Keurig K-Duo Plus review

Why choose Keurig K-Duo Plus over Keurig K-Duo?

When I compared the K-Duo Plus with the K-Duo, I saw LOTS of improvements, especially in terms of design.

Here are some unique features of the Keurig Duo Plus coffee machine:

• Keurig Duo Plus comes with a multi-position water tank that saved me tons of counter space.
• K-Duo Plus is a more convenient and compact coffee maker as it combines a single cup and drip coffee systems in one pouring outlet.
• Keurig K-Duo Plus is compatible with a reusable “My k-cup” filter.
• Multi-functional coffee maker allowing to brew a single cup (k-cup) and a carafe (coffee grounds).
• Easy and convenient to use (very few buttons to push).
• Large selection between brewing sizes.
• Strong brand behind this coffee maker.

Who is Keurig Duo Plus perfect for?

As I was testing the product for this Keurig Duo Plus review, I really wanted to understand who would most likely fall in love with this product.

The K-Duo Plus is perfect for coffee lovers who like entertaining. It’s also great for larger families where having the possibility to brew larger quantities of coffee at one time would be both easy, quick and convenient.

K-Duo Plus is also an excellent choice for more ecologically mindful coffee drinkers.

You might find the following appealing about Keurig Duo Plus

✓ BRAND NEW Keurig coffee maker

✓ Multi-functional coffee maker that allows flexibility to brew a single cup or a full carafe

✓ Families and individuals who value a prominent brand in the coffee maker space

✓ Eco-friendly coffee drinkers who use re-usable My K-Cup filters

Who is Keurig K-Duo Plus NOT perfect for?

Just like with other coffee maker reviews, I would love to remain honest in this Keurig K-Duo Plus review. I think that there are a couple of examples where where Keurig Duo Plus might not be a perfect choice:

✗ Low budget

✗ An advanced coffee machine with sophisticated features

✗ Plastic-free machine

✗ Smaller families who do not need large quantities of coffee

Keurig Duo Plus Review and Evaluation 🕵️

→ Appearance

I was so delighted when I got my own model for this Keurig K-Duo Plus review. Just like the other Keurig coffee machine, K-Duo Plus was made mainly of plastic and had a minimalist, but very fashionable black design. It looked really great with stainless steel accents on the carafe and a top partition.

K-Duo Plus has a new, improved design. This machine is more compact and it save space. Both the single serve and the drip brewing use the same pouring outlet, located in the front of the machine.

Right on top of the pouring outlet, I found a coffee basket for a drip coffee maker version. I was able to open it up by pulling outwards. Right on top of the basket drawer, there are some controls and the digital timer. A little more towards the back, there was a k-cup filter holder.

I was most excited about the 60oz water reservoir. Its design allowed me to remove and re-position the reservoir as necessary. I could keep it to the left, right or to the back of the machine.

The control panel was fairly straightforward and featured only 5 buttons:

• 2 buttons to choose either a single cup or a carafe, and
• 4 buttons to choose size. I was able to choose between 6, 8, 10 or 12 cups for a carafe, or 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz, or 12 oz for a single cup. The Cup and Carafe buttons also had ON/OFF functions (if pressed for several seconds), and
• a strong button tended to yield slightly stronger coffee.

→ Features and technical specs

Voltage: Keurig K-Duo Plus is made for 120V, and can be used in Canada and the US only.

Basket size: Duo Plus machine comes with a basket size large enough for 15 tablespoons of ground coffee and 12 tablespoons of decaf (Keurig recommends that we should use one table spoon of ground coffee for each cup). The basket drawer can be easily open by pulling it outwards. It comes with a reusable, gold tone mesh filter. To increase the life of the filter the use of a 12 cups paper filter is also recommended.

The K-Duo Plus is compatible with My k-cup reusable filters. However, please note that you will need to remove the 2.0 adapter on the bottom of the accessory and remove the K-Cup Holder from inside the brewer in order for the My k-cup filter to fit properly.

Beverage size: A single serve part allowed me to choose between 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz and 12 oz of coffee. The drip coffee maker brewed 6 cups, 8 cups, 10 cups or 12 cups at once.

Weight: When I was preparing this Keurig K-Duo Plus review, I thought the machine would be lighter. I was surprised that it weighted about 16 pounds. This was a bit more than expected, given the size of the coffee maker.

Unit size: The unit itself is compact and convenient. The machine has a height of 14in, a width of 7.5 in, and a depth of 16in. The compact design and the the movable water tank allow for a more efficient positioning.

Carafe: Keurig K-Duo Plus machine comes with a 12 cups, thermal, stainless steel carafe. The carafe has a design that makes pouring easy. Keurig makes claims that the stainless steel carafe can keep coffee hot for 2 hours. This was not my experience, and the carafe is not made like a thermos. I personally don’t love stainless steel carafes, as they yield slightly metallic taste.

Water reservoir: I was truly mesmerized by the design of the 60oz removable water reservoir. I was able to position the reservoir either at the back, or on either side of the machine. This allowed me for more space and flexibility in finding a suitable place on the kitchen counter. Further, when I filled it up with water, I was able to use it for both a single cup and a carafe. It saved me time and energy.

Additional perks: I was so excited for this Keurig Duo Plus Review. This is the second model in Keurig’s history that incorporates single serve (k-cups) and a carafe.

✓ Keurig Duo Plus makes brewing REALLY easy and convenient. K-Duo Plus allowed me to brew a cup and a carafe from one pouring outlet. The coffee machine comes with two ways of brewing coffee: with k-cups (for a single cup), and with coffee grounds (for a carafe). I was able to accomplish this through the use of one pouring outlet, which saved space.

✓ I was able to program a drip coffee portion 24 hours in advance. The Keurig Duo Plus coffee maker came with an auto brew option: I was able to program the machine to start brewing a whole carafe of coffee at a certain time of my choice. The auto brew can be programmed up to 24 hours in advance.

✓ Pause and pour feature allowed me to get a cup before the entire carafe has finished brewing. I feel like it can be a useful feature, but not super necessary. When I was using coffee grounds to brew my carafe, I was able to pause brewing for about 20 seconds to pour coffee into my cup.

✓ Great features for ecologically mindful users. Keurig K-Duo Plus came with some really awesome features that speak volume about Keurig’s approach to using resources sustainably. First, it came with a 5-minute auto-off feature. Second, Keurig Duo Plus is compatible with reusable My K-Cup filters.

In addition, there’s some other perks of this coffee maker. It comes with a 60oz water reservoir that I was able to position on either side of the machine, or at the back.

However, the feature set was somewhat disappointing. Throughout the entire Keurig Duo Plus review, I was bummed about the following:

• the machine was not fully programmable
• there did not seem to be a water filter
• the carafe was made with stainless steel, but did not keep heat for long

→ Performance

Brewing time: I was surprised about the brewing time. It took about 2-3 minutes to brew one cup of coffee (in the single serve portion). This is slightly longer than other Keurig and non-Keurig single serve coffee makers compatible with k-cups. The carafe took about 6 minutes for 6 cups, 7 minutes for 8 cups, 8 minutes for 10 cups, and 9 minutes for 12 cups.

Flavor: For the first time, Keurig Duo Plus allowed me flexibility in brewing my coffee beverages. Not only am I tied to using k-cups, but I can utilize ground coffee of various kinds. With that, I felt that Keurig K-Duo Plus brewed a neat, rich and deep coffee.

Temperature: Keurig Duo Plus did not allow me to control the temperature of the brew. In my tests, the water reached about 185 F degrees, which is slightly below the perfect brewing temperature. Keurig recommends that the mug and the brewer should go through a cleansing-brew process prior to brewing. This way, the coffee is supposed to reach higher temperatures and might stay hot for longer.

Noise levels: There were no remarkable noises coming from the machine. It performed similarly to others. There was a small winding noise, but this was nothing unusual.

Cleaning: Cleaning of Keurig Duo Plus is not terribly difficult, though the parts are not dishwasher safe. Keurig recommends that the machine should be cleaned regularly to maintain its correct functioning. The surfaces of the machine can be cleaned using a damp cloth. None of the parts of this machine is dish washer safe, so they should never be introduced in the dishwasher.

The use of a Keurig Rinse pod or a cleansing brew is recommended after brewing hot cocoa or any sweet drink using a pod, in order to keep the needles of the machine clean.

A descaling of the machine is recommended to be done every three months. The specific steps that need to be taken to descale both the single serve half of the machine and the drip brewing half, are described in the instructions manual.

Customer-reported technical issues

This Keurig Duo Plus review comes only a couple of weeks after Keurig Duo Plus has been launched in the market. The product is very new, and users only now begin to report some of their technical difficulties.

I have not experienced any major breakdowns while testing and using the product. There are a couple of challenges with the product though:

• The machine came with a quick guide, as opposed to a more thorough and detailed manual
• Made with cheap-looking plastic

→ Health and safety

I was somewhat sad about Keurig Duo Plus. As I was preparing the Keurig K-Duo Plus review, I tried to research what the product is made of.

On one hand, Keurig claims that all the plastic its coffee machines and K-pods are made of, is FDA approved and BPA free, and hence, safe to use.

On the other, the practice showed me that Keurig Duo Plus is made mostly with plastic (and, unfortunately cheaply-made plastic). Whether it is BPA-free or not, this plastic comes into direct contact with scorching hot water. As you may know by now, I am personally very concerned about using products in which boiling water touches plastic.

Further, there have been some health issues concern regarding the k-cups. Keurig has addressed these concerns by saying that their specifications require that k-cups pods be constructed from plastic which does not contain BPA or phthalates. They also added that the temperature of the water dispensed in Keurig brewers is well below the melting and softening points of the pod materials. What that means is that there should be no plastic leaches from the pod into the beverage.

The BPA-free status is helpful to know, but it typically does not guarantee that there are no other potentially dangerous substitutes used in the production process.

Reports show that many manufacturers replace BPA with other types of plastic. These types include but are not limited to BHPF (fluorene-9-bisphenol), TPP (triphenyl phosphate), and bisphenol S (BPS). The exact health effects of the BPA substitutes, such as BHPF, TPP and BPS, are unknown at this point.

Additionally, there are still concerns regarding the safety of single serve brewers, though, which are believed to be prone to growth of mold, algae, and bacteria.

Further, I strongly recommend that anyone who thinks about purchasing a machine that uses K-cups should first do a thorough research on the health and environmental concerns that have been associated with the use of K-cup brewers and coffee pods over the years.

→ Price to value: is Keurig Duo Plus worth the money?

At present, Keurig Duo Plus sells at a couple of stores, including Amazon and Walmart. The price tag is anywhere between $$$ and $$$$. The cost seems a bit higher than other coffee makers featuring a single serve and a drip coffee in one unit. The retail price might be reasonable for individuals like using K-cups but would also like to have the flexibility of coffee grounds.

This machine is also an upgrade from K-Duo. It comes with a much better, space-saving design. Further, it is compatible with re-usable “My k-cup” coffee filters.

However, the retail price seems a bit high given that the product does not have some of the more standard features such as temperature control. In my opinion, price-to-value ratio is neat, but not great.

Should I buy Keurig Duo Plus? Owly’s verdict! 🔨

As I attempted to show in this Keurig K-Duo Plus review, this is a very innovative coffee machine that may look attractive to Keurig lovers. Further, it is an upgrade from a regular K-Duo machine. K-Duo Plus offers the flexibility of both k-cups and coffee grounds to brew from one spout.

Personally, I am a bit put off by the price. I do love the flexibility and convenience of this coffee maker. Despite some misses in feature set (such as temperature control), I think that $$$/$$$$ price point is a bit too much.

Nevertheless, I still think that Keurig lovers may really enjoy this machine for its functionality and convenience.

Will you get Keurig Duo Plus? What was your experience with Keurig Duo Plus? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, under this Keurig Duo Plus review!