What do you look for when you choose a new coffee maker? Is it convenience? Features? Quality? Keurig coffee makers and other single cup brewers offer an interesting option for anyone seeking to replace an old coffee pot for their home or office, and definitely warrant a glance before you settle on a new model somewhere else. The reason why these machines are so interesting is that they have taken inspiration from tea sellers and started to manufacture single cup bags (or disposable plastic cups called “k-cups”) that resemble tea bags filled with coffee, hot chocolate, tea or other hot drinks and breakfast beverages, making them perhaps the easiest coffee maker to use on the market.
Granted, easy is not always best, but in this case the companies seem to do a decent job. The disposable pouches, pods or k-cups are a bit pricey (particularly when compared to loose beans), but the overall convenience and utility of the machines themselves tend to make up the difference in value. It only takes a few moments to brew a cup of coffee on most Keurig coffee makers, for example, and pretty much all varieties have built in timers and personal settings to really make things easy for you when you first wake up in the morning. If nothing else the utility of not having to mess with the coffee pot before you jump in the shower and wake up makes these coffee pots worth looking into all on its own.
Traditional drip brewers have many of the same features and bells and whistles that single cup coffee machines have, but they lack the speed and simplicity that the newer machines possess. However that convenience and simplicity is balanced by a slightly higher price tag, both at first and over time, thus leaving it up to the individual consumer to decide which is more important to them.