If you work in an office or live in a household where several people drink coffee, you understand the convenience that comes with having a Keurig with a carafe. Even a lone user might appreciate the ability to brew coffee once and drink it cup after cup for hours.
A Keurig coffee maker with a carafe saves energy and time and reduces overuse which can improve its lifespan.
Imagine an office that has a single-serve coffee maker and five people who drink three cups of coffee each. The coffee maker would have to run at least 15 brew cycles daily to make the individual cups of coffee. In the long run, this can shorten its lifespan.
Compare that to the same office using a Keurig carafe coffee maker that brews five or more cups of coffee at a go. Fewer brew cycles mean that the rate of wear and tear is reduced.
The are several Keurigs with coffee pots but let’s look at the three best Keurig carafe coffee makers.
Our 3 Favorite Keurig Carafe Makers at a Glance
After testing a few Keurig coffee makers with carafes, our top picks are
- The K-Duo Plus
- Keurig K-Duo Special Edition
- Keurig K250
K-Duo Plus vs K-Duo Special Edition vs K250
Coffee Quality – Draw
The three coffee makers make good coffee and it’s hard to choose from the other two. However, if you prefer to brew strong with the carafe side, the K-Duo has an edge as it’s the only brewer among the three that can make strong carafe coffee.
Style and Appearance – Slight Edge: K250
Keurig K250 edges the K-Duo Plus by a small margin owing to its vintage style and the fact that it’s available in seven retro colors. It’s easy to find a K250 in a color that fits in with your office or kitchen decor.
Technology – Winner: K-Duo Plus
When it comes to technology, the K-Duo Plus blows the K-Duo special edition and the K250 out of the water. It is the most advanced among the three coffee makers.
Whether it’s the multipositional water tank, smart start capability, or the strong brew feature for both the carafe and single-serve sides, the K250 is technologically ahead of the two competitors.
Energy Saving – Winner: K-Duo Plus
Imagine having a coffee maker that does not heavily impact your utility bill. The K-Duo Plus has two features that save your energy:
- a thermal carafe that keeps your coffee hot longer
- an auto-off feature that turns the machine off within a few minutes of brewing. The feature is programmable
The K250 has no auto-off capability so you have to manually turn it off to save energy. The K-Duo special edition uses a heating plate which increases its energy consumption.
Water Tank Capacity – Tie: K-Duo Plus and K-Duo Special Edition
A small water tank can be a nuisance, especially, when the coffee maker is positioned far from the sink. The K-Duo Plus and special edition have 60 ounces water tanks so you can brew a few more cups before refilling as compared to the 40 ounces tank in the K250.
Accessories – Winner: K-Duo Plus
The K-Duo Plus comes with all the accessories that you need so you do not have to pay extra for them. It comes with a thermal carafe, free carafe mesh filter, and a water filter starter kit that lasts up to two months.
For the K-Duo special edition, you have to buy a compatible short-handle water filter starter kit separately and for the K250, you have to pay extra for a compatible thermal carafe.
Verdict
The Keurig K-Duo Plus is the best Keurig with a carafe by a mile. It combines superior technology and a sleek design to deliver all the things that you look for when buying a carafe brewer such as high-quality coffee, space-saving, energy consumption, and appearance.
If you simply want a Keurig with a carafe that accentuates your home or office decor and makes good coffee, the Keurig K250 gives you seven colors to choose from.
Keurig K-Duo Plus (Best Keurig with Carafe)
The Keurig K-Duo Plus was first available in 2019 as an upgrade to the Keurig 2.0 series. It is the best Keurig with a coffee pot.
Pros
- The K-Duo Plus has two brewers in one unit; a single-serve brewer for single cups and a carafe brewer
- The brew strength control applies to both the carafe and single cups
- The carafe side of the brewer has an auto-start capability that you can program in advance to automatically start and make coffee up to 24 hours later
- It uses a 12-cup thermal carafe that can keep your coffee hot for up to two hours and warm for hours
- The carafe maker has an automatic pause and pour capability so you do not have to brew a full carafe to start drinking your coffee
- The K-Duo Plus has a small footprint on the counter as compared to other dual coffee makers
- It has a swivel water tank that can go to the back, left, or right of the coffee maker depending on the available space on your counter or cabinet
- The removable tank’s capacity is 60 ounces
- The single-serve brewer can make four different cup sizes: 6,8,10, and 12 ounces
- It can fit up to an 8 inches tall travel mug when the drip tray is removed and up to 7.2 inches tall mug with the tray
- The K-Duo Plus uses Keurig’s latest smart start technology so that it prewarms and brews coffee in one simple process. For older Keurig models, you had to wait for preheating before pressing the brew button
- It’s compatible with the reusable carafe filter and reusable single-serve filter for Keurig
- Works with flat-bottom paper filters
- Compatible with non-Keurig K-cups
- It automatically powers off five minutes after brewing to save energy
- It comes with a free mesh filter for making carafe coffee and a water filter starter kit with one charcoal filter in the package
Cons
- The auto-start feature is not available for single-cups. However, you may not need this feature as this brewer makes coffee fast thanks to the smart start technology
- It’s not compatible with the K-Carafe pods. But who needs carafe pods when you can use ground coffee?
- The K-Duo Plus is available in black color only
Keurig K-Duo Special Edition
The Keurig K-Duo special edition was released in 2021 as an upgrade to the K-Duo base model and the K-Duo Essentials.
Pros
- It makes both carafes and single cups of coffee
- It has a glass coffee pot and a heating plate to warm your coffee
- The glass carafe has a
- Makes 6, 8, 10, and 12 ounces cup sizes for the single-serve brewer
- The carafe brewer makes 6, 8, 10, and 12 cups of coffee per brew cycle
- You can set the carafe brewer to turn on and brew coffee up to 24 hours in advance
- It uses a 60 ounces water tank that can be removed
- It’s compatible with the reusable filters for the carafe and single cups
- It can brew with flat-bottom paper filters
- It accepts non-Keurig K-cups
- It automatically goes off after five minutes of sitting idle for the single-serve brewer and two hours after the last brew for the carafe brewer
- The pause and pour feature enables you to safely remove the carafe and fill your cup and then replace the coffee pot to continue brewing
- It has a strong brew option for the single-serve side
- Fits a 6.25 inches tall travel mug with the drip tray in place and a 7 inches tall mug without the tray
Cons
- No strong brew option for the carafe brewer
- The package does not include a water filter starter kit
- Mesh coffee filter not included
- Consumes more energy when using the heating plate than the K-Duo Plus which has a thermal carafe
- The carafe tends to dribble when you pour coffee fast. Try pouring slowly to minimize leaking
- The Keurig K-Duo Special Edition is available in silver color only so if you have a themed kitchen or office it may not fit in
- The water reservoir is not movable to different positions
Keurig K250 Single-Serve and Carafe Coffee Maker
The Keurig K250 was first available in 2016 as part of the Keurig 2.0 plus series. It combines performance with a vintage style which makes it a valuable collector’s piece.
Pros
- It’s available in seven retro colors: oasis, peacock blue, plum grey, sandy pearl, turquoise, black, and red. It’s easy to find a color that matches your decor
- The package includes a water filter holder, two charcoal filters, a Keurig descaler bottle, and 4 K-cup pods
- It uses a thermal carafe that keeps the coffee warm for hours
- Makes 4,6.8, and 10 ounces single cups
- The carafe maker brews 22, 26, and 30 ounces of coffee per cycle
- It uses a 40 ounces removable water tank
- It has a brew-strength control feature for single cups
- The Keurig K250 saves your space as it has a slim footprint. Its dimensions are 13.6” x 8.9” x 13.8” for height, width, and depth respectively
- It’s compatible with the single-serve reusable filter and the special carafe reusable filter for Keurig 2.0
- The drip tray is removable to fit up to 7.0 inches high travel mugs
Cons
- The coffee pot is bought separately. See the double-walled carafe for the Keurig K250. This carafe works perfectly with the Keurig 2.0 and K250
- No brew-strength control option when brewing a carafe
- Uses only Keurig K-cups
- Requires brewing two cups back to back with the single-serve brewer to fill a tall travel mug
- No programmable auto-off feature
- No programmable auto-on or auto-brew feature
- The water tank requires frequent refilling due to its small capacity
