee maker or two - I've used a few recently I need to write up.

A single serve maker is particularly important in my household. I'm particular about my coffee, and like very different coffee than my wife. I very often make a  strong cup of Columbian or the House Blend from my local Breaking New Grounds, while my wife tends to drink decaf or even flavored coffees (which are not my cup of tea -- errr, preferred cup of coffee)

Lest my own personal opinions be too strong, and I do have strong opinions sometimes, I also invite your input and I'm also actively interviewing other coffee aficionados, some coffee roasters, and reading hundreds of on line reviews as well.

The Cuisinart Single Serve Coffeemaker and the Krups Single Serve Coffee maker are also slated for review - hopefully within a couple of months. Hoping to visit friends that have them so I can spend a couple days with them.