I tried a single-serve coffee maker with a reusable capsule, and it's saved me a fortune on K-Cups

As the name suggests, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve coffee maker is a neatly designed machine from a trusted brand that grinds and brews one cup of coffee at a time. Unlike many of the best coffee makers, it won’t take up too much space on your countertops, and it delivers flavorsome coffee, quickly, without the faff of a separate grinding machine or filter papers. 

Totally flexible, the Grind & Brew is also capable of making coffee using pre-ground beans and Keurig’s off-the-shelf K-Cup pods, but unlike a Keurig coffee maker, you only need one pod for a lifetime of coffee. One of the major advantages of this machine is the reduced cost of not having to buy replacement coffee capsules for each and every drink. Instead, you simply need to empty out the reusable capsule after each use and insert it back into the grinding position to be filled once more with freshly ground, budget-friendly coffee beans. It goes without saying that this is also a big environmental win if you're used to using and throwing out single-use capsules every day. 

For this reason, while I did try the pre-ground bean option, I focused on fresh bean beverages, enjoying at least two mugs a day for a few weeks. And wow, I was buzzing! Taste-wise, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve packs a high-strength punch with none of the burnt bean sourness I sometimes experience from espresso machines. You can size-up your cup to dilute the strength, but there’s no option to adjust the grind coarseness so if you prefer a subtler blend. Despite this, I still think this is one of the best Cuisinart coffee makers money can buy. 

Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve review: Price and availability

The Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve is an affordable one-cup filter coffee machine with built-in conical burr grinder that comes in black or white. You can buy it direct from Cuisinart for a pretty reasonable $149.95, or £250 in the UK, where I tested it It’s also available from the usual outlets like Amazon and Crate & Barrel.

As I tested in the UK, my Grind and Brew machine did not come with a carbon water filter, but this is the only difference between the UK and US variations of this machine. In both regions, this coffee maker comes with a generous three-year warranty.

Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve review: Design

For a coffee machine that grinds as well as brews, this is not a big appliance. It will easily fit under wall cabinets and is about the same size as a regular filter coffee maker. It has the robust, durable construction Cuisinart is renowned for, and everything slots together and opens/closes nicely with a reassuring clunk and click. 

Unboxing was very easy, it helped that this machine is light and there was nothing to assemble. You’ll want to give it a clean before first use, just so you’re not drinking any factory dust with your coffee, and the instructions recommend a quick flush through without beans to ensure the inner pipework is pristine.  

It’s true the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve boasts few bells and whistles, and none of the grunt and grind you get from semi-professional espresso machines, but its simplicity is very much part of its charm. Nobody needs barista training before they’ve had their first coffee of the day, and I was very grateful that there was no App to connect or complicated learning process to hit the exact grind level and tamping pressure to secure my perfect brew. 

In fact, this machine is so straightforward, I didn’t really need the instruction book to get going. The top panel features just six buttons: on/off, grind (bean icon), add water, and one button for each of the three possible cup sizes. Nothing too confusing there.

The only thing that foxed me about setting up was the location of the second HomeBarista filter basket and cup mentioned in the instruction manual. I searched through the packaging several times before noticing a discreet trap door in the side of the machine, and discovered it nestled inside. User error more than design flaw, but it could be more clearly highlighting in the manual.  

Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve review: Performance

A small child could (but possibly shouldn’t) operate this appliance. Once the water and bean reservoirs were filled to max, all I needed to do was pop the filter basket under the bean hopper and press the bean grinding button. Once it stopped grinding, I shut the filter lid, opened the brew head (flip up lever), popped the filter inside and hit the cup size required. After about 30 seconds, the coffee starts pouring through. I used my stopwatch to test speeds and discovered it takes about one minute to get an espresso, 1.5 minutes for a 10 oz cup and just 10 seconds longer to get the tallest 12 oz load. 

The pre-ground coffee option is even easier, you skip the grinding process altogether and just load the filter pod with ground beans using the handy little measuring spoon supplied. Said spoon has a brush on the end so you can sweep away any grounds on the rim and securely close the filter pod. Chuck it in the brew head, flip down the lid and select the cup size. 

Things get a whole lot less easy (and less child-friendly) if you attempt to make another coffee right away. The filter unit is boiling hot, and drips boiling water as you remove it. This is the time to bring out the second filter unit, so you can leave the first one to cool before emptying. If you have friends over and want to make more than two coffees consecutively, you’ll need to try and empty scorching grounds from the small plastic filter pods without scalding yourself. Maybe drop them in a jug of cold water first? In fairness, it is called the Single-Serve, which is a clear clue that this machine is not aimed at crowds of coffee addicts. 

Noise-wise, I was impressed. My decibel meter App recorded a lowly 51 dBA when the coffee was dispensing, which is similar to regular conversation. The grinding process was a little louder at about 70-72 dBA, which is akin to a food processor but it’s a very short process that takes less than 30 seconds so shouldn’t cause serious auditory offence.  

On taste, again I couldn’t really fault this coffee maker. I love a strong coffee so always buy good quality dark roasted arabica beans, but if the grind is too coarse, I won’t get the caffeine hit I need to wake me up in the morning. I was initially concerned by the fact there’s no way to adjust the grind coarseness on this machine. However, the conical burr grinder (which is a quality grinder type designed to produce full bodied flavor profile) must be on a fairly fine setting, as my coffee tasted just as good as it does from my usual coffee maker, which retails at more than three times the price.

There were a couple of points that let the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve down. First, there’s no steam wand, so anyone who likes frothy steamed milk-based coffees will need a separate frother. Secondly, I found the machine rather messy to use. It flicks out coffee grounds at every opportunity – when grinding, when moving the filter to the brew head and when you so much as look at the thing! I probably made 40+ coffees during the testing period and never managed it without getting grounds all over my hands, the machine, and the surrounding countertops. Annoying and wasteful.  

Speaking of wasteful, I was also quite alarmed by how quickly I went through the coffee beans. The hopper takes 3.5 oz at a time, which only made about 3-4 large coffees. Admittedly those coffees were good and strong, but I definitely noticed I got through more beans than usual, without upping my coffee intake. The water tank was generous though, and I managed to get six-seven 12 oz mugs of coffee per fill. The tank is easy enough to remove and take to the tap to refill but – Cuisinart R&D department take note – it would benefit from a carrying handle on the lid.

The Grind & Brew does redeem itself when it comes to cleaning, which is super easy (all the parts come apart for washing and the filter basket can go in the dishwasher. Descaling is also a simple rinsing process whereby you run a coffee brew without loading up the grounds and add descaling agent or lemon juice and baking soda to the water tank. 

How does the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve compare?

If you have more than one caffeine fiend in your home (or lots of friends who need to be caffeinated at once), and you want a filter machine that grinds as well as brews, Cuisinart’s Grind and Brew Plus could be a better option. It serves 12 cups and can be programmed to have your coffee ready and waiting when you wake up but will take up more space on your countertops. 

If you were thinking of using this machine with pre-loaded pods, I think you’d be better off going for a dedicated pod machine, like the Nespresso Vertuo Plus, which I have tested in the past and really liked. There’s no mess, which is something the Grind and Brew cannot claim, and Nespresso’s coffee menu is sublime.

Although I did enjoy the taste of the coffee brewed by this machine, it doesn’t have a steam wand, which I use a lot on my own Breville Barista Express Impress, so I am not tempted to swap out coffee machines any time soon.

Should you buy the Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve?

There’s a lot to love about this little machine, and its compact size makes it a winner for anyone with limited space. If you can overlook the mess and just enjoy the freshly ground and brewed coffee it makes, then I’d recommend it heartily. 

Admittedly this Cuisinart Grind and Brew Single Serve model only serves one cup at a time, and making more than two consecutively isn’t easy. Plus, there’s no keep-warm plate like you find on many drip-filter machines. But I’m the only coffee drinker in my household so that doesn’t put me off and, in my experience, filter coffee tastes best when it’s freshly made. I find it starts to go sour or dishwater-ish if it’s been sitting on a hot plate for more than 30 minutes. 

I really loved that the filter pods are reusable (and easy to clean) so there was no eco-worrying about recycling or landfill loading. And I also found it easy to clean the filter baskets and inner pipes. Most of all, it produces properly decent coffee comparable to anything I’ve had from the likes of popular coffee chains.