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If you’re anything like us, you’re fueled almost entirely by the sweet golden nectar of the perfect cup of Joe. But waiting in line for your coffee can be a big time suck, not to mention a budget buster. Thankfully, with a few solid tools, you can skip the shop lines and become your own barista from home with the best coffee makers.
At A Glance: The Best Coffee Makers
Sure, there’s an overwhelming number of ways to make coffee — including drip brews, presses, and pour-overs — so to find the best coffee makers on the market, we asked a coffee expert for their buying tips and favorite models. Our other highly-caffeinated editors are no slouches either, and over the years we’ve collectively tested nearly every method of making coffee possible (some of us have 2-3 machines in our homes at any given time). We’ve narrowed down our favorite brands and makers based on our own testing as well to demystify the process and turn your morning ritual up to 11.
Here’s everything you need to know to get the best buzz from home and elevate your coffee maker setup.
In this Article
The Best Coffee Makers for At-Home Brewing
How to Pick the Best Coffee Maker
How We Chose the Best Coffee Makers for Home Use
The Best Coffee Makers for At-Home Brewing
From bestselling brands to barista-approved presses, you’ll make a bold brew with these hot coffee maker picks.
Amazon
best overall
Technivorm Moccamaster KBGV Select 10-Cup Coffee Maker
Topping our list of best coffee makers is the long-time coffee connoisseur-favorite, Technivorm’s Moccamaster KBGV Select. Sleek and reliable, this streamlined machine is straightforward, easy to set up, and makes some fine coffee that even Special Agent Cooper would approve of (that’s a Twin Peaks nod for those listening). This upgraded model allows you to switch between half or full carafes but brews as quickly for a consistently hot, bright, and bold cup that’s a step up from your typical drip-brew. It’s a favorite of ours and a top pick for thousands of other reviewers.
best design
Ratio Six Series 2 Coffee Machine
Not only is the latest version of the Ratio Six coffee maker stylish, it also makes a very clean, delicious cup of coffee. With simple, no-fuss controls, this elevated drip-brew takes the brainwork out of a sophisticated process. It features a built-in bloom cycle that briefly pauses to allow grounds to thoroughly steep before finishing up for what some reviewers note is consistently full-tasting coffee. The nine-cup, stainless steel insulated carafe keeps your brew hot without the risk of scorching on a heat plate — an ideal scenario, according to some experts. Solid and well-made, we love the chic matte and stainless finish options.
best portable
AeroPress Original Coffee Press
We’ve tested other pint-sized presses before, but for the ultimate portable coffee maker, look to the Aeropress Original for a super satisfying single serve that won’t take up precious countertop space. Not only do we love its travel-friendly design, ease of use, and affordability, but also the French press-quality cup it creates. You can also get this portable maker in a clear hue, XL size for multiple cups, and a special travel edition. Put simply, it’s a jet-setter’s best friend — and a compact coffee-making game-changer.
Amazon
best pour-over
Chemex Pour-Over Glass Coffee Maker
Any coffee aficionado will tell you that a pour-over ranks high in the best and cleanest cups you can make. Enter the trusty Chemex maker. Practically a household name synonymous with “pour over,” knockoffs are plentiful but there’s no mistaking the iconic design of a proper Chemex. It produces six cups of electricity-free, delicious coffee. There are no “moving parts” to this glass carafe — just place your filter and grounds atop its crown and let your slow-pouring kettle do the rest. According to one fan, it “makes the most delicious coffee. Never a bitter note.” And based on our own testing, we couldn’t agree more — just make sure you have enough time to wait for your coffee to brew.
Amazon
best high-tech
Café Specialty Grind and Brew Coffee Maker
Another option for the tech-savvy coffee lover, GE’s Café Specialty Grind and Brew is a smart choice — literally, it has an app. Not only does this sleek maker look like an idealized sketch from The Jetsons, but it lets you personalize brewing options straight from a smartphone (which was pretty easy to navigate in our testing). While it might seem gimmicky at first, it makes a solid cup (or thermal pot) of coffee. It also has a customizable, built-in burr grinder (the crème de la crème way to pulverize your beans) to appease the pro-coffee crowd as a legit piece of equipment.
best with pods
Nespresso Vertuo Creatista Coffee and Espresso Maker
Most are familiar with Nespresso’s Original espresso machines, but the brand’s Vertuo series (that take the round-bottom pods) is also worth highlight for the classic, crowd-pleasing cup of coffee it produces. The Creatista is designed to create something more comparable to an Americano in four different strengths (cup sizes) as well as single and double espressos brewed hot or over ice. But the reason why this machine has a permanent place on our counter in spite of testing so many others is the built-in steam wand with three different customizable temperature and froth settings — it lets us play barista and get creative with latte art even off the clock. What you get: a conveniently made, strong cup of coffee with a lovely crema that you can doctor up at will.
best with pods and grounds
Ninja Single-Serve Pods & Grounds Specialty Coffee Maker
From blenders to multi-cookers, Ninja has become a skilled warrior in the realm of kitchen appliances, and its coffee makers are no exception. This clever maker is equipped to whip up just about any beverage you can steep, from your favorite pod coffee to specialty grounds. The settings let you craft your drink according to type, size, desired temperature, and time of brew, and for the variety of settings you get, it still has an impressively slim footprint. There’s even a steam wand that pivots out from the side for frothing milk for a make-shift café au lait or steamer. In short, it’s wildly versatile for a single-serve machine.
Amazon
best drip coffee maker
OXO Brew 9-Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker
A drip brew with pour-over-esque simplicity, we love the large batch carafe and full-bodied coffee we get with our OXO coffee maker. A popular choice over the years, we’ve personally used, owned, and loved this stand-out machine for its consistency, quality of coffee, and stainless steel carafe that helps keep coffee piping hot for hours on end. In fact, we’ve taken this vessel on the road post-brewing and even repurposed it for pour-overs on frigid camping trips. Even after the maker itself broke (in a move, user error), we held onto the jug. Yes, it’s that good. The settings are straightforward, and it even has a programmable timer. For a smaller machine, with less of a countertop footprint, we also love OXO’s Brew Stainless Steel 8-Cup Coffee Maker.
best budget drip coffee maker
Braun BrewSense Drip Coffeemaker
If you’re after value, then look no further than this coffee maker that packs a lot of bang for the buck. We love the slim and compact profile of this Braun drip brew, which beats out competitors like Mr. Coffee and Ninja when it comes to a few key features. First of all, it just makes a great cup (or pot) of clean and consistent Joe with the help of programmable temperature, timer, and strength settings. There’s also three different settings for the warming plate, so it won’t burn your coffee if you leave it sitting in the carafe like cheaper coffee makers. We also appreciate the ability to brew smaller batches of coffee (one to four cups), which is clutch whenever we don’t want to prep a full carafe (which is most always). The brew basket and carafe can also be placed straight into the dishwasher to make your life even easier (though our coffee pros recommend mild or no detergent for all coffee carafes only).
best for precision brewing
Breville 12-Cup Precision Brewer
As the name suggests, this high-tech Breville drip brewer dials in on super-specific nuances to help even the pickiest coffee lover achieve their ideal cup. Using the LCD screen, program its settings to customize everything from your preference of bloom time. You can also adjust boldness (rate of brew) and temperature intensity. You can even tailor the taste according to your water consistency (ranging from hard to soft). It has a single-serve adapter and can even take two styles of filters (cone or flat bottom), so you pick up whatever you want from the store. Whether it’s over ice or a Golden Cup Standard you desire, set it and forget it. That includes the night before, thanks to the timed brewing feature. We have used this product for months and still love it.
Amazon
best with grinder
De’Longhi TrueBrew Drip Coffee Maker
Even coffee pros dream of an all-in-one machine that can deliver a tasty cup without lifting a finger. This De’Longhi maker boasts a programmable, built-in grinder that can be set the night before to grind and brew the cup or pot of your choice. It has so many automated features that it merely falls short of handing you the cup itself. Another plus: The by-the-cup portioning grinder eliminates the need for wasteful, expensive pods. It even comes in a version with a carafe, for large and single batches alike.
best single-serve
Spinn Coffee Maker
This Spinn Coffee Maker will do more for his morning cup of Joe than any average drip machine. It’s so good, in fact, that my parents once physically lugged it from its permanent space on the kitchen counter to the trunk of the car so we could have good coffee at our Airbnb vacation rental. The machine uses a special centrifugal force method that spins grounds and water in brewing chamber at up to 5,000 RPM — and this isn’t just a party trick. It’s a truly innovate method that results in a smoother, highly-concentrated cup of joe. Simply add your favorite beans and use the connected app to select the drink you want (pro tip: try the cold brew). Smart and sleek, it’s a splurge-worthy machine that’s easily worth the investment if you want to get the most out of even the most standard coffee beans.
Amazon
best budget single-serve
Keurig K-Elite Single-Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker
Keurig coffee makers like this one have found their way into nearly every American household, office, and hotel room for good reason. The K-Elite offers a consistently foolproof cup thanks to reloadable “K-cups,” and step-by-step settings that light up to guide you through brewing in seconds. Unlike the original Keurig, the K-Elite features more programmable settings and smart features, allowing you to control the brew temperature, adapt to high altitudes, switch to an energy-saving mode, and know when it’s time for maintenance. It has a large reservoir, built-in filter, and timer that make users’ mornings more convenient. We’ve also tested and recommend this single-serve Keurig maker if you’re still looking to make full carafes.
best espresso maker
Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine
Although it takes some time to set up for the first time in a kitchen, the Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine is one of the easiest ways to make cafe-style coffee drinks at home — even if you don’t have any experience in front of an espresso machine. This is in part because the machine has a very readable, clear, and interactive touchscreen that walks you through making coffee drinks, like americanos, lattes, flat whites, and more, step-by-step, down to the ounce. You can even make an affogato (an Italian dessert) at home. The Barista Touch is designed for beginners, so don’t be afraid to experiment with making coffee drinks you’ve never enjoyed. Breville provides you with just about everything needed to make high-quality coffee drinks, except the water, milk, and espresso beans — that’s something you’ll need to bring to the machine yourself. Per favore divertiti!
Amazon
best budget espresso maker
De’Longhi Stilosa Manual Espresso Machine
The compact, countertop espresso and cappuccino maker sets up in seconds and is one of the easiest ways to make cafe-quality espresso drinks at home. At under $100, it’s also one of the best values for a manual espresso machine, too. We’ve been using the Stilosa 15 Bar Pump for our morning cup of Joe and an afternoon pick-me-up, and it delivers perfect pressure and extraction every time. Even generic store-bought beans taste more flavorful and fuller bodied when run through this machine. The included milk frother is super simple to use and works well to heat up both regular milk and alternative milks as well (we’re partial to oat milk).
best french press
Espro P7 French Press
We know that Bodum’s Chambord press is iconic in the industry, but Espro’s sleek French press checks all our boxes for modern design, durability and, most importantly, that final flavor in the cup. The double interlocking filters and sealing gaskets might seem like overkill at first, but they allow for the cleanest cup of coffee we’ve ever tasted out of a French press. While other models keep the coffee grounds touching the water the entire time, that can cause huge amounts of over-extraction down at the bottom of the carafe, which leads to unwanted flavors in the final brew. The P7 is the only one designed to stop the coffee extractions after you plunge down with a little extra buffer zone. The stainless steel design also just looks incredibly good on a kitchen counter.
best cold brew maker
OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker
While some folks got really into bread-baking, we spent the pandemic summer in 2020 trying to find the best cold brew makers (not for an article, just for personal curiosity). As someone who loves a chilled glass of cold brew as an afternoon pick-me-up, the OXO Good Grips emerged as our favorite. Unlike other cold brew carafes that are ultimately glorified coffee ground steepers, this “machine” has a Rainmaker lid, a unique design that evenly distributes water over the grounds, mimicking rainfall. This creates a more balanced extraction, and we found that the final concentrate had a more consistent flavor and a smoother, richer body than we got from other “steeper”-style cold brew makers. The stopper can be used to portion coffee concentrate, and it brewed enough for a full carafe in around 12 hours which was more than enough for our small household.
How to Pick the Best Coffee Maker
When shopping for your next caffeine machine, experts say that the most important things to look for are: 1) a brewer that can maintain a water temperature between 195-201 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Coffee Association, and 2) a safe holding vessel (carafe) that holds enough coffee and maintains that heat. Also look for a sufficient rate of brew (time steeping) that produces a flavorful cup of coffee. (That’s approximately five minutes for a hot drip brew.) Everything else is, frankly, a “nice to have” feature, according to the pros we chatted up.
Ease of Use: First, consider your morning ritual and how using the maker will fit into your routine. The last thing you want is a hassle in the morning (or whenever you imbibe), so it should be relatively quick and convenient for you to set up and use. You should be cool with how high- or low-tech it is. That could mean anything from streamlined settings to specialized customizations. Any special accessories, filters, or coffee pod refills should be practical to clean, find, and buy. If pre-setting your machine to brew at a specific time is important (here’s looking at you, morning people), make sure it is capable of doing so.
Design: The coffee maker or machine should accommodate your space, aesthetic, and the amount of coffee you want to make for each batch, whether you’re swinging solo versus a full household or office. The carafe or hot plate should have a great temperature hold for full pots, too. According to our experts, opt for a hot plate only if you’ll be consuming the coffee relatively quickly. Otherwise, they recommend a maker with an insulated carafe (glass or stainless steel) since it won’t scorch the coffee like a plate can.
Brewing Process: As mentioned, your maker should properly steep your coffee grounds for enough time, depending on the brew method. For coffee experts, this rate of brew includes a “bloom” period — a brief pause after the initial pour that allows water to fully saturate the grounds and steep before the rest of the brewing process continues. Many modern coffee makers, like the Ratio Six, now include an optional or built-in bloom period to maximize the flavor through the bubbling up (releasing) of natural gasses (carbon dioxide) of your coffee roast; and/or additional strength customizations to further customize the brew pace.
Connectivity and Bonus Features: You might also opt for other features, like Bluetooth connectivity for remote control, single-serve tray adapters, milk steamer wands, or a self-cleaning setting. You may even want a built-in water filter, which aids in the clean taste of a brew and prevents mineral scale build-up in your machine. (Speaking of: you can find descaling solution on Amazon.)
How We Chose the Best Coffee Makers for Home Use
As a professionally-trained and experienced barista who previously owned a coffee shop, our writer has personally tried most of the coffee makers and brands on our list, from OXO to Technivorm. Other members of our shopping team have also researched and tested dozens of options with the best reviews from the top brands to bring you our top coffee maker recommendations, above.
