WATERBURY, Vt. — A half dozen production lines operate 12 hours a day, cutting small filters and stuffing them into tiny cups, dropping in two or three grams of coffee and sealing them before whisking them into boxes.

The scores of little coffee containers, known around Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as K-Cups, represent what the small specialty brewer hopes will be a revolution in the way Americans brew their favorite roast at home.

The diminutive cups are a self-contained coffee brewing system that can be popped into a relatively new brand of coffee maker to produce a single cup of steaming java.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. isn't alone. Brewers large and small, as well as appliance manufacturers, are getting in on the act and pushing the brewing systems as an ideal gift for a population addicted to convenience.

"It's an instance of quality meets convenience," said T.J. Whalen, marketing vice president at Green Mountain Coffee.

Green Mountain and small brewers like it are trying to capture the higher end of the market with their more expensive brews and their fancier brewing systems. But companies from Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers brand to Sara Lee Corp.'s Senseo and Kraft Foods Inc.'s Maxwell House also are trying to capitalize on what a number of companies believe is an emerging trend in the home kitchen.

The machines have taken off in offices, but a critical mass is only just beginning to be reached where consumers might consider buying them for their homes. Companies as diverse as Mr. Coffee, Black & Decker, Krups and Keurig now make systems that can brew single cups of coffee in as little as 30 seconds using coffee pods — pockets of grounds that look like oversized tea bags — and individual cups manufactured by the roasters and food companies.

"We know from different market research that there is a reasonable potential behind this segment," said Lars Atorf, a spokesman for Procter & Gamble's coffee products, including the gourmet oriented Millstone brand. "We can definitely see where awareness is rising in the U.S."

The major brands are hoping that the connection with the gourmet coffee industry can give them an entree to that lucrative part of the market.

The 2005 National Coffee Drinking Trends survey by the National Coffee Association of USA found more than 172 million American adults consumed coffee and that 15 percent — some 32 million — said they drank gourmet coffee daily. That's grown from 9 percent six years ago.

That survey also found that nearly two-thirds of consumers were aware of single-serve brewing systems, but only 2 percent reported owning one and 14 percent said they were very or somewhat likely to buy one.

The brewing systems have only been mass-marketed for a couple of years, and some are skeptical as to whether they'll take off. Peter Greene, vice president of the NPD Group home appliance marketing research company, says they'll never replace automatic drip makers.

"I don't think your everyday coffee drinker and the majority of the population are going to go in this way," he said. He pointed to limitations in the technology and that no uniform pod or cup fits all machines.

The machines also are more expensive than automatic drip systems.

A basic Senseo brewing machine is being sold online for $69.99. The higher-end Keurig machine is being sold for $99.95 to $279.95.

The coffee that goes into them isn't cheap, either. At a Safeway in Washington, D.C., last week, a package of Senseo pods good for 18 cups was $3.99. A box of 24 of Green Mountain's K-Cups is available online for $13.95, while a 12-ounce bag of beans goes for $8.19.