Description
The Black and Decker CM618 brews one cup of coffee from loose grounds directly into a 16 ounce travel mug that comes in the box. There are no capsules, no carafe, no clock and no settings. You add water, add grounds to a permanent filter, press the switch, and the machine turns itself off when it finishes.
It has been on sale since July 2012 and carries roughly 15,916 published ratings at a 4.1 average, which makes it one of the longest running and most reviewed machines in our single serve brewers category. It is also the one that stays furthest away from the pod economy.
Grounds Only, and Why That Matters
Almost every single serve machine sold takes capsules. This one does not. It has a permanent filter basket and it brews from whatever coffee you put in it.
That single decision changes the running cost completely. A capsule machine locks you into a consumable priced per cup; this machine’s only ongoing cost is coffee. Over a year of daily use the difference is larger than the price of the machine several times over. It also means you can use any roast, any grind and any quantity, including decaf, which capsule ranges cover badly. The trade is that you are handling wet grounds every morning rather than dropping a capsule in a bin.
The Travel Mug
A 16 ounce stainless travel mug is included and the machine brews straight into it. Black and Decker states it fits most car cup holders, and owner feedback confirms that a full brew fills exactly the supplied mug.
One caution on the specification block: the special feature field lists “Thermal”, which on other products means a vacuum insulated vessel. Nothing in the manufacturer description confirms that this mug is double walled or vacuum insulated, and the listing gives no heat retention figure. Treat it as a stainless mug that is fine for a commute rather than as an insulated flask that will hold temperature for hours, unless the packaging says otherwise.
Temperature Without a Number
One feature bullet reads: “Optimal Brewing Temperature: Water is heated to the perfect brewing temperature for ideal flavor results”, followed by an instruction to refer to the attached user manual PDF.
No figure is given. That is a claim with nothing behind it, and it is worth naming because temperature is exactly what separates a good single serve brewer from a bad one. Published owner feedback is generally positive on the coffee, with one long term owner reporting that the coffee is not burnt, but none of it substitutes for a published number.
Size, Weight and Travel
The machine measures 5.47 inches deep by 6.14 inches wide by 9.41 inches high and weighs 2.26 pounds. It is small enough to leave on a desk and light enough to pack.
Owner feedback bears that out in a specific and repeated way. One owner reports packing it for trips in case a hotel has no coffee maker, bringing their own grounds, and describes the 16 ounce mug as enough to share into a second vessel for a guest. Another has used theirs since 2023 without a failure, and a third spent weeks researching single serve machines before settling on this one and now recommends that other people skip the research. The counterpoint appears just as often: owners describe the plastic as flimsy and light, and one notes it lacks the build quality of older appliances while confirming that it works. At this price both statements are true at once.
Automatic Shutoff
The machine switches off immediately after brewing rather than running a warming element. On a machine that brews into a travel mug there is nothing to keep warm, so this is the correct behaviour and it removes the single most common way a cheap brewer causes trouble.
It also means there is nothing to remember on the way out of the door, which is the whole point of a machine designed around a commute.
What you give up is any ability to hold coffee. There is no plate, no timer and no second cup, so if two people want coffee you run the machine twice and the second person waits. On a 16 ounce brew that is a few minutes rather than a real inconvenience, and one owner reports doing exactly that for guests by pouring the single brew into two vessels.
Cleaning and Descaling
The filter basket is removable and the permanent filter washes out. That is the entire cleaning routine on the coffee side, and it takes seconds, which is the practical reason people keep using a grounds machine rather than drifting back to capsules.
There is no water filter, no descale indicator and no cleaning cycle. Scale is the thing that kills small brewers, because the flow path is narrow and a partial blockage shows up as a brew that takes twice as long or stops part way. Descaling every month or two, depending on your water hardness, is what keeps a machine like this working for the years that owner reports describe. The permanent filter also needs a proper wash rather than a rinse, because mesh holds coffee oils and oils go rancid.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
No brew temperature is published. No wattage is published. No brew time is published. The water reservoir capacity is not stated separately from the 16 ounce mug. Whether the travel mug is insulated is not confirmed. There is no warranty term in the specification table.
Two fields are simply wrong. “Fabric Type: Plastic, Stainless Steel” appears at the top of the manufacturer description; fabric type is a clothing field and has no business on a coffee maker. The manufacturer field reads Spectrum Brands while the brand reads Black and Decker, which is accurate rather than an error, since Spectrum Brands licenses the name, but it is worth knowing if you are looking for support.
Who It Suits
This suits somebody who drinks one large coffee a day, wants it in a travel mug, and refuses to buy capsules. It suits a commute, a small office, a dorm and a suitcase. Thirteen years in production and nearly sixteen thousand ratings mean the design is thoroughly understood by now, and the low price makes a three year service life acceptable.
Look elsewhere if you want capsules, a carafe or any control over the brew. Buyers who want a similarly simple personal brewer should compare the Mixpresso personal coffee maker and the Elite Gourmet EHC113, and anyone who wants grounds brewing with more control should look at the Hamilton Beach 47620 Scoop. Buyers who want the option of capsules as well as grounds should compare the Ninja PB041ST.
