Top 8 Best Single Serve Coffee Makers 2021: Our Shortlist
Quick summary
 Capresso On the Go Compact and reliable but not sophisticated coffee maker is a very good and sensible choice.  best overall |
 Sboly Single Serve Is a good choice to brew a great cup of coffee within 3 minutes with wide range of beverages due to its compatibility with many K-Cups.  |
 Jura A1 Is quite compact easily programmable and adjustable coffee maker with built-in grinder. |
We all know how great it is to drink a cup of coffee before a new tough day starts. In fact, a greatly brewed eye-opener can reduce the harshness of the coming day so that new heights are scaled effortlessly, or at least this process becomes much easier and more pleasant. Here are top rated single serve coffee makers to get the best out of each day, especially for those who can’t imagine living without caffeine.
Why choose a single-serve coffee maker?
The most obvious advantage of such coffee makers is speed. If you have busy mornings and don’t have enough time to spend making another cup of Joe, these utensils can make the desired coffee within one minute.
One more reason to buy a personal coffee maker is its easy maintenance and operation. Such appliances have limited features that make them very simple. However, it doesn’t interfere with the creation of excellent coffee and helps to preserve great flavor and aroma.
If your kitchen has limited counter space, the physical size of such coffee makers is a great plus. Moreover, due to their quite small footprint and less weight, such devices can be easily transported. A single-serve coffee brewer is perfect for offices, especially for small ones, because it is easy to clean and fast to brew.
Single serve coffee maker reviews
What is the best single serve coffee maker? Let’s check reviews to find which one meets your needs the most.
Capresso On the Go
- Holds up to 6 tablespoons of ground coffee or soft pods
- 16-oz stainless travel mug
- Space-saving & energy-saving
- Removable permanent filter
- Excellent 200 ºF brewing temperature
- Not programmable
- Continues dripping up to 30 seconds after it finishes brewing
You can get a cup of a well-brewed beverage of any strength using the amount of coffee you need. It’s true that 6 tablespoons allow you to make very strong coffee, so you can be sure that you’ll get a really invigorating drink. In case you prefer using coffee pods, they can be used with this coffee maker. If you want to find a cheaper alternative, read this Black and Decker Brew N Go review.
Capresso 425 On-The-Go Personal Coffee Maker is good in case you need to brew coffee and take it with you. A 16-oz travel mug is included, but you can use your own if it doesn’t exceed 7 inches in length. Coffee is brewed in less than 4 minutes, which is quite fast. The coffee maker isn’t programmable, and in case you need an easily programmable machine, take a closer look at Nespresso Pixie.
The great advantage of this model is that it’s very compact (6.55 x 5.29 x 12.09 inches). So, if you have a small kitchen, this coffee maker is a good choice. It is slim and not heavy (approximately 3 lbs). It has a large shower head that provides the accuracy of saturation and extraction. Capresso On the Go heats up very fast to 200 ºF to make your cup of the freshly brewed coffee ideal. Reusable nylon filter simplifies cleaning and avoids the need to use paper filters. Moreover, it is good for coffee pods as well. After brewing, it shuts off automatically.
If you need a reliable and not sophisticated coffee maker, and in case you don’t need 5-10 cups of coffee, Capresso On-the-Go is a very good and sensible choice. Follow this link to read our full review of Capresso 425 On-the-Go Personal Coffee Maker.
Sboly Single Serve
- Small footprint area
- Good for K-Cups and ground coffee
- Auto-cleaning system
- Brew strength control
- Water reservoir is quite small and with unclear labeling
If you think you need the best K Cup brewer, you may want to take a look at this coffee maker. We cannot say that this machine is the best among those that use K-Cups, but it is definitely worth being here.
There are more and more compact coffee makers nowadays. Sboly Single Serve Coffee Maker is one of such machines. It doesn’t take up much space in the kitchen, which makes this model very adjustable to many locations. It is made of stainless steel, good plastic, and it is durable.
In case you like using coffee capsules, this device is compatible with all K-Cups. Of course, you can enjoy your beverage by using ground coffee. There are two buttons on a coffee maker; one is for K-Cup brewing, the other is for ground coffee. If you press two buttons simultaneously, you start the auto-cleaning system. Sboly Single Serve Coffee Maker became the best K Cup coffee maker for many people due to its cleaning system, which helps to maintain the highest standards while brewing another cup. It is recommended to clean the machine every 2 months.
The water reservoir capacity is 14 oz. It is relatively small but allows heating water much faster. 6-14 oz is your room for maneuver to control the strength of coffee. The other way to control coffee strength is by measuring the amount of coffee put into the ground coffee container. If you want a similar K-Cup coffee machine but with a bigger water reservoir, check the best Keurig brewer - Keurig K55, one of the most classical and convenient coffee makers.
Using Sboly Single Serve is a good way to brew a great cup of coffee within 3 minutes. It is easy to enjoy a wide range of beverages due to its compatibility with many K-Cups. Find out more about Sboly Single Serve by following this link.
Jura A1 review
- Adjustable spout
- Easily programmable
- Built-in burr grinder
- Fast due to Pulse Extraction Process (P.E.P.)
- Simple, quick, and quiet
- Pricy
- No milk steaming function
Jura A1 Super Automatic Coffee Machine is good for people who want to make their favorite beverages from fresh-brewed coffee but don’t want to deal with a grinder. It is simple to get the full spectrum of flavors with this fast coffee maker.
Jura A1 is really fast due to its incredibly fast Aroma A3 conical burr grinder and thermoblock boiler that heats pretty fast. Moreover, its Pulse Extraction Process improves the purity of brewed coffee and promotes the speed of coffee brewing as well. If you are a big fan of morning espresso and hate waiting, this device is for you. It has a 37-ounce water tank that makes this model a great alternative to any single cup drip coffee maker.
The bean hopper can hold up to 4.4 oz, and it is important to be careful with the hopper lid because it has a small plastic tab sticking out of it. If it breaks, you may need a replacement to be able to brew coffee. This machine doesn’t steam milk in distinction from many other models of this producer. If the water reservoir needs refilling, special indicators start flashing to inform you.
This machine is quite compact (20.5 x 12.7 x 18.6 inches), but it weighs 23 pounds, so it is hard to call it portable. If you need something slimmer and lighter, check our Hamilton Beach 49981A review. Ristretto, espresso, and coffee are 3 easily programmable and adjustable modes that help everyone to get away from the bump and grind of everyday life. If you want to know more, follow this link to read our full review of Jura A1 Super Automatic Coffee Machine.
Black and Decker DCM18S
- Easy to operate
- Good for soft pods & fresh grounds
- Cheap
- 15-ounce travel mug
- Compact design
- Filter for ground coffee
- Some details look flimsy
- Permanent filter might get clogged
If you want to save money on buying a simple and reliable coffee maker, you definitely have to take a look at this model. It has a really small footprint, and it can be placed everywhere in the kitchen. This model is very simple to operate and maintain, but yet it brews good coffee fast enough. It takes about 3 minutes to make a fresh cup.
All coffee on-the-go fans will be glad to know that the included travel mug is good for almost all car cup holders. The stainless steel mug keeps coffee warm for about 45 minutes and has a tight lid. This time is more than enough for most commuters. Of course, you can use your own favorite mug instead.
The Black and Decker DCM18S can be used for ground coffee and soft pods. It has a permanent filter and doesn’t require paper filters. It is better to avoid using fine-ground coffee as it makes the filter clogged. All removable parts are easily rinsed and washed. The machine can be used to heat the water for other purposes, like making tea, hot chocolate, cereal, etc.
This coffee maker has a low price and doesn’t look solid, but it doesn’t mean it is unreliable. If you want to have a similar model that looks more massive, take a glance at Capresso On-the-Go. The Black and Decker Coffeemaker is not programmable, but it has an automatic shutoff system that goes off after it finishes brewing, and it helps to save energy.
If you need a cheap, simple, and space-saving single serve coffee maker, that brews good beverages to-go very fast, this model is worth considering. Follow this link to read our full review of Black and Decker DCM18S.
Keurig K55
- Descaling system
- Convenient and easy to use
- Compatible with a wide range of K-Cups
- Uses non-biodegradable K-Cups
- Energy-consuming
A lot of K Cup coffee maker reviews regard this classic model (and its K-Mini, K-Mini Plus, K-Select, K-Elite modifications) as one of the best coffee makers presented on the market, and they have the right and reasons to do so. K-Classic Coffee Maker is good for people who like tasting different types of coffee (as well as hot chocolate or tea) every time they want to brew one more cup, or if they are still looking for their perfect flavor and aroma.
This machine is very fast and the whole process takes less than two minutes. It is very precise, works neatly and without a hitch. You are free to choose between 3 different cup sizes (6, 8, or 10 oz). It helps to control the strength of a brewed drink. The other way to control coffee strength is to use refillable My K-Cups. Let’s not forget that common K-Cups harm the environment, that’s why it is better to buy refillable capsules. Moreover, K-Cups are quite expensive along with their great convenience and practicality.
This coffee maker is quite compact (13.3 x 9.8 x 13 inches, 9 pounds) and good for many households and offices. Despite being made of plastic, it still looks pretty good. A 48-oz water tank is easily removable and allows you to make 5-8 cups before refilling. This model doesn’t have many features, but it is practical, reliable, and fast. It is easy to clean. Moreover, it has an automatic descaling system.
If you want a coffee maker that uses soft pods and looks tiny, look at Capresso On-the-Go. In case you want a cheaper but still reliable alternative, check Sboly Single Serve.
The Keurig K55 is popular due to its simplicity, speed, and reliability. It brews good coffee within a couple of minutes and offers coffeehouse taste in the comfort of your own home or office. If you want to know more, read our full review of Keurig K55 by following this link.
Hamilton Beach Single Serve Coffee Maker
- Adjustable drip tray
- Takes 90 seconds to brew
- Durable, convenient, and space-saving
- Reusable scoop filter
- Possible coffee overflows
- Coffee may drip after brewing is finished
Hamilton Beach (49981A) Single Serve Coffee Maker is good for those who like experimenting with coffee grounds. You are free to use any ground coffee to find your flavor, grind, aroma, acidity, roast to enjoy a personally crafted cup of invigorating coffee. However, it is important to be careful with fine-ground coffee as it may lead to overflows. A permanent scoop filter helps to control the strength of brewed beverages. Apart from this, the coffee maker has bold and regular settings used for the same purposes. Bold brewing is recommended for more finely-ground coffee.
This model is very fast. It takes about 1.5 minutes to make an 8-oz cup of excellent coffee. The amount of brewed beverage is easily increased to 14 ounces. You can adjust a drip tray to your mug or cup size in order to avoid spilling. Put your travel mug and get good on-the-go coffee.
In case you are looking for compact design, this device is well-suited for small kitchens, offices, and dorms. Its dimensions (8.35 x 6.70 x 8.67 inches) allow you to place it almost everywhere. It’s made of stainless steel and weighs approximately 5.25 pounds, which makes this model durable.
This machine shuts off automatically when brewing is finished. Coffee may drip for a while, but this coffee maker has a drip tray that helps to avoid any possible mess. Anyway, it is very easy to clean if something goes wrong. It is a good idea to use a looser and coarser grind to avoid overflows.
This coffee machine is good for personal use because it gives the owner a chance to mix brew any coffee they want to achieve the best results. Follow this link to read our full review of Hamilton Beach (49981A) Single Serve Coffee Maker.
Nespresso Pixie
- High-pressure pump for professional results
- Requires 25 seconds to heat the water
- Folding drip tray to accommodate large mugs
- Energy & space-saving
- Doesn’t make milk-based drinks
- Requires Nespresso capsules and is limited by their variety
If espresso makes you happy every time you drink it, this machine is for you. It is designed to provide people with barista-like espresso with crema due to its 19-bar pump. This pump allows you to find hidden espresso flavors and aromas while extracting.
The coffee maker is really space-saving as its footprint is small (12.8 x 4.4 x 9.3 inches). It weighs about 6 pounds and is made of aluminum and plastic that makes it look captivating.
Your morning starts easily because this little espresso machine makes your favorite drink within 30 seconds. Apart from the pump, it is achieved due to espresso capsules that prevent a possible mess and guarantee the same flavor and consistency every morning. However, they still pollute the environment.
The Nespresso Pixie has two one-touch buttons that help to make espresso and lungo. These buttons are adjustable so that you could enjoy the volume and strength of coffee you like the most. If it is needed to fill up a high travel mug, the drip tray can be folded.
This machine is easy to clean. Moreover, it has a descaling mode which the owners are recommended to use at least once a year in order to get perfectly brewed coffee. If you like latte or cappuccino, just purchase this model that comes with the Aeroccino. Ideal single-serve drinks are guaranteed.
The espresso machine is a good solution if your mornings are busy, but you still want to drink a cup of the excellently made beverage. Follow this link to read through our full review of Nespresso Pixie by De’Longhi.
Keurig K-Cafe
- Good for cappuccino & latte lovers
- Big 60-oz water reservoir
- Simple frother
- Iced drinks
- Not really compact
- Temperature control missing
In case you want to add a little milk to your coffee life, the Keurig K-Café machine can be a great choice. This machine offers the opportunity to make a great cup of cappuccino, latte, and other beverages. It is easily programmable and allows us to select among 4 cup sizes (6, 8, 10,12-oz). A large 60-oz water tank is enough to prepare 5-10 cups of excellent coffee. It is removable that makes the process of refilling very simple.
This coffee maker is quite compact (11.7 x 15.3 x 12.5 inches), so you need to have enough space to place it. It is still good for big kitchens and home-like offices. The machine is designed to use K-Cups. As we remember, they are not biodegradable and harm the environment. It is a good idea to buy refillable My K-Cups which are sold separately. If you want a model that has a less footprint, take a closer look at Sboly Single Serve.
This coffee maker has an intuitive control panel, and it is very easy to use. Just press the ‘Shot’ button, and you will get quality and well-concentrated coffee that you may use to make various beverages. The excellent frother will help you make drinks you like. If you like drinking strong coffee, there is a special button, and one more is for making both latte and cappuccino.
This machine isn’t hard to clean as it has a descaling system that greatly simplifies the process. If you like milk and coffee together, this model can help you to brew good coffee at home. Follow this link to read our full review of Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee Maker.
Our TOP-3 picks for single serve coffee makers
While you are considering which coffee maker to choose, let’s check our list of 3 best single serve coffee makers we have made for you:
Capresso On the Go
- Permanent filter for ground coffee & soft coffee pods
- Full stainless steel housing for superior strength and style
- Use included 16-oz stainless steel thermal travel mug or your own container up to 7’’
Jura A1
- Thermoblock heating system with a high-pressure pump (15 bar) for barista-like results
- Easily programmable with symbol display control panel
- Built-in grinder
Nespresso Pixie
- Heats water in less than 30 seconds
- Smart coffee maker for busy mornings
- Powerful, efficient, and energy-saving
Types of single cup coffee makers
Before buying the best single serve coffee maker, it is important to distinguish among them and choose one that meets your needs the most. Despite the fact that such utensils are easy to operate, their peculiar features can affect the way you use them.
Electric coffee makers are very easy to operate. There is no need to make long preparations before enjoying a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Such a machine is the best instant coffee maker because it really serves very quickly. Of course, they use electricity to work. Apart from making coffee and some other beverages, they can heat water for various purposes.
Gravity-powered coffee makers use gravity or pressure to percolate and extract coffee grounds to make a cup of coffee. This type is the best one cup coffee maker if your outdoor adventures must necessarily be accompanied by the spirit-stirring hot beverage. Please mark, water should be preheated separately beforehand.
If you want to grab coffee with you to work or other places, there is a range of models offering convenient travel mugs. Apart from this, it is important to select the best single cup coffee maker among models that use freshly ground coffee, capsules, or pods.
K-cups explained
The popularity of K-Cups is undoubted nowadays, and it has increased since Keurig designed K-Cups and put them in place. It is not easy to choose the best K Cup brewer as the number of models is increasing rapidly.
A K-Cup is a capsule made of plastic with ground coffee inside and sealed with foil. Coffee machines puncture both the foil and the plastic container, and hot water does with coffee what it is supposed to be done to make the desired beverage. Apart from coffee, such capsules can contain various powders like cocoa or fruit, or tea leaves, and others. They are nitrogen flushed and sealed for freshness. Keurig company is the best K-Cup coffee maker, pioneer and leader in the manufacture. The best Keurig alternative is Nespresso.
K-Cups serve people in both positive and negative ways. Every type has the same amount of coffee with the same consistency, roast, acidity, and intensity. It guarantees you the same flavor and aroma each time you decide to make coffee. One more advantage is that it doesn’t make a mess, and it is easy to clean. K-Cups offer a very quick and practical way to brew coffee.
However, there is a dark side of K-Cups. They have nothing to do with the word ‘biodegradable’. They will have been spoiling our planet for many centuries before they stop poisoning the soil. Apart from a large negative environmental impact, it is important to admit that used coffee has quite poor quality. One more disadvantage is that they cost more than the same amount of ground coffee or whole beans.
Reusable capsules are one of the best alternatives to ordinary K-Cups. Naturally, such capsules reduce probable environmental damage. Moreover, these capsules can be refilled with coffee of any brand, grind, and roast to achieve the required results of brewed beverages. It is a great compromise between disagreeable and undesirable environmental pollution and simplicity, convenience, and even swiftness.
Coffee Pods Vs. Coffee Capsules
While choosing the best single cup coffee maker, it is important to consider the preferable type of coffee ground container. So, which device is better, one that uses pods or capsules? It is important to admit that these two terms are quite often used interchangeably. However, these containers are different and offer different ways to brew coffee that may have a distinct outcome.
Coffee pods are mostly made of biodegradable paper and they look like round tea bags filled with ground coffee, but they have a larger size. The same standard is used to manufacture pods all over the world that allows people to use them in a wide range of models. This fact makes it harder to choose the best pod coffee maker among such a diverse range of appliances.
It is important to mark that coffee is vulnerable to many things, especially oxygen. Coffee pods are so designed as to allow hot water to percolate fast enough. Naturally, this design can’t preserve flavors for a long time.
Coffee capsules can preserve freshness a bit longer than pods because they are sealed. Sealed ground coffee is not exposed to oxygen directly. Thus, the coffee is more flavorful. As we remember, capsules are made of plastic, but they are still more popular with people at large. Capsules are disposable and they are a considerable source of pollution unless you use refillable ones.
Both capsules and pods are considered as the fastest ways to brew a cup of coffee. They are practical but give different flavors due to their design, and let’s not forget about a horrible environmental footprint that capsules leave.
Summary. What is the best single-cup coffee maker
It is time to select our winners. We hope that single-serve coffee maker reviews will help you to choose a utensil that suits all your needs the most. Every coffee lover deserves to drink a freshly brewed cup of fragrant coffee.
So, we think that the best coffee maker among the reviewed models is the Capresso On-the-Go. It is our best overall choice due to its simplicity, speed, design, and practicality. The closest rival is the Keurig K55 due to its efficiency and reliability. The 3rd place goes to the Jura A1 because it is the best model with a grinder, and it has an adjustable spout. Moreover, it makes a barista-like coffee. Our consolation prize goes to the fast Nespresso Pixie due to its perfect espresso. This machine is one of the best with K-Cups. It doesn’t make a mess, and it’s easy to clean. The other coffee makers are good for specific tasks, and many people should choose them on the grounds of expedience.
All these models are good for busy mornings and provide you with the perfect cup of your favorite beverage with little effort on your part. Just a couple of minutes and here we go - your coffee is ready! We hope no one is going to be jealous of you for having a coffee maker that offers a coffeehouse taste in the comfort of your kitchen. Enjoy your coffee with Coffeelikeapro!
Renat Mamatkazin
Founder and owner of Lion Coffee and 3ChampsRoastery, 1st place winner of Ukrainian Barista Championship 2017. Interested in travelling, football and Formula-1 (besides coffee, of course).