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We've just completed a new round of testing, and are planning to make the Bonavita Enthusiast our new top pick. It's compact, makes excellent coffee, and avoids the design flaws of older Bonavita models. We'll still recommend the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker for those who want an auto-brew function. Juicer
A cheap drip coffee maker can fulfill your basic need for a big, hot pot of coffee first thing in the morning. But only a great machine will ensure that your pot consistently tastes delicious.
To start the day off on the right foot—or with the right cup—we recommend the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker. It’s fast and convenient, with a programmable start time and a well-insulated carafe, and it makes great coffee.
This stylish brewer consistently makes good coffee. And, unlike our other picks, it can be programmed to brew automatically before you wake up.
We love the convenient features, reliable performance, and handsome design of the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker.
It has a sleek interface with a handy auto-brew timer function, and its well-made thermal carafe keeps coffee hot for hours. This drip machine makes far better coffee than most other models we’ve tested, though we did find it a little less reliably nuanced than the brews from our other picks. But unlike our other picks, the OXO Brew 9-Cup lets you wake up to a fresh, already-brewed pot.
A compact cousin to our top pick, the OXO 8-Cup machine brews slightly better coffee but lacks an auto-brew function. It’s the only one of our picks that lets you brew directly into a mug.
If you don’t need a coffee maker that will brew you a pot before you wake, or if you just want something a little smaller and simpler than our top pick, consider the OXO Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker.
It brewed coffee with a slightly more well-rounded flavor than the OXO Brew 9-Cup, and it was the fastest of all of our picks, making a full pot in just over six minutes. It’s also the only machine we recommend that lets you brew directly into a mug (you have to use a different filter basket and special paper filters to do so, but the results are great).
The OXO 8-Cup’s self-explanatory four-button interface is easier for the uninitiated to figure out than the minimalist digital screen on our top pick. But the trade-off is that the OXO 8-Cup lacks a digital clock and an auto-brew function.
This dead-simple machine is extremely compact and often the least expensive of our picks. It brews excellent coffee but lacks the convenience of a programmable start time, and the carafe is clunky.
Of any machine we’ve tried, the Bonavita Connoisseur 8-Cup One-Touch Coffee Brewer makes some of the best-tasting coffee (a bit better than coffee from the OXO 9-Cup). And it’s the easiest, smallest brewer we recommend.
We like that the simple interface and measurements printed on the water tank make this machine incredibly easy to operate. But the carafe is clunky: You have to brew without the carafe lid (unlike our other picks). And if you don’t put the lid back on as soon as the coffee finishes brewing, the pot will quickly cool.
There’s also no programmable auto-brew setting, and you can’t brew a single serving of coffee into a mug, as you can with the OXO 8-Cup.
This stylish brewer consistently makes good coffee. And, unlike our other picks, it can be programmed to brew automatically before you wake up.
A compact cousin to our top pick, the OXO 8-Cup machine brews slightly better coffee but lacks an auto-brew function. It’s the only one of our picks that lets you brew directly into a mug.
This dead-simple machine is extremely compact and often the least expensive of our picks. It brews excellent coffee but lacks the convenience of a programmable start time, and the carafe is clunky.
Marguerite Preston, who conducted the most recent rounds of testing for this guide, is a senior editor overseeing Wirecutter’s kitchen team. She has edited all of our coffee coverage since 2017.
Alex Arpaia, Cale Guthrie Weissman (a National Barista Championship finalist), and Liz Clayton (an associate editor at the coffee news website Sprudge) all contributed research, testing, and writing to past versions of this guide.
Over the years we’ve interviewed numerous coffee experts. And we’ve invited pros from either Counter Culture Coffee’s New York City team or Coffee Project New York’s Specialty Coffee Association–certified training center to participate in every major round of testing.
If you regularly buy specialty coffee beans and want to be able to brew a large pot of very good coffee at the touch of a button, this is the guide for you.
The drip coffee makers we focus on in this guide generally cost around $200 or more. But investing more for a machine that will bring out the nuances of those high-quality beans—to yield a balanced, café-quality pot—is worth it.
The machines covered here are more reliable, durable, and consistent than cheaper brewers, and we think they’re a good investment for people who love coffee.
If you want something less expensive that will just get the job done, we also have a guide to the best budget coffee makers.
If you want the absolute best cup of coffee, consider a pour-over dripper. But the trade-off with pour-over is convenience: Making a good pour-over requires some technique, and with most pour-over drippers, you can brew only one cup at a time.
We focused on machines certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) to meet its standards (PDF). The SCA doesn’t assess every machine on the market—manufacturers must submit machines for consideration, with an application fee. But focusing on SCA-certified machines allowed us to be fairly certain that every model we tested met these baseline criteria, which are crucial to brewing good coffee:
Beyond those brewing fundamentals, the things that separate a good coffee maker from a great one are all about how it feels to use:
Though our exact testing procedure has evolved since 2014 (when we started covering coffee makers), we’ve always focused on comparing taste and usability.
To help us assess the flavor of coffee from each machine, we enlisted coffee professionals (most recently Chi Sum Ngai, co-founder of Coffee Project New York) to taste alongside us. In these tastings, we always tried to brew the best pot possible, making adjustments to our grind size or coffee-to-water ratio as needed.
To judge consistency and usability, we brewed multiple pots with every machine, using generic paper filters and a good-quality medium-roast blend. We brewed using the coffee-to-water ratio suggested by the manual.
While brewing, we used an instant-read thermometer to periodically measure the temperature of the brew bed, looking for a stable temperature of around 200 °F. We also measured the temperature of the coffee immediately after brewing a full pot. Then we poured off half the pot (to simulate serving a couple cups of coffee), and we let each carafe sit with the lid on for four hours, measuring the temperature of the coffee every hour.
This stylish brewer consistently makes good coffee. And, unlike our other picks, it can be programmed to brew automatically before you wake up.
Stylish from top to bottom, the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker brews better coffee than most of the machines we tested, and it comes with a number of convenient features that our other picks lack. The auto-brew function is the most important of those features: It lets you program the brewer to make coffee before you wake up.
An important note about that nine-cup capacity: In the world of coffee-brewing gear, a “cup” is typically defined as being 5 ounces. The average mug holds between 10 and 16 ounces. So with this brewer, you’ll probably get somewhere between three to five mugs of coffee from a full, 45-ounce pot.
It makes consistently good coffee. Coffee brewed in this machine is pleasant and much better than what we brewed in some competitors. It does lack a little of the sweetness and dimension that we got from coffee brewed in our other picks, however. This may be because the OXO 9-Cup uses a cone-shaped filter basket (it fits standard #4 paper filters), which doesn’t steep grounds quite as evenly as a flat-bottomed filter basket (like our other picks have).
The OXO 9-Cup can make a full pot in just under 8 minutes.
This machine also has an automatic pre-infusion mode, which briefly wets the coffee grounds before brewing to help prepare them for better extraction. Other coffee makers we tested make pre-infusion optional, so you have to remember to turn that feature on.
For smaller amounts of coffee, the OXO 9-Cup also adjusts the pre-infusion and overall brewing time (you have to select between brewing a two- to four-cup pot or a five- to nine-cup pot). We found this helped the OXO 9-Cup make a stronger-tasting partial pot of coffee than some other machines we tested.
It has a simple interface and helpful features. Unlike our other picks, which have simple button controls, the OXO 9-Cup has an easy-to-read digital display with a clock.
You can set the machine to auto-brew at your desired time—say, right before you wake up. For those who find mornings to be a scramble, this feature makes the OXO 9-Cup more convenient to use than our other picks.
When the machine is finished brewing, the display also shows you how long it’s been since the coffee was made, up to 60 minutes after brewing.
This machine is also the only one of our picks that can detect when you remove the carafe to pour yourself a cup before the machine has finished brewing. A mechanism in the bottom of the filter basket springs shut to stop the flow of coffee from the machine, and the machine also pauses brewing for up to 60 seconds. And if you forget to replace the carafe, the machine will cancel the brewing cycle so you don’t end up with a mess.
Don’t worry about positioning the carafe incorrectly: A red carafe symbol will appear on the display to tell you it’s out of place.
It has a great carafe. We let coffee sit in every carafe for four hours, and the well-designed thermal, stainless steel carafe kept our coffee hotter than almost any other carafe. (It was second only to the Zojirushi’s carafe; Zojirushi excels at making gear to keep drinks hot.)
And even with the lid off, the OXO 9-Cup’s carafe is easier to pour from than many others we tested. That’s convenient when you’re filling the water tank, since it can take a while to fill it with the lid on. By comparison, the carafes of the OXO 8-Cup and the Bonavita Connoisseur dribble liquid all over the place when you try to pour without the lid on.
It’s easy to take care of. Aside from the carafe, all of the removable plastic parts are dishwasher-safe (top rack only).
After every 90 brews, a little red light comes on to remind you to descale the machine (you can still use the brewer when the light is on). And all you have to do to turn the light off is run the brewer’s dedicated cleaning cycle (you can do this even without using a descaling solution). But if you want to keep your machine from slowing down or malfunctioning, don’t avoid the task of descaling for too long.
OXO offers a two-year warranty, and it has a reputation for great customer service. All of the Wirecutter staffers who’ve taken advantage of the coverage have found OXO to be helpful and responsive (sometimes sending replacement parts even after the warranty has expired).
A compact cousin to our top pick, the OXO 8-Cup machine brews slightly better coffee but lacks an auto-brew function. It’s the only one of our picks that lets you brew directly into a mug.
As long as you don’t need a machine with an auto-brew function, the OXO Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker is a great choice.
It brews delicious coffee and takes up less space than our top pick while sacrificing only 5 ounces of capacity.
It’s the fastest brewer of our picks, and it’s the only one that can brew a good cup of coffee directly into a mug.
It makes consistently great coffee. Coffee brewed in the OXO 8-Cup was noticeably rounder than coffee from the OXO 9-Cup, when tasted side by side; the OXO 8-Cup coffee had a more roasted, nutty flavor balancing out the bright, fruity notes. It was similar to coffee brewed in the Bonavita Connoisseur, which the pros have consistently rated as their favorite in our tests.
We suspect this is because the OXO 8-Cup, like the Connoisseur, uses a flat-bottomed filter basket (which fits standard 8- to 12-cup basket filters), rather than a conical one. With a flat-bottomed filter, it’s generally easier for water to disperse evenly through the coffee grounds before draining out, leading to a more-balanced-tasting pot of coffee.
Like the OXO 9-Cup, the OXO 8-Cup has an automatic pre-infusion mode, which allows for better extraction. This machine is also fast: In our tests it brewed a 40-ounce pot in about 6 minutes (about two minutes faster than it took our other picks).
It can brew great coffee directly into a mug. This is the coolest thing about the OXO 8-Cup brewer. The secret here: A second, smaller filter basket (included with the machine) can brew small quantities of coffee more evenly than a larger basket. This function does require the use of special filters (which are easier to find online than in stores), but it’s way better than using a Keurig.
Technically, you can brew the same amount of coffee (about 10 ounces) in our top pick using the two-cup setting. But when we did a side-by-side tasting of a single cup from each OXO brewer, the difference was noticeable. Coffee made in the OXO 8-Cup tasted just a bit mellower and more balanced.
It has simple buttons. The OXO 8-Cup has a four-button interface. The buttons are so self-explanatory that a houseguest could immediately figure out how to use this brewer.
But this machine does lack a digital clock, so you can’t program it to automatically brew at a set time.
The carafe is kind of annoying. In our tests, the OXO 8-Cup’s carafe retained heat almost as well as our top pick’s carafe, keeping a half-pot of coffee pleasantly hot after four hours. But when you try to pour with the lid off, the coffee dribbles all over the place. When you’re filling the water tank, however, the lid should be off, since pouring is so much slower with the lid on.
It’s otherwise easy to clean. Except for the carafe, all of the brewer’s removable parts are dishwasher-safe. And it’s easy to fit your hand into the squat carafe, so you don’t need a bottle brush to give it a good scrub.
After every 90 brews, a light will come on to remind you to descale the brewer (using the machine’s programmed cleaning cycle). However, the machine will continue to work when that light is on.
This brewer comes with a two-year warranty and OXO’s great customer service.
This dead-simple machine is extremely compact and often the least expensive of our picks. It brews excellent coffee but lacks the convenience of a programmable start time, and the carafe is clunky.
If you prioritize flavor and just want the smallest, simplest machine possible, get the Bonavita Connoisseur 8-Cup One-Touch Coffee Brewer.
It consistently makes great coffee. In our years of testing drip coffee makers, the Connoisseur has consistently produced coffee that professionals like the best.
We’ve found the brew to be a bit sweeter and more balanced than coffee made in our top pick. (We think the OXO 8-Cup model makes coffee similar to that made in the Connoisseur.)
The Connoisseur brewed a full 40-ounce pot in about 7 minutes 45 seconds.
It’s exceptionally easy to use. An on/off rocker switch activates the machine, and it flips back into the off position once it’s done brewing.
But it’s missing additional features. The Connoisseur doesn’t have an auto-brew function, and it can’t brew a single cup of coffee. A 20-ounce pot is the smallest it can make, and we found that to be a little weak in flavor.
The Connoisseur does have a pre-infusion mode, but unlike the OXO brewers, it doesn’t automatically activate this mode, and doing this manually is not intuitive.
A nice thing the Connoisseur does have: measurements on the water tank that tell you approximately how many grams of ground coffee to use for a given pot size. If you like to weigh your coffee before brewing (which will give you the best, most consistent results), it’s nice that you don’t have to remember (or look up) how much you need.
And the carafe is a pain. This was the only model we tested that didn’t have a brew-through lid. Instead, you have to remove the lid to brew into the carafe.
This is annoying for a few reasons. First, if you don’t put the lid on immediately after the coffee is brewed, it will begin to lose heat through the open top. It’s also difficult to pour from the carafe without the lid—coffee dribbles everywhere. And once the lid is on, the carafe no longer fits under the brew basket.
But when the lid was on, the carafe at least did a good job of keeping coffee hot for several hours.
It’s easy to clean. As with the OXO machines, all of the Connoisseur’s removable parts—except for the carafe—are dishwasher-safe. Cleaning the Connoisseur’s carafe is relatively easy, too, due to its wide opening.
This brewer won’t alert you when it’s time to descale the machine, like the OXO models do, but you should follow standard descaling practices to keep the machine working well.
The Connoisseur comes with only a one-year warranty, whereas the OXO machines are covered for two. We don’t have much experience with Bonavita’s customer service, since the company relaunched the brand in 2022.
If you want a simple, stylish brewer with a long warranty: Technivorm brewers (there are a few variants) have legions of devoted fans.
The Technivorm Moccamaster KBT is relatively compact, with a good thermal carafe and a barebones interface. It comes with a five-year warranty, which is better than that of any of our picks. And there’s a unique switch on the filter basket that lets you adjust how long your coffee steeps.
All of our tasters enjoyed its coffee, but not more than the coffee made by our picks. And for a brewer that lacks user-friendly features (like the OXO brewer’s programmable timer and descaling reminders), the KBT is quite pricey.
If you enjoy tinkering with brew settings: With a multitude of brew settings, the Breville Precision Brewer has a lot to offer to craft-coffee lovers. You can adjust almost everything, from pre-infusion/bloom duration to water temperature to flow rate.
But we found it tough to get going—it took us more than two hours to dial in a decent brew. For those who love to tinker or are particular about coffee, the time investment may be rewarding. But if you’re just looking to make a good pot of coffee, the learning curve is steep. It’s also a loud machine.
This is not a comprehensive list of all the machines we’ve considered. It includes models we’ve tested that are still available.
Our tasters praised the overall flavor and balance of coffee made in the Bonavita BV1900TS. And this machine is fast, brewing a liter of coffee in just over 5 minutes. However, the filter basket sits directly on the carafe, leaving a drafty gap underneath the machine’s showerhead. It also has a drippy and clunky carafe.
The Bonavita Metropolitan BV1901PW is the company’s least expensive 8-cup model. But the quality of the coffee didn’t measure up to coffee made in the OXO 9-Cup, and we think most people will prefer a thermal carafe over this machine’s all-glass one.
Similar to the Bonavita Connoisseur, the Cuisinart CPO-850 has a compact footprint, but it improves on the design with a carafe that the machine brews directly into. This machine is easy to use, but we found the flavor of the coffee to be relatively one-dimensional.
For such a clunky machine, the Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker made surprisingly good coffee. But its extra features (a watery single-cup setting and a milk-frothing wand) don’t add a lot of value, and it’s now available only with a glass carafe, which we don’t recommend.
The Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB 10-cup coffee maker brewed coffee at a glacial pace, taking more than 15 minutes to make a full pot. We also thought the coffee tasted weak.
The Brim 8-Cup Pour Over Coffee Maker is expensive for what it offers. It’s not programmable, and there’s a large gap between the showerhead and the filter basket, which allows a lot of heat to escape during brewing. The Chemex-shaped carafe can be difficult to grip with one hand. And because this model is glass and lacks a lid, your coffee will cool quickly (the hot plate shuts off after 30 minutes).
The Braun 10-Cup MultiServe Coffee Machine is the worst coffee maker we’ve tested. It consistently brewed coffee that tasted awful—like burnt gas-station coffee.
This article was edited by Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong.
Chi Sum Ngai, CQI Arabica Q Grader, Founder of Coffee Project New York, in-person interview, February 12,
Matt Banbury, regional salesperson at Counter Culture Coffee, in-person interview, January 24, 2018
Ryan Ludwig, account manager at Counter Culture Coffee, in-person interview, January 24, 2018
Charles Babinski, co-owner of G&B Coffee and Go Get Em Tiger, phone interview, February 16, 2018
SCA Certified Home Brewer Program Minimum Certification Requirements (PDF), Specialty Coffee Association, March 1, 2018
Best Coffee Maker (Automatic Drip), Cook’s Illustrated, January 1, 2016
Matt Buchanan, The Best Automatic Coffee Machine, Gizmodo, February 16, 2012
Marguerite Preston is a senior editor covering kitchen gear and appliances at Wirecutter, and has written guides to baking equipment, meal kit delivery services, and more. She previously worked as an editor for Eater New York and as a freelance food writer. Before that, she learned her way around professional kitchens as a pastry cook in New York.
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Coffee Mill Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).