When you're in a rush, traveling, or just brewing for one, a full-size best coffee maker can seem bulky and overly complicated. That's when we turn to a single-serve coffee maker. It's more practical and efficient to brew exactly the amount of coffee you need exactly the way you like it.
After testing the highest-rated single-serve coffee makers to evaluate their ease of use, the brew speed, and the taste of the finished product, we selected five top picks. While pod brewers offer the ultimate convenience and speed, our top single-serve coffee maker is the AeroPress Original Coffee and Espresso Maker. It's easy to use, portable, and brews a robust cup of coffee quickly without losing richness. The best Keurig coffee machine we tested is the Keurig K-Supreme. The ever-expanding K-Cup collection and Brew-ID Bluetooth technology offer more versatility to single-serve brewing.
Our picks for the best single-serve coffee makers
Best overall: AeroPress Original Coffee & Espresso Maker - See at Amazon
Best Keurig: Keurig K-Supreme Smart Single Serve Coffee Maker - See at Amazon
Best budget: Black and Decker Single Serve Coffee Machine - See at Amazon
Best Nespresso: Nespresso VertuoPlus - See at Amazon
Best pour-over: Nguyen Coffee Supply Phin Filter - See at Nguyen Coffee Supply
Best overall
Coffee is a serious necessity for some, and the AeroPress is small, simple, portable, and easy-to-use way to brew a highly competitive, frothy cup of coffee somewhere between a French press and an espresso.
- Portable
- Doesn't need electricity
- Quick brew time
- Dishwasher safe
- Allows you to customize the coffee-to-water ratio
- Requires specialty filters
- Will need a kettle or hot water heater
Don't be intimidated by the manual AeroPress: it is by far the best single-serve coffee maker we tested. It yields a cup of coffee with a noticeably richer and more complex flavor than what you'll get from pod-based machines. Plus, you get surprising versatility: we've swapped espresso in for regular ground coffee or used room temperature water to make a cup of cold brew.
The AeroPress's portability is a major selling point in its favor. The coffee maker does include a few different components, but they're all small and easy to stow in a work bag or a desk drawer for on-the-go barista action.
The brewing process for the AeroPress is simple and well-articulated in its instruction manual. You add a paper filter and screw the cap onto the brewing chamber, scoop in your ground coffee, pour in hot water water, give it a stir, and then insert the plunger and push down until it reaches the grounds.
Finally, the flavor of AeroPress coffee will satisfy even the most discerning coffee drinker. The plunger and cylinder allow for quick extraction without rushing through the infusion process, and the finished cup boasts fragrant aromatics, a long finish, and no trace of burnt grounds or excessive bitterness. You won't get exactly the level of complexity that you'd get from a pour-over, but the AeroPress makes a great cup of coffee in half the time that a pour-over does.
Read our full AeroPress review to learn more about our top pick.
Best Keurig
This Keurig takes the signature brewer to a new level with app compatibility so you can customize and schedule your brew. Plus, you can choose from five strength settings and six temperature settings.
- Easy setup
- Bluetooth connectivity and paired app
- Compatible with all k-cups
- Fast brew time
- Can schedule brewing ahead of time
- Big countertop footprint
- No dishwasher-safe parts
- K-cups aren't eco-friendly
- Pricey
As far as flavor goes, coffee from any of the best Keurig coffee makers won't (and really can't) offer the same level of nuance and depth as freshly ground coffee. But it is perfect when I just want a drinkable, easy brew. Plus, fans of iced coffee will be glad to know that this machine includes a setting that brews extra-strong hot coffee designed to pour over ice. This coffee doesn't pack the punch of cold brew, but it's strong enough to avoid tasting watered-down.
The K-Supreme Smart Single-Serve Coffee Maker features BrewID, a technology developed by Keurig to recognize individual K-Cups and recommend a specific brewing temperature. You can press the Brew button and let BrewID do its thing. If you'd like more agency over your brew, the K-Supreme Smart's clear screen and control buttons let you control the coffee process.
Not only can you remotely schedule your brew through the app, but you can also save your preferences for easy access and pre-schedule brews. There are as many brewing options as there are K-Cups.
For more information, check out our guide to the best K-Cup coffee Keurig pods.
Best budget
This machine brews fuss-free, nothing-fancy, good drip coffee. It provides a user-friendly, efficient, and mega-affordable experience.
- Compact
- Can brew coffee with grounds or pre-packed pods
- Comes with a travel mug
- Parts are dishwasher-safe parts
- Affordable
- No ability to customize water temperature, pressure, or brew size
- Doesn't make espresso or cold brew
I may be a coffee elitist, but I still have an undeniable soft spot for fuss-free, nothing-fancy drip coffee. The Black & Decker Single Serve Coffee Machine provides exactly that in a user-friendly, efficient, and mega-affordable manner.
This small and lightweight machine would be an ideal choice for a dorm room, a tiny apartment, or a work desk. You can use ground coffee — and the thorough instructions explain how much to add for a single coffee serving — or pre-loaded drip coffee pods. Those pods are compostable mesh pouches filled with a single serving of ground coffee and designed to work in a drip coffee maker (unlike the hard-sided K-Cups, which only work in coffeemakers designed for that style of pod and can't be composted). From there, it's as simple as filling the machine with water, adding the grounds or pod, and flipping a switch.
Will you be blown away by the multilayered flavor profile of the coffee made with this machine? Honestly, no. What you're getting is a single serve of standard drip coffee: mild, drinkable, and quickly brewed.
Best Nespresso
The Nespresso VertuoPlus takes all the work out of making espresso at home. It's a sleek and user-friendly machine that brews coffee and espresso at the touch of a button and has an adjustable water tank so it can fit wherever you need it to.
- No technique required to make espresso
- Large water tank
- Storage compartment for used pods
- Makes coffee and espresso
- Only uses Vertuo pods (not Nespresso Originals)
- Not eco-friendly
- Pieces aren't dishwasher-safe
I don't have the coffee-making expertise, available counter space, or budget to set up a full-scale espresso machine in my kitchen. That's why I have such a deep and abiding appreciation for Nespresso and its VertuoPlus model in particular.
The machine's software scans each pod and automatically determines the best brewing temperature, pressure, and brew time. Nespresso's Vertuo pods also come in coffee brews, if you'd rather have a standard cup of coffee. With both the coffee and the espresso pods, the VertuoPlus creates a beautiful layer of crema at the top of the brew, and the flavor of the drink is rich and nicely balanced.
The VertuoPlus has a sleek silhouette that's easy to set up on a small countertop like in my galley kitchen. The machine needs some time to warm up. You have to run a rinse cycle before brewing, but it took a few pushes of the "brew" button before the cycle started. The same thing happened when I went to brew my first cup.
If you want the Nespresso experience but with a smaller countertop footprint, check out the Nespresso Essenza Mini. The Essenza Mini brews espresso with the same ease as the VertuoPlus (although it uses Nespresso Original pods rather than Vertuo pods), but it takes up a fraction of the space.
Read our full guide to the best Nespresso machines to learn more.
Best pour-over
- Comes with a travel pouch
- Dishwasher safe
- Affordable
- Brew time is longer than other single-serve makers
The phin filter is a pour-over brewing device that's popular in Vietnam. Now that I've tested one for this guide, I'm also a fan of this remarkable stainless-steel tool. Though we don't feature the Phin Filter in our guide to the best pour-over coffee makers, we selected it here because of thoughtful details that make it particularly travel-friendly.
Nguyen Coffee Supply is a roaster with Vietnamese roots, founded by Vietnamese-American entrepreneur Sahra Nguyen. Their phin filter coffee maker consists of a small cup-shaped brewing chamber, a perforated plate that serves as a filter, and a cap that fits over the top of the brewing chamber to keep in the heat. This might sound like a lot of pieces to carry around (and potentially lose), but the components all stack neatly together.
This coffee maker uses finely ground coffee and water that's just below boiling (about 200 degrees F) to make a brew with a robust body and a pleasantly lingering finish. It takes about five minutes to make a cup with the phin filter but trust me; it's more than worth the wait. The included instructions have a conversational flow that still clearly communicates the steps; I felt like I was reading a note from an especially smart and coffee-savvy friend.
For experienced pour-over users, I also loved the Kalita Wave Dripper 185. It's as straightforward as you can get: you insert a Kalita filter, add coffee, and pour hot water over the grounds in a circular pattern. That said, the simplicity of the method means that there's a lot of room for variation and a lot of room for error.
What to look for in the best single-serve coffee makers
Type: You're primarily choosing between pod machines and more traditional coffee brewers. To use a pod machine, you just fill the water tank, pop in a pod, and press go. However, the machines produce more environmental waste, and coffee purists often find the brews less flavorful. French presses, pour-overs, and drip coffee makers can make more nuanced cups of coffee, but all three methods necessitate more steps.
Convenience: One of the benefits of making small batches is that you can make them faster than a full carafe. Our best pour-over pick takes the longest time to brew (up to 7 minutes), so that's not great for a grab-and-go morning. Pod machines are generally the fastest to operate and brew.
Serving size: Every highly-rated single-serve coffee maker we recommend primarily makes one serving at a time, but some can make larger portions. If you like an extra-large mug or have occasional guests, a single 8-ounce brew might not be enough for you.
Cleaning: Since there are no loose grounds, pod machines are the easiest to clean, but they do need to be descaled every few months. Our top pick, the AeroPress, has all dishwasher-safe parts, which is a major plus. With any coffee maker, you want to clear out any used coffee grounds after every brew.
How we tested the best single-serve coffee makers
As a long-time coffee snob and lifestyle product reviewer, I used my experience to compare the best single-serve coffee makers on the basis of speed, usability, and taste of the finished brew. I also spoke to Matt and Katie Woodburn-Simmons, veteran baristas and current owners/operators of Home Coffee Expert, and Sara De Luca, founder of Invita Cafe in California to get their takes on single-serve coffee makers. Here is how I tested each product:
Speed: To determine the efficiency of the best single-serve coffee makers, I timed how long it took to brew 10 ounces of coffee. I started by pushing the "brew" button for electric models and adding hot water for manual models. I set the standard or "signature" brewing temperature for each of the electric models, and for the manual models, I heated the brewing water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Maintenance: A good single-serve coffee maker is maintained as easily as it brews. I put each coffee maker together and determined the difficulty of each assembly. I cleaned each coffee maker and noted whether the coffeemakers could be washed in the dishwasher and how many different compartments needed to be cleaned.
Taste: I used Starbucks Pike Place coffee for each brewing test (finely ground Pike Place for the manual brewers, Pike Place K-Cups for the models that could accommodate K-Cups, and Pike Place Nespresso pods for the Nespresso machines). I then critiqued each finished cup on the basis of flavor balance, nuance, and strength.
FAQs
What's better than Keurig?
When we compared Nespresso vs. Keurig, we found that the best Nespresso machines produce more full-flavored brews and come the closest to making true espresso of any pod machine. However, Keurig machines and K-Cups are more affordable on average, widely available, and better for large households.
Can coffee pods be recycled?
Yes and no. K-cups are now made with recyclable plastic, but you still need to remove the lid and dump out the grounds. Some communities do not accept K-cups at recycling facilities, so you'll need to check your local restrictions.
Nespresso pods have similar restrictions. In New York City, you can add the pods to your regular curbside recycling. For most other locations, you'll have to collect the used pods and either send them to Nespresso or drop them off at a Nespresso boutique or participating Williams Sonoma).
If being environmentally friendly is a key consideration for you, pod brewers are not the best choice.
What is the difference between a pour-over and drip coffee?
While pour-over and drip coffee both involve saturating ground coffee with hot water and allowing the resulting infusion (the liquid coffee) to drip into a vessel, the similarities between these methods end there.
"Pour-over" is a manual process that requires you to heat the water (and to determine the water's temperature yourself) and to slowly pour the water over the grounds. "Drip" automates that whole procedure. After you add the grounds and cold water, the machine does the rest for you. Think of drip coffee machines as automatic cars and pour-overs as stick-shifts. They'll both make a car run, but the latter is far more hands-on (and more car-nerd-friendly) than the former.
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