Best Coffee Makers: Five Popular Types of Coffee Makers and How to Choose

Don't know which are the best coffee makers? Not surprising! There are so many kinds of coffee makers out there, and no good way to tell which one is the best for your cup of coffee!

I know, I recently bought a coffee machine, after searching for quite some time. So I thought I would take you through the different steps I went through in choosing my latest coffee maker. Of course, you can skip ahead to read the tips on choosing your ideal coffee maker before you read about five specific types. If you want to. But don't forget to come back here!

What are the best coffee makers?

There are five popular methods for making coffee these days: each of them has different strengths and limitations. The French Press, the Drip Coffee Maker, the Moka Pot, the Percolator, and the Espresso Machines: You can click to read more about the best coffee makers or just keep reading here!

The French Press (or Cafetiere)

The French Press has been growing in popularity for good reason. It is inexpensive and takes a little effort, but the taste is worth it. The press consists of a glass jar with a plunger fitted with a mesh filter.

After putting the coffee in the jar and pouring hot water over it, the lid with the plunger is put on and after a few minutes the plunger is depressed, producing a cup of coffee. This method makes a truly rich, great tasting cup.

Because the French press is easy to maintain, easy to clean, and relatively inexpensive, it's a good choice as one of the best coffee makers for people in a hurry or simply wanting to make a limited supply of coffee.

The only downside I can see is that the jug is mostly made of glass, and quite easy to get broken. Handling of the pot requires some care, though modern presses can be put in dishwashers. Choosing a decent quality of glass in the jug becomes important, if you can buy with some form of strengthened glass.

The drip coffee maker

Most people are familiar with the drip coffee maker, which heat the water and drip the water at an ideal temperature through filter grounds placed under the dripper. The coffee is collected in a jug and kept warm on the hotplate. They are simple to operate and convenient, coming in a variety of sizes capable of making from one to twelve cups.

The drawbacks are: if the coffee sits more than a half hour on the hotplate, it becomes undrinkable; cheaper units suffer manufacturing issues, such as unstable water temperatures, uneven filtering, poor jug quality; and the machines do need regular cleaning, esp. if you live in a soft water area.

Modern drip coffee makers are some of the best coffee makers because of innovations. Some come with an insulated carafe instead of a warmer, which improves the life and flavor of the coffee.

You can also get them with built in bean grinders, a variety of electronic features such as timers or you can opt for the basic model with no frills.

The Moka Pot

The moka pot is an increasingly popular way to brew coffee in the US. It's a steel (or aluminum) jug that brews hot water. The water is then passed through coffee grinds at a higher pressure, creating a cup of coffee similar to an espresso maker might make. Thus, many people call it a stovetop espresso coffee maker.

I do have one: it's a little fussy to make the coffee as the unit needs to be assembled before use and separated for cleaning. It's also fussier about what kind of coffee and how it is ground.

Some coffees don't seem to come out well in this coffee maker. But if you get the blend of beans and grind right, this will make fantastic coffee. This can easily be one of the best coffee makers, because of the quality of the espresso it produces.

The Coffee Percolator

The percolator used to be one of the most popular ways to make coffee. It was convenient and efficient. I have never made coffee with a percolator, nor do I think they would really be one of the best coffee makers simply. Why?

Simply because they use two methods that aren't particularly good for flavors: the coffee is passed through the grounds several times; and the coffee can be overheated or even boiled.

The percolator method, similar to the Moka Pot, forces heated water up through a pump tube and into a filter basket that contains ground coffee. Unlike the Moka Pot, the coffee is then dropped back to the bottom of the pot. And this step can be repeated several times.

The Espresso Machine

Photo courtesy of Photos8.

In recent years, with improvements in technology and price decreases, espresso machines have moved from the coffee bar to the kitchen work surface.

Many stores sell affordable home espresso machines but you will need to try the different machines to find one that makes coffee you like. It's also fussy about the grind of the coffee and the kind of beans you use.

While espresso machines can create great espresso, not every machine that is marketed as such will deliver. Consumer complaints note that the water isn't heated properly or that the machines don't create enough pressure for the espresso to gain real body.

So I would recommend you spend more than the minimum price to get a decent machine. If it's not in your budget to buy a decent machine, then buy one of the other coffee makers.

PurelyCoffeeBeans' Own Recommendation

That there are other less popular and very effective ways to make coffee, I do not doubt. If you are intrigued by less common methods, you might want to look at the Siphon Coffee Maker or the Vietnamese Coffee Maker.

However, the only recommendation for the best coffee makers I would make is the French Press. Why? It's the least fussy of all the methods, the simplest to clean, requires no skill or complex equipment.

All you need: medium ground coffee, hot water and a few minutes! It doesn't produce a large volume of coffee, needs a few minutes, and is easy to break, however.

You may prefer an alternate solution: The only solution I would not recommend is the percolator because of its basic design flaw - it rebrews coffee.

Still struggling to choose, take a look at how to choose the best coffee maker page? It provides a good overview of things you should be thinking about. Or consult the Good Housekeeping Guide To Great Coffee Makers.

For more information about coffee makers of all varieties, check out these articles...

• Drip Coffee Maker: Tips, Tricks and Todos - The Drip Coffee maker is one of the easiest ways to make good coffee. Easy tips on how to make the perfect drip coffee.
• Moka Pot Coffee: How to make coffee in six easy steps - Moka Pot is a stovetop espresso coffee maker that prepares several short cups of espresso style coffee with forces steam pressurized water through coffee.

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