Best Keurig For College Dorm Rooms

Ah, college. When you finally get your independence and experience the real world by yourself. But there’s going to be lots of studying and lots of all-nighters, and you’ll need some energy to keep going during those cram sessions.

So in this post, we’ll look at the best Keurig for college dorm rooms.

Armed with a Keurig, you’ll have enough fuel to keep your brain going even into the late hours of the night.

Note: There’s a threshold for how much caffeine you can have in a day – make sure you know what it is and that you don’t overdose on caffeine! (Yes, that’s a thing).

5 Best Keurig for college dorm rooms, reviewed

1. Keurig K-15

The Keurig K-15 is a tiny countertop coffee maker that is perfect for small spaces. Measuring just 11 inches high, 10.5 inches deep, and 7.5 inches wide, it’s one of the smallest Keurigs currently available.

There are not many fancy bells and whistles but for a simple coffee maker, it does its job very well: it brews a killer cup of coffee. You can brew 6, 8, or 10 ounces of coffee in one go.

Since this is a budget coffee maker, don’t expect any extra features like strength control or temperature control. If you just want to brew coffee for yourself most of the time, this is the perfect coffee maker.

Even if you have company over, brewing 2 cups won’t be too much of an issue.

The only time the K-15 will feel limiting is if you’re having a party in your room and everyone suddenly wants a sip of coffee! There is no water reservoir so you’ll have to refill every single time you want to brew, but that’s the price of portability and budget-consciousness.

2. Keurig K-Select

The Keurig K-Select is another relatively small machine, measuring in at 12.5″ high, 9.2″ wide, and 11.6″ deep. It works with K-Cups and reusable K-Cups, and can brew 4 sizes:

• 6 ounces
• 8 ounces
• 10 ounces
• 12 ounces

What’s more this Keurig has a 52 ounce water reservoir so you can brew up to 8 6-ounce cups without having to refill the machine.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the K-Select compared to the K-15 we looked at above is that the K-Select has adjustable strength control.

So when you need a really bold coffee to study for that final exam, the K-select can brew some really intense coffee.

Note: Intense does not necessarily mean more caffeine, just a deeper, bolder flavor. Caffeine content will depend on the kind of beans used.

3. Keurig K-250

The Keurig K-250 is unique because it can brew both K-cups and K-carafe pods. K-carafe pods are bigger pods that can brew into large carafes for multiple servings of coffee in one go.

Interestingly enough, this machine is slimmer than the K-Select, but taller and deeper. It measures in at 13.6″ high, 8.9″ wide, and 15″ deep, so it’s definitely not for really tight counter or desk spaces. You’ll need a desk that sticks out at least 16 inches to be able to fit this Keurig on it.

Of course, there is a built in reservoir that can hold up to 40 ounces of water, and you can brew cups of 4, 6, 8, or 10 ounces.

The touch screen lets you control the strength of the brew from mild to intense.

While I don’t really recommend this machine for a single person(both because of the size and the relative cost), it’s actually ideal to use in a shared dorm or college apartment where multiple people will be using the machine day in and day out.

Here’s the carafe in case you wish to pick it up:

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4. Keurig K-Cafe

Now that we’ve moved from purely single-person coffee makers to coffee makers for multiple people, I thought I would recommend the Keurig K-Cafe.

If you and your roommates are into cappuccinos and lattes, the Keurig K-Cafe is an excellent coffee maker to consider. It’s quite bigger than the other Keurigs we’ve reviewed so far: 12.5″ high, 15.3″ wide, and 11.7″ deep.

You can brew 6, 8, 10, or 12 ounce servings and a 60 ounce reservoir should be enough for an apartment or dorm with 4-5 people living in it.

The temperature can’t be controlled but you can adjust the strength of the brew.

The defining feature of the K-Cafe is the milk frothing system where you can make some delicious foamy milk, almond milk, or soy milk – all three should work fine.

What I like about the K-Cafe is that it still brews your single cup in 60 seconds, and if you have some extra time, you can froth some milk for enjoying a cappuccino or latte, too. The K-Cafe gives you the best of both worlds, so to speak.

5. Keurig K-Mini

One could say we saved the best for last! The Keurig K-Mini is the tiniest coffee machine of the lot. At just about 5 inches wide, this little guy can fit nearly anywhere, even between your monitor and desktop computer!

Of course, it has all the features you’ve come to know and expect from Keurigs. It can still brew a K-Cup in 60 seconds, and it produces a great tasting cup of coffee. You can still use your own coffee grounds with reusable K-cups, too.

Brew sizes are 6, 8, 10, and 12 ounces, and the reservoir must be refilled for every brew. It’s a small added step but considering how small this machine is I don’t think anyone would complain.

Keurig: Best single serve coffee maker for dorm room?

You may be wondering why I chose Keurig as the best single serve coffee maker for dorm rooms. There are a few reasons. So before we get to which Keurigs you actually want to buy, allow me to explain why Keurigs are ideal for college.

Keurigs are quick

If you’re busy studying for a test and you need a quick jolt of caffeine, you’ll want it as soon as possible. Keurigs brew really, really fast. Just pop in a pod and 60 seconds later you have a piping hot cup of coffee ready to go.

When I make my cappuccino in the morning, it takes me about 10 minutes from grinding fresh beans all the way to getting a final product from the espresso machine.

Even if I used a drip machine, it would still take 5-8 minutes for brewing a single cup.

In college, I don’t want to waste several precious minutes every time I want some coffee, and I want the coffee to be as hands-off as possible.

That’s why Keurigs are my favorite for college. Time is of the essence, and while some may argue that Keurigs are hardly authentic coffee makers, they are indeed fast and efficient coffee makers.

Keurigs are cheaper than other specialty machines

We’re not talking about simple drip coffee makers, but specifically single serve machines. As far as single serve coffee makers are concerned there are definitely a lot of choices from Nespresso to Keurig and others, but Keurig makes machines that are very budget friendly all the way to larger more expensive machines.

In a dorm room, you’ll have limited space and a limited budget for setting up the room, so you want to get a small but efficient machine. Keurig ticks off all the boxes here.

One may argue that Keurigs are more expensive in the long run because of their coffee pods, and I’m inclined to agree to a certain extent.

The environmental and financial cost of Keurig pods does add up over time, but compared to other single serve machines, Keurigs are actually one of the most cost effective machines available.

Consider Nespresso, another big name in single serve coffee. Their pods are very costly, bordering on prohibitively expensive, so I would definitely not recommend them for a college student on a budget.

To save even more money, you can opt for Keurig’s reusable pods and fill in your own coffee grounds. It will work out to be a lot cheaper in the long run and you still have the convenience of Keurig’s lightning fast brew time.

Finally, brewing with a Keurig – reusable pod or otherwise – will definitely be a lot cheaper than buying coffee from a cafe every single day.

Keurigs are easy to maintain

Dorm rooms were never known to be spic and span, so you want to get a machine that is as easy to maintain as possible, right? Keurigs are easy to clean, maintain, and will run efficiently without much effort at all.

Conclusion

If you’re really tight on space, the K-Mini and K-15 are great options as they’re ideal for people living alone, or people who are the only coffee drinkers in a household!

To get a coffee maker for your college apartment or dorm where everyone will drink coffee, consider the larger coffee machines.

While you could definitely opt for the office culture coffee maker and get a large drip machine, there’s no arguing that Keurigs are definitely more convenient and quicker, 2 factors which are huge for students.

Last update on 2024-04-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API