Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker review

Is the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker worth it?

Your morning sets a precedent for your day. You never want to start it off subpar — that's why that first cup of coffee is so important. You want it hot, fresh and fast. You also want the brewing to be easy and the cleanup to require minimal effort.

Keurig has a coffee maker that the company claims “brews a perfect cup of coffee, tea, hot cocoa or iced beverage in under one minute at the touch of a button.” There are hundreds of brands of coffee available in K-cups, so you can always find your favorite. With this model, you can brew either a 6-, 8- or 10-ounce cup of coffee.

BestReviews Testing Lab wanted to see if the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker lived up to the manufacturer's marketing claims, so they evaluated its performance.

Testing the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker 

When BestReviews brings a product into the testing lab, the company puts an emphasis on using it in a real-world situation. This way, BestReviews knows if the product will actually simplify your life. For the Keurig coffee maker, the lab focused on making sure the product was not only as versatile as promised, but simple to use.

What is the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker?

The Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker is a single-serve coffee brewer. That means the coffee in the K-cups is not instant coffee. Instead, it's regular coffee that provides a richer, more robust flavor than instant coffee because it's brewed on demand. Even better, a Keurig makes real coffee in about the same amount of time as it takes to make instant coffee.

This model brews any beverage you like, whether it is coffee, tea, cocoa or a specialty item. It has a 48-ounce reservoir and can make 6-, 8- or 10-ounce cups. As long as you keep it filled up, plugged in and the appliance is warmed up, you can brew coffee at the touch of a button in under a minute.

The coffee maker arrives in one piece with no major assembly required. It's packaged in recyclable cardboard and the loose items are secured by tape. The Keurig is heavy enough to feel well-built but not heavy enough to be cumbersome. It features a compact design and a power cord that is purposely short for safety. The attractive appliance looks good on a counter and adds a modern touch to your decor without taking up too much space.

See how the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker compares to other products in its space — check out our reviews for the best single-cup coffee makers.

Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker price and where to buy

The Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker is available on Amazon for $200. It's also available on Wayfair for $149.99.

How to use the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker

The Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker only has five buttons, making it very simple to operate. There's an on button, an auto-off button and three brewing size buttons.

Before making your first brew, you need to clean your coffee maker. To do this, remove and fill the reservoir with water. Replace the reservoir and put a 10-ounce coffee mug on the drip tray. Plug the coffee maker into a grounded outlet and press the power button. When the red heating light goes out, lift and lower the handle  — without adding a K-cup — then press the 6-ounce cup button. You Keurig is now ready to use.

When you brew a cup of coffee, it's the same process, except you add your favorite K-cup when you lift the handle.

The auto-off is a handy feature that shuts the Keurig off if you don't use it within two hours. To enable this feature, press the auto-off button so the light turns green.

The testing lab discovered it takes just as long to dispense hot water as it does to brew a cup of coffee. Obviously, the larger the cup, the longer the process takes. However, even the 10-ounce cup can be filled in about a minute. If you fill the water reservoir up to the maximum level, you get approximately six 8-ounce cups of coffee.

One of the best features of this coffee maker is it doesn't need a filter. This means you never have to worry about changing a filter or making sure you don't run out.

While the calcium deposits that build up on your Keurig aren't toxic, if you don't clean them off, they can hinder the performance of your coffee machine and shorten its lifespan. To remove these mineral deposits, you need to descale your Keurig. This process takes about 50 minutes to complete. The good news is, descaling isn't hard, it's just repetitive. To descale your Keurig, run a full reservoir of cleaning solution (part scaling solution, part water) through the machine, wait 30 minutes, then run 12 cups of water through the machine to rinse away any lingering solution.

Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker benefits

This Keurig is easy to assemble and intuitive to operate — you can be up and running in minutes. There is no filter required and the large drip tray is capable of holding up to 8 ounces of accidental spills. It's versatile, allowing the user to brew a wide variety of beverages at the touch of a button. Best of all, once it's warmed up, it only takes about a minute to brew a flavorful cup of fresh coffee. Cleanup and maintenance are minimal and the price is reasonable.

Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker drawbacks

While some reviewers claimed the Keurig was loud, BestReviews didn't find the noise level to be much different from other coffee makers. The biggest downside was the short power cord. While this is done for safety, in some kitchens it can be an inconvenience. Another drawback is that K-cups cost more than regular coffee. Finally, bear in mind that your first cup may take an additional four or five minutes to make since the machine needs to warm up.

Should you get the Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker?

The Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker is perfectly suited for a small family or a family that doesn't go through more than six cups of hot brewed beverages per day. It's simple to use, easy to maintain and can streamline your morning routine to simplify your life.