Keurig K200 Review
The Keurig K200 is one of the smallest Keurig coffee makers on the market. Its compact size lends itself well to offices, dorm rooms, or workshops. It is so slim that you’ll barely notice it on your counter. The coffee maker is capable of brewing standard K-cups, opening up a world of possibilities for you. From coffee to tea to hot cocoa, this slender brewer does it all.
Overall score: (8.5/10)
- Value: (8/10)
- Quality: (8/10)
- Style: (9/10)
- Size: (9/10)
We find the K200 coffee maker to be an exceptional choice for college students. If you’re in the market for a small robust, yet affordable, coffee maker, we recommend the Keurig K200.
What is a Keurig?
In case you haven’t kept up with the trends in coffee over the past several years, single-serving (also called pods) coffee makers are all the rage. As single-serving coffee machines go, Keurig has come out on top as the premier brand. In fact, the coffee pods are aptly named “K-Cups”. This term has entered the vernacular of many a coffee drinker, resulting in colloquial use of the term for all types of single-serve coffee pods. Keurig continues to stay on top and the K200 helps them to remain dominant in the single-serving coffee maker market.
Key Features
The K200 comes ready to use right out of the box. It features a large, 2″ touch screen display that is used to select the size and type of brew.
The screen also has a button for increasing the strength of the beverage. We especially love this feature on Monday mornings before heading in to work. If you brew with this setting on, you’ll find that the resulting cup taste richer and fuller than with the setting off. Be warned, you may also get a case of the jitters!
Another great feature of this brewing system is its compact size. It will take up approximately 9″ by 15″ of space on your counter and needs just under 14″ of clearance above it to make it easily accessible.
The water reservoir in the K200 is removable, like many of the other Keurig systems. This makes it easy to fill up or to clean after several fill-ups. The reservoir holds a whopping 40 oz., which will let you do more brewing for less fill-ups. We usually get 4-5 cups of coffee out of one water fill-up.
The water reservoir has smart functionality to notify you when the water level has gotten too low to brew a full cup of coffee. The system also prevents you from running the machine dry, which is a great safety feature that will protect your device for years to come.
In addition to notifying you of an empty water reservoir, the machine can also be configured to give you a notification when it is time to change the Keurig Water Filter. This can be configured through the brewer’s touch screen display.
Getting Started – From Unboxing to First Cup
After you pull your new K200 out of the box and remove the packaging, place it on your kitchen counter and plug the device into a grounded outlet.
Once your machine is plugged in, lift the handle on the front of the device and remove the disk found inside. This is the shipping disk that protected the inside of your brewer during transit.
Next, you’ll want to remove the water tank and rinse it out. After rinsing, fill it up with filtered or bottled water. Make sure you don’t over-fill the reservoir. There are clearly marked MAX and MIN lines to prevent confusion.
With the machine plugged in and the water tank full, press the power button shown on the touch screen display. After the machine has powered up, you’ll want to do an initial cleansing brew to make sure the internals are good to go before you start making coffee.
To complete the cleansing brew, you’ll first want to put a large mug on the drip tray underneath the brew head. The mug should be able to hold at least 12 ounces. Next, lift the handle and then lower it again. This will tell the machine you are ready to brew.
On the touch screen display, select the 8 ounce brewing size and press the brew button. The brew button is the large, physical button found on the center of the machine, just below the touch screen. The machine will go through a brewing sequence and water will be dispensed into your mug. Discard this water after the brewing sequence is finished.
You’re now ready to use your new Keurig K200 brewing system.
To brew your first K-Cup, place a mug on the drip tray and lift the handle. Insert the K-Cup pod of your choosing and lower the handle. The touch display will show a menu with various options to change the size or strength of the brew. If you’re brewing hot cocoa or tea, be sure to select that setting. Once you’ve chosen your desired brewing parameters, press the large brew button.
Within moments, you’ll find a steaming tea, cocoa, or coffee waiting for you in your mug below. Enjoy!
Cleaning Your K200
Cleaning the K200 brewing system is a breeze and doesn’t need to be done very often.
To clean the outside of the brewer, get a lint-free, non-abrasive cloth wet and add a drop of a gentle dish soap, like Dawn. Wipe down the surfaces of the brewer to ensure it looks brand new all the time.
The machine’s drip tray will also need to be cleaned from time to time. In fact, it can only hold 8 ounces, so be sure you always have a mug in place when brewing! Thankfully, Keurig made the drip tray completely removable. To remove it, just slide the tray toward you. It will easily slide, since it is not physically connected to the machine. Be careful not to spill! The drip tray can be emptied in the sink and cleaned with a soapy, lint-free, non-abrasive cloth.
The water reservoir should be cleaned in the same manner as the other two components we just talked about. One thing to watch out for when cleaning the water reservoir is that you don’t dry the tank after you wash it. If you do, you’ll likely leave some cloth or paper fibers on the inside that could end up in your brewer if they aren’t caught by the filters. We prefer to let the reservoir dry upside-down on a drying mat until we are ready to use the brewer again.
Although it’s not really considered cleaning, you will want to descale your brewer every three to six months. This process will help you remove minerals that build up inside of your brewer. You’ll want to follow the procedure from the manual and use Keurig Descaling Solution. We favor it over a vinegar-based solution because it is odorless. Keurig’s Descaling Solution will help you get your brewer up and running like new again.
Optional Upgrades – The Keurig Carafe
Sometimes, one cup is just not enough. Everyone knows this. Keurig has responded to this customer demand by creating a Keurig Carafe that plugs into any Keurig Plus brewing system, such as the K200. The carafe has a special notch on the base of it that slides into your K200 and lets the machine know that you’re brewing into a carafe.
At this point, the rest of the brewing procedure is very similar to the regular K-Cup routine. The biggest difference is that you’ll want to purchase Keurig’s K-Carafe pods instead of K-Cup pods. These special pods contain more ground coffee so that your machine doesn’t water down your brew.
Summary
Overall, we think the Keurig K200 is a wonderful investment in better coffee. In particular, we find it perfectly suited to anyone looking for a small, single-serving coffee maker that takes up less room and creates less of a mess than a traditional drip coffee maker.
The machine is definitely better with add-ons. In particular, we like the Keurig Carafe and the Keurig Water Filters. This will allow you to make larger amounts of coffee with less wear and tear on your machine over time.
If you’re on a hunt for the perfect small coffee maker, the Keurig K200 is an excellent option.