This is the fifth in a back to school shopping series that will appear on Fridays on The Daily Orange website until the fall semester starts. The series is designed to help students and parents weigh the prices and benefits of various dorm room necessities and accessories.

On average, the typical American drinks one cup of coffee a day, according to The Washington Post. College students are not typical Americans. Consuming a ludicrous amount of coffee (and caffeine) is a necessity to getting through those 8 a.m. classes and recovering from your crazy Wednesday night at DJ’s.

There are a plethora of coffee shops and cafes in and around campus, but sometimes you just want to stay in your dorm and watch Netflix. Syracuse University allows coffee makers of all kinds as long as they are approved by the safety organization, Underwriters Labratories Inc. These coffee maker options will both save you money in the long-run (buying $6 lattes everyday is not realistic) and are a convenient way to get your coffee fix.

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Mr. Coffee Simple Brew 4-Cup Switch Coffee Maker – $14.99

Pros: This is the most basic and simple coffee maker money can buy. It is affordable, small and simply gets the job done. There are no bells or whistles; it just makes you a couple cups of coffee.

Cons: Having anything glass and breakable (like this coffee maker’s glass carafe) is dangerous in a college environment. Remember that you oftentimes get what you pay for, and if you are only shelling out $15 for this machine you shouldn’t be expecting the greatest quality the coffee-filled world has to offer.

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Keurig K10 MINI Plus Brewing System – $99.99

Pros: This single-cup Keurig machines is the dorm room standard coffee maker. It is easy to use, convenient, produces a solid cup of Joe and will last beyond this year if maintained properly. They come in a variety of colors (including orange) and don’t take up a ton of room in your tiny living space.

Cons: The K-Cups you have to purchase to use with the machine are expensive, costing roughly $14 for a 24 pack. To put that in perspective, a large can of Folgers Coffee costs about $10 and brews over 200 cups of coffee. Additionally, the non-reusable and non-biodegradable K-Cups are really bad for the environment.

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BUNN MCU Single Cup Multi-Use Home Coffee Brewer – $159.99

Pros: Bunn is like the BMW of coffee makers. Its machines are sleek, run beautifully and cost a pretty penny. This coffee machine does it all. It brews K-Cups, ground coffee, tea bags and loose tea all in under a minute.

Cons: It is a little bulky for a dorm room as it has several different attachment heads in order to brew the different varieties of coffee/tea.

Published on August 14, 2015 at 6:39 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu