Friday, September 19, 2008

The Pros and Cons of a One Cup Coffee Maker

For those on the run, there are a few things in life that make more sense than others – cereal bars, wrinkle free shirts, and short hair cuts. Things that cut a few minutes out of a busy day are worth every cent and often every second you spend on them. Every couple of extra minutes spent in traffic mean a few more minutes spent not getting something else done at home. Or worse yet, you might have to get up earlier.

The one cup coffee maker is one of those magic devices that can cut a few of those precious moments out of your day, speeding up your wake up routine and getting you out the door to beat traffic. Of course, you’ll be sacrificing some things when you take your one cup coffee over a fancier espresso style machine or the convenience of a Starbucks Mocha.

First you’ve got the plus side. You have a small, space efficient machine, fairly cheap and fast. It brews a single cup of coffee in a couple of minutes in your kitchen, while you shower or brush your teeth. It’s usually a breeze to clean and doesn’t leave any messy leftovers that you’ll come home to.

On the other side though, you have the basic pitfalls of convenience. You’re limited in what you drink and how much of it you drink. When you brew your cup in the morning, you have very limited options most often, especially if you stick with the cheaper machines out there. If you’re interested in anything other than the most basic of brews, you’ll want to spend a decent chunk of change getting it.

The next downside is that you do in fact only get a single cup of coffee. You’d better be sure you’re on the run, every time. If you tend to sit and sip at a half dozen cups of coffee on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you might want to get a bigger machine – one that will cater to your dual tastes.

When choosing your coffee maker, keep in mind what you’ll be doing with it. If you’re interested in an incredibly quick and easy cup of coffee to get you out the door in the morning, take the single cup coffee maker option seriously. If you want fancy buttons and knobs, or occasionally want to drown yourself in caffeinated goodness, think about getting a more versatile machine that will meet all of your needs.

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