Hamilton Beach 2-Way Coffee maker

4 out of 5

I bought this coffee maker to replace the Keurig machine.  At about $80 it was roughly half the price.  It is almost as quick to brew a single cup as the Kuerig but also makes a full pot if you want.

Assuming this lasts as long as a standard drip paper filter coffee machine, I'm glad I got this.

Quality is on par with every other standard counter-top coffee machine.  There are only two downsides to the Hamilton that I've found. 

First is the size  - the single brew system on the left necessitates it being larger so it takes that extra space on the kitchen counter. 

single serve filter

Second is the filter system for the single cup brew is a gold foil re-usable type.  I'm generally not a fan of these as I feel too much particulate matter gets through and its that little bit of extra work to clean.  I get around this by cutting a bunch of old filters I had for a different style coffee machine and using them inside this basket.  Easy cleanup and no particles.

Pros

• Almost as quick to brew a single cup as a Keurig system, but makes a pot too if you want that.
• On par with every other drip paper filter coffee machine for quality
• Costs 1/2 of a Kuerig platinum but you get more functionality.
• I don't feel bad about filling the trash with plastic k-cups

Cons

• more expensive than a pot-only drip machine
• Big on the counter due, taking up a lot of space.

Keurig Platinim Single Cup Brewer Review

2 out of 5

Keurig Platinum

I bought the Platinum single cup brewer to replace and older keurig single cup brewer I had.  The original lasted about 18 months before it stopped working and water would no longer get pushed through the cup.

I always like the idea of making just as much coffee as I needed and not any more.  Also, my wife and I woke up about 1.5 hrs apart so that meant her coffee would have been sitting around for almost 2 hours.

On average we probably made about 3-4 cups per day with this.  I descaled it every month or so using a descaler product (not vinegar).  After another 18 months, this machine died too.  That was the end of Keurig for me - not going to buy a replacement machine every other year.

Pros:

• Quick to brew (assuming you left it preheated which could be on a timer or just left on 24x7)
• Different flavor pods
• Was nice on the weekends where I wanted a cup of coffee several hours apart.

Cons

• Expensive machine at ~150 bucks
• Expensive pods - even when buying in bulk 80 packs at Costco
• Even though you have different flavors, none of them are even close to freshly ground coffee, and on average aren't even as good as your standard Maxwell House or 8 O'clock preground variety.
• The machine is huge taking up a lot of space on the counter