Out of all the types of coffee-brewing devices, from espresso machines to Keurigs, the humble drip-style coffee maker remains the most popular choice among Americans. To determine the best drip coffee makers on the market, I tested 10 top-rated models for the better part of a month, brewing four batches of coffee in each machine. My top pick overall is the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker due to its delicious brew, thoughtful features and general reliability. For those on a budget, the Ninja CE251 12-Cup Coffee Brewer delivers superior performance at an affordable price.
The best drip coffee makers I tested brewed consistent and convenient cups of joe.
The following is a list of all four winners from my testing process:
After setting up the 10 drip coffee makers (and 10 pounds of medium-roast beans) in my living room, I tested each machine by brewing and drinking far too much java for one person. During my tests, I judged each maker’s overall construction, brewing speed, quality of brew, additional features and ease of cleaning. Ahead, learn the results of my caffeinated experiments—and why I’d recommend certain drip coffee machines over others. (Afterward, check out more of our staff’s top coffee makers.)
OXO’s Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker is a super-functional machine with premium features at a moderate price, and I drank a smooth and pleasant cup every time I used it. It has a no-frills black-and-stainless steel exterior, a simple digital display and exactly one dial on the front with which to adjust the machine. Setup was straightforward: I inserted the plastic conical brew bed into the machine, attached the silicone mixing tube to the brew-through carafe lid and ran a water-only cycle.
The OXO 9-Cup has a conical brew bed (left), instead of a flat one, which some experts believe can … [+]
After that, I brewed a full carafe with coffee grounds, which took exactly eight minutes while maintaining a consistent water temperature of 190 to 200 degrees during the cycle. The stainless steel thermal-insulated carafe kept the coffee at 166 degrees for four hours after brewing, and the brew timer worked well, too: I prepped the machine the night before so I could wake up to a brewed pot, and the difference in taste between freshly ground beans and those that had sat in a filter overnight was minimal to my palate.
Some other thoughtful features to note were the OXO 9-Cup’s brew pause feature (present in a number of the machines I tried), as well as its freshness timer on the digital display, which runs for up to 60 minutes post-brew to tell you how long the coffee’s been sitting in the carafe. Clean-up was simple: The paper filter dislodged quickly and easily into my compost bin after use, and the carafe plus the detachable brew bed took just a couple minutes to hand-wash with dish soap and hot water, then air-dry. (The machine will also tell you when it needs to be descaled to remove mineral buildup—a feature unique to this machine that I think is pretty neat.)
As for the cons, there are a few, but they’re not insurmountable. First, the machine is a whopping 15 inches tall and 17 inches wide, which might be problematic for people who are short on counter space. Additionally, the brew timer won’t work as planned if the carafe is even slightly out of place (though to be fair, the machine warns users when this is the case). Nothing on this coffee machine is dishwasher safe, either, so keep that in mind. Lastly, the price is on the higher end of the models I tested. Still, with a two-year warranty, this reliable machine is an investment that’s likely to yield hundreds of great-tasting cups over the years.
For more details, read my full review of the OXO 9-Cup Coffee Maker. To weigh this model against OXO’s 8-Cup Coffee Maker, check out former barista Ashley Rodriguez’s detailed comparison.
I wasn’t expecting to love this coffee maker as much as I did, but such are the mysteries of product testing. It offers numerous handy features and delicious-tasting coffee for a reasonable price, making it the best budget option I tested. Setup was simple, requiring a quick wash of the included parts and accessories, then a water-only flush cycle. The shower head-style brewer dispenses water in the same fashion as, and at similar temperatures to, a more expensive machine, resulting in a smooth-tasting final product. It’s also got a conical brew bed that can accommodate a reusable gold-tone filter or a #4 paper filter, and the glass carafe comes with a “Flavor Straw” that protrudes from the lid and ensures that the coffee circulates nicely in the carafe. This means that each mug poured has a similar flavor and extraction level, whether it’s the first or the last in the pot. Note that the total brew time for a full carafe is a fairly lengthy 15 minutes; according to the manufacturer, this is due to a pre-infusion cycle that takes place before the coffee actually brews.
The front of the machine also comes with a number of functions to customize your experience: You can brew the coffee with a “classic” or “rich” strength, or make a small batch of just 2 to 4 cups. There’s a brew delay button that allows users to program the coffee up to 24 hours in advance, while the machine’s keep-warm feature can be programmed to work between one and four hours. Some other convenient features: The machine comes with a measuring scoop that handily attaches to a hook on the coffee maker’s body, and it offers a brew pause feature that worked moderately well in my tests. When it’s time to clean the machine, its parts are safe to place in the top rack of your dishwasher; for heavier-duty jobs, the coffee maker has a “clean” function for descaling.
The Ninja CE251 features a shower head-style brewer, glass carafe and dishwasher-safe parts.
As with all appliances, this machine is not without its limitations. The glass carafe and heating element setup that only works moderately well is, of course, one of them, and the slowness of the machine is another. Some reviewers have also suggested that the removable water reservoir loses its seal over time and causes water to leak everywhere during the brew cycle. (Get more details on this unit’s performance in my full review of the Ninja CE251 Coffee Brewer.)
Slick and streamlined is the name of the game here: The Ratio Six is a gorgeous, well-designed machine that simply produces excellent coffee. Setup is as simple as it gets (and Ratio gets bonus points for packing the stainless steel machine and its mostly metal parts in completely recyclable, plastic-free materials). The machine comes pre-rinsed and flushed, so it’s ready to roll—a thoughtful touch that only applied to this machine and the Technivorm Moccamaster. Just place a flat-bottom filter with your weighed coffee grounds in the filter holder and screw on an optional heat shield, stack that on top of the insulated thermal carafe, fill the water reservoir, and press the coffee maker’s single button. That’s it.
The Ratio Six proved to be a gorgeous, well-designed machine that produces excellent coffee.
The machine then goes through a short blooming cycle to hydrate the grounds before brewing with a shower head-style water dispenser. You get a full pot in about eight minutes, with water temperature just shy of 200 degrees—right on the money from the SCA’s point of view. The result is a really great-tasting cup with a lot of the nuances that come from pour-over coffee brewing methods. It’s also a cup that stays conveniently warm in its thermal carafe for several hours with the insulated lid (four hours after brewing, I found that it measured a solid 168 degrees).
Despite its clearly considered design, the Ratio Six coffee maker has a few quirks. First off, the machine does one thing only—but does it well. If you want a brew timer, different configurations for brew strengths or a half-brew setting (like many of the other machines I tested), the Ratio Six is not going to give that to you. Next, the water reservoir has a very tiny opening with a small, stainless steel twist-off lid, which makes fill-up slightly slower and messier than it could be. And last, there are a couple detachable parts that don’t neatly fit into the otherwise streamlined setup, namely the plastic drip catcher and thermal carafe lid. And none of the machine’s parts are dishwasher safe, so you’ll spend some time hand-washing after each use. But these are just small quibbles; the Ratio Six is really an excellent coffee maker, through and through.
The Breville Precision Brewer is a force. With its 14-cup yield, this machine is among the biggest of the coffee makers I tested, so it’s not the best choice for small households or kitchens. But that large size comes with a number of useful features, with precise customization offered just about every step of the way when brewing. Not only can you adjust brew volume, temperature and time from the digital menu on the front of the machine, as well as the strength of the coffee that brews, but the Precision Brewer also comes with two interchangeable brew baskets based on how much coffee you’re making (conical for 8 cups or fewer and a basket-style bed for up to 14 cups). The machine also has a setting for cold brew and iced coffee, making it the only one I tested that had these extra functions.
The setup here was a bit more complex: The Precision Brewer comes with a pH testing stick, which you’re instructed to use to test your tap water before it brews (the pH of the water affects the acidity of the final cup of coffee). You’re also asked to soak and then insert a disposable water filter in a designated slot in the reservoir tank, but it needs to be replaced roughly every two months. And then you’ll run a water-only flush cycle. All this said, the brewing process itself was very straightforward. While it brews—totaling a time of 11 minutes, including a blooming cycle and at a preset temperature of 195 degrees—the coffee flows into a thermal carafe via a brew-through lid that’s tricky to screw on. The taste of the coffee was good, clear and unmuddied; it also stayed nice and toasty in the carafe, at a temperature of 165, for at least four hours post-brew with the lid in a locked position.
Of course, this machine’s hefty size isn’t for everyone; as mentioned, it’s rather finicky to set up and get going. I also found that the water reservoir didn’t fully empty during the machine’s brew cycle. What’s more, for such a premium product with so many detachable bits and bobs, a one-year warranty seems a bit limited; I’d expect more robust coverage for a coffee maker as high end and costly as this one.
Other Coffee Makers I Tested Or Considered
Bonavita 8-Cup One-Touch Thermal Carafe Coffee Brewer: The Vetted team had previously selected this SCA-certified model as our best drip coffee maker overall, and it’s long been a favorite among readers for its simplicity and quality. However, when evaluating models to test for this guide, I felt the machine did not stand out enough from the rest, both design- and feature-wise.
Technivorm Moccamaster KBGV Select: This slim and streamlined machine is truly excellent and revered for very good reason: It produces a full carafe of really great coffee in just four to six minutes with its unique copper-coil conducting system. However, while this unit uses a bottom heating element to keep coffee hot for two hours, I was expecting a thermal carafe (and less plastic in general) due to its significant price point.
One of the many cups of coffee I made during my testing process.
Café Specialty Drip Coffee Maker With Glass Carafe: This high-tech machine is SCA certified, and attractive to boot. It’s got a brew timer/programmer, brew strength configuration and temperature settings among other features—all of which can be controlled using a smartphone app or voice assistant. The Café Specialty also brews a solid-tasting cup in about eight minutes. That said, I felt its bells and whistles were “nice-to-haves” instead of real necessities.
Cuisinart PurePrecision 8-Cup Pour-Over Coffee Brewer: Cuisinart’s coffee brewer, another SCA-certified pick, mimics pour-over–style coffee in a convenient drip machine. The coffee from this model tasted great, and the machine itself had a lot of extras, like a brew timer, temperature control and a self-cleaning function. But with a small-ish capacity, a charcoal water filter that needs to be replaced on occasion and a lack of dishwasher-safe parts, it didn’t quite make the cute.
Black + Decker 12-Cup Thermal Programmable Maker: I was hopeful about trying this budget-friendly machine with a vacuum-sealed thermal carafe, but the results disappointed me. The machine produced poorly extracted coffee that tasted bitter and lacked nuance. Mid-brew, the water temperature registered inconsistently at about 183 degrees, and brewing a full carafe took 17 minutes. While the coffee stayed decently hot for several hours post-brew, you can spend a lot less than $70 for the resulting quality of taste.
Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker: This Cuisinart machine had some good aspects, such as programmability, half-brew settings, temperature configurations and self-cleaning capabilities. However, with a lack of a shower head-style water dispenser, inconsistent temperature readings throughout the (long) brewing process and an average-tasting resulting brew, this is probably not a machine I’d gravitate towards as a first choice.
Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker: This model comes at an extremely economical price and has a number of useful functions. But its showerhead-style dispenser’s perforations were so closely concentrated together that its intended effect (to evenly saturate and bloom the coffee grounds) was hardly noticeable. Plus, the brew was housed in a glass carafe and heated from underneath, so its flavor went from sippable to brash to burnt quite quickly.
How I Tested The Best Drip Coffee Makers
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the world’s foremost coffee trade organization, has detailed guidelines on what makes for a stellar cup brewed at home. It performs extensive testing on the coffee machines submitted for consideration and has rigorous, scientifically based criteria that the drip coffee makers need to meet for certification. I referred to a number of these standards as the basis for my testing, as follows:
Temperature Consistency
Per the SCA, optimal coffee extraction occurs when the temperature of the water is between 185 and 205 degrees. Patrick Cotter of Seattle Coffee Gear agrees, adding that “many cheap brewers just boil the water and then dump it on the grounds,” which “scorches the grounds and leads to a burnt, bitter taste.” Using a simple ThermaPen probe thermometer, I measured the center of the filter bed during the brew cycle and the temperature of the coffee when the liquid reached the carafe.
Brew Time
The SCA also recommends that drip brewers saturate coffee grounds with water for at least four minutes and up to eight—anything shorter or longer than that, and the coffee is in danger of under- or over-extraction. I timed each machine’s brew cycle from when the first drop of coffee hit the pot to when the water reservoir was empty.
Heating
The SCA suggests that certified brewers should maintain coffee temperature between 176 and 185 degrees during the first 30 minutes of the holding time post-brew. For brewers with a heating element, the guidelines state that “at no point should the temperature of the coffee increase above 185 degrees Fahrenheit.” To assess this factor, I measured the temperature of the coffee in the thermal carafe (or in the glass carafe and aided by the machine’s heating element) 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes and 240 minutes after brewing.
For the better part of a month, I tested 10 drip coffee machines using 10 pounds of medium-roast … [+]
Water Dispensation Style
As Cotter told me, “It’s essential to find a brewer with a decent showerhead that will evenly spread water through the grounds. This is so that extraction is even throughout the coffee bed, leading to that perfect drip flavor.” Most of the drip coffee makers I selected for testing had this functionality; I further measured its efficacy by examining the grounds post-brew to see if there were any patches that were lighter in color (unsaturated by water) versus darker (better saturated).
Capacity, Versatility And Convenience
I noted which machines had a designated “half-carafe” setting and which required a different brew basket or filter to optimize extraction when brewing a smaller pot. I also noted whether each machine could perform additional tasks like making iced coffee or cold brew for households that prefer that versatility. It’s worth pointing out that most experts I spoke with say features like configuring brew strength and pre-programming/timer options aren’t super important—after all, freshly ground coffee is the gold standard. Per Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply, “Brew strength can be controlled with the grind size and ratio of coffee to water we use.”
Ease Of Setup And Cleaning
To gauge ease of assembly, I measured the time it took me to set up each machine and ready it for brewing (including performing a water-only “flush cycle” if that was specified in the manufacturer’s instruction manual). I also timed how long it took me to clean up and ready it for another use. In addition, I noted whether the machine had dishwasher-safe parts and ran everything that could be cleaned that way through a cycle to see how they held up. While I did not use the machines enough to perform a descaling cycle that would have a meaningful impact on the coffee’s taste, I plan to do this during longer-term testing and will update this story with the results.
Extraction Level And Taste Of Brew
While professional coffee organizations like the SCA use refractometers to determine how well machines extract coffee while brewing, I didn’t feel that was realistic for a home coffee brewer. Instead, I opted to determine this based on the color and flavor of the brewed coffee. Bitter or burnt-tasting coffee is fairly straightforward to taste, as is weak coffee with an underdeveloped (or watery) flavor. To determine these factors, I brewed four batches of coffee in each machine, with an eye towards different criteria in each round of testing.
I used Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s Holler Mountain whole beans for all my tests—a medium-roast blend … [+]
In my first round, I tried to determine ease of machine use and brew time; in the second, I gauged brew temperature and extraction level during brewing (color and flavor); third, I tested whether I could make a half batch and record consistency with the full carafe; fourth, I tested any additional features on the machine, like brew delay/scheduling and any special attachments.
Coffee Quality And Grind Size
Nguyen says, “Freshly ground coffee over pre-ground coffee makes a huge difference in the flavor and aroma of a brewed cup of coffee”—meaning the beans were roasted and ground close to brewing time. Grind size matters, too, Nguyen adds: “[It’s] really important for bringing out the best flavors for your cup.” Accordingly, I used Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s Holler Mountain whole beans for all my tests. It’s a medium-roast blend with notes of caramel, chocolate and some citrus that are robust enough to come through in many brewing methods.
To ensure a consistent grind across the board, I employed the help of the Baratza Encore burr grinder set at a level of 18 to produce the medium texture recommended for a drip machine; I also used a simple digital kitchen scale to measure the correct amount of coffee to brew a full carafe, per the SCA’s recommended “Golden Cup Ratio” of 16 parts water to one part medium-grind coffee.
Last, I used a simple Brita filter to treat the water I used, as well as paper filters (Melitta #4 cone filters or standard-size basket filters, depending on what the machine called for), regardless of whether the machine came with a reusable gold tone one.
How To Pick A Drip Coffee Maker
Here’s a breakdown of the most important things you’ll want to pay attention to when choosing the best drip coffee maker for your household.
Capacity
How much coffee do you drink, and how soon do you plan to drink it? As Nguyen puts it, “If it’s just for you and another person, then perhaps you don’t need a 14-cup coffee machine.” If you are a small household but one that consumes a lot of coffee throughout the day, your carafe style will then matter even more in delivering a fresh and hot cup for hours on end.
Temperature Control
Cotter of Seattle Coffee Gear says it best: “The number one thing I look for in a drip brewer is temperature stability. Many cheap brewers just boil the water and then dump it on the grounds, letting it cool as it runs through the coffee. This scorches the grounds and leads to a burnt, bitter taste. Unfortunately a lot of people think this is just how coffee tastes. A brewer with a good, consistent heating element will properly heat the water throughout the brewing process to around 200 degrees, then hold it there throughout the brew.”
Nguyen adds, “I’ve seen some machines have an ‘extra-hot coffee’ option for folks who like to add milk to their coffee; the machine uses a higher temperature to brew the coffee. Technically speaking, using a higher temperature in the coffee extraction process isn’t always a good thing. However, if possible, I’d look to see if the company clarifies what the definitions of ‘higher temperature’ and regular temperature mean. Keeping it between 195 and 205 degrees is ideal.”
Type Of Water Dispenser
Experts agree that a shower head-style water dispenser, which mimics the pour-over brewing method, by far produces the best coffee possible through a drip maker. This is because, according to Travis Bell, founder of Black Acres Roastery in Baltimore, the water can “cover all the grounds for an even extraction.”
Brew Customization
While most premium (and certainly SCA-certified) machines will offer outstanding brew temperature and time configurations as their default, not all coffee beans are built the same. For that reason, per Bell, the capability to adjust brew times and temperature matters. Lengthening the brew times will help draw out more flavor from a milder bean; lowering the brewing temperature when you’re working with a more robust or darker-roast bean could help balance and soften its resulting brew.
Nguyen also suggests considering the tones and sounds that come out of the machine, if any: “Does the coffee beep or make a noise when it’s ready? And if yes, is there an option to turn the tone off so that it doesn’t disturb house pets?” Lastly, Cotter adds that “programmability can be a nice added feature as well, but less important than consistent brew temps and even water application.”
Construction, Size And Appearance
Consider how much room you are able to devote to your coffee machine. Bigger and bulkier models will occupy more precious counter space, while taller machines may not fit as snugly beneath cabinets. Aesthetics are also worth taking into account: Since most people use their drip coffee makers on a daily basis, these machines are likely to remain out on a countertop—so you’ll want to choose a model that’s worthy of displaying.
Cleaning
Find a coffee machine that’s easy to clean—whether that’s during daily maintenance like removing coffee grounds from the brew bed, or for longer-term cleaning like the once-a-month descaling recommended by many manufacturers (be sure to follow the instructions for this in your machine’s user manual). The cleanliness of the machine, including mineral deposits built up over time from tap water, will affect the quality and taste of your final brew in a much shorter time than you might expect.
My Expertise
I’ve been an editor for about a decade and have worked in the food and drink editorial space for half of that time, covering the best recipes and kitchen equipment on the market. I oversaw the launch of the drinks vertical at Food52 during my time as the content director there and hand-selected contributors to cover beverages of all types, including coffee and tea.
In addition to drawing from my personal knowledge and experience, I spoke to three experts in the coffee industry to inform this story: Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply in Brooklyn, New York; Travis Bell, founder of Black Acres Roastery in Baltimore, Maryland; and Patrick Cotter of Seattle Coffee Gear, a premier specialty coffee equipment retailer. They provided insight on which factors lead to the best drip coffee brewing possible, which features consumers should prioritize (or skip) in purchasing a drip coffee maker and how to optimize one’s home coffee setup for a better daily cup.
The editing and updating of this article is overseen by Forbes Vetted’s experienced home and kitchen team, which includes deputy editor Rebekah Lowin, senior editor Amanda Arnold and editor Sholeen Damarwala. They’ve extensively researched and reviewed various types of coffee gear, including the best espresso machines, the best coffee subscriptions and the best coffee grinders.