Keurig K55 Review: What Do 5000 Reviews Say About Fabled K55?

Everybody knows that a college student can’t go a day without a coffee. It was the same but for me, being awake for more than 3 hours was the worst nightmare. Of course, I didn’t go through any Keurig K55 review back then. The shared-kitchen cooking stove is what I used to make coffee. Imagine cleaning all those coffee bean pucks.

So the first thing when I got a job (the one with a 30-minute commute) is to get a coffee maker. The Keurig K55 was my first choice – even back then it was on all best-seller lists and the highest rated Keurig machine.

One look at it and you can see why this was my dream in college:

keurig k55 review
The coffee maker everybody wants on their kitchen top – The Keurig K55.

I have to admit in this Keurig K55 review that I still use it from time to time when I’m in a hurry. Yes, I prefer the big expensive espresso machines where you can grind your coffee beans and all that, but if I need a coffee in 2 minutes, I just flip a K-Cup in the K55 and press ‘GO’.

It is a fantastic machine. Now we see it as a ‘golden standard’ of single-serve coffee makers and pretty much any new model has to capture the spirit of the classic Keurig K55. If you want to educate yourself a bit about single-serve coffee machines you should check the single-serve coffee machine guide in our Coffee Academy.

Even after almost 5,000 reviews on Amazon, it has a 4+ star rating. That’s amazing by itself!

Overall Score: 4.6 out of 5 stars

The price of Keurig K55 is in the middle-end. Translation? Very affordable, especially for all the features and finesse you get. Even a college student can get one for this price:

 

Keurig K55 comes with features that someone who loves coffee vitally needs. For example, it has a record heating up timeON/OFF switch does the trick automatically.

Once you had your first cup of coffee, you can have a second and a third (and, yes, even the forth) without refilling the water tank. That’s a large 48 oz. tank that just keeps on giving the coffee elixir of gods (yes, when reviewing Keurig K55 you’ll see it makes tremendously great coffee).

Ok, let’s get into the Keurig K55 review and testing:

Keurig K55 Review And Testing

In addition to thinking about buying one great coffee maker, I’ve been reading a lot of positive Keurig K55 reviews. The machine was (and is, of course) being recommended by baristas and coffee gurus for home use.

So I bought the Keurig K55 – it was one of my first coffee makers. I’ve installed on the kitchen counter the day it arrived. That was a piece of cake. I thought I’ll have to use a screwdriver or something but Keurig K55 comes pretty much assembled apart from a few bits and pieces.

Part of the reason why I choose the Keurig K55 was also the price. I mean, if you compare the Keurig machines, the K55 is actually one of the most affordable ones:

Top 5 Keurig Coffee Makers

Coffee Maker:Keurig K15
keurig k15
Keurig K55
keurig k55
Keurig K250
keurig k250
Keurig K475
keurig k475
Keurig K575
keurig k575
Quality:★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Feature:The Smallest'Golden Standard'The Tall OneThe Best LookingThe Biggest
Price:$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Rating:★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Stock:Check PriceCheck PriceCheck PriceCheck PriceCheck Price

Of course, you can also check out an article in Coffee Academy about Keurig single-serve coffee makers.

How To Brew A Cup (Actually K-Cup) With K55

Ok, the deal with Keurig machines is always that you’re connected to the Keurig pods. There are good and bad things about this:

  • Good: K-Cups retain the freshness of the coffee and you get them in every imaginable taste (my favorite is vanilla, yum!)
  • Bad: You are recommended to use K-Cups with Keurig K55 only (but, get this, other pods also fit). Luckily the original K-Cups are not $1/piece like some Nespresso cups. If you get, for example, a 96-pack value deal, a 1 K-Cup will cost you only $0.35.

As I’ve mentioned Nespresso, you can check what are the differences between Keurig and Nespresso machines.

Oh, and the first coffee is already taken care of!

When you buy the standard K55 Keurig machine, you get 4 K-cups with it for free. I did buy the 96-pack deal of original Keurig pods with the machine but of course, I started testing the K55 with the 4 I got for free.

Water Tank – Luckily A Large One

First thing is first – fill the water tank. The K55 has 48 oz. water reservoir; that’s quite big. For example, the K575 has the biggest water tank and it’s 80 oz., and Nespresso Inissia has one of the smallest ones – it holds only 24 ounces.

Here some Keurig K55 math for you:

With the Keurig pods and K55, you can make 6, 8 or 10-ounce shots. With the 48 oz. tank, how many cups of coffee can you make in one go?

If you’re doing 10 oz. coffees, you can make 4 of those and still have water for an 8 oz. one.

Most of the people, however, enjoy 6 oz. coffee shots – those are the strongest. You can make 8 coffee shots without a refill.

That’s quite nice. Imagine having to refill the water tank after every few shots, it’s a bother.

Keurig K55 Control Panel

The K55 model has quite the control panel. Before you want to make your first coffee, educate yourself a bit about what each button does.

This is not your simplest coffee maker control panel. Some only have ‘BREW’ button and that’s that. We’ll review the Keurig K55 control panel in a second, here is how it looks like:

keurig k55 control panel
Keurig K55 control panel – below you see 3 different coffee sizes.

The upper side is informative. If you need to add water, the “Add Water” will light up. Pretty simple, right?

The descale is a special cleaning program that really helps you clean Keurig machines. When it’s on, the light is also on. The same with heating – when the machine is heating up, you see the light there.

Be sure to always have a turned on “Auto Off” option. That will automatically turn off the Keurig K55 if you don’t use it for 2 hours. This is for saving energy but I would prefer the automatical shut down in about 10 minutes (2 hours is pretty long).

The power button is an easy ON/OFF switch.

The most important part of the Keurig K55 control panel are the 3 blue icons. Each of them represents a different K-Cup size6, 8 or 10 ounces. When you have placed your cup in the machine, just press one of these buttons and voila! your coffee is being made.

I tried the Hazelnut K-Cup and it was truly amazing. Was it everything I expected from K55? Pretty much.

But I was in love when I tried the vanilla pod by Keurig. Not only it’s a fine brew as far as good coffee is concerned, but the taste of K-Cup really adds to the whole coffee experience for me.

How To Clean Keurig K55?

Ok, after trying out several cups of coffee I was really up and excited. So much so that I tested how to clean the Keurig K55 – if you know anything about me, is that I hate cleaning. Be it coffee makers or my flat.

Here the K55 surprised me quite a bit. I know how to clean the ABC plastic of the machine – the coffee doesn’t stick to it that much at all. I always use a wet cloth and just go over the whole machine every few days or so. It takes 20 seconds.

But it is important to clean the internal components once every six months. And that’s usually a bother for me.

However, here is where I was surprised when reviewing the Keurig K55. The machine has an inbuilt descaling program. Ever heard of Keurig descaling before? If you didn’t, don’t worry – I learned when I bought the Keurig K55.

When you use pretty much any machine that uses water, you’ll eventually get calcium deposits or ‘scale’. Cleaning that scale is a pain in the ass if you have to do it manually. But this program of descaling cleans it automatically! It’s like magic.

The easiest way to see how the descaling process works is to check out the video on Amazon (click the photos to the left and you’ll see the video there).

Of course, the Keurig K55 filters can be changed from time to time as well to keep the water the machine uses clean.

Who Is Keurig K55 Model Best For?

Who is the K55 not for?

Well, I was amazed by it so much so I’m still using it after some years (even though I could use one of those expensive espresso machines).

Why?

 It’s quick and simple and makes delicious coffee. That’s pretty much Keurig K55 overall.  

If it were up to me, I would use it even in a coffee shop. It makes great coffee and it’s easy to use, what more do you need, right?

Seriously though, if you’re like me and need to be out of the door in 5 minutes in the morning, this is a perfect choice. I make a shot (or two if it’s a really early morning) in my travel mug – supported by Keurig K55 by the way – and am on my way to the office.

Overall, it’s one of the best home coffee makers. I would be reluctant to recommend it for a busy office – it’s a delicate machine that needs love and, well, if you just want some coffee and go back to work that’s not really appreciating a good brew.

Pros And Cons Of The Classic K55 Model By Keurig

After the overall classic Keurig K55 review, here is the summary of pros and cons:

PROS

  • Long-time Best-Seller (that alone tells you something).
  • Really fast coffee makers – makes a cup in under a minute.
  • Big water tank – 48 oz. – you can make 6 cups of coffee without a refill.
  • Informative control panel – with simple ‘Brew Me Coffee’ buttons.
  • Supports 6, 8 and 10 oz. coffee sizes with K-Cup pods.
  • Automatic cleaning with descaling program.
  • Will hold for years on end (at least mine does).
  • Hand down the best coffee maker under $100.

CONS

  • You should only use K-Cups (just be sure to get a good deal).
  • Few more buttons on control panel – they’re easy to understand though.
  • Not for a busy office – to much fuss about the machine.
  • Doesn’t make cappuccino or latte.
  • Might be too noisy for some.
  • Does not support bigger K-Carafe pods.

 

Final Verdict On K55

In the world today, time is becoming one of the most important factors. If you can save some time when making coffee, why not? Here is where the Keurig K55 can shave some minutes, in addition to giving you a great coffee.

Compared with some of the issues I had over the years with other devices, I love the K55 because it does what it says it will do – without the unnecessary fuss.

I’ll keep it on my kitchen counter for when I need to grab coffee quickly.

 

Summary
product image
Author Rating
1star1star1star1star1star
Aggregate Rating
5 based on 4 votes
Brand Name
Keurig
Product Name
Keurig K55
Price
USD 99.99
Product Availability
Available in Stock

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