My coffee preferences change daily. Sometimes a strong, steaming cup is just what I need to start my day, and other times I rely on a sweetened iced coffee to battle that mid-morning slump. Luckily, for those like me who want the best of both worlds, a new wave of coffee makers is here to deliver hot and cold coffee drinks all in one appliance (and just a few simple steps).
To see if you always have to spend more to get more, I spent a month testing two coffee makers at opposite ends of the price spectrum — the new Keurig K-Brew + Chill and the Mr. Coffee Iced and Hot Coffee Maker — to see how they stacked up.
Keurig K-Brew + Chill vs. Mr. Coffee Iced and Hot Coffee Maker at a glance
The newest addition to the Keurig lineup, the K-Brew + Chill can brew your favorite K-Cups hot or iced in just a few minutes. It’s an ultra-convenient machine that’s perfect for those who want consistency in their daily coffee, but also like to experiment with flavors and temperatures and who don’t mind purchasing Keurig’s specialized pods.
This coffee maker isn’t going to win any awards for its glitz or ground-breaking technology, but if you’re willing to spend some time learning, it will deliver quick and consistent coffee. It has all the features you love in a drip coffee maker, dialed into a simple, single-serving machine that brews fresh hot coffee or an extra-strong brew over ice. It’ll just take some trial and error to get the water-to-grounds ratio right.
Quick comparison
| Price | $200 |
$46 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.16 x 9.8 x 15.35 in. |
6 x 10 x 13 in. |
| Features | Hot and chilled brew options, chill tank for cold drink dispensing, strong brew button, automatic rinsing, quiet mode for chill tank fan |
Hot and over-ice brew options, removable grounds basket, grounds measuring scoop and scoop holder |
| Included items | None |
Coffee tumbler, lid and straw |
| Brew sizes | 6, 8, 10 and 12 ounces |
Any size, with labels for 6, 8, 12 and 16 ounces |
| Coffee type used | Keurig K-Cup pods |
Loose ground coffee |
| Water reservoir | 70 ounces |
22 ounces |
Build and features
The Keurig has more innovative features
At around $200 and $46 respectively, you’d expect the Keurig K-Brew + Chill and the Mr. Coffee Hot and Iced Coffee Maker to have some pretty big differences, and they do.
The Mr. Coffee is a straightforward machine. It has two buttons (one for hot brewing and one for over-ice brewing), a removable mesh grounds basket and a water reservoir that you refill each time you brew. It also comes with a handy scoop for measuring coffee grounds, so you can get the same amount each time for a more consistent cup. The scoop has suggested labeled amounts based on the type and amount of coffee you’re looking to brew. There’s even a built-in compartment on the side of the machine for holding the scoop, so you never have to worry about misplacing it.
The K-Brew + Chill, by comparison, has a more premium look and feel. And this newest Keurig also comes with some innovative technology. The K-Brew + Chill has buttons for brewing either a hot or cold coffee in 6, 8, 10 and 12-ounce sizes, plus a “strong” brew button for a more intense cup. It also has two water reservoirs: one for hot drinks and one for cold ones.
Unlike other iced coffee machines that brew hot coffee over ice, the K-Brew + Chill uses its chill tank to rapidly cool freshly brewed coffee within the machine so that when the coffee hits your cup, it’s like it just came out of the fridge. The machine is constantly chilling this tank, so you do hear some audible whirring — but you can press the “quiet” button to help minimize the noise. Additionally, the K-Brew + Chill also has lights to indicate when both water tanks need to be refilled. When you refill the chill tank, the two oval-shaped blue lights on the top of the machine will indicate how “charged” the tank is, meaning how cold the water currently is for your brew.
Both brew coffee quickly
The Mr. Coffee machine works the same as most other drip coffee makers; you put in the water, add the grounds and the machine brews until the water reservoir is empty. For a more precise pour, the water reservoir also includes built-in markers for brewing 6, 8, 10 and 12 ounces. It took just over 2 minutes to brew an 8-ounce cup (the same for both hot and over ice) on the Mr. Coffee maker. The machine also comes with a tumbler, lid and straw that are perfect for cold drinks, which is a nice addition.
With the Keurig, you’ll need to pop in a K-Cup each time you want coffee. The K-Brew + Chill makes an 8-ounce hot coffee in around 2 minutes and an 8-ounce cold coffee in just under 3 minutes.
The Mr. Coffee takes up less space
Overall, the Mr. Coffee machine is low-profile. The widest part of the machine measures just under 6 inches, making it a huge win for people with limited counter space. The mesh basket is also a snap to clean; dump the old grounds, give it a rinse and you’re ready for your next brew.
At around 10 inches in width and 15 inches in depth, the K-Brew + Chill takes up quite a bit more space than the Mr. Coffee maker. Plus, when fully filled, the two water tanks make the machine heavy and more laborious to reposition on your countertop.
Both the Mr. Coffee and the K-Brew + Chill are “set it and forget it” kinds of machines that make brewing your daily cup of coffee fast, easy and fuss-free. The Keurig has more innovative features and slightly faster brewing times, but the Mr. Coffee will still make your coffee quickly without taking up so much counter real estate.
Performance
How the hot coffee tasted
Let’s get down to what matters: Did the coffee taste any good? For the most part, yes.
I’ve always found regular Keurig coffee to be a little weak for my taste, so I brewed almost every cup I drank on the strong setting with 8 ounces of water for both hot and iced drinks. Neither brew settings is going to taste like the artisanal drinks you get in a coffee shop, but it’s still an enjoyable cup nonetheless. I liked the consistency the Keurig provided, too; as long as I pressed the same combination of buttons, I knew the coffee was going to come out the same every time. (In the groggy hours of the early morning, this is something I really appreciated.)
For hot coffee, the Mr. Coffee maker produced a steaming cup where I could taste the notes from the particular roast I chose for the day. Setting up the actual brew was easy. Just scoop some grounds into the basket, add in water and press the brew button. I had to play around with the grounds-to-water ratio to find the brew strength I liked best, but I loved that I could use any grounds of my choice and that I could dump them in my compost bin post-brewing.
How the iced coffee tasted
I found the chilled brewing on the Keurig cool (pun intended) — no other coffee machine I’ve seen freshly brews and chills coffee in just a few minutes, so the technological innovations in this machine are something to applaud. The coffee comes out cold to the touch, so unless you want a super-cold drink, you don’t even need to add ice to your cup. As for the taste, much like the hot coffee, the Keurig’s cold coffee mode delivered enjoyable, smooth coffee. Does it taste the same as the locally roasted cold brew in my fridge? Not quite, but it does instantly satisfy any iced coffee craving.
Admittedly, the cold coffee process did not go off without a hitch. Keurig did have to send me a second machine after the chill tank failed to function properly on the first model they sent — an issue that was decidedly due to the machine being mishandled during transport.
I was less impressed with the Mr. Coffee’s iced coffee function. Unlike the K-Brew + Chill, the Mr. Coffee doesn’t chill the drink before it dispenses it. Instead, you’re meant to brew hot coffee over ice to make an iced drink. When making these iced drinks, the machine prompts you to add more grounds to the basket for a more intense brew that will mellow out and dilute when it hits the ice. After brewing, you add more ice to cool the drink down further in temperature.
On the Mr. Coffee, I thought the over-ice brewing made OK iced coffee. It was drinkable, but you still had to wait for the coffee to cool down a bit before adding more ice, unlike with the Keurig. I also found it hard to get a cup that wasn’t on the watery side or didn’t taste like the grounds got slightly burned while brewing. If you’re using the included tumbler, I think the key to getting a stronger iced brew is to use less ice than the cup’s markings recommend. (Honestly, if you want a strong iced drink, you might be better off just brewing a hot cup and letting it cool for a few minutes before adding in additional ice, cream and any other extras.)
Overall, I definitely preferred the cold coffee from the?K-Brew + Chill because it was easier to make, not watered down and instantly chilled.
The Keurig requires pods while the Mr. Coffee uses grounds
My biggest quip with the Keurig is the pods. As with any Keurig, the K-Brew + Chill works best when you use the brand’s K-Cup pods. While the pods are easy to pop in, they create a lot of waste. (There are some compostable K-Cup options, but they’re not available across a large range of roasters.) The pods themselves are also not cheap, with a 40-count of Starbucks pods going for $34. However, Keurig does make reusable K-Cups that you can fill with the ground coffee of your choice. I even purchased some for this test both from an Amazon seller and from Keurig itself.
Despite watching YouTube videos and experimenting on my own, I was unable to brew a good cup with these reusable pods and the Keurig. The Keurig-branded pod flat-out didn’t fit in the machine. While I diligently researched all the reusable pod models available to find the best fit, it’s possible that Keurig has not yet made one designed for this specific machine. The other reusable pods did work in the machine but produced really watery coffee — a huge disappointment, since I’d love to use the convenience of the Keurig brewer to enjoy coffee from my favorite specialty roasters.
With the Mr. Coffee machine, I could use any type of coffee I wanted. I liked dumping my freshly ground beans right in the mesh basket. Since the machine isn’t set to dispense preset water amounts, you get a little bit more control over your grounds-to-water ratio with the Mr. Coffee than with the Keurig. While this means it’s easier to dial the strength of the coffee to your preferences, it also means you’ll have to experiment a bit more with the amount of grounds you add before you land on the perfect ratio.
Bottom line
I’ve experimented a lot with different coffee makers, tools and gadgets and feel confident saying that if you’re a true coffee connoisseur, these machines won’t produce the same-tasting coffee as a multi-step coffee ritual with artisanal beans. But what both of these makers do really well is deliver quick, no-fuss coffee with a consistent taste cup after cup.
I wouldn’t say one machine necessarily edges out the other on pure performance. For hot drinks, both machines are pretty equal. For cold and iced drinks, I think the Keurig is a super-convenient option that can satisfy your craving instantly with a chilled, well-balanced cup —?but I find the K-Cup costs and limited roaster selection to be a bother. If you already know and love the Keurig ecosystem (pods and all), the K-Brew + Chill is a great option for your next upgrade, though beware it does take up quite a bit of counter space.
The Mr. Coffee works great for hot coffee and is straightforward to use. The iced coffee feature didn’t quite meet my expectations, but I appreciate that you can use your own grounds, which is more sustainable for your wallet and your wastebasket.
