Keurig K-Duo Hot & Cold Iced Single Serve & Carafe Coffee Maker (Gen 2) Review

Design and features

• User-friendly design
• Generous removable water tank
• No coffee scoop or paper filters

The Keurig K-Duo Gen 2 arrived in a brown cardboard box, and inside of that, a branded box. Everything was securely packaged to prevent damage, which was especially important since the box included a glass carafe. I’m not a fan of glass carafes because although they’re more cost-effective than thermal carafes, they also break quite easily. Also, glass carafes don’t provide a lot of heat retention so they require a heating plate, which tends to burn coffee while keeping it warm. But enough of my glass carafe ranting.

The Keurig K-Duo Gen 2 has an attractive design and is rather compact, considering that it includes both carafe and K-Cup brewing options.

The left side of the machine contains the carafe brewing setup. There’s a removable filter basket that holds round paper filters (not included). Coffee drips into the carafe, which has a lid. The coffee is kept warm by the heating plate.

On the right side of the machine is the K-Cup/single serve coffee setup. It includes the K-Cup receptacle and lid, and below that is the space for a cup or mug, and then the drip tray – which holds up to 8 ounces of spilled or overflowing liquid before it needs to be emptied.

On the back of the machine is a generous water tank that holds 72oz, which eliminates the need to keep refilling it. The water tank is also removable, making it easy to fill and empty. Admittedly, lugging that much water from the sink and trying to insert it correctly into the grooves on the backside can get rather tedious, so I tended to fill it halfway at the sink and then pour the rest of the water into the container while it was in place.

The control panel is on the front left side of the machine, and controls both the carafe and single cup side. There’s a clock on the top row in the middle. Below that are the coffee quantity selections: 6, 8, 10, and 12. When using the carafe, those quantities are equivalent to cups, and when using the single cup side, the quantities represent ounces.

The Auto Brew function can be used to program the carafe side – but not the single cup side. On the other hand, there are options on the single cup side to make the coffee extra hot or strong, and there’s also a setting for iced coffee. However, these functions don’t work when using the carafe.

The control panel is quite easy to use – so easy that I didn’t even look at the manual the first time I used it.

The Keurig K-Duo Gen 2 may be the only coffee maker I’ve ever tested that didn’t include a coffee scoop – but fortunately, I was able to take one from another machine I was testing. Also, Keurig does not include coffee filters, so you’ll need to purchase those yourself.

Performance

• Both options brew great coffee
• Strength control makes stronger single cups
• Lowered temperature for iced coffee

I always read reviews to see what other consumers (and writers) think about a product. A handful of Amazon reviewers – and one writer – complained that when using the carafe, the coffee is not hot. Perhaps these individuals were leaving the coffee in the carafe on the hot plate for an extended period of time. The hot plate keeps the coffee warm for 2 hours – not hot. However, I had the coffee maker for almost three months and ran several tests. Each time, when coffee finished brewing into the carafe, and I poured a cup, it was piping hot. Every. Single. Time. Not just hot – it was too hot to drink, and I needed to let it cool a bit.

Carafe brewing is pretty straightforward. After filling the water reservoir with water, I scooped coffee into the filter basket – then pressed the Power button, selected Carafe, and then pressed the K (or brew) button. Keurig recommends one scoop (equivalent to one tablespoon) per cup.

After the first test, I figured out that one scoop per cup was not giving me the desired brew when making 6 or 8 cups, so I started adding an extra scoop. In other words, when I wanted to brew 6 cups of coffee, I’d add 7 scoops. When I brewed 8 cups, I’d add 9 scoops. This slight adjustment made a significant difference. After making this change, the coffee was always rich and flavorful.

This model includes Keurig’s new multistream technology, which is designed to extract more flavor and aroma (compared to the Keurig Classic models).

There’s also an Auto Brew feature on the carafe side to program the coffee to start brewing at a specific time. Another feature on the carafe side is Pause & Pour, which will stop the brewing process in case you want to grab a cup of coffee before the brewing process has finished. However, keep in mind that after 20 seconds, the water is going to start flowing again.

Single cup brewing is also relatively simple – even if you’ve never used a Keurig before. The first step is to place a coffee mug on the drip tray. If you’re using a travel mug, you can remove the drip tray so the travel mug will fit. I lifted the handle on the pod holder, placed a K-Cup pod in the holder, and then closed the lid. Next, I pressed the Power button, and selected Pod and my brew size. The last step was to press the K (brew) button.

When using single cup brewing, there’s also an option to select the Strong button – this should be done before pressing the K (brew) button. I brewed coffee on the regular setting, and also with the Strong feature, and there is a noticeable difference. There’s also an Iced Beverage setting for brewing over ice. I’m not an iced coffee lover, but I tried it anyway. On this setting, the water temperature is lowered slightly to slow down the ice melting. When you mix coffee and ice, the ice is always going to melt and weaken the coffee to some extent, but the results were pretty impressive compared to using the regular setting, which immediately melts most of the ice.

Overall, I was quite impressed with both the carafe and the single cup brewing options. I tend to brew thermal carafes of coffee – the OXO Brew 9 Cup Coffee Maker and Aarke Coffee Maker are two of my favorites. However, I enjoyed single-cup brewing because it gave me an opportunity to test a variety of flavors, including Fresh Roasted Coffee’s Blueberry Crisp Decaf, McDonald’s McCafe, Green Mountain’s Caramel Vanilla Cream, The Original Doughnut Shop Regular, and more.

I do feel that the single cup side produced a more robust cup of coffee, but both the carafe and the single cup options brewed good coffee.

Maintenance is pretty easy. There’s a descaling alert to let you know when the brewer needs to be descaled. Otherwise, the brewer’s exterior and heating plate can be cleaned with a damp cloth. The drip tray, filter basket, carafe and lid, and water reservoir and lid can be cleaned with soapy water. On the K-Cup side, use a straightened paper clip to loosen coffee grounds from the exit and entrance needles. Then rinse everything under running water.

Should you buy it?