Side by Side Comparison of: Mr. Coffee vs Custom Variety Pack vs PureWater Filters vs NIFTY

I originally bought this so that I can have a ready and convenient source of coffee when I m going out of the door for school or work (now mainly for work). I didn't want to 1) worry about making an entire pot then having to clean the pot and filter while only enjoying at the most two cups of coffee; 2) something that would have coffee ready for me in under five minutes without much muss or fuss; 3) I wanted a k-cup experience without paying the big-name k-cup prices.

So this particular machine caught my attention (actually, my wife pointed it out to me when I was on the hunt), and after reading the reviews and noting the feature set it had at the price I purchased it at I purchased it. I have enjoyed this machine and have enjoyed numerous cups of coffee, tea, and more coffee. My daughter enjoys the hot chocolate and chai lattes she makes, and my wife enjoys her cappuccinos.

The capacity is enough for the low to moderate usage that the machine sees (although there has been a bit of an uptick lately courtesy of my daughter), but if you need a larger tank for more cups between water fill-ups, then you may want to look elsewhere). I have only had two episodes where the k-cup didn't drain completely, and I think that was more so because of a seating problem with one of the brands of cups that we use. This machine uses after-market reusable cups, as well. The ones I use for my self-ground coffee work very well (just have to let them drain completely since I tend to pack them).

There does seem to always be slight variance with how much water actually gets used, but not enough for me to say "fix this now!". I will warn that this can be noticeable as far as sound is concerned, but not so loud that you will be waking up the entire house.

The removable drain is great for those times when you need to make up to 20 oz and need to use a larger tumbler or travel mug.

I get what people mean about the "plastic" feel of the machine, which can easily give the impression of feeling "cheap" but I have not had any problems with opening, closing, or operating it. Indeed, I think this plastic construction works well for someone like me who would prefer to have something lightweight and easy to move around.

In closing, this is a great sub-$100 k-cup brewer, and by a well as well as longtime trusted manufacturer.

Before I purchased this brewer, I read the reviews on it and was really impressed. I was afraid that the coffee was going to come out tasting like plastic like our old one did that made coffee by the pot so I was pleasantly surprised to find it doesn't. I also ordered a pack of the 6 Generic Solo Coffee Pod Filters that fit it so I could use regular ground coffee in it as the pods can get very expensive. I get 5 cups of coffee per pod as I like mine not strong or real dark. I have also found that there is only a little of oil from the coffee but don't know if the is because of the kind of coffee or because of the size cups it makes.

You can make 2 different sizes. I always make the 10 oz size in the travel mugs and never have a splash problem. Sometimes I forget and use a regular size coffee cup and still have no splash. But, if you use the smaller mugs you normally use for tea, you will have some splashing as your cup isn't big enough or tall enough. Keeping these thoughts in mind, you don't have to clean up the drain/base unit.

Some have felt that being plastic it was flimsy but it's not at all. No it's not heavy duty like the Keurig units that are double and triple the cost however, it is made by Keurig.

I'm really glad I decided on this one.

The price is definitely better than the Keurig. I had a mini which suddenly stopped working, would not even power on, even though I did not even use it everyday. I just got this Mr Coffee in the pretty red & love it. It also works with other brands of k-cups, does not have to be Keurig. I prefer this one because you can remove the reservoir to fill & clean it. It has a 24 ounce capacity in case you want more than one cup. I wouldn't store extra water in it though because they say the average bacteria colony doubles every 20 minutes & who knows what is in our water. The drip tray removes for larger mugs. The small k-cup holder inside removes for cleaning. Manual advised to run an initial cleaning brew before the first use by running water through without a k-cup. So, I guess you can use this to just heat water for tea bags, which is supposed to be healthier than microwaving water. It tells how to descale with vinegar every 3-6 months so performance is not affected by build up of minerals inside the machine. They recommend bottled or or filtered water. I prefer Absopure filtered water or Zero water pitcher water for drinking & think they would be better for the machine. They do not recommend distilled or reverse osmosis water. I know distilled water can pick up smells or flavors easily, so I wonder if it can pick up a plastic taste. I used tap water & noticed no plastic or bad taste. Overall, very happy with purchase. Will update if I have problems with it.

I bought this for my wife for her birthday so that she could enjoy quick, easy coffee in the morning and on weekends. It is every bit as good as a Keurig as far as brewing quality and works with the Keurig My K-Cup accessory. The only criticism I have is the official Keruig brewers that I have used heat the water as soon as you power them on and then reheat the next batch of water as soon as the current cup has finished brewing so that there is very little if any lag between one cup and the next one. This brewer heats the water when you start brewing so there is a few minute wait between pushing the button to brew a cup and actually getting the cup. This is pretty small, but we do miss the immediacy in brewing of the Keurig-branded machines.

I would also like to comment on others' notes that the reservoir for the water is smaller than similarly-sized k-cup brewers so it is very important that you remember to keep it full. I just fill my mug with water and pour that water in before starting the brewing, doesn't bother me at all.

TL;DR This is an excellent product that we are very happy with, the Keurig brewers are nicer but cost considerably more.

I have only had this brewer for one week. But I wanted to write how pleased I am with the brewer so far.

Obviously it is much less expensive than the Keurig brand itself, but seems to do the same job and have the same specifications as the Keurig Mini Brewer. I am planning to purchase the reusable k-cup

Pros:
Cost

Size - fits perfectly on my small apartment counter

Ease of use - Quickly brews a cup of coffee.-- (Someone mentioned putting this on before going into the shower in the morning; I would never do that because the coffee would be cold.

Clean up-- no stained carafe to deal with, no basket that needs scrubbing within the grooves to get it clean

Variety of flavors available

Cons -
temperature - I add half and half or milk to my coffee and it cools off rather quickly

Brew strength - I like my coffee weaker than most but I have solved that by brewing two cups using the same k-cup and combining them.

I checked out the more expensive Keurig brewers and this was hands down the best for the money. I would have liked some of the additional features (like being able to have larger cup sizes for iced beverages) but I can transfer the coffee to a large glass.

I would strongly recommend picking up one of the variety packs of K-cups offered by Amazon so that you can decide which flavors you really like the best; you can't really tell from the name of the flavor.

UPDATE: July 24, 2012 - Now that the newness has worn off I still love this coffee maker and wouldn't consider going back to the old brew method. I find if I use the coupons for some of my local stores I can get the k-cups at the best deals and because I don't waste as much coffee I think it is actually more economical.

This was a great variety pack for my mothers first cup of the morning, cool or warm weather. Great price too. Only thing I would mention is that they came in a plain box, but a little decorated bag and maybe a dispenser tree included, made a super gift.

Ordered these for the new Wingnut Evil Lair. Mrs. Wingnut requested a Keurig (purple, of course!) as her housewarming gift from Mr. Wingnut. Fortunately, this lovely assortment of K-Cups arrived the day before the brewing machine did! I looked for a nice assortment of drinks for a Keurig newb and ran across these. There's something for everyone in this collection. Coffees, teas, ciders,hot chocolates - it turned out to be an excellent starter pack. Us Wingnuts don't drink much coffee (because we're all jacked up on Mountain Dew!) but some of our victims, ummm, guests do. This is a great assortment to include with a new Keurig machine as a gift.

A great sampler for everything but coffee (even though there's 6) for those that just got a Kuerig Brewer. If you're wanting to try Teas, get Twinings K-Cup Tea Sampler, 10-Count as well. You'll be able to try just about all of them with both sets. dont' use more then 7 oz. or it'll be a bit watered down.Chai Tea isnt' in this, and it's very good. Chai Latte's even better, like liquid desert. To be honest, you can get Twinnings teas in boxes of 20 bags at the store and it's a lot cheaper that way (then Kcups) and tastes the same, maybe a bit better. And you can do Chai Latte Kcups with a Chai teabag. Just put 6 oz of water and 1 oz of milk in a glass measuring cup, nuke it till it's boiling (a minute and 20 seconds ro so), pour over tea bag and let it "steep" for 3 minutes or so... swirl the bag a bit. add a packet of sugar and stir. Chai LAtte...The cider is REALLY good, but you can only get Grove Square cider on here, I can't find it ni any store in Miami at least...... There is a 54 count box of Cider, 27 of each. That should last awhile, then order another.As far as the cocoa, Milk and dark chaocolate arent' much different, Dark's just a little more chocolatey. Not like candy bars, dark chocolate's a tiny bit bitter. I Like Irish Crème cocoa the best though, and caramel's good, but cant' get either of those anywhere around here either. But there's a variety pack of those on here as well lol....MY local walkmart you can get Grove Square French Vanilla, Hazelnut (the best) and caramel cappucinnos and milk chocolate cocoa for like $5 a box of 18.

Premium Organic Stevia Powder 30g - USDA Certified All Natural Alternative Sweetener 320x Sweeter than Sugar No Artificial additives & fillers ingredients, Industrial Grade Highly Concentrated ExtractThis pack has a great variety. There wasn't a single blend that I wasn't happy with. The hot cocos were delicious.

We love trying new keurig brands and flavors so this was the perfect choice. So far we've tried a few and love a the ones we've tried so far. It's great! You will always have choices and options to choose from.

Have not heard of some of these coffees before. But all good so far. If you want to broaden you taste buds, try some of these.

Worked great for 3 cups, on the fourth one it stopped working, it would take in water and saw it was heating it up, then it would never dispense the coffee. It looks like if your not paying over a hundred dollars for your coffee maker your not going to get anything that works.

update:
I managed to get it work again, it looks like the k-cup dented instead of puncturing the bottom, the system must have a over flow feature to prevent the fluid for flowing back to the internal reservoir. After rotating the k-cup and reinserting I heard the cup get punctured and then the system function correctly. I can't really blame the coffee maker, for this the k-cup are off brand so the materials are cheep.

I have owned this Mr. Coffee single serve coffee brewer since the fall of 2013. Before buying this specific coffee brewer I had in mind that I wanted something that would provide me with a quick cup of coffee before I was off to class in the morning. My decision was between this black coffee maker and a Keurig maker. I am pleased to say that I have had no problems with going with the Mr. Coffee route. Here are a few words on what I think of the brewer.
Advantages: The advantages to this product is that it is slightly cheaper than a name brand Keurig. It is very aesthetically pleasing. It matches all of my black appliances and that makes me happy. You don't have to worry about it not looking right with your kitchen if you have a black color scheme. Another thing that is an advantage for this Mr. Coffee single serve coffee brewer is that a regular coffee cups fit nicely underneath the spout. Whether the cup is short and fat or tall and skinny.
Disadvantages: There are a few disadvantages when considering purchasing this product. The disadvantages include that the largest amount of coffee that you can make at one time, is 16 ounces. If you are familiar with to go coffee mugs, then you are aware that the average size is 20 ounces. This being said you either are cut short on coffee for the morning as you take your coffee to go, or are forced to use a serving and a half to get the amount of coffee that you want.
Conclusion: In conclusion, I have had a lot of luck with this style and brand of single serve coffee maker. It is great for someone who doesn’t drink lots and lots of coffee in the morning, since you have to make one serving at a time. If you are someone that is happy with making a 16oz serving in the morning and good for the day, this is would be a great fit for you. For a more avid coffee drinker, then there might be a better choice of coffee maker for you and your kitchen.

I received this coffee maker for Christmas 3-4 Christmas' ago from my sister. About a year after, we received notification that there was a recall so I followed the instructions to send it back, and got my replacement. Easy as pie. That was 2 years ago almost. So basically I have had this same machine for almost 4 years and not any problems. I haven't had any leaking issues, and the only thing was the recall (and thankfully that was the case because my unit definitely was beginning to have the issues stated). So when this little gem of a coffee maker decided on Friday that it had had enough, I went looking for a replacement. (I tried cleaning the heck out of it, but nothing was fixing it) None was to be had at any store I went to, so I ordered it online here at Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow! I am hoping that my new coffee maker will last me just as long!

I bought this for my wife for Christmas since she's been bugging for one for a while. As soon as it came out of the box, every member of the family wanted something from it. It seems to be equally good at making coffee, tea and hot chocolate. I was not that interested in the whole K-cup brewer thing until I started trying the different coffees available. Now I'm a total convert!

That said, I have two issues:

1. The water reservoir is a bit small but I knew that going in so I can't fault the manufacturer. I suggest that if you are going to use this a lot for more than two cups a day, get one with a larger water capacity or keep it close to your sink.

2. The only real complaint I have with it is that it randomly dispenses 6 ounces even with the selector switch set for 10 ounces. Sometimes it happens after someone has switched from 6 ounce to 10 ounce but most times, it is totally random. It might not seem like a big deal to some people but when you are expecting a good mug of coffee and you get half a mug (especially if you are like me and NEED coffee first thing), it's a big deal.

We live in rural Vermont and get our water from a well. So far, we haven't had any issues with hard water effecting this machine. I know some machines don't react well to hard water so that's a plus with this one (so far). This is a good, basic, simple machine that would probably work well for most people.

Luv this Mr. Coffee brewer. Yes, it is official licensed by Keurig so all the K-cups fit nicely in place. Keep in mind this brewer is very basic. No fancy options included. It will not wake you up in the morning with an alarm tone or give you the latest weather forecast. You have 2 cup sizes to choose from. The 6oz or the 10oz size. The reservoir will hold a little over 2 full cups of water. This is more than enough for folks who have one or two cups of coffee per day. My wife and I very rarely have more than two cups per day so this machine works out perfectly. If you have a large family of multiple cup per day coffee drinkers, this machine is most certainly not for you. You can also use the official Keurig reusable coffee filter in this machine. I own one and it works just fine. No issues at all. I feel that the power cord is way too short but that is the only gripe I have for this coffee machine.
When you un-box your brewer, run the machine 2 times without a K-Cup at the 10oz setting just to get any impurities out from the unit before you actually brew your first cup of delicious coffee.
Clean-up is very easy and hassle free. After I brew my coffee and I'm sure nobody else is going to brew a cup, I run the unit without a K-Cup just to clear out any grinds and such. Remove the reservoir, rinse out & let it air dry. After you remove the reservoir, press and hold the power button to drain any remaining water that will linger in the internal tank. This helps to insure that your next cup of coffee is as fresh as possible. Also be sure to pop out the K-cup holder from the unit. It's the black plastic piece where you insert your K-cup. Fairly easy to remove. Rinse this out under running water after you're done with the coffee maker. Believe me, your brewed cup of coffee will always taste fresh if you do these simple clean-up tips. It will only take you a few extra minutes. So have a cup of coffee and enjoy.

Not all of these are compatible with my 2.0! I guess I should've read through all the questions and reviews first to figure that out, but well, I was in a hurry and didn't do it. I am getting a reusable filter anyway, so I'll just empty those into my reusable one and hope that works, but it would be nice if the description said something about them not being compatible with the 2.0 so I didn't have to dig through questions and reviews to discover that.**Editing because the selection deserves a good rating at least! This had a nice variety of different flavors within a few different brands. It's a great way to try out some different things without having to buy big quantities of them. Some are good, some aren't so good, but now we know what we like and don't like.**

I misread it. I'm not too happy I got duplicates, but it is in the product details which I had to click to see more. Same with not working with the Keurig 2.0, I saw by clicking more that it actually says it might not in the description. In that case, I only took away one star instead of giving 3. Just wasn't what I expected, but it does mention both.

First let me start off by saying that for me to give 5 stars a product must go above and beyond my expectation. That being said I rate this product at 4 stars because it has met my expectations. This was a nice variety pack to have in case of those unexpected guests who show up or visiters who are staying and you do not know what they may like. Though I do feel that the counts of each were slightly unequal. Getting more of cide than coffee and tea. I understand this is a careity pack but there was a little less varitey than I expected.

If you are looking for a variety pack, with a mix of coffee, tea, ciders, hot cocoa and cappuccinos, this is the way to go. This 30 count mix of K-cups is great for trying new products or for when you have guests over that may have different tastes than you.Personally, I would not have purchased this just for myself. I am more of a cider, hot cocoa and (sporadically) coffee; the rest would go to waste. I purchased this with the intent to share this with a coworker and to try different brands of k-cups.All of the K-cups worked fine EXCEPT the happy Brew Shop k-cups. Unlike the foil sealed traditional k-cups, these were sealed with a thin plastic that made more of a mess as I'm not sure K-cups are meant to be sealed with that material.Otherwise, it's a great product

before buying I read that other reviewers lamented that ot wasn't all coffee or there was too many of the non-coffee cups in this selection.Well, this is a nice selection of all sorts of beverages that can be brewed with the Keurig K cup one cup brewers. HOWEVER, if you have the new version 2.0 Keurig brewer, these won't work because that don't have that "bar code" arount the lip of the cups. I read of work arounds where you cut out a bar code ring and slip it arount the non 2.0 k cups to fool the brewer, It might work. The selections that are included are quite diverse and all, so far have been pretty tasty. I would reconmmend it.

We bought a Keurig 2.0. We found out that the K-cups that don't have the Keurig symbol does not work in the machine. Some of the K cups in this variety pack do not have that symbol so we have take the coffee out and put into a reusable k cup. As for the coffee and tea selection, it is a great variety and we have enjoyed it.

I've had this product for about a year and it has broken in two different spots. It's a waste of money. It doesn't even work now because on of the plastic adapters broke and the k-cup holder won't close. Do yourself a favor and buy something decent.

Update: I contacted the manufacturer about the problem and they replaced it. It was really simple, I just told them the issue and they asked for a confirmation of my shipping address and they sent a new one out. Great customer service and very easily handled!

Love everything about it except the tiny reservoir. It only holds enough water for 2 cups of coffee. It's just not as handy as one that would allow me to make 5 or 6 before refilling.

small and inexpensive with an attractive albeit not very robust design - but they're not kidding about "single" serve.

unlike many other k-cup brewers, this one heats only enough water for one brew - and then shuts down automatically. it only takes a few minutes for this unit to brew one cup - but each brew starts from the beginning. there is no reservoir of heated water available for immediate use by the next person waiting to make a cup.

the water reservoir is also very small. it holds only enough water for a few cups of coffee.

a reasonable option if you're a solitary coffee drinker. spend a little more and get a larger brewer if you intend to use it for several coffee drinkers at the same time.

Great value for your first single cup Keurig machine.

Have used the KG5 for 2 years and it still works fine except for one significant problem: the 10 oz setting no longer works and produces only a 6 oz cup. This problem started gradually after under a year of 2 cups/day use, then got progressively worse. I tried cleaning by running vinegar thru the machine as recommended by Mr. Coffee which helped for only a limited time and was difficult to do because repeated rinsing was needed before the cleaned machine would work at all. I now use only the 6oz setting and often run it twice using the same K-cup to generate a 12 oz cup that is somewhat weak, but acceptable for me.

Note that others have complained about problems using reusable K-cup holders, but I had no problems using two different brands on occasion, Ecobrew and Solofill (my only problem is that I accidentally threw away my first reusable because I was so used to discarding the used single serve pod each morning). For the past year I have switched to using alternative disposable pods from San Francisco Bay Coffee that are compatible with any machine that uses K-cups, are cheaper, taste just as good and are available from Amazon.

I would still recommend this model for those who want to try out a Keurig type coffee maker without making a large investment. I got my money's worth out of this unit and will be looking to upgrade with a better model soon; maybe another Mr. Coffee model, such as the KG6-001.

I am not completely happy with the new Keurig-style Mr. Coffee. 1) there are only 2 size cups that are rather extreme: tiny expresso size and XL and even THAT is determined by the machine not the customer. I may indicate I want a small cup, but the machine may decide to give me an XL. So I am always guessing. 2) It fills from the back so we are not able to view the water level w/o removing the cover. 3)Sometimes the coffee is hot and it takes longer than a Keurig to heat.

In defense of the machine I will say one feature I like is that it automatically shuts itself off after the cup has brewed. The Keurig does - eventually, But I like that it shuts off right away in this forgetful household,. But I would not purchase it again.

when I got my machine I was very excited to get all these great flavors, however, I didn't know this, several cups didn't work in my K machine, kept getting the "opps" message and had to throw away several cups. I now know to make sure all Kcup purchases in the future are K cup authorized. The coffees, teas and cocoas were great, just hated to toss the ones I didn't get to try.

This served its purpose for me, but I'm sure there was a better way for me to try out a variety of k-cups after getting my first Keurig...and trying to start drinking coffee as an adult. Don't ignore the other reviews that say this is mostly NOT coffee. It's mostly not coffee. You'll get a truly shocking amount of apple cider. I didn't even realize that many people drank apple cider...at all, ever. You'll get a few delicious cappuccinos (which is why I got this variety pack and why they get 3 stars rather than 1 or 2), some hot chocolate, a small pile of tea (only one of which is green tea, if you're even that lucky...and one "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" amidst the floral, black, etc.), a huge pile of apple cider, and a little coffee. My understanding is that this experience varies, but I can't attest to this personally.I received no duplicates in any of the flavors except apple cider. In the apple cider, I received multiples of several, and probably about 7-9 apple ciders total out of 30 k-cups. Seriously? This seller is just padding orders with apple cider.This helped me figure out which coffee to buy next, but not by giving me a variety of options to compare. I realized I like light roast better than dark. That's all this helped me with. That and teaching me that cappuccino is delicious (though I later discovered the French Vanilla has 80 calories, so, no thanks).The vast majority of these k-cups are gathering dust in my k-cup drawer, and I'm sure they'll eventually line a landfill, unused. But if you have diverse tastes and really want to be sure you get some tea, hot chocolate, coffee, cappuccino, and apple cider (lots of apple cider) then this one could work well for you.

All of the flavored coffee/cappucinos are sweetened with fake sugar. It makes my tongue curl up, I cannot stand the taste of splenda/equal/sucralose/stevia!! I am so glad I bought this sampler pack before buying a full box of any of them. Terrible. The plain coffees were good, except for Emeril's one. It literally tasted like cigarette butts soaked in water, then lit on fire again. Pure hell. Not even water, sugar, and creamer could save it. Gross. Celestial teas were delish but expensive to rebuy. TLDR:1. If you hate fake sugar, don't get a Keurig if you like creamy/flavored drinks. They all have fake sugar.2. Stick with breakfast and medium roast blends; Emeril's dark blend is for Satan only.3. The teas are good, especially lemon zinger, but the price for these cups vs. bags is almost 40 cents more a cup.4. There are way too many spiced cider cups in this sampler.

Interesting selection but loads of doubles and triples. I had more of the spiced apple cider than anything. "Cappuccinos" are incredibly sweet. If you wanted a tasty, sweet hot beverage for a cold winter night, but you aren't diabetic or prone to sugar-hyperness, I say order. Also, if you truly enjoy spiced apple cider, go for it.Not really worth it for the coffee choices.

I purchased these right around the same time as purchasing a cop machine that has a K-cup brewer in the same unit and was so excited (to be lazy hah). But then, after trying a few different cups, all of different flavors, they were NOT tasting good. They tasted like plastic, like chemical to be more exact. Thinking it was just the machine being new and not use before,I cleaned my machine a few times, ran lots of hot water through both the drip coffee side and the K-cup side, and then tried another cup. It still tasted like the ones before! I couldn't believe it. So I contacted Amazon and they refunded me after I sent back the unused cups.I don't know what was actually the problem, because every K-cup I've used since then tastes great. But the 3 stars was for the prompt delivery and fantastic customer service from Amazon and the speedy refund. I'm hoping this was just a fluke and that no one else has had to deal with this.

This was a nice way to try a lot of different k cups for my new Keurig. I liked most of them, but wish there was less stuff from Grove Square. Their cocoas and ciders have a very strong sucralose taste which I really don't like. For that reason, I will not be buying this variety pack again.

This Mr. Coffee Single Serve Coffee Brewer was great for the firs couple of times, but then became temperamental and would only work when it wanted to. We had to upgrade after a short period of time.

I just got this about a week ago. I previously had and LOVED the Mr Coffee Single Brewer that preceded this model. I had it for 2 years and had no problems. This machine seems very temperamental. I can only brew 1 KCup worth of coffee each morning. If I attempt the 2nd cup the machine only makes noise like it's working & the "brewing" button lights up but nothing comes out. I am probably going to return it. I'm pretty disappointed.

Just don't do it! I got my first one of these a few years ago on Lightening deal. It broke after one month. It would only make half cups of coffee. I cleaned it called customer service and they decided it needed to be replaced. A few month later and the same thing happened and it was sputtering out half cups of coffee. Again, I called and customer service said its been an issue and they will replace. Guess what happens next. Ya, the 3rd machine stopped working after about 4 more months. I couldn't even muster up the desire to call and get a 4th machine. I got an actual real Keurig and its been going strong for a year now.
Just totally disappointing experience.

Review for: Mr. Coffee Single Serve Coffee Brewer BVMC-KG5-001

OVERALL
- Nice design
- Poor execution
- Non-existent Customer Service.

THE GOOD
1. The machine does make decent coffee from K-cups, but in my past experience all coffee makers that use K-cups make decent coffee (assuming you find a brand/flavor of coffee you like).
2. The temperature was plenty hot for me, but I don't like scalding hot coffee.
3. I liked the size and overall appearance. I have always thought there's no need to make a ginormous coffee machine that just takes up space, a la Keurig.

THE BAD
1. The removable water reservoir sits on top of the unit. The water reservoir on my machine leaked the first time I used it and then every time I put more water in it than needed for one cup of coffee. (Even with that small amount of water, the reservoir still leaked until the water level was drawn down.) So much water leaked that a drip line of white mineral deposits quickly established itself on the side of the machine, from the reservoir all the way down to the counter. I was able to determine the connection between the reservoir and the body of the coffee maker was at fault, but I could find no way to fix the connection.
2. OK, so maybe I got a lemon. Mr. Coffee wants you to contact their Customer Service via the online form on their website. I used that website form, describing the problem and providing all the information they could possibly want - and ...never heard back from them. That tells me that either the leak issue is prevalent and they don't want to deal with it - or their Customer Service Dept. is non-functional - or maybe both are true. Either way, they don't respect or value their customers.

THEN WHAT?
I was out some cash for this Mr. Coffee machine, so I couldn't bring myself to just throw it away or Freecycle the problem to someone else. So I ended up using it for quite some time, never pouring more water in the reservoir than needed for one cup of coffee - and placing a small sponge next the base to catch the inevitable leak. I've owned several Mr. Coffee machines over the years and was always happy with them. Since they don't stand by their products - Never again. As Gomer Pyle once said: Fool me once, shame on you ...

And now? After my experience with the Mr. Coffee machine and their lack of Customer Service I decided to go with Keurig. That took a lot of consideration as I've always felt the Keurig machines are too big and overpriced. After watching sales and eBay for several months I finally found a very good price on a genuine Keurig machine. I disabled the DRM restrictions and am thoroughly enjoying that machine (a K550). I just wish the machine was smaller.

Compared to the Mr. Coffee machine, I can get a noticeably stronger cup of coffee with the Keurig machine. If you're a serious coffee drinker like me, you may also be happier with a Keurig machine. And if you're a gambler, the 'Mr. Coffee Single Serve Coffee Brewer BVMC-KG5-001' just might be in your future.

I've had this coffee maker about 2 years. For about the first year, it worked ok. However, in the past year, I can only make 1 cup of coffee every 6-8 hours since, after it brews the first cup, the second is either only partially full, or it does not brew at all. The orange "Brew - Off" light just flashes at me no matter what I do. I've de-scaled it, unplugged it, un-clogged the needles, but nothing seems to work. Yesterday, I could only run it once before it completely stopped working. I had to wait 24 hours before I could get it to brew again.

I had several that won't even work with my Keurig! Thankfully I have one of the kcups you can put your own coffee grounds into and was able to dump these in there to be able to use them.. but still. Don't advertise this as "k cups" when half of them don't even work with a Keurig. Also, mine had hardly any actual coffee. Just a lot of ciders and hot chocolates.

Quite disappointed. Item is described as 6 pods of coffee, 6 tea pods, 6 ciders, 6 hot cocoa & 6 cappuccinos. It arrived with 1 cider, 3 tea pods & all the rest were coffees. I can understand substituting with a variety but let's at least get close to the original offer. I would have emailed the seller to see if they would make it right but that wasn't an option & leaving a review is...PS -it did arrive before it's scheduled date, so that was a plus.

I gave my daughter and son in law a Keurig for Christmas. Since the three children don't drink coffee I thought this would be a good variety pack as it had ciders nd hot chocolate! Of the 30 cups listed in the description, only 3 were actually shi[[ed. All the rest were something not listed in their description. Only a couple hot chocolates and ciders. VERY DISAPPOINTED. Why list what is in the variety pack if you are not going to send it?

I'm still going to enjoy the coffee, but why not make a sample pack that's just for keurig OR just for keurig 2.0 instead of mixing them together? Or how about sending your customers the k-cups that are listed in the description?..Its a bit disappointing. I think I'll just break down and buy an 18 pack of cappuccino cups from the store next time.

I wasn't happy with my purchase. I knew going in spending $20 on 30-count wasn't going to get me exactly what I wanted, however I did expect a bit moreAs my title says, I wasn't too thrilled with the selections of flavors. First of all there were very few plain coffee - I think 4 total. The rest are flavored coffee/cappuccinos, a few tea pods. The majority is cocoa of the flavored ciders. It's like buying mixed nuts and getting mostly peanuts, a few almonds, cashews, etc.Very disappointed. Everything looked like someone just scooped up a bunch of random pods with no rhyme or reason to the choices - the only similarity to the cocoa and flavored ciders was the looked like all the fall flavors like cinnamon apple, pumpkin spice.The cocoas, what little coffees there were, the other stuff were okay tasting.FOLLOW UP - the Happy Meadow cappuccinos do NOT fit the Hamilton Beach models single-serve makersChange "I probably won't buy these again - I would say there a 99% chance I won't" to "I definitely won't buy these again" Nor will I buy any with the Happy Meadows brand.

I wanted this to be a fun way to try out such a wide variety, which I guess it was except a lot of them just weren't enjoyable. Specifically: as others have said, the cider and a few others had such a strong imitation sweetener taste that I couldn't finish the cup. I mean, you know the taste of cider, right? It's pleasing. But then imaging imitation apple with like Sweet N Low in it. It was gross. Also - and I'm sorry, I'm posting this a few months after so I forget which ones, but at least three cups were stale - like, the contents were hardened into a block and simply couldn't brew. They were not expired, so this might have been due to improper storage temperatures in a warehouse (?). I wouldn't know. The coffees included some really cheap brands that tasted yucky. I drank them by adding extra cream. I am a pretty frugal person but I threw away about half of these I'd say. I would never buy this package again.

I bought this item a little over a month ago and it suddenly started only making a 6 oz of cup of coffee instead of 10. Took it apart and cleaned it, including the nozzle, and it made one 10 oz cup and then went back to only making the 6 oz. When I took the K-cup out and just brewed water, it made a 10 oz cup of water with coffee grounds in it. I've gone through this process several times. Now I am stuck with a defective coffee maker. I have always used Mr. Coffee makers, even before K-Cups were invented, but will never buy another item made by that company.

My first purchase worked very well for less than week. While it worked, I was very satisfied. A few days later, every attempt to brew would end with a full overflow tank. It would not attempt to heat or brew. Amazon did quickly replace the item. However, less than a week later... same issue. This time, it will heat and brew on the 6oz setting. The 10oz setting will not heat or brew.

Update: Mr Coffee replaced this unit with a different model.

Absolutely do not buy this coffee maker. I have had it just under a year now and the pump has gotten so weak that it will not finish a cup of coffee. I have used purified drinking water the whole time and only factory K Cups. I have contacted the company and they told me to de-calcify it which I did, but that's not the issue, the pump is weak. I am currently going through the process of getting a warranty repair or replacement done but that's only because this happened within the 1 year warranty. Had it been 2 more months I would have been throwing out this $70 item and buying another one? That's not acceptable, even by today's low quality standards with disposable items.
Another issue is that the maker is way bigger than it needs to be. There's nothing in it that needs to be so large that it occupies so much counter space.
I am looking at some other makers right now since I know that even if this one gets replaced under warranty the new one will probably have the same issue. I do not know which one is the best one but I do know that this one is NOT the one to buy. Steer clear.

I bought my machine in May, and found that there was some interval in between brewings. I could live with that, worse however it seems to malfunction very often and instead of brewing the full cup, It brews half a cup even though the full cup is selected. I tried descaling as instructed in the user manual, but it still brews the small cup. I am rather disappointed and would probably be looking for a better machine very soon. I'm just sorry I wasted my money!!

Update! After the above review, Mr. Coffee contacted me and sent me another machine. I Received it in November 2014, less than one year later having done all that was suggested in the user manual, and "babying" it along, its malfunctioning in exactly the same way as the previous one. Quite frankly, I don't want another one. I'll just write it off as a piece of crap and move on!

My family bought this item for Christmas. By March it was only brewing a third of the amount of coffee it was supposed to. I later found out that my sister was experiencing the same problem with hers. We threw it ours out since it wasn't working. When I called the company, they wouldn't send a replacement because I didn't have the numbers listed on the plug of the machine. Lesson learned. Keep track of the plug numbers! Better yet, buy a Keurig !

This was the second Mr. Coffee appliance that we have had that was total junk! (The ice tea maker being the other.) This household will never buy anything else by Mr. Coffee. They make junk and they don't stand by their customers!

If I could give a zero star I would. As the other review with pictures stated most of the cups were expired. All but 5 were old as in 2015. The ones that weren't expired were still bubbled up on top. NO NAME BRAND CUPS IN THIS PACKAGE. I got such name brands as Value Foods discount coffee, Authenic, Same As and so on. I wasted $20.00 on something I have to throw away. Some of these had actual chunks inside the cup. I could shake them and hear it bouncing around the cup. I feel totally mislead and flat out lied to. This is a fraudulent sale. Do not even take the chance!

Absolute garbage. Not one cup matched the picture or description. Came loose in a plain cardboard box; most expired. Almost all were coffee, which I especially did not want & expressly ordered it due to the small # of coffees (supposedly) included. Also, quite a few are "Great Value" brand, which is Wal-Mart. I don't have a problem buying Wal-Mart coffee; but I'm not going to pay a premium for it.This vendor WILL take this back & give me a refund; also I am going to pursue this so either this vendor cleans up its act or Amazon drops them. I work for an Amazon vendor and we are held to very high standards so this situation is surprising to me

I ordered this because it was supposed to be a variety of coffee, tea, cappuccino, hot chocolate and cider. Unfortunately I received 24 k-cups of coffee, 5 of tea, 1 of cider, 0 cappuccino, and 0 hot chocolate. This advertising was very misleading. Next time I will just order a variety of coffees (from another company) since that is essentially what I received anyway.

While I did receive a variety of flavors, I did not receive a single one of the k-cups pictured above. I received 30 knock-off brand k-cups. There was no Grove Square, Twinings, Bigelow, Celestial, Donut Shop, Caribou, Emeril, etc. Instead I get Snapple, McDonald's Pumpkin Spice, among other random brands not pictured. I would not recommend this unless you're okay with receiving a random variety of things not pictured. Also, the item is non-returnable, which is not stated anywhere. Luckily, Amazon is AWESOME and very helpful. I do not recommend this pack. Keep looking!

I didn't receive any cappuccino or hot cocoa. Only 1 Apple cider which it specifies 3.. I brought this solely for the variety of cappuccinos and tea. This should be less than a star

At least one of them does not work on my new machine and I am NOT testing the other 29. Machine takes KCups but has some fancy optical scanner that rejects these types of KCups for reasons beyond my understanding.