The K-Mini is the classic Keurig coffee machine made small, with power cord storage, a single-cup water reservoir, and a width of just five inches. Built to be non-intrusive, the K-Mini is a decent appliance for small living rooms, saving counter space. Simply fill the water reservoir with 6, 8, 10, 12 ounces of water and brew the exact size of coffee you want.
The Keurig K-Mini has just one button and can brew a cup of coffee in less than three minutes. It’s one of the best keurig coffee makers for its compact size above all, as you will see in our review of the Keurig K-Mini.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Price and Availability
The Keurig K-Mini has a list price of $79 on Amazon, but it’s frequently on sale for less. This model is widely available at retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and of course Keurig, and like other Keurig models, prices may vary depending on color.
Similarly, the K-Mini only accepts K-Cup brand coffee pods for brewing coffee, tea and hot chocolate, although thankfully grocery stores carry a wide range. These capsules can cost between $7 and $14 per pack of 12, with the lower end being supermarket chain-branded capsules and the higher end being Starbucks-branded. That’s between 60 cents and $1.15 per K-Cup. The K-Mini is compatible with reusable K-Cup pods, which can contain pre-ground coffee.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Features
The K-Mini is pretty basic as far as Keurig machines go. It has two buttons, one to turn it on and the other to brew, and a water tank with capacity for up to 12 ounces.
It has a single light around its large brew button to show when your machine is heating up, and of course it has a latch to lift up the compartment that the pod fits into. That’s all.
However, what is unique about the K-Mini is the power cord storage located at the back of the machine. You can route the cord through the back of the appliance and store it away, making it ideal for moving around or even just hiding excess cables in your kitchen.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Design
Unlike the K-Classic, the K-Mini doesn’t look like a huge machine. It measures approximately 12 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide, which is almost half the width of the K-Classic. With the latch open, it measures approximately 13 inches tall. Its slim silhouette fits perfectly on a counter and can easily be placed among other appliances you already have in your kitchen.
The K-Mini is shaped like a dry food storage container, but with plenty of color options to make it stand out. You can grab one in black or make your K-Mini stand out on the counter in pink, green, two-tone blue, red or grey.
The only potential drawback to the K-Mini’s design is that its water tank, located at the back of the machine, is not removable. This means you may have to take out the K-Mini to reach it, depending on the counter situation.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Performance
My experience with the K-Mini’s coffee is similar to that of the K-Classic, which is to say: not good. No matter what size coffee I brewed with the K-Mini, all the K-Cups tasted identical, meaning somewhat stale and flavorless. Although, if you’re a known fan of K-Cups, your opinion may vary.
The K-Mini takes just over two minutes to heat up and brew a single cup of coffee. During the test, the shortest preparation time recorded was two minutes and the longest was two minutes and 30 seconds. This is incredibly fast, but may be to blame for why K-Cups don’t always taste as good. The K-Mini opens a coffee capsule and then sprays warm water through it without completely soaking all the grounds or letting them sit.
Temperature is another vital part of coffee preparation, and the National Coffee Association It says the optimal cup is brewed between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. The K-Mini cannot produce coffee at this temperature. Out of four cups of coffee, each cup I brewed ranged between 180 and 189 degrees Fahrenheit, despite the serving size. Although Keurig makes some machines that provide additional options such as temperature settings and brew strength, the K-Mini does not offer this. So don’t expect a piping hot cup of coffee from this machine.
It’s also the loudest Keurig machine we’ve tested, emitting 80 decibels of sound at the end of its brew cycle. Like all Keurigs, the heating cycle is low volume, but when it comes to brewing, the biggest noise is the sizzle at the end of filling a cup. Those strong splashes also manage to spray water around the machine and counter space.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Ease of Use
The K-Mini is very easy to use and eliminates some of the flashy lights of other Keurigs for two-button operation. Simply fill the water reservoir to the 6, 8, 10, or 12 ounce line, turn it on, insert a K-Cup, and press the big glowing button to start brewing. The entire process takes less than three minutes. The worst part about this is having to take the K-Mini out a bit to fill its reservoir, but with such a small container, it’s as easy as filling the cup with water and just throwing it away.
Maintaining the K-Mini relies on Keurig’s descaling solution, which you should use every three to six months to clean your machine. The K-Mini’s drip tray is removable so you can wash it by hand, but its built-in water tank means you’ll have to rely on Keurig’s descaling solution, or a little vinegar, to thoroughly clean the inside of the tank.
Keurig K-Mini Review: Verdict
The K-Mini is perhaps the easiest starter Keurig machine you can buy. Its compact size puts it a step above the larger K-Classic, and its one-button brew cycle makes it the easiest machine in the Keurig line. While the K-Classic may have a larger water tank, the K-Mini basically does the same job at a lower cost and with less counter space. Additionally, you can brew K-Cups up to 12 ounces; the K-Classic has a capacity of 10. Its foldable power cord makes it easy to hide unwanted visual clutter, and it’s easier to carry the K-Mini for a weekend. journey.
Still, Keurig machines can suffer from impractical brewing methods that result in a stale-tasting cup of coffee. The K-Mini can’t brew coffee at consistent or appropriate temperatures, and even at its best, its coffee tastes similar to what you’d find at a cheap restaurant.
That being said, the K-Mini might be better for those who already know they enjoy K-Cup coffee pods and want to enjoy the coffee pod experience at home. The ability to brew a cup of coffee in under three minutes is definitely appealing, and having that convenience with the push of a button can’t be beat, especially for its price. However, if you want an overall Keurig experience, we would go with K-Cafe and K-Elite.