Need help buying single cup coffee maker

[treman]

My wife and I use a French press. You can make as much(I think ours will do up to 36 oz per brew) or as little as you like. It's pretty simple and basic. Lots of brands some are trash but a decent one with a good stainless mesh screen won't set you back much more than a box of K cups will. Those things are expensive.

 

[Big Barn]

I like my Jura. One touch. Grinds, brews and self cleaning. Great for single cups.

Terry

Edit: No idea why this photo shows right side up on iPad mini but upside down on iPhone

 

[Shimon]

Another option is to get an instant hot water tap and use instant coffee. There are very good instant coffees these days. Starbucks has some good ones as well as other brands. Advantage of this method is you always have boiling water at the touch of a finger for coffee, tea, soup, cooking etc... Great for a very quick single cup of coffee.

Don't buy the InSinkErator brands...had a couple and they fail quickly and won't sell you replacement parts. Bough a Quick & Hot brand from Costco mail order and it's been working for 8 years with no problems: Quick & Hot Instant 190 Degree Hot Water Dispenser with Faucet

Not a solution for everyone..but it is an option. I use ours every single day and wouldn't live without one.

 

[Looking4new]

I have two French Presses. One is a single cup and the other one is a quart. I run espresso coffee in them. 3 scoops for the quart (I like my coffee strong), one for the single cup. You can make a single cup in the one quart press.

 

[dieselalles]

We bought a Keurig B145 Office Pro for $129 back in November 2011. It's a no-frills, commercial version that delivers single cup servings reliably. I liked it so much, I bought my mom and sister one the following year for Christmas. And all continue to work without interruption. I noticed that Amazon has them for around $118. Forget the frills if you don't need them. And forget the "K" cups. We bought a bunch of the Ekobrew Elite stainless steel single serving containers. They are hinged and will last practically forever. Yeah, the little single serve cups are about $10 apiece up front, but it lets me buy my favorite coffee at Wal-Mart and serve it up every day. I figure my wife and I have brewed around 8,000 cups of coffee thus far and it's still going strong.

 

[sixdogs]

With the Keurig B145, can I buy off the shelf k-type cups that aren't Keurig products/licensed and have them work?

 

[RobertBrown]

I like my Jura. One touch. Grinds, brews and self cleaning. Great for single cups.

View attachment 420480 (

Reminds me of the replicator in the original Star Trek.....
I have a Black and Becker, got it at Wal mart... I suppose...makes great coffee, if you know how to operate it

 

[Nik]

I recently bought a Technivorm Moccamaster model KB-741. I use it to make 1 10 ounce cup of coffee every morning for my travel mug and car ride into work. Can brew just 1 to several cups as desired. This company also makes a single cup one 10 ounces but I like the one I bought as can vary from 1 to 5 or 6 cups. Read reviews on this coffee maker and it is highly rated but not cheap. It is a drip coffee maker. I did not like the Keurig coffee maker we had as all brands off coffee I tried had an acidic subpar taste. I have used different brands in this new coffee maker and they come out very well.

The key to good coffee is the brewing water temperature and this brand does it right.

 

[dieselalles]

I looked at the reviews on the B145 on Amazon. It looks like on the newer models they changed the basket so it has two plastic fins that extend to fit the new Keurig "K" cups. No electric eye to read the edge of the cup like on the consumer models i.e. "Keurig 2.0". They are saying you can trim those two fins down to the same height as the others fins in the basket and it will then take the Ekobrew metal baskets or any other 3rd party basket for that matter. I wouldn't hesitate in a minute to do this because I like the brewer so much. Others might think it would void the warranty. But if you've got to send the thing back in, you can just buy another basket for it.

 

[Piston]

For anyone that uses a French press, try the Finum Brewing Basket on Amazon for about $12.

It's much quicker and easier to clean, and is basically the same method of brewing.

I did a taste test with 3 of my co workers and none of us could tell any difference in the two methods.

I used one for over a year every day and was very happy with it up until switching to the Aeropress.

 

[davrow]

For really good coffee these guys say you need to spend over 11 grand:
former-apple-nasa-engineers-make-11111-coffee-maker/

I like the way coffee smells, but don't drink the stuff. Blech.

 

[ustmd]

I recently bought a Technivorm Moccamaster model KB

Nik as you can see from my avatar to the left, I believe you made the correct choice:dance1::dance1::dance1::dance1:

Welcome to the club...

 

[MacLawn]

I a bit o' a coffee guru, just really like good coffee. Here's some I found that I love, and you can also choose a cause to help when you buy! To me, a win win way to get great coffee. Right now my favorite is the Sherpa:

Eurasia Coffee & Tea | Life-Changing Coffee and Tea

 

[Sodo]

I hate those K-cups and anything that lures you into a "program".

I like a burr grinder and a manual funnel, with a paper filter. With good quality beans, of course. It's like a coffee intake limiter. Keeps me down to one cup a day, but its a real good cup. I like my hand grinder too because that means I'm out in the woods!

 

[jeff9366]

Get a Melitta (brand) style ceramic coffee filter cone and some #2 paper coffee filters at your grocery store and make all the excellent drip coffee you want, one cup at a time. You need to buy DRIP GRIND coffee (I grind my own.) and use hot water just UNDER boiling temperature.

If you buy a cup of coffee at Barney's Coffee, which is more expensive than Starbuck's, cone & filter is the preparation Barney's uses.

AMAZON LINK: Amazon.com: Coffee ceramic cone

My first choice in coffee is Trader Joe's whole bean Columbian.

I purchased an AeroPress through Amazon to test it against my 'standard' Melitta-style cone and paper filter drip coffee.

Before making my first cup I watched several AeroPress videos on U-Tube. I found it interesting that few twenty-ish brewers in the videos followed the printed instructions that come with the AeroPress.

This morning I made my fifth cup of AeroPress and the first cup that was better than my average cone drip cup.

The AeroPress scoop, which measures the recommended ground coffee portion is LARGE. Scoop capacity requires 25% more ground coffee to make one cup per AeroPress directions than my accustomed measure for Melitta style drip. While I do not buy really exotic, expensive coffee, mostly content alternating between geographic offerings of whole bean coffee from Trader Joe's, 25% is a significant increase.

AeroPress claims in its directions: "ACIDITY: AeroPress brew has one fifth the acid level of drip brew and one ninth the acid level of French press brew. It's easier on your tummy." Perhaps not intended as claim for quality. Acid in coffee, like acid in wine, is one of coffee/wine's impressions on the palate and certainly pleasure impression of relative acidity is subjective. The cup I brewed this morning is very smooth, one shade, possibly two shades less acid than my cone drip brew. Better? Every coffee drinker will have his or her opinion. Today's is a GOOD mug.

AeroPress directions recommend 175 degree brewing water. Recommended water temp for cone and filter drip is 198 degrees. Lower water temp likely accounts for reduced extraction in the brew and explains why AeroPress scoop has 25% more volume.

I grind my coffee in an electric Baratza 'Vario' burr grinder ($450 new, I bought mine for $200 from a coffee fanatic friend who wanted to buy the latest and greatest Baratza model.) Vario is a very nice machine. The coffee I am grinding now is Trader Joe's "Organic Sumatra Coffee" "Medium-Dark Roast, Smooth Earthy Notes". These are the SOFTEST roasted beans I have encountered. Even with the Vario adjusted to its coarsest grind, the Sumatra grind is fine. So, experimenting for the perfect grind for the AeroPress is in progress. I will be out of Sumatra in three days and my next container will be Trader Joe's "Columbia Supremo" "Medium Roast, Sweet & Rich" which is the Gold Standard of whole bean coffee for me.

So I will report again after transitioning to the Columbian and having more experience with grinding specifically for the AeroPress.

So far: A good cup. Messier, slower brewing process and 25% more ground coffee required per cup than with cone and filter drip. Messier, time consuming cleanup. May or may not displace cone and filter drip with me, longer term.

Output of AeroPress with espresso grind coffee is NOTHING like real steam expressed espresso.

 

[Sodo]

Thanks Jeff, I've been wondering about the aeropress. However, going beyond the manual paper filter method makes me afeard. I'm thinking it's still the best when you take into account the simplicity.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I hate those K-cups and anything that lures you into a "program".

I like a burr grinder and a manual funnel, with a paper filter. With good quality beans, of course. It's like a coffee intake limiter. Keeps me down to one cup a day, but its a real good cup. I like my hand grinder too because that means I'm out in the woods!

View attachment 421541

Hey Sodo, Help I made a mistake and showed the pic of your grinder to my wife. Is that an old one or ....... If you know where I can get one it would be great.. Thanks Ed

 

[Sodo]

EBay "antique coffee grinder". I bought the black item, built the wood "mount". There are 3 or 4 types. Some wall mounts have a glass jar that look pretty cool.

 

[sixdogs]

Lehman's (Amish) Hardware in Kidron, Ohio has some grinders.

Lehman's - Search

 

[Ed of all trades]

Thanks i'll look and see what I can find. Ed