Hamilton Beach Scoop takes a simple approach to brewing and a sleek, compact design. The stainless steel scoop and brew basket hold 13-25 grams of ground coffee and fit neatly into a secondary filter that prevents grounds from ending up in your coffee. the coffee taste is superior to the keurig k-mini, and the brewing process produces no waste other than spent grounds. we enjoy the cost-effective pods and quality stainless steel design.
The only buttons on the machine let you choose between normal and bold brew, which determines how much water you add. brew tray flips down for a small cup or allows for a seven-inch travel mug in standard orientation the scoop isn’t as fast as advertised, but it can reliably produce eight ounces of coffee in two and a half minutes. It’s compact, well-priced, and easily beats the keurig k-mini in a taste test. Our main gripe with this machine is that three separate parts need to be cleaned after each brew, which takes about the same amount of time as cleaning the aeropress, a device that produces better-tasting coffee.
Reading: Single cup coffee maker reviews
the keurig k-mini is simple, compact and easy to use. the simple coffee maker could be the perfect caffeine machine for the bedroom. Its narrow profile and small footprint allow it to hide many places other single-serve brewers won’t fit. The coffeemaker features a retractable cord and large-volume drip tray, and fits a six-inch travel mug or a seven-inch mug with the drip tray removed. requires six to twelve ounces of water to be added each time it is prepared. We also appreciate that you can select the strength of each cup (although we hardly use this feature). The machine requires minimal daily cleaning, but Keurig recommends descaling every three to six months.
Although we like many things about this machine, the taste of coffee for a trained tongue is unimpressive. The chemical flavor of the Keurig pods is accentuated by this machine, making for a chemically infused flavored cup of coffee. even when using higher quality grounds through a reusable cup, the taste left a sting that none of our testers would recommend to friends of his.
why you should trust us
buck yedor started sneaking his mom’s coffee when he was just a kid. From there, his love for coffee became a daily and lifelong ritual. By living and training with some of the top specialty coffee trainers in the country, Buck has honed his skills in making and tasting coffee. while he prefers a nice pour over anything else, he recognizes and appreciates the convenience of single-serve coffee makers, especially on busy work mornings or for a quick pick-me-up at the office.
- comfort
- versatility
- ease of use
- easy to clean
- flavor
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To recommend the best possible single-serve coffee maker for your needs, we shopped all of these machines for a comprehensive side-by-side comparison. we spend over 40 hours preparing coffee of various varieties in each coffee maker. we look through manuals, clean and disassemble machines, and measure coffee temperatures and brew times. we use coffee pods in the pod machines and reusable pods in the machines that would accept them. we only used filtered water and freshly ground coffee and maintained a constant internal temperature to ensure our data was as consistent as possible.
analysis and test results
We developed test metrics relevant to home users and devised a rating system to rate machines based on convenience, versatility, ease of use, ease of cleaning, and of course, coffee taste.
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comfort
convenience is the most heavily weighted metric in our test. to assess the convenience of the machines, we lined up countertops and brewed cup after cup with all the machines side by side. we took notes on heating times, how often they needed to be refilled, the messes created, and how much effort went into each cup. Leading the way in comfort was the nespresso pixie followed by the nespresso vertuo. The Nespresso Pixie holds enough water for multiple coffees, stores its own spent pods, and goes from flipping the switch to espresso in hand in 37 seconds. While the Nespresso Vertuo also stores several cups of water and stores its own used capsules, the amount of time required to dispense a coffee was nearly three times as long. The least convenient device we tested was the aeropress because you had to heat water in an alternate container, grind and measure the coffee, and then wash three separate pieces after each use.
versatility
When considering versatility, we looked at what each machine or device was capable of and how well it performed at each task. The nespresso vertuo was not only the most versatile machine in the test, it achieved that versatility without user intervention. The Vertuo line of Nespresso capsules comes in four sizes. the machine automatically detects which capsule is being used and dispenses an espresso, gran lungo, mug (coffee) or alto (high coffee).
in second place was the keurig k-elite with its ability to pour 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 ounce coffees from the same capsule; in reality, since he is using the same amount of ground coffee, he is really only getting either a small, strong coffee or a large, milder coffee. The Keurig K-Elite features a strong, icy setting, creating a slightly richer tasting coffee by slowing down the brewing process. Enhancing the versatility of Keurig machines is the ability to make tea or hot chocolate using specific pods. The least versatile machine was the nespresso pixie, since its functions are limited to making espressos and lungos.
ease of use
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Were the brewers simple and straightforward? not always. what we were looking for in this metric is the ease with which we could walk up and grab a cup of coffee. The keurig k-elite has a plethora of settings that require sitting down with the manual to understand, but it delivers an eight-ounce coffee with little fanfare. the aeropress requires the most effort, including mounting the device and heating the water in a separate container. the extra steps can be daunting before your first coffee of the day, but you’ll be rewarded in flavor.
The nespresso pixie is as simple as it sounds and can be operated while half asleep. all you have to do is select a color coded module and insert it into the machine. some of the machines needed water every time they were used and had filler doors to help prevent spills. The ease of use metric favored the Nespresso machines due to how simple the inputs were and how quickly we drank coffee.
easy to clean
We evaluate the ease of cleaning by measuring the time spent cleaning after each use and the long-term cleaning needs of the machines. Keurig and Nespresso machines required minimal daily cleaning but needed to be descaled every three to six months. The Keurig descaling sequence took about an hour for the large machines, while the Nespresso machines required less than 15 minutes. In contrast, the aeropress, without a water heating element, required three parts to be cleaned with each brew, but had no long-term service needs. Manufacturers like the Hamilton beach spoon required some cleaning with each use, as well as periodic descaling.
flavor
taste was a critical metric for us; It doesn’t matter how convenient, versatile, or easy to clean your coffee maker is if it doesn’t make great tasting coffee. we were looking for an efficient and flavorful extraction without the sourness that occurs when the grounds are not extracted well. When evaluating taste, we control for as many variables as possible by regulating room temperature, using filtered water, and using the same cup style.
We carefully measure the amount and grind of the coffees used and evaluate the flavor of its strength, body and acidity. we brew the same coffee on six of seven machines simultaneously for a side-by-side comparison; the other two machines used exclusively nespresso capsules and could not be compared equivalently. We brew light roasts and dark roasts, fill pods with gourmet grounds, and open Keurig pods to weigh and test the coffee through all the filters that will accept it. We prepare nespresso capsules from the same coffee in the capsule machines and evaluate them against each other and against the other machines. we encountered various brew temperatures and durations and noted how they affected the flavor.
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