Fill with ground coffee to the max line, replace the lid and lock it in place. The other quality that makes this machine so easy for anyone to operate is its compact design. There is no need to make space or room on the kitchen counter like you would with some other, bulkier coffee machines. You can literally squeeze this 5-inch coffee maker between the salt and the pepper. And that makes its operation much easier for everyone.
You won’t find a timer or clock, and there’s no way to program sizes or brew strengths. When we tested it, we also found it to be pretty noisy, which the sleepyheads in your family may not appreciate. You’ll find the small 12-ounce water reservoir in the back. Conveniently, it has transparent sides so that you can see how much water you’ve added. This can be a little hard to see from the front, however.
You can see my reviews of many of the low cost k-cup coffee makers here. Empty the water reservoir before storing or transporting and take care to ensure that you store your brewer in a safe and frost free environment. When you prepare to use it after storage, we recommend rinsing the water reservoir with fresh water and descaling the brewer as detailed in the Descaling your Hamilton Beach Brewer section. While only 5-inches wide, the K-Slim sits a bit deeper into your counter, but offers some advanced elements such as a multi-cup reservoir and multiple brew sizes. It’s a brilliant combination of slender size and high-powered performance. Keurig and their assortment of independent k cup makers has been the pinnacle of coffee makers for over a decade.
If you’re looking for a reliable coffee maker that makes it incredibly easy to brew a single cup at a time, this is the one for you. That is especially true if you’re short on space, as it is the most compact Keurig available. There is nothing to critique when it comes to the water reservoir on the K-Mini Plus.
Reflects the ability to produce weak to strong brews using controls and varying the amounts of water and the number of beverage packets. The K-Mini Plus has a chrome accent on the drip tray. This is primarily an aesthetic difference, but it does give the Plus a more premium feel. We would certainly recommend this product to anyone who doesn’t mind spending a couple of extra bucks. It’s reliable, produces quality coffee, and looks great on your countertop. The temperature of the brew consistently sat between 160 and 170 F degrees.
One thing that I will say is that I don’t think that it automatically makes a better cup of coffee than any other method. If you’ve been using a mass market brand of coffee — say Maxwell House or Folger’s — and switch to a premium coffee pod, you’ll notice Keurig K-Mini a big difference. But you’d also notice a difference if you used the same method of making coffee and switched to a premium coffee. And if you use the same mass market brand in a refillable pod, it’ll taste about like it did with your old coffee maker.
This is mostly a good thing, especially if you need coffee to function in the morning. There are only two buttons — a power button and a brew button — plus a curved light that blinks to tell you the machine is ready to brew. Because they are totally airtight, the coffee can’t get oxydized and rotten. If you’re thinking about getting a unit with a water reservoir, note that they are about 3″ larger in all directions, use 1500 watts and weigh 12 pounds .