If you're remodeling the kitchen, a refrigerator and a coffeemaker are probably two items on your wish list. GE hopes to streamline the appliance-buying process for you with its new GE Café Series refrigerator with a built-in Keurig K-Cup Brewing System. The industry-first appliance ($2,969) just went on sale at Lowe's and select independent retailers. It will be available at other major retailers starting in 2016.
The coffee-dispensing French-door model will free up some countertop space and will also save you a bit of time—instead of your having to fill the coffeemaker reservoir, freshly filtered water is piped directly into the coffee machine. The dispenser also produces plain hot water (from 90° F to 185° F, which you can set with your smartphone), so it's also good for making tea or instant oatmeal or soup.
The Keurig K-Cup Brewing System takes more than 400 varieties of coffee from more than 60 brands, including Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks. In Consumer Reports' coffeemaker tests, single-serve coffee tends not be as flavorful as freshly brewed coffee. If you're already a single-serve convert or if you take your coffee with a lot of milk and sugar, coffee freshness shouldn't be a major issue.
Pod or traditional coffeemaker?
Find the best coffeemaker for your needs with our Coffeemaker Ratings and Buying Guide.
Not Just a Novelty
The GE Café CFE28USHSS is pricey, but you're getting more than just a refrigerator with a Keurig coffeemaker. It also has a lot of the features Consumer Reports looks for in a great refrigerator, including a temperature-controlled meat/deli bin, split shelves allowing for the storage of taller items, LED lighting, and dual evaporators, which help preserve food freshness by maintaining optimal humidity levels. The refrigerator is manufactured in GE's Louisville, Kentucky, factory.
GE French-door refrigerators have performed very well in our refrigerator Ratings of late, including the GE Profile PWE23KMDES, $2,600, and the GE GNE29GSHSS, $1,800, a CR Best Buy. We'll see whether this latest coffee-brewing model matches up when we get it into our labs for testing.
