Calling Coffee Gear Afficiandos

[Doc Shapiro]

I'm wanting to get off the Keurig, though if you pick the right thing, it makes a really good cup.  But I'm on a serious quest to get healthier and doc says to stop using plastic things.  So I'm looking for a new single cup coffee maker.  And since I'm lazy, I'd love if it had a built in grinder.  The Jura machines are so far out of budget.  Which brings me to the question.

 

What coffee maker do you have experience with that makes a great single cup?  Reason for a single cup is that I typically will only drink 1 or 2 cups most mornings.  Occasionally, I'll have 3, but it's rare.

 

What ya got?

[Boggus Deal #64218]

Doc, I have a Mr. Coffee with a stainless insulated carafe. I can make 1 or 12 cups. All depends on what pour in. I like the fact that I can make it tonight, hit the button and it will brew at 4:30 in the morning. Meaning it’s ready for me when my feet hit the floor. 
There seems to be very little plastic that the water touches and even less that the coffee touches. 
Not sure if this helps but I hope so.

[Rip Snorter]

A pair of ancient percolators alternating or together on a gas stove top - works just fine.  Have an electronic one so far back in the cabinets it would take a ladder for me to haul it out. Can't even recall the brand! I only fire that up when I have contractors.

[Still hand Bill]

Went to pour over (chemex) as that’s what my brother the coffee snob uses.  He roasts his own beans and has a 2 lb roaster.  
 

I have a small chemex style carafe from eBay/ amazon, added a burr grinder, scale, and kettle.  If doing a single cup, 20-22g of beans to 300g of water.  For two cups, 30/500.  Have a bigger carafe for company and more than 2 cups.  

[Sedalia Dave]

 

Have you thought about...

 

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

French press.

[Doc Shapiro]

2 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Have you thought about...

 

 

 

I have, but the blasted machines are disposable.  Every few years I need to replace it.  

[Doc Shapiro]

2 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

French press.

Have one, never can get it right.  It's just not repeatable for me, which may have something to do with the tremors in my hands.  I'd like something more automated.

[Rip Snorter]

3 minutes ago, Still hand Bill said:

Went to pour over (chemex) as that’s what my brother the coffee snob uses.  He roasts his own beans and has a 2 lb roaster.  
 

I have a small chemex style carafe from eBay/ amazon, added a burr grinder, scale, and kettle.  If doing a single cup, 20-22g of beans to 300g of water.  For two cups, 30/500.  Have a bigger carafe for company and more than 2 cups.  

The Chemex Inventor was one of Dad's patients.  We had a couple, gifted.  Haven't thought about that in years.  I can only recall percolator in use growing up, wonder what happened to them.  I should get hold of a Chemex to try for old times sake.  

[Sedalia Dave]

3 minutes ago, Doc Shapiro said:

I have, but the blasted machines are disposable.  Every few years I need to replace it.  

 

Sadly, that's true of all automatic machines these days.

[Muggins]

Breville 840XL.  Coffee in two to three minutes.

 

The wife and I have different coffee preferences, so being able to make a single cup with different beans is nice.  Buy the beans in bulk, grind to your preference and store in a container.  She wants a few lattes every day, I get Americanos (espresso shot or two plus a little water).  We have a Breville 840XL that was on sale once for $350 on amazon.  It replaced our original 840XL after it kept shorting out after a failed replacement part and seven years.  Not sure what your price preference is, but it makes good coffee.

 

You can go to www.camelcamelcamel.com and add any product from amazon and it will show you the price history.  You can even set price alerts and you'll get an email when/if the price drops below your set point.

[Doc Shapiro]

23 minutes ago, Muggins said:

Breville 840XL.  Coffee in two to three minutes.

 

The wife and I have different coffee preferences, so being able to make a single cup with different beans is nice.  Buy the beans in bulk, grind to your preference and store in a container.  She wants a few lattes every day, I get Americanos (espresso shot or two plus a little water).  We have a Breville 840XL that was on sale once for $350 on amazon.  It replaced our original 840XL after it kept shorting out after a failed replacement part and seven years.  Not sure what your price preference is, but it makes good coffee.

 

You can go to www.camelcamelcamel.com and add any product from amazon and it will show you the price history.  You can even set price alerts and you'll get an email when/if the price drops below your set point.

I'll check that out, thanks

 

[Alpo]

Taster's Choice.

 

Make one cup or make two cups or make three cups - however much you want.

[Doc Shapiro]

38 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Taster's Choice.

 

Make one cup or make two cups or make three cups - however much you want.

Where's the vomit emoji?  That coffee is absolutely horrible.

[Sheriff Dill]

I use a French press for 1-3 cups of coffee. But I also have a Nespresso. They are definitely little more expensive than a Keurig but use metal pods instead of plastic. The coffee is more of a barista coffee than gas station coffee. You can get many different flavors of coffee pods and the machines come in different models depending on what you want out of the machine. Here’s mine. The tray under it has a pull out drawer and holds the pods. 
 

 

[Calamity Kris]

6 hours ago, Doc Shapiro said:

I have, but the blasted machines are disposable.  Every few years I need to replace it.  

 

I have a Cuisinart that's going on 6 years old.  It comes with it's own reusable cup that stores with the maker when not in use.  Here is the newer version of the one I own.

 

Amazon.com: Cuisinart Coffee Maker, Single Serve 72-Ounce Reservoir Coffee Machine, Programmable Brewing & Hot Water Dispenser, Stainless Steel, SS-10P1,Silver: Home & Kitchen

 

If you want to grind and brew, they also have this.

 

Amazon.com: Cuisinart DGB-2 Grind and Brew Single-Serve Coffeemaker Bundle with 1 YR CPS Enhanced Protection Pack: Home & Kitchen

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

7 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

French press.

This ^^^^^^^^^

[Texas Joker]

I use a $12 wally world drip machine.

Camper has a French press

Wife has used a Ninja brand system that could do anything from a thimble to a pot full.

Now she uses a cuisinart drip machine that also has a hot water spigot and a casabrews espresso maker with frother.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

“Coffee aficionado” and “keurig” don’t exist in the same universe.

[Doc Shapiro]

2 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

“Coffee aficionado” and “keurig” don’t exist in the same universe.

Hence my desire to get away from the keurig and find something else.

[El Chapo]

11 hours ago, Doc Shapiro said:

Have one, never can get it right.  It's just not repeatable for me, which may have something to do with the tremors in my hands.  I'd like something more automated.

 

Use a burr grinder and it'll be the best coffee you've ever had.  It's a pain to clean on the road but it makes great coffee.

[WD Farren]

Pour over with Melitta #2 or #4 

[Doc Shapiro]

3 hours ago, El Chapo said:

 

Use a burr grinder and it'll be the best coffee you've ever had.  It's a pain to clean on the road but it makes great coffee.

If you saw how bad my hands shake, you'll understand.  I can't work measuring spoons without much spillage.

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

18 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Have you thought about...

 

 

 

We use the black/purple style , with a paper filter in a Keurig. Works great

 

[Jiminy Cricket]

I don't know your budget, but I can vouch for Breville BDC650BSS Grind Control – Whole Latte Love.  It's all inclusive and for smaller portions it steeps the coffee in the filter before dispensing it into the insulated carafe.  This sits on my counter at home.

 

A less, but still expensive option, is Capresso CoffeeTeam GS 10-Cup Digital Coffee Maker – Whole Latte Love.  I have this one at work, I've always use it for full pots and haven't tried to program it for autobrewing but it's a similar set up, except for the steeping.

 

Regards,

Cricket

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

I got a pair of stainless steel, reusable Keurig cups for my machine.

The machine was a Christmas gift and as my Mr. Coffee went belly up (heater element died, still have the unbroken glass coffee pot ... somewhere ...) -- anyway, I'm too cheap to buy the factory made K-cups, not when I still have a can of Folger's Black Silk sitting on the counter.

I cannot offer intellectual comment on Coffee Snob level brewing.

I put thirty years of my life under the lights-and-siren.

Whether coffee is at the police station, the medic's station or the ER, it's all equally bad, and I can drink a big mug of the stuff and sleep like a rock.

[El Chapo]

4 hours ago, Doc Shapiro said:

If you saw how bad my hands shake, you'll understand.  I can't work measuring spoons without much spillage.

 

Burr grinder eliminates that.  I tell it how many "cups" I want and get the same amount of coffee in the bin every day.  It greatly increased the consistency of my coffee.

 

When I first got the burr grinder, I set it to say 6 cups and weighed the coffee it ground.  That was how I "calibrated" what setting I put it on for my daily pot. 

 

So if you get a burr grinder, no more teaspoons.  You just set the slider/dial to the number you want and you get the same amount every time, or close enough that you won't notice any difference.  You just pour whatever it grinds from the bin into your coffee maker and you're done.

[Doc Shapiro]

1 hour ago, El Chapo said:

 

Burr grinder eliminates that.  I tell it how many "cups" I want and get the same amount of coffee in the bin every day.  It greatly increased the consistency of my coffee.

 

When I first got the burr grinder, I set it to say 6 cups and weighed the coffee it ground.  That was how I "calibrated" what setting I put it on for my daily pot. 

 

So if you get a burr grinder, no more teaspoons.  You just set the slider/dial to the number you want and you get the same amount every time, or close enough that you won't notice any difference.  You just pour whatever it grinds from the bin into your coffee maker and you're done.

Will check.  Measuring spoons and I don't get along.  Thankfully I don't need them when cooking.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I have a nearly 20 year old Hamilton Beech electric percolator.  All stainless steel except the glass bulb in the lid and the base which never touches the coffee.

 

That and Farmer Brothers medium blend 100% Arabica coffee is the perfect match for me.

 

I also have a Mr, .Coffee for folk who visit and want something like decaf. 

 

And I have a French press that has never been used except by my daughter who knows how make unbelievably good coffee with it. two cups at a time.  I can't.

[Doc Shapiro]

For the record, I need both hands even to pour, and to hold a cup when drinking.  

[Doc Shapiro]

3 hours ago, Jiminy Cricket said:

I don't know your budget, but I can vouch for Breville BDC650BSS Grind Control – Whole Latte Love.  It's all inclusive and for smaller portions it steeps the coffee in the filter before dispensing it into the insulated carafe.  This sits on my counter at home.

 

A less, but still expensive option, is Capresso CoffeeTeam GS 10-Cup Digital Coffee Maker – Whole Latte Love.  I have this one at work, I've always use it for full pots and haven't tried to program it for autobrewing but it's a similar set up, except for the steeping.

 

Regards,

Cricket

That Breville looks absolutely perfect!  Thank you. 

[El Chapo]

4 hours ago, Doc Shapiro said:

For the record, I need both hands even to pour, and to hold a cup when drinking.  

 

I had hand surgery last month and it still didn't stop me from making my coffee!

[watab kid]

i still use a grinder for my beans and a simple my coffee for my brew , its consistent and good , im about to order new beans ....that should be fun as nothing is cheap these days , 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

On 9/2/2025 at 9:13 PM, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Have you thought about...

 

 

 

That’s what we use