The Chicago Tribune’s Keurig Picks: the K-Duo and the K-Classic

The Chicago Tribune’s holiday-season Keurig roundup boils down to two machines: the K-Duo for people who want both pods and a pot, and the old K-Classic for everyone else. The list comes from BestReviews, the Tribune’s shopping partner, and was published Nov. 2.

The K-Duo gets the nod for households or offices that split between drip coffee and single cups. It takes K-Cups on one side and brews a full carafe from grounds on the other, keeps the pot warm, and can be programmed to start on its own. BestReviews’ only real complaint is the short list of colors.

The K-Classic is the budget pick, and BestReviews calls it a long-standing favorite. It offers several cup sizes, shuts itself off after two hours and, per the roundup, accepts non-Keurig pods. The tradeoff is that it’s single-cup only, with very few settings.

The roundup’s price guide is useful if you’re shopping this month: expect about $100 for a basic single-serve model with a decent reservoir, around $130 and up for dual-function brewers with programming, and $200 or more for commercial-style machines. It also points out that some Keurigs only accept Keurig-licensed pods while others take any physically compatible K-Cup, which is worth checking before you buy a machine for a pod stash you already own.

Our take: the K-Classic being on a 2026 list says a lot about how little the basic K-Cup brewer has needed to change. If you go that route, pair it with a reusable K-Cup for your own grounds, and bookmark our Keurig descaling guide for either machine.

Check the K-Duo’s price on Amazon