The Best Coffee Makers — Design Statements for Your Kitchen to Brew the Best Drinks

Bad coffee is a bad way to start your day, so investing in one of the best coffee makers is one of those purchases that will just make you feel good.

Of course, there are endless options out there — so how do you narrow it down? Coffee makers comes in all kinds of forms — from drip and pour-over coffee makers that deliver a light, refreshing cup of coffee, to espresso machines that offer you rich, intense tastes.

Our team of design experts and baristas have tested the good, the bad, and the beautiful coffee makers on the market. They know the best ones for each type of coffee drinker and have spent hundreds of hours evaluating them so that you don't have to.

So, whatever you're looking for in a coffee maker, they know the right one for you.

The Best Coffee Maker Deals

Quick List

The Best Coffee Makers

Best Espresso Machine

Possibly the best espresso machine on the market, the Breville Barista Pro is everything you need for a café quality home coffee station. The innovative Thermo Jet heating system will warm up in three seconds rather than the industry standard six minutes and it will still deliver consistently good coffee. There's a pre-infuse setting which mimics coffee blooming, resulting in a smooth and full-bodied brew. It's big, but packed with useful storage options: the steam wand has 360 degrees of rotation, so can froth the perfect milk and tuck neatly away when you're finished. Whatever coffee you want to make, I'd recommend making it with this.
Like any manual espresso machine, there will be a learning curve to pulling your best shot, and it may even take some time. Luckily, the LCD interface gives you step-by-step instructions to walk you through the espresso brewing process.

If you want to find out more, you can read our Breville The Barista Pro review.

Best Automatic Coffee Maker

If you want to make a café-quality beverage without having to take notes from a barista, this is the coffee maker for you. It can make a strong espresso using freshly ground coffee. If you're after a milky coffee, the LatteGo milk frother clips to the water spout and will texture milk perfectly.

The options for coffee drinks feel almost endless, with the ability to choose between five coffee beverages: espresso, coffee, americano, latte, and cappuccino. From there, you'll also have the ability to adjust the brew strength, pour size, temperature, and amount of froth, if you choose to make a milk beverage.

You'll need to persevere will setting it up, as this takes a lot of patience. As with many machines, it's also noisy when it's grinding the coffee beans.

Best Drip Coffee Maker

All chrome and curves, this retro coffee machine is everything you need if you like filter coffee. It will brew up to ten cups of fresh coffee and keep it warm for hours. If you're a busy house with a penchant for drip coffee, this is the machine for you.

The coffee it brews is delicate and delicious. It's easy to use, keep clean and maintain. The presets can help you to establish a coffee routine and stop your from over or underbrewing specific quantities. We’re also big fans of the colors available; blue, pastel green, red, black, cream, and white.
There’s nothing which we don’t especially like, but perhaps the setup could be a little easier. There are a few settings to work through before you can make a satisfying brew, and the water tank can be slightly awkward to fill up if the machine is under a cupboard. Plus, if you unplug the machine, you'll have to work through your settings again.

If you want to find out more, you can read our Smeg Drip Coffee Maker review.

Best Single Serve Coffee Maker

At just 5.5 inches wide, the Nespresso Vertuo Next is ideal for both tiny kitchens or coffee carts, without sacrificing quality. It's sustainably made with 54 percent recycled plastic body in a number of color options to suit your kitchen design.

This makes the best coffee we've tasted in a single-serve machine. You need to use specific Vertuo line pods, so will have to buy them exclusively from Nespresso, unlike with Keurigs. These can be expensive, but you will have over 30 different coffee choices from around the world to drink. However, the results are aromatic, silky, and utterly irresistible.
Nespresso has a recycling program in place so you can feel less wasteful using pods, you just have to send them in.

To make your own lattes and milk beverages, Nespresso's Aeroccino milk frother is the perfect complement to your machine.

Best French Press

All elegance, the classic Bodum Chambord French Press is an iconic design. Not only is it beautiful, it's also incredibly easy to store and use. The glass carafe sits neatly inside the stainless steel frame, so that it's protected from smashing. The filter system is thorough, producing a silky smooth cup of coffee, which is full of flavor.

It's also wonderful to know that this is made from entirely from natural products. The glass and steel won't need replacing and they're ethically sourced. This is hard to fault, so we would only advise to use coarser grinds with French presses or you will have a grainy cup of coffee.

Best Pour-Over Coffee Maker

This Chemex design has been in production since its release in 1941 and you'll know why. The classic design is easy to use, meaning you can adjust your water temperature, grind size, pour speed, and water to coffee ratios to get different flavors from your coffee.

We found the Chemex made a well rounded cup of coffee and loved the borosilicate glass for keeping coffee warm. We also appreciated its voluptuous and thoughtful design: the removable wooden collar protects fingers from the heat, acting as a buffer between you and the glass.
It's not necessarily a be-all end-all, but you'll want to use the Chemex-branded filters for the best experience. They are 20-30% heavier than other filters, and designed to remove the smallest particles as well as the undesirable oils and fats, for the finest extraction possible.

Best Portable Coffee Maker

Don't let the size of the Picopresso make you expect anything less than perfection, because this is a mighty espresso maker. It's about the size of a can of soda, so is easy to transport to work, on a hike, or on holiday. The clever mechanism will make the perfect shot of coffee, powered by your own hand. In our tests, the espressos made with the Picopresso had a thick crema to rival even the best espresso machines. It arrived with the premium packaging that you would expect from a designer bag.

This is limited in the kinds of coffees you can make. If you like espressos - and only espressos - you will love this. However, if you enjoy milky coffees, you will be left wanting with the Picopresso. There are plenty of excellent milk frothers on the market, but they defeat the point of the Picopresso's portability.

If you want to find out more you can read our Wacaco Picopresso review.

Best Compact Coffee Maker

When we asked baristas what their favorite coffee machine was, Breville's Bambino Plus came up time and time again. We're not surprised. This features all of the advanced technology integrated into Breville's most expensive machines (Thermo Jet, pre-infusion, milk sensitivity), but with the Bambino Plus, it's all packed into a slim, stainless steel machine.

It's friendly to those shopping on a budget, because it costs less than $500. Even better, it has the build quality to outlast some of the most expensive machines. The only downside is that you'll need to buy a coffee grinder (I would recommend Breville's Smart Grinder), because this doesn't have one integrated.

Best for a Range of Coffees

De'Longhi makes some of the best coffee machines on the market and this is no exception. It's expensive, but we think it's worth every dollar. De'Longhi are generous with extras and even more generous with the machine's features. The Dinamica Pluswill walk you through every coffee and function, including the easy-to-use milk frother.

It can make over 16 different coffees and you can personalize the strength, length, and size of each coffee. It made some well-rounded cups of coffee, full of flavor. When we finished testing, it was incredibly easy to clean too.

This is an expensive machine, there's no escaping it. You'll need to make room on your countertops for it too, because this is big, but we recommend that you do.

If you want to find our more, you can read out De'Longhi Dinamica Plus review.

Best Colorful Coffee Maker

You might know KitchenAid better for their iconic, American-made stand mixers, but you should get to know their coffee equipment. Laura, a former barista, took this to the test kitchen and described it as 'love at first shot'. The stylish design is available in a range of colors, but it's also extremely practical. The KitchenAid can make excellent coffees and has a useful mug warmer on top. It's intuitive to use and easy to clean, so it scores highly across the board.

This doesn't have an integrated grinder, so you'll need to buy one separately. Thankfully, KitchenAid makes one of the best grinders on the market, so you can maintain coffee coodination.

If you want to find out more you can read out KitchenAid Espresso Machine review.

Best Cold Brew Coffee Maker

If cold brew is your daily kryptonite, why not use the best. Our hearts are starry-eyed toward the KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker. In just 12 to 24 hours, you can be sipping on a super-rich concentrated coffee, rounded out with your favorite milk, syrups, and creamers. It also never has to leave your fridge with an easy pour dispenser.

The dispenser design is so easy to handle and gives you the feeling of having cold-brew on tap. Its square design fits onto almost any shelf in the fridge and has a secure carry handle for taking back and forth from the fridge after brewing. However, after that, it can securely remain in place in your fridge. This small but mighty pick is one of our favorite little luxuries.
The large metal brew basket holds a lot of coffee. However, a fair amount of coffee is absorbed into the coffee grounds, leaving the final vessel half-full after pulling out the brew basket.

Best Quick Coffee Maker

If you're particular when it comes to coffee, the Technivorm Moccamaster will impress even the most discerning coffee drinkers. It comes with all the coveted credentials, including a stamp of approval from both the Specialty Coffee Association and the European Coffee Brewing Center.

The Moccamaster drip coffee maker most closely resembles a gourmet pour-over experience with the convenience of an automatic coffee maker. The craftsmanship on this drip coffee maker is unparalleled. Everything is handcrafted, including the unique copper heating element that maintains that your coffee always heats between 196 and 206 degrees Fahrenheit. It will keep your coffee warm, without it tasting burnt, for over 100 minutes.

Users have said, although the design is beautiful, it's a little more complicated than a standard drip coffee maker. We've also questioned the longevity of its plastic parts, but note, it does come with a 5-year warranty, which is pretty lengthy for a small appliance, and each plastic piece is readily available for a replacement to prevent the machine in it's entirety from ending up in a landfill.

FAQs

About this Guide

At Living Etc we are meticulous with our tests. Before featuring them in our buying guides, we take them to our dedicated test kitchen where we put every coffee maker though its paces. We look at market leading brands, such as Nespresso, Breville, and Techinvorm, so that we know what the standard is.

Our experts are all trained in testing coffee machines. Laura, who tested most of these machines, is a former barista, so she has high standards for coffee. If it has her seal of approval, you know it will wow your at-home customers.

We test a range of coffee machines, from filter to espresso. This means that whichever brew you like to drink, you know our recommendation will be spot on. We look at the claims made by every coffee machine and test all of the special features. That way, you'll know whether it's a gimmick or great.

We make sure to give every machine a fair test, so we use the same coffee beans for each one. We'll also use the same milks and the same temperature, so that no machine is hard done by. If a machine claims to froth milk, we will test it on non-dairy milks as well as dairy, so that everyone knows what to expect.

Laura Honey

Laura is the eCommerce Editor for Homes & Gardens. Before joining Future, she studied English at Oxford University. Alongside her studies, she qualified as a barista and worked with coffee for over three years. Outside of caffeine kicks, Laura writes about design and interiors at Homes & Gardens. She's always looking for stylish ways to integrate appliances into your home, but is also passionate about home fragrance. As a trained Master Perfumer, she has experience working within the luxury perfumes, so she always prioritizes quality and style over quantity and fads.

How to choose the best coffee maker

There are a few key factors to consider when choosing a coffee maker:

Brewing Method
The first, and most important, is taste. Everybody likes their coffees in different ways, all determined by the brewing method. If you like a light, delicate cup of coffee, you’ll be looking for a pour-over of filter coffee maker. If you prefer rich, intense flavors, an espresso machine or French press are much better suited to your needs.

Budget
Once you’ve decided how you like your coffee, you’ll need to set a budget. Automatic espresso machines can cost over $1,000, but if you’re happy with a filter coffee, you can pick up a good machine for around $30.

Space and style
When making space in your kit hen, you’ll want to think about where your coffee maker can sit, where it fits, and how it looks. If you have a color scheme, it’s good to find a coffee maker that fits your decor. This is redundant if you’ve chosen one in the wrong size. For those with compact countertops, there are plenty of good options on the market. You’ll need to make space for any coffee maker, but it’s important to evaluate your coffee station set-up beforehand.

Speed
Another decider is how much time you have. If you wake up in a morning daze and need your machine to make you coffee and make it quickly, a single-serve or automatic machine will be your best friend. The artisanal espresso machine and French presses can require a little more patience.

Extras
Finally, think about your accessories. If you own a coffee grinder, you could save money by opting for a machine that doesn’t come with one integrated. Conversely, investing in a machine which has a grinder if you don’t have one, can save you money and storage space.

It’s always good to do your research before buying a coffee maker, which is why we do the hard part for you. Our self-confessed, coffee obsessed experts have written buying guides and reviews to tell you everything you need to know before you start your craft coffee collection. We’ll warn you now, coffee is a lifestyle you get drawn into.

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