Coffee is many people's go-to hot drink, but if you’re making it at home, the grounds can be messy and brewing can be time-consuming. The Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker quickly and easily makes single cups of coffee using K-Cup coffee pods, so there's no need to grind beans, measure ground coffee or clean it up once you're done.
Keurig claims its K-Classic machine "brews a perfect cup of coffee, tea, hot cocoa or iced beverage in under 1 minute at the touch of a button," which sounds ideal for the everyday user. We wanted to discover if this claim is accurate, so we tested the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker to find out. After some in-home testing, this is what we found out.
Testing products in a lab or other controlled environment can give you some idea of how they perform, but it isn't until you try them in the real world over an extended period that you really get to grips with them and discover their quirks. We have a group of testers who try products out in their home for at least 2 weeks, with the aim of investigating all the claims their manufacturers make.
For this review, we gave it to a tester who regularly drinks coffee but also brews tea and hot cocoa on occasion. They usually use a Keurig 2.0 Coffee Maker, so they were able to compare how the K-Classic stands up against their usual model.
The Keurig K-Classic is a single-serve coffee maker that uses pods to brew coffee. It's compatible with K-Cup pods, which are made by a variety of coffee brands and are widely available in North America. It also works with the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter, which is great if you want to use your own coffee blends.
The Keurig K-Classic costs roughly $120-$150, depending on whether you find it discounted or at its full recommended retail price. You can buy it from Keurig, Amazon and Wayfair.
The K-Classic is extremely easy to set up and use. It comes basically ready to go. All we needed to do was slot the drip tray into place, remove a few pieces of tape from the machine, fill the reservoir with water, plug in the power cord and start brewing.
To start brewing, you simply press the power button and wait for the water to heat, then add your pod and press one of the three brew size buttons. The buttons feature pictures of small, medium and large cups, so it's easy to tell which one is which. They produce cups of 6, 8 and 10 ounces, respectively.
Keurig claims the K-Classic has a brew time of under 1 minute. We found it took around 60 seconds to brew a cup of coffee, with the larger sizes taking just slightly longer than the smaller ones. This saves a lot of time compared to brewing a whole pot of drip coffee.
We loved how simple this coffee maker is to use. There are only three buttons for brewing, so it's as easy as selecting the brew size you want and waiting for the magic to happen. When using standard K-Cups, there's no need to grind beans, measure out coffee or empty and clean a filter.
While we didn't need to use the cleaning cycle during our testing period, the process is straightforward: add a bottle of Keurig Descaling Solution to the empty water reservoir, add a designated amount of water, run the solution through the machine until the reservoir is empty, leave it to sit for 30 minutes, then run one cup of clean water through the machine before it's ready to use again.
The built-in 48-ounce water reservoir holds enough water to make four to eight cups of coffee, depending on the brew size. Some pod coffee makers only hold enough water to make a single drink, so the fact that this one can make up to eight drinks on a single fill is good if you don't routinely make coffee for a large crowd.
We found this coffee machine the perfect balance of heavy enough to feel sturdy and well-made but not so heavy that it's tricky to lift or move around the kitchen.
At 28 inches, we found the power cord frustratingly short. We had to plug it into an extension cord to position it exactly where we wanted. However, it's worth noting that Keurig makes its cords deliberately short so there isn't too much excess when you position it close to an outlet. Depending on how many outlets you have in your kitchen and where they're positioned, you might not find the length of the cord an issue.
While it only takes roughly 60 seconds to brew a cup of coffee, the water in the reservoir needs to heat up before you can do so. It takes a full reservoir of water 4-5 minutes to heat, which can be annoying when you're in a hurry. However, it only takes 15-30 seconds for the water to reheat between cups.
It's great to have a reservoir big enough to brew multiple drinks, but some coffee makers have larger reservoirs, which is useful for large households, offices and anyone who regularly hosts big groups of people.
Although we found the three brew sizes adequate for our needs, some users find it limiting and would prefer a couple more sizes.
The Keurig K-Classic is a quality single-serving coffee maker that's great for people who want the speed and convenience of pods. It lives up to the claim that it makes coffee, tea and hot cocoa in under a minute, though whether it makes the "perfect" cup is debatable.
If you're looking to make full carafes of coffee or have a steamer wand to make specialty drinks, this isn't the machine for you. However, if you want an easy-to-use pod coffee machine, it's a solid choice.
If you're looking for another option from Keurig, this might fit the bill. It gives you the option to brew an extra-strong cup or over ice, in 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-ounce sizes.
Sold by Keurig, Amazon and Wayfair
Ninja DualBrew System Coffee Maker
You get the best of both worlds from this coffee maker, which lets you make single servings of coffee from a pod or a whole pot of filter coffee using ground coffee beans. It's a good choice for buyers who want a large coffee maker.
Sold by Amazon, Kohl's and Macy's
Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffee Maker
This compact, affordable single-serve coffee brewer works with pods for servings of up to 10 ounces or ground coffee for servings of up to 14 ounces.
Sold by Amazon
Cuisinart Premium 72-Ounce Single-Serve Coffee Maker
With an attractive design and LCD display, this Cuisinart model looks great and performs well. It brews coffee from K-Cups and from a reusable filter basket.
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Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
