I’m not a morning person, yet for the better part of a decade, I started my weekday mornings the same way: Peel myself out of bed, zombie shuffle to the shower, and listen to podcasts with heavy eyelids on the way to the office. When I got there, I’d head straight to the Keurig machine for a pick-me-up.
The models changed over the years, and eventually I was swiping through touchscreen menus instead of pushing physical buttons, but the process was always straightforward and nearly foolproof. Pop the top, insert a pod, press the button.
I've never really felt the urge to own a Keurig myself, but after testing the K-Café for a month or so, I’m a convert. The coffee is still more or less the same (it tastes fine), but the K-Café’s 4-ounce concentrated Shot option and dead-easy milk frother let me mix up my routine. With them, I was able to make lattes and cappuccinos quicker than it often takes to place an order at Starbucks.
No K-Clutter
You can tell that this K-Café is a little different just by looking at it, mixing up the same-y design of prior K-machines. For years, you could take any Keurig machine, put it in a carnival house of mirrors, and see what all the others looked like. They were a little taller or a little fatter, but they all had the same[1] winged-spout, king-cobra design. The K-Café and K-Mini Plus[2] are refreshingly minimalist, by comparison. They have large circular curves and fewer details to get lost in, with sleeker metal K-Cup lifting mechanisms and uncluttered controls.
The water tank and frother jut off either side of the K-Café, each with a similar half...