Back to school dorm room coffee makers - from a single serve brewer to a simple French press or pour over.

When you’re living and studying in a dorm room, you don’t have a lot of space to spare.

So if you want your own coffee maker, for many the best bet is to use a single serve coffee maker.

That way you have no mess, no filters to buy, and no wet, yukky filters to throw away. You just place the K-cup or disc in the machine, close the lid and press one button.

These machines are compact and very easy to use. And you can store the K-Cups or discs in a drawer until you are ready to use them.

All of a sudden your dorm room coffee-making is simple, fast and mess-free.

Which kind of single serve coffee maker should you get?

Well, there are several formats and models to choose from.

Our main page on single serve brewers is here.

And for a lower-cost single serve alternative, check out our review of the Hamilton Beach "Scoop" single serve brewer. (That's the brewer that is second from the right in the picture.)

The thing about the "Scoop" single serve brewer is that while it still has a small footprint, and gives you 90% of the convenience of a machine like the Keurig, it makes coffee at a fraction of the cost and with no plastic waste.

If the price of your coffee is a factor, this could be the single-serve brewer for you.

Or...follow the low-cost, hands-on approach to coffee making.

Given that not everyone will want to get a single-serve brewer - or pay the high cost of each cup of coffee brewed - there are some very simple, hands-on ways to make fantastic coffee.

Just use brewing systems like the French press, the Chemex brewer or a simple filter cone.

These are just some of the hands-on brewing methods we explore here.

About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…