Nothing can beat a steaming hot cup of expertly brewed coffee in the morning. Some people take a short stroll to their favorite coffee shop to have their barista whip up their favorite, while some other head to the kitchen and turn on a good coffee maker to instantly get a nice cuppa made to their specifications.

If you prefer the latter option, this article is for you!

In this article, we will tell you all you need to know about the best coffee machines and help you find that one perfect high quality coffee maker among the thousands of different makes and models on the market.

What Coffee Maker Makes The Best Coffee?

Some machines are more suitable for people who prefer espresso, while some others are awesome at creating frothy drinks. There are a few machines out there with a restriction on the type of coffee that you can brew, so depending on what you’d like to drink on a daily basis, pick accordingly. The last thing you’d want to do is putting your money down for an expensive coffee maker only to find out later that it’s not what you wanted.

Regardless of how you like your coffee, there are three types of top rated coffee makers that you ought to know about.

Pod Coffee Machine

Pod coffee machines don’t use the traditional whole-bean or coffee grounds like your average coffee maker. Instead, they use a pre-made coffee pod for quicker, easier, and less messy brewing. A pod coffee machine is best suited for people short on time and wants a cup to go as quickly as possible.

Although they are certainly fast at making coffee, they are the least flexible and most expensive to operate out of the three designs. You’re limited by the type of coffee inside of the pod and pods tend to also be quite expensive.

Ground Coffee Machines

Top rated coffee makers typically have this design since it demands that the user be more hands-on with the preparation rather than letting the machine does all of the work. A ground coffee machine requires you to meticulously measure the amount of coffee going into it. If you’re new to coffee brewing, that’s going to take a fair bit of experimenting and guesswork. However, once you’ve got the gist of it all, a ground coffee machine is incredibly flexible, since you can control the strength and size of your coffee.

Most coffee machines of this type also have a steam wand for you to froth milk if you prefer frothy drinks like a latte or a cappuccino.

In terms of design, there are some professional-level machines that require you to plan out the whole brewing process to the minuscule details with control dials and knobs. On the other hand, there are simple machines that have a bunch of pre-set drink settings and all you need to do is to press the button.

Cleaning and maintenance are a breeze on these machines, which makes them the perfect best coffee makers for home use.

Bean-to-Cup Coffee Machine

A bean-to-cup machine is often the answer to the age-old question of: “What is the best coffee maker there is?”. With a bean-to-cup machine, you’re in control of the entirety of the brewing process, including the bean grinding part and will net you a cup with a freshness that cannot be rivaled by either pods or coffee grounds.

Even though there are bean-to-cup machines out there with extensive manual controls, most are automated from top to bottom. All you need to do is to load up the beans into the machine and press buttons or a touchscreen on more expensive machines. Most great coffee makers of this type aren’t picky about the bean type, usually, any would do. Some even work with coffee grounds.

Many of the expensive ones also have automated milk frothers so you don’t have to bother with frothing (cheaper ones will have a wand.)

Because there have many more parts and are the most sophisticated machines, they tend to be expensive and quite bulky. The noise of the coffee grinders can be annoying for some people and they are notoriously difficult to clean and maintain since they are very prone to clogging.

Important Features to Consider In A Cofee Machine

Milk Frothing

If you prefer milky and frothy drinks, a frothing function is an essential component to look for. There are four frother designs:

Steam wand: This is the most popular type and is often found in more affordable great coffee makers that are of the ground coffee or bean-to-cup type. The milk is frothed in a separate jug using steam, which you can then add into your coffee.

Automated frothing: Automated frothing can turn a high quality coffee maker into the best coffee maker in the world for you pretty quick if you want to save as much time and effort as possible while preparing your drink. All you have to do is to put milk into the machine and it will prepare and spray the frothed milk directly into your drink.

Standalone Frothing Accessory: If your highest rated coffee maker isn’t equipped with a frothing function, you should consider getting a standalone frother to heat and whisk the milk for you.

Milk pods: Instead of having a steam wand or automated frothing function, a pod coffee machine will use a milk pod to create the delectable frothing layer. It’s pretty much the same thing as a coffee pod, but instead of being filled with coffee grounds and essences, milk pods are packed with either UHT or pre-powdered milk.

Memory Presets

Top-of-the-line coffee machines from the best coffee maker brands are usually equipped with adjustable presets. You can set up these presets depending on how you like your coffee. All you need to do is to merely press the button and the machine will automatically dispense coffee by the exact specifications every single time thereafter.

Water Tank Capacity

The capacity of the water tank is important to consider if you expect to be making a lot of coffee in a day— having a large family, for example. If that’s the case, look for the best rated coffee makers with a water tank capacity in around 1.5 liters.

Ease of Maintenance

By maintaining your machine properly and descale it regularly, your machine can work faithfully for you up to several years at a time. Modern coffee machines nowadays have automated cleaning programs that can do the bulk of the cleaning jobs for you.

However, you will still need to do manual maintenance and cleaning every once in a while. Check the user’s manual to see which part can be removed and what’s the recommended way of cleaning them. The more parts that can be loaded into a dishwasher, the easier it will be for you.

Read More: Best Coffee Makers: Your Guide to the Finest Coffee Brewing Machines

Smart Connectivity

The best coffee machines have caught up with the time and a few are now equipped with the ability to connect to the Internet. With a smartphone app, you can directly control the machine wirelessly as well as getting notifications when technical problems occur.

Conclusion

Concluding this buying guide, we hope that we have sorted out the question of “what’s the best coffee maker” for you and you now have a clearer picture in your mind of what you need in a good coffee maker.

If you think you’re ready to purchase, visit the best coffee maker reviews on our site for a list of our editors’ recommended coffee makers.