Which Keurig Is Your Best Bet For Hotter Coffee?

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Ever noticed how your cuppa Keurig seems to go lukewarm before you even got to the creamer? You aren't alone — lots of people have noticed this, and for good reasons. According to Keurig's website, the company believes that the optimal brewing temperature for hot beverages is at 192 degrees Fahrenheit. Toasty, but there are two problems with this. First, scientists believe that the best temperature for extracting coffee's flavor is actually closer to 203 degrees Fahrenheit. And second, some people, like the wife of this Reddit user, prefer their coffee as close to boiling as it can get. In that case, the regular K-Mini, K-Classic, or K-Slim won't do. You'll need the help of the more premium Keurigs. 

For a hot cup, turn to Keurig machines that come with a temperature control dial. These are the ones in the K-Supreme series (the K-Elite, despite having temperature control, can only be adjusted cooler instead of hotter, with a brewing range between 187 and 192 degrees Fahrenheit). With the exception of the base model that brews with one fixed temperature, the K-Supreme Plus and K-Supreme Plus SMART both have this nifty feature. On the K-Supreme Plus, you can brew using one of three heat settings. Frustratingly, Keurig doesn't disclose either in the manual or on the control panel what temperatures the three settings are at, but a Redditor has experimented and found that the hottest it got was roughly 185 degrees Fahrenheit in the cup.

For maximum heat, you need to get the Plus SMART model. This one offers six temperature settings, with a Max Hot setting of between 203 to 206 degrees Fahrenheit, according to an email from Keurig customer service, as reported by a customer on Reddit. This is only on paper, mind you. As we'll later learn, results may vary.

In the kitchen, owners who have tested the Max Hot setting on the Supreme Plus SMART with their own thermometers reported on Reddit that the actual, in-cup temps usually fall well below Keurig's claim of 206 degrees Fahrenheit. In reality, it's closer to 160 to 163 degrees Fahrenheit. This can partly be explained with some basic science: Water cools fast once it leaves the nozzle, especially in a thin stream hitting a cold mug, so there's always going to be a gap between the spec sheet and what's actually in your cup.

Reliability is another factor that owners have been writing about online. One longtime Keurig owner said on Reddit that switching to the Supreme Plus SMART improved both the strength and heat of their coffee, and they've stuck with it for years. Another went through three units and returned every one after repeated false "no water" errors, eventually settling for a non-Smart Supreme Plus that, despite running cooler, is a Keurig that keeps on working.

For a good mix between reliability and genuinely hot coffee, the best answer probably doesn't lie in any of the K-Cups at all. Instead, consider getting yourself something like the Ninja 12-Cup Coffee Brewer or the Cuisinart PerfecTemp – they'll turn out hotter, better-tasting cups than any of the Keurigs on their hottest settings (plus you won't have to worry about pods).