I've tested over 50 coffee makers — and the Keurig K-Mini Mate is by far the smallest, perfect for college or studio apartments

I’ve tested well over 50 coffee makers now, and I’m 99.9% sure the Keurig K-Mini Mate is the smallest of the (electrical) lot. It’s just 3.9 inches wide — I really don’t think you can get much smaller than that. For cozy kitchens, this is one of the best coffee makers, hands-down.

So while I wouldn’t recommend it for espresso fanatics or coffee nerds, there’s definitely an audience here. If you’re the kind of coffee drinker who’d rather press a button for hot bean juice in seconds, you might just be that audience. No, it’s not going to win any taste or design awards — but have you seen that price? Yes, $59. No, that’s not a typo. $59!

Might the Keurig K-Mini Mate be the perfect small coffee maker for you? I’ll go through everything in this Keurig K-Mini Mate review.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Specs

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Price & availability

The Keurig K-Mini Mate is extremely affordable — just $59 from Amazon. Keurig also makes the K-Mini Mate in three trendy colors, pastel pink, terracotta, and sage green, but this’ll cost $89.

The black model is the cheapest coffee maker Keurig sells. There’s the $88 Keurig K-Express, $99 Keurig K-Compact, $119 Keurig K-Mini Plus, and $149 Keurig K-Slim. Obviously, none are quite so affordable as the K-Mini Mate.

Other pod machines are also much pricier. Nespresso’s cheapest machine is the Nespresso Vertuo Pop+, $129. However, as someone who’s used both Nespresso and Keurig machines, Nespresso tends to taste better due to the espresso-like pressure extraction.

With the Keurig K-Mini Mate, you get what you pay for. Don’t expect anything other than “fine” — because “fine” is precisely how I’d describe this machine.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Design

The Keurig K-Mini Mate is the perfect single-serve coffee maker for small spaces. I’m thinking studio apartments, college dorms, even on your office desk. It’s just 4 inches wide, 9 inches tall, and 9 inches deep. I’ve seriously never even seen a coffee maker smaller than this (other than a manual one, like the AeroPress Clear Color).

Even the Keurig K-Slim is 0.7 inches wider than the K-Mini Mate. (Not so slim, now, eh?) Again, if you need the smallest coffee maker on the market, I completely recommend the K-Mini Mate.

As you might expect from a 4-inch-wide coffee maker, the water reservoir is a pretty small 12 ounces. This is enough for one cup at a time, or two small 6-ounce cups. I actually preferred the flavor of 6-ounce brews over 12-ounce brews, so take from that what you will.

Looks-wise, I mean, it’s $59. It’s a plasticky-yet-somehow-still-sleek machine. It does the job it says on the tin: brews coffee quickly with zero headache. Of course, you could opt for the prettier color versions, but this will cost you an extra $30. I am kind of frothing at the mouth looking at the terracotta one, though. I would probably go for that model if I were buying this for myself (or for my child at college).

While the Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ looks better, it’s also double the price. Obviously, I can’t tell you which machine will suit your needs, but if you have a little more money to spend and value aesthetics, I’d recommend looking into the Nespresso.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Performance

The K-Mini Mate is almost impossible to mess up. There’s one button. That’s it. All you need to do is put the K-Pod in the pod hole, press the single button, and put a cup under the spout. There’s no room for error here.

Here’s a photo of the K-Mini Mate during use. It takes two minutes to brew one cup, which is ready at drinking temperature. You don’t have to wait for it to cool. Also, you fill the water reservoir with however much you need. If you want a 12-ounce cup, you fill 12 ounces. Want a small or stronger cup? Just use less water.

As you can see, there’s really not much to it. One button, one spout, one mug for coffee in seconds. This is just as easy to use as any other Keurig and any Nespresso machine.

But how does it taste? Well, it’s $59. I wouldn’t recommend this for coffee snobs, but you get what you pay for here. I tested using Colombian and Italian roast pods. The Italian pods were richer and stronger, whereas the Colombian pods tasted a little more tea-like. In the office, three out of four people preferred the Italian pods.

Of course, not all pods taste the same. The beauty of Keurig machines is that you can get tons of different pods. You can get ten Starbucks pods for $9.99, which works out at $.99 per pod. You can also get 48 Keurig-branded donut shop pods for $25, $.53 per pod. Not to mention 96 McDonald’s-branded coffee pods for $45, $.47 per pod. So on and so forth — you get the picture. Keurig machines are versatile: you can adjust the flavor profile easily by buying different pods.

While both the pods I tried carried a vague plasticky taste, again, you get what you pay for here. You’re not going to find a pod machine this easy and this small for cheaper. The cheapest Nespresso is $129, and the next-cheapest Keurig is $88.

If you value ease of use over nuanced coffee flavors, the K-Mini Mate is for you. If not, I’d recommend getting something pricier like the Moccamaster Cup-One ($259), which makes single-serve drip coffee — and is accredited by the Specialty Coffee Association, meaning it brews to strict standards.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Storage & maintenance

As it’s less than four inches wide, storing the K-Mini Mate is as easy as making coffee on it. If you’ve got a palm-width of space in your kitchen, you’re good to go.

In terms of maintenance, the machine has a little “descale” light on the top. This will flash when the machine considers itself requiring a descale — between 3 and 6 months — but you’ll need to descale more often if you live in a hard water area. For context, I live in one of the hardest-water areas in the U.K., and I descale my Breville Bambino Plus once a month.

Keurig sells a 14-ounce bottle of descaling solution for $13.99. Durgol descaler, which Moccamaster recommends for its machines, is $13.95 for 8.2 ounces on Amazon, so the branded one is actually cheaper here.

Alright, now let’s address the elephant in the room: sustainability. How does one dispose of K-Pods without upsetting Mother Earth?

Keurig actually runs a pod recycling scheme. Obviously, you need to empty out the ground coffee and clean the pods first, but you can send the pods back to Keurig for recycling. This is great! Until you realize it’s $9.99 for a 96-pod bag. Yes, you need to pay for the privilege of recycling your pods.

This is outrageous. Keurig should not force recycling costs onto consumers — it should be absorbing these costs itself. People buy Keurig machines because they’re cheap, so why should these people also pay $10 to recycle their pods? This encourages plastic waste.

Nespresso’s pod recycling is completely free. You fill a prepaid bag with pods and send it back. That’s it. If you live in New York, you can even recycle the pods directly in your normal bin.

I was shocked when I saw that Keurig not only charges for recycling, but charges $10 per bag. Honestly? Because of this, I’d recommend Nespresso all the way. Within seven recycling bags, you’ve made your money back on the $129 Vertuo Up+.

However, Keurig also makes a reusable coffee filter ($14 at Amazon) you can refill with your preferred coffee, which is a much more environmentally friendly option.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: How does it compare?

As the K-Mini Mate’s main competitors are other Keurig machines, let’s chat Keurigs. Which Keurig model is best for you?

The K-Mini Mate is the narrowest — it’s under 4 inches. The old K-Mini is just under 5 inches, so the Mate is considerably smaller. Every little helps! Next up is the K-Slim, which is 4.7 inches wide.

However, the K-Mini Mate is single-serve in every sense of the word. You’ll need to refill the water reservoir after every use, and it can only store one pod at once (the one you’re using). Unlike the Keurig K-Mini Plus, which has 9-pod storage in the machine itself, you’ll need to install and remove each pod.

If you’re looking for a Keurig with a bigger water tank (so you can make multiple drinks without needing to refill), you’d need to spend a little more on the bigger, pricier Keurig K-Supreme ($189).

Other Keurigs can make iced drinks (K-Brew+Chill, $199); some you can control the brewing temperature (K-Supreme Gen 2, $169); some dispense hot water for things like tea (Keurig K-Elite, $209). However, these are naturally much bigger (the Keurig K-Elite is 10 inches wide) and pricier.

Keurig K-Mini Mate review: Verdict

The Keurig K-Mini Mate is exactly what you’d expect from a $59 Keurig machine. It’s fine. No, it won’t impress serious coffee nerds, but that’s literally not the point. This is a machine for small apartments, college dorms, or offices.

If you’re low on space but want to make hot coffee easily every morning, I’d recommend the K-Mini Mate. For best-tasting brews, I’d also recommend grabbing the reusable K-Cup and filling it with your own coffee. This also means you don’t have to pay Keurig’s outrageous $10 pod recycling fee.

Small space, small budget? K-Mini Mate won’t let you down.