In the market for a single cup coffee maker? Well, there is no shortage of great coffee makers on the market. When looking for the best single cup coffee maker you want to look for one that will suit the amount of coffee you (and your family) drinks, ease of use and the variety. Single cup coffee makers use pre-measured, pre-packaged coffee pods called k-cups, T-disks or others according to the manufacturer of the coffee maker. These pods, as we will call them, come in a variety of drinks, not only coffee. There are teas, cappuccinos, lattes, hot chocolates, chai and others.

Let’s discuss the features of the various models of coffee makers, and give you a few recommendations on the best ones out there. Features that will help you compare the different brewers include the water reservoir size and whether it is removable or not, cup sizes, colors/finish, size and price. Also be sure to check out the variety of drinks and their availability (how or where you can find the drinks). The most popular single cup coffee makers on the market these days are the Keurig, Vue and Tassimo. However there will be a new entry in the single cup coffee market later this year. Starbucks will be coming out with their own brewer which is sure to rival the best out there. It will be called the Verisimo.

Most Popular Single Cup Coffee Makers

TASSIMO Single Serve Coffeemaker, T45 $139.99	Keurig® Platinum B70 Gourmet Single Cup Coffee & Tea Brewing System Added Value: 60 K-Cups & My K-Cup Reusable Filter $171.99	Keurig Vue V700 Brewing System $158.99

Other available brands are the DeLonghi, Mr. Coffee, Black and Decker, and Hamilton Beach among a few others.

To me, the most important feature of these single cup coffee makers is the variety of drinks you can make. Take a look at the chart below to see what’s available.

Variety of Single Cup Coffee Maker Pods

As you can see there is a lot of variety for the single cup coffee makers. All three are available at your local Bed, Bath and Beyond store. Keurig k-cups are the most common pod and can also be found in most grocery stores. Do a simple search on Amazon and you will find a ton of variety, all different kinds of blends. More than you could ever imagine. As well, each brand has their own website where you can also purchase all of the different varieties of pods.

Now that the variety question is answered, the next feature you want to look at is the water reservoir. Each of these machines has a removable water reservoir, but they vary in size. That means the more coffee you make the more water you will use. Having a smaller reservoir, you will fill it up more frequently.

Next most important feature is the cup size. The Keurig and Vue single cup coffee machines make several different cup sizes that you can choose at the time of brewing. The Tassimo cup size is determined by the variety of the drink you are making. In this case an espresso is brewed as a small cup, a few ounces, whereas a cup of coffee is brewed at 6-8 ounces. These machines also allow you to choose the temperature of the brewed drink.

I have personally owned a Tassimo as my first single cup coffee maker. We enjoyed it for many years; after which we decided to go with the flow and get a Keurig machine. This was before the Vue was released. I am extremely happy with my Keurig and love the variety of coffees that are available. There is literally something for everyone.