Keurig K-Cafe Review: Why You’ll Love this Cappuccino or Latte Maker

Are you feeling the barista vibe? Are you planning on starting your day with a frothy coffee without having to queue at Starbucks? You might be in the right place, then. Read our Keurig K-Café review to find out if this all-in-one coffee machine is the best choice for you.

SUMMARY: The Keurig K-Cafe

• Includes a frother for lattes and cappuccinos
  
• Strong brew option and shot button
  
• Super easy to clean

SEE ON AMAZON

The Keurig K-Café Review

Keurig K55 Review

• Custom Brewing Features
• 'Make Your Life Easier' Features
• Water Reservoir

4.3

• See On Amazon

Custom Brewing Features – 4.5/5

When it comes to customizability, the Keurig K-Café coffee maker is very different from any other Keurig machines: while it lacks features such as Temperature Control or Altitude Settings, it comes with options that are unique to this model.

The first and most obvious one is the milk frother: it works with different types of fresh milk (including dairy-free alternatives), it can froth both hot or cold (yes, this means ICED LATTES!), and, depending on the fill line, for lattes or cappuccinos.

It gives you a stronger, espresso-style shot of 60 ml that you can use as a base to create frothy drinks. However, it’s worth noting that it’s not actual espresso, as that can only be achieved by pushing hot water under sufficient pressure through fine grounds (like espresso machines do), which is not how Keurig machines work (1).

While it’s popular for frothy drinks, the K-Café will obviously give you regular drip coffee in different cup sizes 175, 240, 300, and 355 ml (4, 6, 8 or 10 ounces) and you’ll also be able to get a stronger brew if you wish.

The K-Café is compatible with many different K-Cups, but, even though this is a capsule-based brewer, we advise against them (plot twist!).

For these reasons (2), we strongly recommend that you purchase a My K-Cup universal reusable coffee filter. Using fresh grounds will not only save you money and avoid the environmental impact of K-Cups: it will also give you much better-tasting coffee (we promise!).

‘Make Your Life Easier’ Features – 4/5

If, when looking at this large machine, your first thought was “Oh no, it will be a nightmare to clean!”, well… worry not! The Keurig K-Café comes with many practical features that make the cleaning process super easy:

The handy descaling reminder will also alert you when it’s time to run white vinegar or Keurig’s descaling solution through your coffee maker.

While it lacks features such as the Hot Water button or the Quiet Brew Technology, the K-Café includes a couple more practical options. For example, this model has a Smart Start, which means that you can insert the K-Cup and choose the cup size before the machine is ready: it will brew coffee as soon as it’s heated up.

There’s also an Auto Off feature that switches off your brewer after 2 hours (it can be removed, but we strongly recommend that you keep it, as it will save you energy and money).

Water reservoir – 4.5/5

The Keurig K-Café comes with a very large 1.7 litre detachable water reservoir. Not only is this water tank large, handy and easy to clean: it’s also compatible with Keurig’s charcoal filters. We do recommend that you purchase them, as filtered water can really improve the final taste of your coffee (3).

Do NOT buy if

You don’t want a large machine – With its 31.7 cm H (42.4 cm when the handle is open) x 38.9 cm W x 29.7 cm D, the K-Café is surely a big bold statement. The Keurig K15 may be a better choice if you do not have much counter space. But if you don’t want to give up frothy drinks, we recommend looking at the Nespresso Pixie with Milk Frother.

You want it all: frothy drinks and large carafes of drip coffee! – This single cup coffee maker will give you mugs of drip coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos… but what about carafes of filter coffee? Unfortunately not. If you’re after those too, you should consider the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System. We also like it because it doesn’t rely on K-Cups, but on fresh coffee grounds instead.

You’re not that fussed about frothy coffee – The K-Café is an investment that will pay for itself considering the amount of money you’ll save by replacing your daily Starbucks drink with your own lattes. However, if you don’t think you will actually use the frother and believe that the cappuccino K-Cups will do just fine for you, then we recommend the K-Elite, a model is almost in the same price range as the K-Café. The Keurig K-Select and K-Classic K55 and K50 also make good (and more affordable) options.

You want a Keurig model that has a better extraction process – The Keurig K-Supreme is equipped with the brand’s new MultiStream Technology, which allows the machine to extract coffee better. It is basically a showerhead water dispensing system that’s sort of similar to other higher-end drip machines, like the Moccamaster. Here’s HomeGrounds’ Keurig K-Supreme review.

The Verdict

We think that the K-Café is one of the best Keurig coffee makers and a good choice of single-serve coffee machine with a steamer: you’ll be able to enjoy drip coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, and iced coffees, too. Whilst we will always choose and recommend ground coffee over K-Cups, using this Keurig coffee maker with the reusable filter that we mentioned earlier will solve the problems associated with single-use capsules.

See on Amazon

If, after reading our Keurig K-Café review, you’re not 100% convinced, we recommend that you check our list of Ninja Coffee coffee makers. Otherwise… may the froth be with you!