Is The Keurig Duo Any Good? An Honest Review of the Keurig Duo

If you enjoy the coffee-pod life as much as I do, then you probably understand the short-comings of any single serve unit.

The biggest CON with any single serve coffee maker, is not being able to serve a group of people efficiently.

Anytime we have a large group of people over to our home, we always have the coffee brewing, at least we use to before we purchased a single serve coffee maker. Now when we have a group of people over to our home, they end up drinking all my speciality coffee flavors – it’s expensive and annoying.

You may be asking, should I buy a carafe coffee maker or a single serve? There is a compromise.

The solution? I decided purchase the Keurig K-Duo to see if this will solve my problem.

The dual machines (coffee carafe and a single serve) are new to the Keurig line-up, but not first to market. The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew gives you the ability to create a carafe of coffee or use a k-cup to make a single serve.

You can pick up the Hamilton Beach FlexBrew on Amazon for around $100.

In this post, we’re going to see if the Keurig Dual is worth your investment. We’re going to review this unit, tell you all about it’s features and determine if it’s a good choice for you.

The Keurig Duo Review

The Keurig Duo is perfect for someone who wants to be able to grab a coffee quickly, but wants the ability to create larger quantities using a carafe.

Keurig understood the shortcomings of their single serve brewers and created the K-Duo as a way of dealing with this issue.

We know that the k-cups are arguably the most popular pods for creating single serve coffee, and the Keurig is the leader for single serve brewers. They are a trusted brand, who treats their customers right (at least every time I had to deal with Keurig it was always a pleasant experience).

I was excited to give the K-Duo a try. Here is what I can honestly report back to you.

Design

The Keurig Duo is made from black cheaper plastic, but does have a clean, elegant look to it. Although the coffee maker isn’t made with the most expensive materials it does look nice on my countertop. I have the K-Duo coffee maker and I find that it’s. a little large, though not overwhelming.

The controls on the coffee maker are found at the top – options for carafe or single serve, size of cup, and the center button for brewing. There is also a “strong” button for making your coffee more bold.

The water reservoir is at the rear of the unit which can be removed for filling.

My overall opinion on design is that it’s nothing premium. The plastic construction makes it feel cheap and flimsy, but it does the job.

Operation

After purchasing the Keurig Duo and setting it up on my countertop, it took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to operate it.

I added a K-cup (which you get some samples when you purchase the unit), hit the single serve button, choose the size of my cup, and then hit brew (which is the big circle on the front).

I was using an 8 oz cup, but I found that it splashed all over the countertop, I think it was pushing the coffee out pretty quickly. Small specks of coffee seemed to form everywhere on my countertop as the coffee started to brew, but I could be just being picky.

Using the carafe to make coffee is just as easy. You just choose choose the carafe option when you turn on the unit, select how many cups you would like to make (6, 8, 10, 12), then select brew (again, that big circle on the front). It’s that easy.

Who Should Buy The Keurig Duo?

The Keurig Duo is perfect for anyone who wants the convenience of a single serve, but wants the added ability to make more coffee for guests and family.

The Keurig Duo is perfect for:

If you are looking to purchase a new Keurig, and would like the ability to create single serve with K-cup compatibility, and larger quantities of coffee – then the Keurig Duo is for you.

If you find yourself loving the convenience of K-cups and the different flavors it offers, but don’t want to get rid of your regular carafe coffee maker than I recommend the Keurig Duo.

It really is the best of both coffee worlds.

Who Shouldn’t Buy The Keurig Duo?

Let’s be honest, this coffee maker isn’t for everyone.

If you are looking for a new Keurig, but you have a smaller budget, then the Keurig Duo is probably not a good fit for you. The Keurig Duo is going to cost you about $150+ which is significantly more than smaller Keurigs on the market.

It’s also a larger coffee maker, so countertop space will be a concern.

The Keurig Duo may not be good for you if:

Even though I believe this is a great unit, I do not believe it’s for every one. Let’s look further into this coffee maker’s features so we can see if this is what you are looking for.

The Keurig Duo Features

There are three units under the Keurig Duo family:

The Keurig Duo Essentials

This is your basic K-Duo coffee maker.

The Keurig Duo is the perfect coffee maker for any occasion. This coffee maker gives you the ability to create a single serve, and a 12-cup carafe.

The Keurig Duo Essentials come with a Pause & Pour feature which means you don’t have to wait until the complete carafe is full.

It’s an energy efficient coffee maker that is travel mug friendly. You can use this coffee maker with your favorite ground coffee or you can choose from the hundreds of k-cups available.

The design of the Keurig Duo essentials is mostly plastic which means it’s built with cheaper materials. It’s a black design, that has a simple look to it.

This coffee maker doesn’t have the ability to programme, so if that’s a feature important to you, you’re going to want this product.

• Brew a cup and a carafe
• Multiple brew sizes
• Large 1.77L (60 oz.) water reservoir
• 12-cup glass carafe
• Pause & pour
• Energy Efficient
• Travel mug friendly
• Compatible with the My K-Cup^® Universal Reusable Coffee Filter
• Simple button controls

The Keurig K-Duo

The Keurig Duo is very similar to the essentials coffee maker, except that you have the option to programme it.

It’s a great unit that, like the essentials, gives you the option of creating a 12-cup carafe or a single serve using a k-cup.

The Keurig Duo comes with a large water reservoir at 1.77L, smart start, pause and pour feature, travel mug friendly, and simple button controls.

This coffee maker is also created with a plastic design, but gives off an elegant look.

• Brew a cup and a carafe
• Strong brew
• Multiple brew sizes
• Large 1.77L (60 oz.) water reservoir
• 12-cup glass carafe
• Programmable carafe auto-brew
• Pause & pour
• Smart Start
• Energy Efficient
• Travel mug friendly
• Compatible with the My K-Cup^® Universal Reusable Coffee Filter
• Compatible with gold tone mesh filter
• Simple button controls

The Keurig Duo Plus

The Keurig Duo Plus is a great coffee maker for your home. It’s like the ones listed above, except that it comes with a stainless steel design, and a water reservoir that can be situated on the right, left or the back side.

This coffee maker has a carafe that will hold 12-cups of coffee, pause and pour feature, a strong brew, smart start, energy efficient and travel mug friendly.

As far as the Duo series is concerned, the Plus is the most elegant and most expensive.

• Brew a cup and a carafe
• Strong brew
• Multiple brew sizes
• Large 1.77L (60 oz.) water reservoir
• 12-cup thermal carafe
• Programmable carafe auto-brew
• Pause & pour
• Smart Start
• Energy Efficient
• Travel mug friendly
• Compatible with the My K-Cup^® Universal Reusable Coffee Filter
• Simple button controls

Final Verdict

Is the Keurig Duo any good? Is it worthy of all the hype? Should you purchase it for you home? These are all great questions.

I’ve been using the Keurig Duo for about a week now, and enjoy using it. I find that it’s really convenient having the single serve when I want a coffee on the go. I also think it’s great having the 12-cup carafe when I have large gatherings at my home.

The Keurig Duo is priced a little more than I believe it’s worth. It’s not made of the most expensive materials, and it lacks some features like temperature control.

If you are looking for a multifunctional coffee maker that gives you the ability of single serve, even though it’s priced high, the Keurig Duo is a good fit for you.

We added the best prices below.