| Photo | Product | Features | Pros | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Cuisinart DGB-900BC Grind & Brew Thermal 12-Cup Automatic Coffeemaker | Uses standard K-Cup single-serving coffee pods | 48-ounce removable water reservoir with a water filter | View on Amazon |
 | BLACKDECKER 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker CM2035B | Dual function – brews carafe and single-serve coffee | Adjustable cup rest to fit tall mugs | View on Amazon |
 | Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe | Perfect Pour spout to eliminate spills | Evenstream showerhead | View on Amazon |
 | Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker with 12 Cup Capacity & Internal Storage Coffee Pot | Gold-tone, commercial permanent filter | 14-cup glass carafe with decorative stainless-steel handle | View on Amazon |
 | Mr. Coffee Optimal Brew 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker System | Brews single-serve and carafe | Intelligent microprocessor to ensure consistency and perfection | View on Amazon |
There’s a reason companies sell coffee in business-supply stores: caffeine is as much of a necessity in the workplace as the other staples on your office supply list. It may not be a scientific fact, but I’d say an employee with good coffee in her cup is happier and more productive.
So, don’t think of purchasing a coffee maker for your small business as an expense—it’s an investment, and I guarantee it’s one that your employees will thank you for. There are equal parts of art and science to making a good cup of coffee, so a good coffee maker should do more than just drip unfiltered hot water on coffee grounds. After all, your employees want a good cup of coffee, not a pot of burnt-bean water. If you want to deliver quality coffee to your employees, here are a few tips on what to look for in a good machine
All Reviewed Products Contain Paid Links To Amazon.com
Coffee Makers For Small Businesses:
- Carafe vs single-serve – generally speaking, a coffee machine that produces a carafe of coffee is the more economical choice for a business. Ground coffee is less expensive than coffee pods, and you’ll likely be restocking coffee less often this way. That said, there is an argument for going the extra mile to provide single-serve coffee options to your employees. Yes, it costs more, but it affords more options, always provides a piping hot cup (think of the frown on your face when you find cold coffee in a carafe, and not the cold brew kind)
- K-Cup coffee pods – if you choose to go with single-serve coffee pods, go with K-Cup pods. They’re by and large the most popular style, so the pods will fit in most automatic coffee makers. They’re easier to find in more stores, and there’s a significantly greater selection (over 400 coffee varieties from 75 brands, to be precise).
- Cleaning – coffee makers will inevitably develop calcium deposits (also known as scale) over time, so it’s important to get a coffee maker that’s easy to clean and avoid unsightly scale issues.
- Removable water reservoir – depending on how many employees you have, somebody may need to refill the water in the coffee maker several times throughout the day. If you have a lot of employees, look for a coffee maker with a removable water container that makes it easier to refill the water.
Keurig K55/K-Classic Coffee Maker
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If you haven’t heard of Keurig automatic coffee makers and their ubiquitous K-Cup coffee pods, let me be the first to welcome you out from that rock you’ve been living under for the last decade. Keurig coffee makers are everywhere for two reasons—they’re unbelievably simple to use with one-touch brewing, and they’re ideal for single-serve coffee. As such, a Keurig coffee machine is the perfect choice for small businesses with employees who prefer to make a fresh serving of coffee each time they need a cup of Joe.
Whether your employees like their coffee light, medium, dark, decaf, or flavored, you can choose from over 400 varieties of K-Cup pods to keep everyone happy. The large 48-ounce water reservoir can brew 6 cups of coffee before needing a refill, and the removable container is easy to refill when it runs low. The reservoir also includes a water filter to limit calcium deposits that typically build up inside a coffee maker over time.
Highlights:
- Sleek, stylish black styling
- Uses standard K-Cup single-serving coffee pods
- Easy to use one-touch brewing
- 48-ounce removable water reservoir with a water filter
- Makes 8-ounce, 10-ounce, and 12-ounce cups of coffee
Hamilton Beach (49966) Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe
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If you can’t decide whether to go with a carafe or single-serve coffee maker, there’s no need to settle—go with the Hamilton Beach 2-in-1 Coffee Maker. You’ll get a 10-cup stainless-steel thermal carafe on one side, and a single-serve brewer on the other side that can use K-Cup pods or fresh grounds with the included grounds basket. Each side has a separate water reservoir that’s easy to fill, with a window to monitor how much water is left.
On the carafe side, there’s a programmable timer that you can set to prepare coffee during the times of day when your employees need it most. To avoid spills, the coffee maker also automatically pauses when the carafe is removed.
On the single-serve side it’s a simple one-touch start/stop system, and you can stow the grounds basket inside the cup rest when it’s not being used. Both sides can brew regular or bold-strength coffee, and all of the removable parts make this machine nice and easy to clean.
Highlights:
- Dual function – brews carafe and single-serve coffee
- Use K-Cups or fresh coffee grounds with the single-serve grounds basket
- Stainless-steel 10-cup thermal carafe
- Programmable timer
- Adjustable cup rest to fit tall mugs
- Removable pack-piercing needle for easy cleaning
- Separate water reservoirs for carafe and single-serve sides
BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker
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The Black+Decker 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker is a great choice if you’re looking for the best value. The stainless-steel thermal carafe is vacuum-sealed to make sure every pot of coffee stays warm for hours, and it has a Perfect Pour spout that eliminates drips and spills. The machine provides easy-to-use digital controls with a bright LCD display, along with options to select brew strength (regular, strong, and bold) and program when the machine should automatically start a new brew.
The Evenstream showerhead dispenses water evenly over the packed coffee to extract maximum flavor, and the coffee maker includes a fun Sneak-a-cup feature that temporarily stops the flow of coffee so you can pour your first cup before the brewing ends without making a mess.
When it comes to maintenance, the machine is easy to clean, and the water container has a clear window with measurement markings to let you know that it’s brewing accurately.
Highlights:
- Vacuum-sealed stainless-steel thermal carafe with 12-cup capacity
- Perfect Pour spout to eliminate spills
- QuickTouch programming with LCD display
- Sneak-a-cup feature
- Evenstream showerhead
Cuisinart DCC-3200AMZ PerfecTemp 14 Cup Programmable Coffeemaker
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This Cuisinart coffee maker is another great option for small businesses that want carafe-style coffee on a budget. It’s fully automatic with 24-hour programmability, quantity selection, quality selection (regular or bold), self-cleaning, automatic shutoff, and an adjustable keep-warm temperature selector.
The machine uses a charcoal water filter to provide you with clear, filtered water, and it has a gold-tone commercial quality permanent filter for the coffee grounds. The Cuisinart coffee maker also features state-of-the-art PerfecTemp technology that provides you with hotter coffee without sacrificing the flavor or quality of the coffee.
Highlights:
- PerfecTemp technology provides hotter coffee without sacrificing quality
- Fully automatic with LCD display
- Gold-tone, commercial permanent filter
- Charcoal water filter
- Indicator light signals when it’s time to decalcify
- 14-cup glass carafe with decorative stainless-steel handle
OXO On Barista Brain 9 Cup Coffee Maker
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The OXO On Barista Brain 9-Cup Coffee Maker is the ideal choice for small business owners who want barista-quality coffee for their employees. This machine replicates the pour-over method found at the best coffee shops with the touch of a button, using a Rainmaker showerhead to evenly disperse water over the coffee grounds for uniform saturation and full flavor extraction.
The coffee maker offers single-serve and carafe brewing capabilities, too, so it’s highly versatile. There’s a programmable 24-hour wake-up timer, an intuitive LED interface, and an intelligent microprocessor that monitors all of the machine’s operations for consistently perfect results.
Highlights:
- 9-Cup coffee maker
- Intelligent microprocessor to ensure consistency and perfection
- Replicates pour-over method with Rainmaker showerhead
- Brews single-serve and carafe
- Intuitive LED interface
- 24-Hour programmable timer
- Includes stainless-steel carafe
Takeaways
If you know your employees prefer to make single servings of coffee to match their unique tastes, I’d say the Keurig coffee machine is the best choice for your business. If you’ve got some employees who’d like to use K-Cups and others who are okay with a carafe of coffee, go with the Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker for its 2-in-1 capability.
For those of you on a budget who want an affordable carafe-style coffee maker, the Black+Decker and the Cuisinart coffee makers are the best choice for you. If you’re a coffee purist who only drinks and serves the best, then you should definitely go with the OXO On Barista Brain coffee maker. It’s a little pricier, but I guarantee it will deliver the best tasting coffee for your employees.
