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BLACK and DECKER 12-Cup Digital Coffee Maker vs Keurig K-Mini Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker
Both are in our coffee & tea picks, which means neither is a bad choice. What follows is what actually separates them, and who each one suits.
Choosing between them
You are the only coffee drinker and want it fast
The Keurig K-Mini. Narrow enough to fit where a full machine will not, which is its real advantage in a small kitchen. It has no reservoir, so you fill it every cup — fine for one drinker, tedious for a household.
More than one person drinks coffee
The BLACK and DECKER 12-cup carafe machine. Dramatically cheaper per cup, programmable so it is ready when you get up, and it makes enough that nobody is queueing. The trade is that coffee left on a hotplate goes bitter, so make what you will drink.
You are new to pods and do not know what you like
The Nespresso Vertuo variety pack. Thirty capsules across medium and dark roast, which tells you what you actually drink before you commit to a box of one thing. Roast preference is more personal than people expect and buying a single type first is how you end up with twenty capsules you do not enjoy.
You want your coffee to taste like a coffee shop
The CIRCLE JOY frother, and this is the highest return for the money on this page. Handheld rather than a steam wand, works on cold and hot milk, and it is the difference between coffee and a latte. Most people wanting a better cup are actually wanting milk done properly.
What people get wrong
- Comparing pods and ground coffee on machine price. The machine is the small number; the cost per cup over a few years is the large one.
- Buying a pod machine for a household of coffee drinkers. The convenience advantage shrinks when someone is making a pot regardless, and the running cost does not.
- Leaving coffee on a hotplate. It goes bitter within half an hour, which is where most of the reputation of filter coffee comes from.
- Buying a full box of one pod variety before knowing your roast preference.
- Spending on a better machine before trying better milk. Frothing is cheaper and more noticeable.