Consumer Reports

CR’s take: The dual-action Keurig K-Duo Plus 5200 brews a nice single-service cup of coffee, but it’s a bit unusual. Unlike the Brim and Cuisinart models on this list, which are essentially two coffee makers fused together, this Keurig only has one brewing chamber and mechanism. That means you can’t brew a cup of coffee from a pod and a carafe of coffee at the same time. And while this machine earns strong performance marks in pod tests, it’s only a so-so drip coffee maker. For example, it earns an Excellent rating for convenience in the former but a Very Good score for convenience in the latter. Its features include a removable water reservoir, a height-adjustable drip tray, programming, auto-shutoff, a permanent filter, and brew-strength control.

CR’s take: The dual-action Keurig K-Duo Plus 5200 brews a nice single-serve cup of coffee, but it’s a bit unusual. Unlike the Brim and Cuisinart models on this list, which are essentially two coffee makers fused together, this Keurig has only one brewing chamber and mechanism. That means you can’t brew a cup of coffee from a pod and a carafe of coffee at the same time. And while this machine earns strong performance marks in pod tests, it’s only a so-so drip coffee maker. For example, it earns an Excellent rating for convenience in the former but a Very Good score for convenience in the latter. Its features include a removable water reservoir, a height-adjustable drip tray, programming, auto-shutoff, a permanent filter, and brew-strength control.

Budget Pick

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Small enough to easily take traveling, the AeroPress is a coffee connoisseur’s portable pick.

High pressure and lower temperatures mean less bitterness.

The lightweight, compact AeroPress is the simplest way to make an excellent-tasting single cup of coffee, no electricity needed.

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The AeroPress emerges as the consistent leader in our taste tests, year after year. With this fun and functional brewer, you can create smooth espresso-like shots as well as clean, satisfying americanos. We know a handful of folks who use this as their exclusive coffee maker, even at home, yet this press is portable enough for travel or making camp coffee. Cleaning is as fast as popping the puck of grinds out of the tube &mdash; the squeegee action of the plunger cleans effectively without the use of extra water.
There is a slight learning curve with the AeroPress, and it has more pieces than many other camping coffee makers in our review &#40;though many of them are not necessary&#41;. You will also need to make sure you have a wide enough cup for it to properly nest into for pressing, and it requires the use of special round filters, available in paper, stainless steel, and even cotton. While not for everyone, coffee geeks will fall head-over-heels for this versatile brewer and its delicious results.

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The Aeropress, an immersion brewer, is closer to more traditional brew methods than any other single-serve options we tested. It doesn't quite offer the convenience of some of the other single-serve brewers, but the coffee it produces puts it in a league of its own. If excellent flavor is what you're after, the Aeropress won't let you down. This single-serve coffee maker consists of the main chamber, plunger, and filter cap that uses small paper disc filters. After heating water in a separate vessel &#40;we recommend an electric kettle&#41;, brewing takes about 1.5 to two minutes, followed by plunging the espresso-style coffee into a mug. Plunging the contraption is a bit precarious for the uninitiated but relatively intuitive. The chamber holds about 16-grams of coffee per serving and produces a rich cup of coffee that stands up to milk well.  
After brewing, the Aeropress has three pieces that need to be washed, making it considerably less convenient than Keurig K-Elite. That said, all you have to do is push out the waste in one easy step. For camping, it's hard to beat. All things considered, this is a fantastic option for anyone seeking a delicious cup of joe on a shoestring budget.

The Aeropress, an immersion brewer, is closer to more traditional brew methods than any other single-serve options we tested. It doesn't quite offer the convenience of some of the other single-serve brewers, but the coffee it produces puts it in a league of its own. If excellent flavor is what you're after, the Aeropress won't let you down. This single-serve coffee maker consists of the main chamber, plunger, and filter cap that uses small paper disc filters. After heating water in a separate vessel &#40;we recommend an electric kettle&#41;, brewing takes about 1.5 to two minutes, followed by plunging the espresso-style coffee into a mug. Plunging the contraption is a bit precarious for the uninitiated but relatively intuitive. The chamber holds about 16 grams of coffee per serving and produces a rich cup of coffee that stands up to milk well.  
After brewing, the Aeropress has three pieces that need to be washed, making it considerably less convenient than Keurig K-Elite. That said, all you have to do is push out the waste in one easy step. For camping, it's hard to beat. All things considered, this is a fantastic option for anyone seeking a delicious cup of joe on a shoestring budget.

The AeroPress emerges as the consistent leader in our taste tests, year after year. With this fun and functional brewer, you can create smooth espresso-like shots as well as clean, satisfying americanos. We know a handful of folks who use this as their exclusive coffee maker, even at home, yet this press is portable enough for travel or making camp coffee. Cleaning is as fast as popping the puck of grinds out of the tube &mdash; the squeegee action of the plunger cleans effectively without the use of extra water.
There is a slight learning curve with the AeroPress, and it has more pieces than many other camping coffee makers in our review &#40;though many of them are not necessary&#41;. You will also need to make sure you have a wide enough cup for it to properly nest into for pressing, and it requires the use of special round filters, available in paper, stainless steel, and even cotton. While not for everyone, coffee geeks will fall head-over-heels for this versatile brewer and its delicious results.
Read more: AeroPress review

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Why We Love the AeroPress Coffee Maker

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The 10 Best Portable Coffee Makers

When it comes to convenience, this Black+Decker coffee maker is hard to beat. Easy to operate and clean, it earns an Excellent in our tests for convenience. While it doesn’t feature brew-strength control or a small-batch setting, the 12-cup drip coffee maker comes with a 67-ounce carafe, which makes it ideal for serving a crowd.

This Hamilton Beach made hotter coffee than most models we tested and yielded some more-complex flavor notes. But it’s a little tricky to program.

The Best Cheap Coffee Maker

The 14-cup drip Salton Jumbo Java Coffee Maker earns an Excellent rating when it comes to convenience, based on how easy it is to understand the controls, fill the reservoir, insert the filter, gauge the amount of remaining coffee, and clean the machine. With auto-shutoff, a permanent filter, and a measured capacity of 70 ounces, this model is great for serving crowds.

CR’s take: The Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus 12-Cup (EC-YGC120) is a great coffee maker that brews an excellent pot of coffee and has an unusual design that’s wider than it’s deep, thanks to the reservoir being next to the carafe rather than behind it. This makes it especially suitable for countertops with less depth but more width to stash an appliance. And if you prefer your coffee on the cold side, it has a special ice basket insert for making ice coffee. Zojirushi devices also perform exceptionally well in our owner surveys, scoring an Excellent rating for both owner satisfaction and predicted reliability.

CR’s take: If you have shallow countertops, look to the Zojirushi Fresh Brew Plus 12-Cup (EC-YGC120). The coffee maker has its water reservoir next to the carafe rather than behind it, so its depth is about half an inch less than many similar appliances at or near the top of our ratings. Best of all, it scores an Excellent rating in our brew performance and convenience tests, and according to data from our member surveys, it gets an Excellent rating in predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. It has auto-shutoff, a removable reservoir, and an indicator that tells you when it’s time to clean it.

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A compact cousin to our top pick, the 8-cup OXO brews slightly better coffee but lacks an auto-brew function. It’s the only one of our picks that allows you to brew directly into a mug.

Is This the Keurig Killer We've Been Waiting For?

First and foremost, the Poliviar Double Wall 34-Ounce brews a wonderfully clean cup of java, thus eliminating the main criticism leveled at the press extraction method. As with other models that can back up such a claim, this achievement is the product of the tight tolerance maintained between plunger and carafe and the employment of redundant mesh filters. Utility aside, the Poliviar's design captures a more timeless look that may earn it a permanent place on the countertop. We appreciate the mottled exterior of the metal carafe and the oiled teak fixtures.  
While the wood adornments are undeniably a nice touch, they do require hand washing — this piece will need to stay out of the dishwasher for longevity's sake. Wood is a less durable material in general, meaning drops landing handle first could prove costly. These caveats aside, this press is more than sturdy enough for most kitchens. We also found the speckled exterior to be a nice choice as it prevents the unsightly smudges produced when handling glass or polished metal presses.  

The Bodum Pour Over consists of a glass carafe with a washable metal cone filter for brewing. We enjoyed this dripper's simplicity and ability to produce multiple cups of coffee at once. The washable metal filter is easy to clean and eliminates the need to keep a supply of paper filters on hand. Furthermore, the rubber collar is easy to remove, and the whole thing is dishwasher-safe. The Bodum's excellent price makes it that much easier to take your coffee game up a notch. 
Though the Bodum Pour Over fell short in taste quality and durability, this coffee maker is still an excellent choice for those who enjoy a more substantial mouthfeel. However, if you are looking for the signature clean cup typically offered by pour overs, we'd suggest considering a dripper that utilizes paper filters. The Bodum's metal filter allowed quite a bit of oil and sediment through, producing a glossy sheen on our coffee's surface and some sludge on the bottom. As for durability, the glass construction does not bode well for situations where it might get knocked over or dropped. 

The Bodum Pour Over is a two-piece design: the washable, metal cone filter attaches to a glass carafe for easy brewing. We enjoyed the simplicity of this dripper and its ability to produce multiple cups of coffee at once. The washable metal filter is easy to clean and helps reduce any waste associated with throw-away paper filters. Once you're finished brewing, the rubber collar is easy to remove, and the whole apparatus is dishwasher-safe. The excellent price point of the Bodum dripper makes it that much easier to take your coffee game up a notch. 
Though the Bodum Pour Over fell short in our tests for taste quality and durability, this coffee maker is still an excellent choice if you enjoy a brew with a more substantial mouthfeel. But a robust mouthfeel means a thicker brew &mdash; if you are looking for that clean, clear cup of coffee exemplified by other pour overs, we suggest a different dripper that uses paper filters. The Bodum's metal filter allows quite a bit of oil and sediment through, giving our coffee a glossy sheen on the surface and leaving some sludge on the bottom. As for durability, the glass construction does not bode well for situations where it might get knocked over or dropped. But if you can keep it from breaking, the price-per-cup of this large capacity dripper makes it an exceptional value.

CR’s take: The Mixpresso Single Cup K4GRY00, one of the lowest-priced pod coffee makers we’ve tested, is a steal. The machine earns Very Good marks for first-cup speed, repeat-cup speed (how quickly it can brew a second cup), and cup-size consistency. It’s also easy to clean and comes with a height-adjustable drip tray and a removable reservoir. Plus, Mixpresso pod coffee makers garner an Excellent reliability rating and a Very Good owner satisfaction score in CR’s latest members survey.

CR’s take: The Mixpresso Single Cup K4GRY00, one of the lowest-priced pod coffee makers we’ve tested, is a steal. The machine earns Very Good ratings for first-cup speed, repeat-cup speed (how quickly it can brew a second cup), and cup-size consistency. It’s also easy to clean and comes with a height-adjustable drip tray and a removable reservoir. Plus, Mixpresso pod coffee makers garner an Excellent reliability rating and a Very Good owner satisfaction score in CR’s latest members survey.

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For a relatively low price, the Hamilton Beach Universal Design coffee maker comes with an impressive array of features, including brew-strength control, programmability, and a small-batch setting. This 12-cup drip machine has a 62-ounce carafe and earns a Very Good rating in our tests on convenience, which measures how easy a model is to use and operate. 

CR’s take: The versatile Ninja DualBrew Pro 12-Cup CFP301 receives Very Good ratings across the board in CR’s tests for brewing performance, convenience, and carafe handling. This model, which can brew coffee from either fresh grounds or Keurig K-Cup pods, is capable of capable of brewing hot and iced coffee, lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, and other specialty brews. It’s equipped with a removable reservoir, a built-in milk frother, and an auto-shutoff feature.

Coffee Maker Comparison