What's the best coffee maker? How do I choose?

Buying the best coffee maker can be a challenge, when you are faced with dozens of choices. This article helps you to breakdown the choices for the top quality coffee appliances a little by looking at some central issues to coffee maker ownership that I have faced over the years.

There are many types of coffee makers to consider, but we'll just focus on the top five types of coffee maker:

1. the French press
2. the Drip Coffee Machine
3. the Espresso Machine
4. the Moka Pot
5. the Coffee Percolator

Whichever type of coffee maker you eventually choose to purchase, the issues of brand name, warranty, and usability will determine both the type of coffee maker and the particular model/manufacturer.

Brand name or not?

When you are shopping for the best coffee maker, would you buy a brand name or not? In my recent shopping trip, I did prefer to buy a brand name coffee maker over some of the unbranded coffee machines available. Why?

Presentation: The branded machines did tend to look nicer, have a better overall design, and used better quality materials. If you're house-proud, or have a lovely kitchen, you may be looking for a machine the complements your kitchen design. Most coffee makers are a little too big to hide in a cupboard or under a shelf.

Quality: The unbranded machines looked flimsy and felt cheap. I didn't have the confidence that I would be still using them in a year's time, even if they didn't break down. I'm a little ham-fisted, so brittle or poor quality fittings can get broken.

Experience: Having bought both branded and unbranded machines, I've tended to buy branded machines much more in recent years, simply because they seemed to produce better coffee, more consistently, worked longer than unbranded rivals, and were backed up by decent warranties (that I never needed).

Replacement Parts: Getting replacement parts, like jugs or filters for drip coffee makers, can be an issue for unbranded machines, esp. if the particular machine is only stocked for a short time. It's generally easier to get replacement parts for branded and popular machines. For Moka Pots, replacing the internal rubber washer may be necessary.

Warranties: When you buy an appliance, make sure you get a decent manufacturer's warranty that includes parts and labor. While coffee machines do break down, sometimes from negligence, knowing that it can be fixed gives greater assurance of quality.

Extended Warranties: This is always a tricky gamble on your part - should you buy an extended store warranty or not? Many stores will offer store warranties as an upsell on their original item, but this lead to additional costs. You may never even use it.

Which warranty?

For inexpensive branded machines, a store warranty isn't usually necessary. Unless the machine makes superb coffee, once the machine breaks down, you may be happy to upgrade anyway. If it breaks down in the initial manufacturer's warranty period, you're covered anyway.

For more expensive machines, though, having a store warranty may provide additional help in getting your machine fixed. But check the manufacturer's warranty anyway. Some may offer multi-year warranties, anyway.

Capacity, Speed, Convenience?

How many cups of coffee will you be making using the best coffee maker? If you are making one or two cups of coffee daily, then your initial choice may be different from, say, just needing a machine to make coffee for dinner parties.

Capacity: Size Matters

For individual use: a small French press, a Moka Pot, or a home espresso maker would be good choices - good quality coffee relatively quickly. For larger use, families, dinner parties, etc.: you may prefer to buy a drip coffee maker or a coffee percolator to produce volumes of coffee needed.

Speed of Machine

Do look for a machine that makes coffee at a decent speed, or at least a speed you can live with.

A simple coffee basket with an electric kettle is probably the fastest way; drip coffee makers are similarly quick. Remove the grounds or throw away the filter paper, rinse the jug, and you're good to go!

The French Press make take a little longer, though as you have to wait for the coffee to pass through the larger grounds. Quicker to re-use, as you simply rinse out the pot, and start again.

The Moka Pot is attractive, but a little slower to get going and awkward to clean. Great coffee, but limited in quantities; and it's difficult to re-use quickly - you'll burn your fingers!

If you have to turn on, power up, and make espresso, the espresso maker may be the fussiest for individual users. But once going, you may be able to make quite a lot of coffee.

Convenience of Cleaning

Cleaning a machine can be a burder: French presses are simply rinsed out, and left to dry. Moka Pots, while convenient, require more effort to clean out. Perhaps the most complex to clean is the home espresso maker, as a dirty machine will produce an inferior espresso shot.

In other words, your own answers to these three situations may affect your choice of the best coffee makers.

How do I choose?

When choosing the best coffee makers your first consideration will probably be your budget. ; You can spend anywhere from twenty dollars to several thousand dollars on different kinds of coffee makers.

First, I would encourage you to first choose a type of machine according to your budget, then buy the very best coffee maker you can in that budget range. Why? Because I believe that the best French press would easily produce a better cup of coffee than the cheapest drip coffee maker, for example.

Secondly, look through the reviews of coffee makers at popular shopping websites, read the criticisms esp. the negative criticisms to find out what kind of problems previous customers experienced, and (most importantly) how frequently these problems occurred. Sometimes, you'll even find an issue of a Consumer Reports helps you find the best coffee maker.

Thirdly, try out the coffee maker if you can before you buy it. Perhaps a friend or family member has one or you can ask the store for a demonstration of the machine first - suitable if the store is selling more expensive models.

Fourthly, check out some of the better shopping or review sites online and don't just read the manufacturer's description. Check the feedback from users, esp. the lower scores to see if problems are frequent, what problems there are, and whether they are problems that you might face or not.

Good luck on your choice of the best coffee maker, do drop back and let us know which one you choose, whether it makes good coffee or not, and if you would recommend the machine you bought.

Once you're done here, you can read my review of the five top coffee machines available on the market and choose which type. Or just check out the some of the best selling coffee machines at Amazon, which can also provide some great customer feedback.

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember "Only Coffee Beans Make Great Coffee"! And enjoy that cup of coffee!

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