This little pour-over device is affordable, easy to use, and saves more space in the kitchen than even the slimmest electric coffee maker. Its elegant design is similar to that of a Chemex—rounded glass body, cork or rubber band—but it comes with a permanent stainless steel filter, so you won’t have to buy countless paper ones. However, if you’re only a coffee drinker and would rather save some cash, opt for our top budget pick, the Hamilton Beach Two-Way Brewer.
This eye-catching Bodum pour-over coffee maker is a manual single-serve option that allows you to make a brilliant cuppa joe in just minutes. It includes a stainless steel mesh filter that extracts coffee’s natural aromatic oils and subtle flavors that would otherwise be absorbed by a paper filter. Because it doesn’t need any electricity, you can take this one on the keurig single cup drip coffee makers go anywhere you can find hot water—like a campsite or RV park. Buck Yedor started sneaking sips of his mom’s coffee when he was just a little kid. From there, his love for coffee blossomed into a lifelong and daily ritual. Living and training with some of the preeminent Specialty Coffee Trainers in the country, Buck has honed his abilities to make and taste coffee.
As the only model to feature a built-in milk frother, this design offers much more versatility than some of the alternatives. It can brew a cup in under two minutes, and produces a more intense flavor thanks to the ‘strong’ brew function. “If speed is a top priority, look for a machine with the shortest brewing time,” Rodriguez advised. If you are interested in buying a machine that utilizes pods, it’s also important to research the types of ground beans and flavors they come in to make sure they align with your coffee preferences. Beyond coffee and espresso pods, some brands sell pods for hot chocolate, tea, matcha and more.
Able to brew both a carafe and a single-serve sized amount of coffee, the Hamilton gives you the best of both worlds with brewing capacity, strength, and more. You might think K-Cups and coffee pods are interchangeable, and honestly, that’s not such a crazy thought; they do look kind of similar. But in actuality, the differences between the two are like night and day. Though both are single servings of ground coffee, pods are usually packaged in filter paper and wrapped in foil for added freshness. K-Cups, on the other hand, use little plastic cups to store your serving of coffee. You fill the water tank, insert your chosen K-Cup coffee pod, and select your preferred brew size, place your cup under the dispenser, press the “go” button, and watch the brew cycle commence.
Whether you’re in search of the most flavorful extraction, the fastest cup, or the machine that best fits your space and lifestyle, we hope that our laborious research helps make your decision a bit easier. We carefully measured the quantity and grind of coffees used and evaluated the taste of their strength, body, and sourness. We brewed the same coffee in six of seven machines simultaneously for a side-by-side comparison; the other two machines exclusively used Nespresso pods and couldn’t be compared as equivalently.