Buying guide for best coffee makers
Nothing sets your day up for success like that first cup of coffee. While some folks prefer to make their regular coffee run, these days it’s easier than ever to brew your own at home. Home-brewed coffee is an excellent way to save money, and you may learn to brew coffee just the way you like it.
But before you decide on a coffee maker, know that there are multiple kinds to choose from: espresso makers, drip coffee makers, and single-serving makers, for example. You also want to consider a coffee maker’s brew strength, capacity, ease of use, speed, and durability. Our reviews cover all these points, plus affordability.
We’ve recommended what we believe are the best coffee makers out there. To get fully ready to make a purchase, check out our reviews to learn about the features to consider for your next coffee maker.
Types of coffee makers
The first thing to decide is what type of coffee maker is right for you. Let's examine the most common varieties.
Drip coffee makers
A drip coffee maker brews a standard cup of black coffee by mixing ground coffee with hot water, then dripping it through a filter.
Pros:
Drip coffee makers can make large quantities of coffee at a time.
You can find decent drip coffee makers for a relatively low cost, particularly when compared to the cost of espresso machines.
Drip coffee makers are convenient and easy to use.
Cons:
If you make a large pot of drip coffee and keep it warm on the hotplate, it will scorch and turn bitter.
You don't always get the best flavor from a drip coffee maker.
EXPERT CONSULTANT
Born and raised in Paris, the land of unapologetic butter, Francois has spent the last 20 years shaping the American culinary world behind the scenes. He was a buyer at Williams-Sonoma, built the Food Network online store, managed product assortments for Rachael Ray's site, started two meal delivery businesses and runs a successful baking blog. When he's not baking a cake or eating his way through Europe, Francois enjoys sharing cooking skills with cooks of all levels. Rules he lives by: "Use real butter" and "Nothing beats a sharp knife."
Francois
Kitchen Expert
Espresso makers
Espresso makers work by forcing pressurized water — heated to near boiling point — through densely packed ground coffee, to get a small, intensely-flavored shot of joe.
Pros:
You can drink your espresso straight or use it to make drinks such as lattes, cappuccinos, or even iced coffees and frappuccinos.
Espresso makers can produce extremely tasty coffee.
You can usually customize the strength of your brew.
Cons:
Testing coffee makers
We spent 107 hours researching over 100 coffee makers before picking the most worthy options. We then purchased our top model and tested it in our lab.
STAFF
BestReviews
Single serving coffee makers
Single serving coffee makers use pods or K-Cups of ground coffee (and sometimes milk powder or flavorings) to produce a varied range of drinks.
Pros:
Single serving coffee makers are extremely convenient and easy to use.
If you live alone, or are the only coffee-drinker at home, single-serving machines mean you won't make more coffee than you need.
You can buy pods that produce cappuccinos, lattes, flavored coffees, tea, hot chocolate, and more.
Cons:
Using a plastic pod for each serving of coffee isn't environmentally friendly.
While some models let you make your own pods by adding your choice of ground coffee, many only let you use their choices of coffee, so your selection is limited.
Coffee connoisseurs tend to criticize the flavor and quality of coffee from pods.
Did you know?
Drip coffee makers offer some of the largest quantities produced in a single brewing session.
STAFF
BestReviews
Manual coffee makers
Although we're not focusing on them in this guide, you can find a range of inexpensive manual coffee makers on the market.
Sure, they involve more work from the user, but they can still produce a good cup of coffee, and there's no need to have electricity to use them either. They can be life-savers on a camping trip.
Popular examples include the French press and the Aeropress.
Factors to consider when selecting a coffee maker
Number of cups
Think about how many cups you need your coffee maker to produce in one round of coffee production. If you're the only person in your home drinking coffee, a single serving machine or a coffee maker that produces just a few cups would be ideal. On the other hand, if you have a large household of coffee-drinkers or you often entertain, look for a model that can make a larger amount of cups in one go.
For multi-cup models, our coffee expert Francois advises, "'Stop as you pour' is a great feature. The machine stops the flow of coffee when the carafe is removed, allowing you to pour a cup before the whole thing is done brewing."
Brew strength control
Some coffee makers give you little input over how your coffee turns out, whereas other let you fine-tune your cup of joe with brew strength control.
Consider whether you're fussy about how your coffee turns out, or whether you're happy to drink it however it comes. If you're particular about your java, opt for a model that allows you to control the brew strength.
Expert Tip
Do not buy a coffee/espresso combo machine. They usually lack the power to generate the pressure needed to make a proper espresso.
STAFF
BestReviews
Timer
Imagine waking up to a freshly brewed pot of coffee ready to drink. If you choose a coffee machine with a built-in timer, this could be your reality every day.
This feature is perfect if you don't function well before that first cup, or if you're in a hurry to get out of the house in the morning.
Built-in grinder
A bean-to-cup coffee maker includes a built-in grinder, that grinds up the right amount of beans each time, without you having to put in any extra effort.
While we agree that freshly ground coffee tastes best, you could achieve the same result with a cheap coffee grinder. Machines with built-in grinders tend to be pricey, so we'd only recommend them if you have a large budget and want to your coffee making experience to be as hands-off as possible.
Drink choice
If you take your coffee black — maybe with a bit of cream when you're feeling fancy — then a basic drip coffee maker is all you need. However, if you crave espresso or specialty drinks like cappuccinos or lattes, then consider an espresso machine with a steamer arm for heating and frothing milk.
Single serving machines also offer pods with a huge range of drink choices, ready at the press of a button. This is a great choice if you like fancy coffees, but don't want to go to the trouble of making them from scratch.
Carafe
Some coffee makers come with a thermal carafe to keep drinks warm, as an alternative to a basic glass carafe.
Here's what Francois had to say on the subject: "If you need to keep coffee hot for a few hours, go for a model with a thermal carafe. Even though models with glass carafes have a heating plate, this ends up making the coffee more and more bitter as time goes on."
Price
A decent coffee maker needn't cost an arm and a leg, but it is worth a bit of an investment, especially if you're a regular coffee-drinker.
Basic drip coffee makers
These start around $20 or $30. Most of these inexpensive models don't hold a candle to higher-end brands, but you can find a few diamonds in the rough.
Midrange and high-end drip coffee makers
These cost from $50 to $150. These include models with thermal carafes, programmable settings, and lots of other bells and whistles.
Single-serving, pod-style coffee makers
Expect to pay between $50 and $125 for these models. Cheaper models generally offer less control over factors such as cup size, and may not let you customize your own pods.
Espresso makers
These cost between about $40 and $350 for home-grade machines (professional models can run into the thousands), but you're unlikely to get a model that makes a great espresso for much less than $100.
