Best Single Serve Coffee Makers of 2020 – Buying Guide & Shopping Tips

Single-serve coffee makers come in hundreds of shapes, sizes, and functionalities, ranging from fully-manual drip coffee makers to completely automatic “add your coffee, set and forget about it” type of machines.

Pod Coffee Machines 

Pod or capsule coffee machines use plastic or, more recently, paper-pods that contain ground coffee to brew an espresso-like coffee. Pod machines often accumulate a sufficient amount of pressure to generate a decent espresso-like coffee. However, there are two drawbacks to these machines:

• Most pods and capsules that the machines use comprise of non-recyclable, single-use plastic. Some capsule coffee companies have been working to address the issue, and have come up with compostable paper capsules or reusable plastic ones. Perhaps the industry will shift in this direction and get rid of single-use plastic pods entirely.
• The coffee inside capsules must be pre-ground, meaning the quality will certainly be impacted compared to freshly ground and roasted coffee. On top of that, the coffee quality inside these pods has, until recently, been fairly poor.

Single Cup Drip Coffee Makers 

Drip coffee makers are known as large machines that make a huge batch of freshly brewed coffee. They are quick and easy, and many of them are equipped with a delayed start timer.

This means you can wake up to coffee being brewed in the morning. These same drip coffee machines exist in single-serve versions – no reason to drink four cups of coffee on your own.

These machines offer both flavor quality and ease of use. Add in high-quality, freshly roasted ground coffee with the recommended water amount, and that’s it. You’ll get a decent result if the coffee you use is good.

Manual Brewing 

Manual brewing refers to any way of making coffee that’s not electrically powered. Instead, the person using the device controls the brew. This comes in numerous forms, and the brew flavor can vary significantly from each device.

There’s something to be said about the manual coffee brewers it’s a little bit of a ritual a process if you will. You first weigh your coffee out, grind it, and prepare the brewing equipment, heating it, so everything is just right. Slowly and carefully, you start brewing. When the process is complete, you have a drink that your own two hands made.

Yes, manual brewers are completely manual, which means there’s more to learn about them that a fully-automated machine.

And, that’s the point of manual brewing machines. You learn how to make your perfect cup of “heaven.” You learn how to adjust things, so the coffee fits your particular palette. There are thousands of techniques and ways to brew with these machines due to their flexibility.

Of course, they do take longer to prepare a single cup of coffee and require even more care than other machines, but it’s worth it if you want a great tasting coffee. We’ll go more in-depth about manual brewers and reviewing our favorites in an upcoming article.

Espresso Machines

These machines are a great way to get a single cup of coffee largely because you can only brew one at a time. Espresso is, in most people’s opinion, the only way to have coffee. There is certainly nothing like a beautifully crafted espresso in the morning hours.

Espresso coffee, however, is the most difficult to get right, and it’s also the most expensive option of all single-serve coffee makers. It’s not just the machine that’s expensive, but also the grinders that produce the expensive results.

Like any manual brewing device, an espresso machine gives you control in producing the perfect cup. However, like manual brewers, there is a learning curve for them. We’ll look deeper into our favorite espresso machines in a future article.

Tips To Help You Choose A Single Serve Coffee Maker

Reliability 

When we’re talking reliability, one thing we look at its build quality. Is the device or machine made of plastic? If so, it is high-quality plastic. Are there any moving parts? If so, how smoothly do they move? Are they clunky? Can any part of the device break? If so, how many of them?

We also look at how consistent the machine or device is. Does it produce the same result every time all the time? This is what we want – a reliable, well-built, consistent coffee maker.

Brew Speed

This boils down to personal choice – you can have it fast or slow, but should still stay within the recommended brew times. Speed is a big factor for some people when buying a coffee maker. After all, parents getting kids ready for school are on a time crunch, which means the brew time may be a key point for them.

Cost/Budget

Coffee makers can vary in their prices from under $20 for a manual brewing device to more than $300 for a domestic espresso machine. Value for money is important.

Convenience 

How many steps must you go through to have a delicious cup of coffee in your hand? Do you have to do a lot of preparing rinsing filters, grinding coffee, setting times, etc to start the brewing process. How easy is it to clean?

Capacity

In my book, extra points go to capacity if it can serve multiple purposes. If a device brews just one cup, it means brewing a second time for another cup. Or, I’ll have to purchase another device to handle more than one cup at a time.

At the same time, if I want to brew one cup, but only have a machine that brews multiple cups, there’s a need for another device. Many drip coffee makers have a minimum amount you can brew something I would consider a minute drawback.

Ease of Use 

Some machines work with the touch of a button; others don’t have buttons. A pod or capsule coffee machine is easier than an Aeropress.

Temperature Consistency 

One of the most important things when brewing coffee is water temperature. This is due to the rate at which coffee beans extract under different water temperatures. Colder water leads to a lower extraction rate compared to higher temperatures, which have a higher extraction rate.

With manual brews, the user controls everything including the brew temperature. However, with single-serve drip coffee machines, the machine is in charge of the brew temperature consistency. The majority of good machines will have a stable brew temperature to ensure the best possible extraction.

Taste 

You could take the same coffee and brew it in multiple devices, and end up with different tasting coffee each time. This difference could be big such as the difference from a pod and a drip, or it could be small such as one pod to another pod. Brew speed, convenience, and ease of use all affect the taste.

Physical Space/Footprint

Most people do not have a huge kitchen to house a commercial-sized coffee machine. If you do, I’d love to see your kitchen. Your kitchen space will play a role in what kind of machine you get.

Accessories 

Does the device need filters or extra bits? Does it comes with or offer additional accessories that add to the feature list?

Environmental Impact

How much waste is thereafter every use? Most products have some type of environmental impact. For example, an espresso machine uses more power than a manual brewing device.

For example, the Hario V60 uses disposable single-use paper filters, but a Nespresso pod machine uses single-use plastic capsules, which has more of a negative impact on the environment.

Best Single Serve Coffee Makers to Consider for Your Home and Office

Here’s our curated guide of 2020’s best single serve coffee makers, allowing you to start tasting delicious coffee close to your local coffee shop back home or at work.

1. Bunn MCU Single Cup Coffee Maker

Bunn makes a single-serve coffee maker that brews K-cup capsules or ground coffee.

Pros:

• Reliability – Well-designed machine
• Convenience – Can be used for drip coffee or K-cups, so convenience is down to brew method
• Physical space/ footprint – Takes up little kitchen space
• Temperature consistency – Keeps a consistent temperature
• Ease of use – Very easy to use
• Capacity – Brews only a single-serve at a time, cup easy to make multiple, quickly
• Brew speed – Brews quickly
• Taste – K-cups can have a negative effect on flavor; Ground coffee tends to have better results

Cons:

• Environmental impact – K-cups leads to excess plastic waste
• Cost/ budget – A mid to upper-priced machine

2. illy Y3.2 iperEspresso and Coffee Machine

The illy Y3.2 uses its iperEspresso capsules instead of K-cups or other pods.

Pros:

• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint
• Brew speed – Brews quickly
• Reliability – Nicely designed machine
• Convenience – Almost no prep needed
• Ease of use – Just load the capsule and brew
• Temperature consistency – Brews at a consistent temperature
• Capacity – Single-serve only, but can quickly and easily make a second cup making a second cup

Cons:

• Cost/ budget – Mid-priced machine; additional cost for every capsule
• Environmental impact – Illy will recycle capsules sent back, but how many people will use the feature
• Taste – Pod coffee machines typically produce a poor quality cup

3. Ninja CF091 Coffee Bar Brewer System

The Ninja CF091 is a non-capsule coffee brewer that can brew multiple sizes – from a single cup to a full carafe. Also, it includes a milk steamer.

Pros:

• Reliability – A well-made machine
• Ease of use – Add coffee and water and push a button.
• Temperature consistency – Brews at a consistent temperature
• Capacity – Can brew anywhere between one cup and a full carafe
• Environmental impact – Doesn’t use capsules
• Taste – Add great coffee to get a good cup

Cons:

• Physical space/ footprint – Takes up more space than other machines on the list
• Brew speed – Slow brew compared to other capsule coffee makers
• Convenience – Less convenient than a capsule machine, as users have to add ground coffee
• Cost/ budget – Mid to upper-end price range

4. Litchi Single Serve Coffee Maker

This inexpensive little coffee maker from Litchi comes with 2 options available: K-Cup or ground coffee to make a single cup.

Pros:

• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint.
• Brew speed – Brews quickly.
• Convenience – Comes with 2 options available: K-Cup or ground coffee for brewing.
• Environmental impact – K-Cup capsules meant more plastic waste.
• Ease of use – Just add a capsule and brew.
• Temperature consistency – Brews at a consistent temperature.
• Cost/ budget – Inexpensive.

Cons:

• Taste – K-cups mean unless you buy the specialty capsules, the quality will be bad.
• Capacity – Brews one cup at a time, but can quickly brew many cups.

5. CHULUX Single Serve Coffee Maker

This inexpensive K-cup coffee maker from CHULUX comes in an array of funky colors and will make a single cup at a time.

Pros:

• Ease of use – Couldn’t be easier to use
• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint
• Temperature consistency – Decent temperature stability
• Capacity – Brews one cup at a time, but can quickly brew many cups
• Cost/ budget – Inexpensive
• Brew speed – Fast brew speed
• Convenience – Add a capsule and brew

Cons:

• Environmental impact – Capsules mean plastic waste
• Taste – K-cups mean unless you buy the specialty capsules, the quality will be bad

6. Cuisinart SS-10 Premium Single-Serve Coffeemaker

The Cuisinart SS-10 can brew K-cup capsule coffee. It comes with a reusable K-cup, allowing you to brew using your ground coffee. It can also brew in multiple sizes – from 5oz to 12oz.

Pros:

• Taste – Add good coffee and get a decent cup (just like other coffee makers)
• Environmental impact – Re-usable K-cup lowers environmental impact
• Reliability – Made reasonably well
• Convenience – Just add coffee and water
• Ease of use – Fully automatic
• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint
• Brew speed – Brews quickly
• Temperature consistency – Consistent brew temperature

Cons:

• Cost/ budget – Not the cheapest machine on the list
• Capacity – Brews a maximum of 12oz

7. Aicok Single Serve Coffee Maker

The Aicok coffee maker is a very affordable and space-friendly K-cup coffee maker.

Pros:

• Ease of use – Couldn’t be easier to use
• Physical space/ footprint – Probably the smallest machine on the list.
• Temperature consistency – Decent temperature stability
• Capacity – Brews one cup at a time, but can quickly brew many cups
• Cost/ budget – Inexpensive.
• Brew speed – Brews quickly
• Convenience – Add a capsule and you’re good to go!

Cons:

• Environmental impact – Capsules means a lot of plastic waste.
• Taste – Unless you buy the specialty capsules, the quality will be bad.

8. AdirChef Grab N’ Go Personal Coffee Maker

This inexpensive coffee maker from AdirChef comes with its portable travel cup, which means you can bring them along to work. It also comes in an array of funky colors to choose from.

Pros:

• Environmental impact – Doesn’t use capsules or disposable filters.
• Cost/ budget – Inexpensive.
• Reliability – A well-made affordable coffee machine.
• Convenience – Comes with a portable travel coffee cup.
• Physical space/ footprint – Very small footprint.
• Temperature consistency – Decent temperature stability
• Ease of use – Simply by adding your coffee and start brewing.
• Taste – Benefits of using your preferred brand of ground coffee Good coffee in= good coffee out.

Cons:

• Capacity – Brews one cup at a time.
• Brew speed – Slower brew process in comparison to capsule-based coffee makers.

9. Chefman Instabrew Single Serve Coffee Maker

The affordable Chefman Instabrew coffee maker comes with two available options for you to brew your cup of joe. You can either brew it with a reusable K-cup or the reusable filter for coffee grounds or even to make tea by adding loose tea.

Pros:

• Environmental impact – Re-usable K-cup and filter lowers environmental impact.
• Convenience – Uses ground coffee or K-cups.
• Ease of use – Fully automatic
• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint.
• Temperature consistency – Decent temperature stability
• Taste – Add good coffee to the K-cup and the results should be decent.
• Cost/ budget – Affordable.

Cons:

• Capacity – Brews a maximum of 12oz
• Reliability – Considering the affordable price tag, the components are made of plastic which might not be the best build option.

10. Casara Single Cup Coffee Maker

This is one of the only single cup coffee makers we’ve come across that has a delayed start time; good for busy mornings and people on the run. It also comes with its travel cup.

Pros:

• Environmental impact – Does not use K-cups or disposable filters
• Cost/ budget – Inexpensive
• Convenience – Delayed start timer and includes its travel cup
• Physical space/ footprint – Small footprint
• Temperature consistency – Keeps a fairly consistent temperature
• Taste – Add your coffee to get good results

Cons:

• Capacity – Brews only a single-serve at a time
• Ease of use – Not as easy to use as capsule coffee makers
• Brew speed – Doesn’t brew as fast as capsule coffee makers

11. Breville Nespresso Creatista Single Serve Espresso Machine

This is both an espresso machine and a pod coffee maker. It uses pods to make coffee and comes with a steam wand and jug for foaming milk.

Pros:

• Reliability – Well-constructed
• Temperature consistency – Brews at a consistent temperature
• Convenience – Couldn’t be easier
• Physical space/ footprint – Takes up very little space
• Ease of use – Add the capsule, press the button, and wait for coffee. Foaming milk makes things a little more complicated
• Capacity. Brews only a single-serve at a time; refill to brew a second cup

Cons:

• Cost/ budget – Most expensive machine on the list
• Taste – Using standard non-specialty coffee K-cups tends to lead to poor tasting coffee
• Environmental impact – Standard, non-recyclable capsules lead to a lot of plastic waste being created