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Fill ‘er up.
Keurig
There was a time, a moment, in your adult life that found you standing in the small appliance aisle. Your attention was focused on the two boxes that appeared to contain the same product but had a gap in price that would imply that one is different than the other. The point is that sometimes the differences are minute, and it comes down to price and how that affects options.
Such is the case with the Keurig K-Mini and the Keurig K-Mini Plus. As the Plus would indicate, the latter has a few more features that set it apart from its predecessor, but are those features something you need? For the quick convenience of a Keurig machine, especially a single-serve coffee maker, sometimes less is actually more.
Regardless of the differences, both these machines are great Keurig options for those with not much counter space or who want a device at work. I’m buying one for my college-bound child (the cheapest one, because he also wants a mini-fridge and books), because the dorm room is another great scenario. If you’ve chosen to live that pod life, a Keurig K-Mini is a small step toward full caffeine intake.
Here’s how the Keurig K-Mini and the K-Mini Plus compare:
Keurig K-Mini
Keurig
Keurig K-Mini
The Keurig K-Mini is less than 5 inches wide, which is perfect for a small coffee machine in small spaces. It brews either 6- or 12-cup sizes and has a one-cup reservoir that needs to be refilled each time you brew. You can remove the drip tray to fit a travel mug, and it has cord storage. You can also use refillable K-Cups with this machine.
The Keurig K-Mini retails for $59.99 in matte black or my favorite, Oasis blue. It seems like a refreshing color for a coffee machine. Other than that, it’s affordable, it functions as intended and makes a basic cup of coffee for people in a hurry.
Keurig K-Mini Plus
Keurig
Keurig K-Mini Plus
Let’s get right to it—what makes the K-Mini Plus so much Plus? Why does it have a higher price point at $99.99? And does it come in red?
It does come in red—oddly a few dollars cheaper—Evening Teal and black. The differences are slight but important. The one-cup reservoir still needs to be refilled after each cup, but it’s removable. The drip dray has a chrome accent. It has a strong brew button, which is an important feature for a pod machine. It also has built-in pod storage that keeps up to nine K-Cup pods to be disposed of later. Those are the differences. Are they worth an additional $40?
The Verdict
Yes, they are worth that extra $40. If you are going to buy a single-serve Keurig machine then you may as well spend the extra money to get one with removable parts that make it easier to clean. Even a water reservoir will get dirty after a while, and being able to remove that and clean it is worth a few bucks.
Additionally, the used K-Cup storage and strong brew options in the K-Mini Plus are features you’ll probably want in a machine that is built for convenience. Those K-cups are hot, and your tender little hands don’t want to remove them one at a time. You want to dump a bucket of them. With the same footprint as the K-Mini but with those extra features, buy the K-Mini Plus.