How to find the best coffee makers, among a wide variety of choices.

The best coffee makers are not necessarily the most sophisticated or expensive.

On this page we’ll look at some of the best coffee makers available – and some that are not so great.

The French Press

The French press is essentially a glass jar with vertical sides and a plunger with a mesh filter on it. You put the coffee grounds in the jar, pour in the hot water, put the lid on and press down the plunger after 3 – 4 minutes.

Presto. You have a wonderful, rich cup of coffee.

It's one of the best coffee makers you'll ever use.

Coffee Percolators

Don’t make your coffee with a percolator. Those are the pots you put on the stove and leave for hours. It’s not a good way to make the most of your carefully selected coffee beans.

When you brew coffee, whatever the coffee maker, the water temperature should be slightly below boiling point. Percolators just boil the flavor out of your beans. If you are completely indifferent to the flavor of your coffee, by all means keep that old percolator. But if you want to enjoy the flavor you paid for when you bought those coffee beans, use a different kind of coffee maker.

Coffee Drip Brewers

This is the commonest and one of the best coffee makers. You probably have one at work, and maybe at home too. You just put ground coffee in a paper filter, fill a reservoir with water, turn the brewer on and watch the glass carafe fill with coffee.

So long as you have a good model, and the water hits the coffee grounds at the right temperature, drip brewers can make a great cup of coffee.

But they do have one disadvantage. And if you have ever poured yourself a cup of coffee an hour or two after it was made in a drip brewer, you know what that problem tastes like.

Here’s what happens...these glass carafes are on a hotplate, to keep the coffee hot. The trouble is, after a while, the heat from the hotplate starts “cooking” the coffee.

Coffee Detective Tip: If you are going to use a Drip Brewer, make just enough coffee for the amount you want to drink over the next thirty minutes or so. If you want more coffee an hour or two later, make a fresh brew.


Single Cup Coffee Brewers

Enter the new world of K-Cup Coffee, Pod Coffee and Disc Coffee.

It’s a bit like VHS and Betamax. These are all competing “One-cup” presentations fighting for the lion’s share of the market.

Here’s the deal. You buy a particular brand of single-serve coffee maker, and then buy these single-serve K-Cups or Pods of ground coffee. If the machine is designed for use with K Cups, you can’t use Pods, and vice versa.

The advantages? You get a fresh cup of coffee, one at a time, with no mess, no coffee grounds to spill...no bother.

Disadvantages? There are a few. Chief among them being that you can only brew coffee that comes in these pre-sealed cups or pods. No more going down to the store and trying some exotic new blend of beans. Each machine manufacturer has its own suppliers of coffee...and their selection is what you get.

Right now the most popular combination seems to be using K-Cups with Keurig brewers. Both the machines and K-Cups are available at Green Mountain Coffee.

There’s plenty more to say on the subject, which is why we have devoted a separate page to single cup coffee brewers.

Final thoughts on the “best coffee makers”...

At the end of the day, everyone has different ideas about which are the best coffee makers. It has nothing much to do with expert opinions, and everything to do with your own tastes and lifestyle.

Just keep in mind that some of the simplest brewers make excellent coffee, and never break down.

The Keurig B30 - a great Holiday Gift Idea for Coffee Lovers. This is the latest and the smallest of the Keurig K-Cup brewers. It's the ultimate in no mess, no fuss single serve gourmet coffee makers. It's also the least expensive K-Cup brewer, and small enough for your home office, RV, boat, vacation home, dorm room or anywhere else where "small" is better. Learn more about the Keurig B30...

Learn more about making great coffee...

There are so many different types and brands of coffee maker to choose from. But over time we find the type and brand that suits us best. Which coffee maker do YOU use? What do you like about it, and why?

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Hello Kitty coffee maker 
I use Hello Kitty Coffee Maker.its pink and cute as heck.it does the job well.been using it for about 2 years.I LOVE COFFEE !!!!

West Bend 5-9 cup Percolator 
Have not used lately? Any comments?

Editor's Note: The West Bend 5-9 cup Percolator seems to be an older model, and I can't find any feedback on that ...

Coffee percolator is the best way to brew coffee 
Coffee Percolator makes the BEST coffee compared to the Drip coffee maker. The flavor comes out the strongest using a Percolator.

Technivorm - Moccamaster 
An excellent coffeemaker.

Very simple design seldom requires cleaning, which is very easily done when needed.

Brews at just the right temperature....

Eva Solo Cafe Solo 
If you like the taste of french press coffee, you'll love the Eva Solo.

It's basically a glass carafe with a neoprene zippered cover to keep the coffee ...

Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker 
I suffer from acid reflux and had to stop drinking coffee for awhile until I discovered cold brew coffee. I just found a new one that is much easier to ...

We love our Cuisinart Grind & Brew coffee maker 
We have always liked grinding our own beans. We buy beans so the coffee is always fresh, but also so we have a big choice of different coffees to choose ...

The best choice maker for an excellent brew  Not rated yet
I use only the vacuum brewing method and employ the new Yama 5 or 8 cup models.

NOTE: You can get Yama vacuum coffee makers at Amazon.

Saeco!  Not rated yet
My favorite coffee/espresso machine is the Saeco Giro. Not exactly inexpensive, but, wow, the coffee is great! I only wish it could be hard piped! Bed,...

Jura Impressa   Not rated yet
My coffee maker is a fully automatic coffee maker which is like a mini version of the huge automatic machines you see in coffee houses. Just make sure ...

Single Cup Breville  Not rated yet
This is a great single cup coffee maker that comes with a single serve unit in the lid that is interchangeable with the K-Cup unit and allows you to use ...

Aerobie Aeropress  Not rated yet
The Aeropress is a single cup coffee maker that uses a reservoir for the grounds, which you fill with hot water then use a plunger to force the water through ...