Best coffee maker 2021 – CNET [CNET]

Brewing great coffee is a lot harder than it looks. To yield a truly tasty pot, coffee grounds need to hit hot water for the optimal length of time and the water must be within a precise temperature range, too. Only a handful of drip coffee makers can pull off this sort of alchemy — the vast majority don’t and instead serve up pots that taste terrible.

Thankfully, we’ve discovered some noteworthy exceptions on the market. Even better, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get the best coffee maker. Sure, you can drop nearly $500 on a tricked-out Ratio Eight that’s as gorgeous as it is capable, or on a programmable commercial coffee maker. But all it takes is $15 to get the Oxo Single Serve Pour Over funnel, which makes a superb coffee and easily bests your typical coffee pod.

But those aren’t the only brewers that a coffee lover might want to explore. There’s also our Editors’ Choice winner and pick for all-around best automatic brewer, the Oxo Brew 8-Cup. Another is the KitchenAid Siphon Brewer, which uses an ancient technique to achieve outstanding and dramatic results. No matter your budget, there’s a coffee machine on this list that’ll fit your drip needs perfectly and be the best coffee maker for you. We’ll periodically update this list with new products as we test them, so you’ll always have access to good coffee. We promise, you’ll never have to drink coffee from pods or an ancient coffee pot again.

A note on testing coffee makers

Evaluating the performance of a coffee maker is trickier than it might sound. The first step is to know what good drip coffee actually is. According to the Specialty Coffee Association, there are criteria critical to brewing quality java. Mainly these are brewing time and water temperature. Hot water should come into contact with grounds for no less than four minutes and no longer than eight. Additionally, the ideal water temperature range is between 197 degrees Fahrenheit (92C) and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (96C).

To confirm how each coffee maker meets that challenge, we log the length of their brew cycles. We also employ thermocouple heat sensors connected to industrial-grade data loggers. That enables us to record the temperature within the coffee grounds while brewing is underway.

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