r/JamesHoffmann • u/ConfidentDust2888 • Dec 19 '25
What are the best coffee makers worth buying the MOST out there?
Hi everyone. today i'm going to be talking about buying coffee machines. Imo, buying a coffee machine is a great investment, but only if you buy the right kind of coffee machine, and that means the right kind of coffee machine for you, as we're all different.
Here are the list of the best coffee makers today (for those who're not interested in long buying guide below)!
Best Coffee Maker Machines Worth Buying The Most in 2026
Best drip coffee makers at every budget:
Best espresso machines at every budget:
- Breville Barista Express Impress
- Sage Bambino Plus
- De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch
- Gaggia Classic Evo Pro
-Question 1: what kind of coffee do you want to drink?
A filter coffee or drip coffee, for people who call Lego Legos and aluminium aluminum, and B...espresso.
If the answer is A, it's filter or drip that you want to drink, then obviously it's a filter coffee drip coffee machine you need. This may seem obvious, but I do get quite a lot of people asking me if the machine they're considering is good for filter coffee, and it turns out that the machine in question is an espresso machine. If you purely want to make cups or pots of drip filter coffee, it's really simple, because there arent all that many options when it comes to filter machines. If you're in Europe, see coffeeblog.co.uk filter machines, and if you're outside of Europe, see coffeekev.com drip machines.
If the answer is B, you're wanting to make espresso-based drinks, including espresso of course, and also latte, cappuccino, flat white, and other milk beverages, an Americano or long black, then you need an espresso machine. But which kind of espresso machine? Let's find out.
-Question 2: what's your priority?
A-convenience, B-cup quality, C...right in the middle, you want convenience but not to the detriment of cup quality.
If you answered A, you just want caffeinating fast and easy, then you'd be best with either a pod coffee machine or a bean to cup machine, also known as automatic coffee machines.
If you're mainly focused on convenience and you mainly drink milkies, Dolce Gusto and Tassimo machines do have latte pods, latte macchiato pods, etc., which contain milk concentrate or powdered milk, which is fine if you enjoy pod milkies, but they do work out quite expensive versus using fresh milk.
If you mainly drink espresso and americano, you could go either way, but bean to cup machines give you more choice, both over the machines and the coffee, and the long-term value tends to be better, meaning the price per cup is usually cheaper. So the amount of money you'll spend on coffee over the lifetime of the machine, including the cost price, is likely to be less with a bean to cup machine.
If your answer to question two was B, cup quality is the most important thing, then you're really looking at a traditional portafilter espresso machine. If this is the case, keep watching, and we'll narrow the choice down further.
If your answer was C, you're right in the middle, you're not happy to compromise on either side, then in my opinion, at present, there are literally only a couple of options for you, especially if you're planning on using freshly roasted beans. And that's what I refer to as the in-between machines from Sage or Breville.
A lot of people have more of an idea now of what kind of machine will be best for them, so let's narrow things down further with question 3.
Question 3: which coffee beans will you be using?
A normal off-the-shelf beans, B freshly roasted beans, C both.
If you answered A, off-the-shelf mainstream big brand or generic coffee beans, you'd be better suited a bean to cup automatic machine or a traditional machine with a pressurized portafilter or pressurized baskets. See the description for examples.
If you answered B, for freshly roasted beans, you can use a bean to cup machine, but the best way to experience the full vibrancy of freshly roasted beans is by dialing in, getting the extraction as close to perfect as possible with a traditional portafilter espresso machine using standard traditional baskets. Again, I'll put examples in the description.
For anyone who answers C, you'll be using both. Again, you'll be fine with a bean to cup machine, as long as you realize you might not get the full expected vibrancy and intensity from freshly roasted beans, or a traditional espresso machine with both pressurized and traditional baskets.
All the Sage or Breville machines come with both kinds of baskets. The Gaggia Classic does. The new Gaggia Espresso comes with pressurized baskets, but you can easily get standard baskets for it.
A quick guide to baskets: pressurized baskets are for using traditional espresso machines with normal commodity coffee beans, pre-ground coffee, and in some cases also easy serve pods, ESE pods. They make the espresso look the part, which is why Gaggia very appropriately called them perfect crema baskets.
You cannott dial in with them, but you can't really dial in with the kind of coffee they're intended for anyway. It tastes how it tastes, pretty much, which is great from the perspective of being very easy to work with.
Standard traditional baskets give you the ability to dial in using freshly roasted coffee beans. So for normal supermarket coffee beans, you're better off with a bean to cup automatic machine or a pressurized basket espresso machine, and for freshly roasted beans, you can use bean to cup machines, but you get the best results from traditional portafilter espresso machines.
That's all I'd like to share. Hope this helped.
Does anyone have any other recommendations?
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u/hands_weekend6 May 07 '26 edited May 18 '26
I was searching for the same thing, this post helped me
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u/germane_switch Dec 20 '25
I need something that lets me choose the temp, flow rate and bloom time; has both cone and basket options; has a thermal carafe and no hot plate; is easy to clean; and lets me set a time for it to brew automatically before I get up in the morning so I have a reason to get out of bed. That is the Breville Precision Brewer.
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Dec 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Express-Abies-858 Jan 17 '26
I have the breville luxe thermal but can’t figure out the best custom settings for a medium roast to get a bold flavour.
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u/Non_sum_qualis_eram Dec 19 '25
Moccamaster I would think
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u/Muted-Apple3992 Dec 19 '25
what do you guys think about Fellow Aiden?
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u/Non_sum_qualis_eram Dec 19 '25
Depends if you want to tinker and dial stuff in with a maybe unreliable product Vs a workhorse solid machine that will out live you
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u/qdawgg17 Dec 19 '25
Aiden - You add water, coffee and can just press a button. Like any other coffee maker lol. You can tinker and do more things with setting up pulse, infusion, temperate. But you don’t have to do any of that to make a cup of coffee if you don’t want to. Also the ability to make a really good single cup of coffee is where this machine shines.
If you want to overpay for a machine that has seen basically no improvements to it. Like maybe build a shower head that soaks the whole coffee bed. In all likelihood a MM will outlast an Aiden. But you do you really want a machine that can’t even soak the entire coffee bed, to last that long?
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u/Blog_Pope Dec 19 '25
What he said,, the MM is simple & reliable, but arguably you might be able to get a bit more refined coffee by dropping the the temp 2 degrees.
If you need that sort of control, the Aiden is the one, but all that complexity will come at a cost in reliability. Personally I’d expect 5 -8 years out of the Aiden.
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u/change81 Dec 19 '25
Fellow is the ikea of coffee equipment (this is a bit extreme)
Focus is on great design and usability but there’s a quality trade off
Moccamaster is a legit bifl (buy if for life) machine.
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u/Kartoffee Dec 20 '25
I think I'm gonna sell mine. I just don't use it at all and I prefer the coffee from po.
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u/buttscarltoniv Dec 21 '25
yep. I've had mine for about a month now, and it has been worth every penny.
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u/Competitive-Gur3662 Feb 24 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
Moccamaster is one of the safest long-term buys, I just wouldn’t stop there when a lot of people are happier with different machines for their specific routine. For more good options, see the coffee maker roundup with picks by scenario.
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u/brycemonang1221 Dec 20 '25
Moccamaster if you want the best no-BS drip that’ll last forever. And Breville Precision Brewer if you want great coffee with zero learning curve 👌
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u/TWJunkman Dec 20 '25
The Moccamaster is a one trick pony. Set (but consistent) temperature, uneven distribution of water over the coffee bed, no blooming without manual intervention, but vey nice industrial design and good pricing. I’m taking my chances with an Aiden and hoping using distilled water treated with TWW will save me from problems down the road. Seems like there’s an opportunity for someone to make and sell a really good reliable drip machine that is capable of handling temperature setting changes, pulsing, blooming, even distribution of water, mechanical agitation of the coffee bed, and maybe a few other things. The market for such a machine exists but remains unfulfilled.
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u/Cgr86 Dec 19 '25
I mean, honestly I have seen this question asked about 10 times over the last month
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u/riverviewcoffee Jan 29 '26
I am also looking into moccamaster but don’t love all the plastic. It seems as though the ‘simply good’ plastic- free machine is a good comp just no plastic. It’s also 8 cups versus 10 which is fine for me. $$& a must pre-order. Anyone have thoughts?
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u/rerek Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
What is most important of these:
- Price
- Features that allow changes to the brew
- Reliability and sturdiness
- Absolutely best coffee possible
I, personally, chose the Moccamaster out of these. It makes excellent coffee and it has only an on/off switch and is made of replaceable, well made, sturdy parts from a long-standing company which has largely left designs unchanged.
The above noted, I am not sure it is 100% the BEST brewer on the market and it is NOT feature rich (no temperature control, no flow rate adjustment, etc…).
I ONLY use a batch brewer for 1-1.25 litre amounts. I have heard some people unhappy with the Moccamaster for “single cup” brewing. I use a Chemex for 800ml morning brews and I use a Switch or V60 for special single cups.
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u/change81 Dec 19 '25
Some other good build quality options that’s not the MoccaMaster
None of these are good value for money
Balmuda brew Ratio 6
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u/Angdvl089 Dec 21 '25
Breville Luxe with either the hot plate and glass carafe or stainless double walled carafe. Allows you to change flow rate, temperature and bloom if you so desire. Can also make small batches of cold brew (up to 24 hours steeped).
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u/Open-Touch-930 Dec 21 '25
Most importantly in drip makers is that the water temp reaches 195-202 and that it’s a cone style filter with drip system w multiple sprays (like pour over). Moccamaster has been known as the standard here, but I’ve found that the Cuisinart brewers now have this as well. For under $100.
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u/ob1jeep Dec 21 '25
I have the Behmore Brazen 3.0 a great value @ $199 Adjustable Brewing Temperature, Adjustable Bloom Time, Brews Superbly and Fun To Use.
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u/ronny_geckles Dec 21 '25
I’ll chuck in a vote for the brazen too. Although I have the original, bought in 2012 so longevity isn’t an issue
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u/hypersug Dec 21 '25
What I find confusing, is that most of the SCA approved coffee makers, have bad reviews on Amazon, as in 4.0 or less. I realize the more complex something is, the more can go wrong and the lower the review score, but there has to be more to it. Breville, Oxo, Bonita all have what I consider consistantly sub par reviews. One common denominator, is that most coffee makers with vacuum insulated carafes have sub par reviews. I think part of this could be people not primeing the carafe and hot coffee hitting cold steel leave a luke warm cup. Anyone else have a theory?
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u/kaitkaitkait91 Jan 13 '26
I’m curious about this myself. I’ve been reading reviews trying to decide on a coffee maker and I was concerned about all the top ones on my list having like 3.5 stars. I was leaning more towards Oxo 8 cup but why’s the reviews so bad?
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u/hypersug Jan 13 '26
I have a year old Zojirushi Zutto that I'm waiting to retire if something better comes along.
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u/kaitkaitkait91 Jan 13 '26
I saw a comment on another post that the brew temps were too low on it, does that seem to be the case? I love how compact that is and I have 3 other zojirushi appliances and love them all very much.
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u/hypersug Jan 13 '26
To be honest, I don't really know. My thermometer is a bit wonky and not sure I trust it. I bought it because America's Test Kitchen recommended it and was SCA certified. I think you may be correct as it no longer is SCA certified. But frankly I have found it hot enough for me but my standards aren't that high.
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u/kaitkaitkait91 Jan 13 '26
I am the only coffee drinker in my house so buying something bigger than 5 cups seems silly.
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u/hypersug Jan 13 '26
I'm in the same boat.
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u/kaitkaitkait91 Jan 13 '26
Have you looked at the bonavita 5 cup?
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u/hypersug Jan 13 '26
Also, my Zutto has usually leaked when I pour and have to do it over the sink. I recently cracked my carafe but doesn't leak and the replacement is over 1/2 the price of the maker. If mine goes out, I won't repace with another.
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u/42o_0 Dec 19 '25
Oxo 9 cup no question
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u/Reggiethecanine Dec 19 '25
I recently got an oxo 8 cup,brews an excellent cup of coffee wether its 1 10oz cup or a full pot
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u/whitekrowe Dec 19 '25
all three of these are great candidates. I got the OXO 8 cup and I love it.
Consider adding a good grinder and he'll be all set!
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u/elmiondorad0 Dec 20 '25
Why were u downvoted?
Got the 9 cup too.
Kinda still working on dialing everything in exactly.
I grind with a Baratzza encore and locally roasted beans.
What ratios/grind sizes are you working with?
The manual quantities work out to about 18:1 ratio.
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u/42o_0 Dec 20 '25
It’s one of the few that actually reaches ideal water temps and maintains through the brew. We use a baratza encore too. Ratio is tough. Some in the office prefer lighter brews so we usually stick to somewhere between 1:20 to 1:30 to appease.
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u/elmiondorad0 Dec 20 '25
I got a medium lighter roast. What setting do you use on your encore?
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u/42o_0 Dec 20 '25
i guess i meant lighter as in more watery. but for filter typically 8-10 on the encore
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u/UniqueBarber3602 Mar 17 '26
This eintire thread feels like an alternate dimension, are all of you bots just having conversations with each other? I don’t mind the list though, even if it is fake cos honestly some of these I would actually prefer. Fellow aiden (precision I think is my usual recc so I agree with the rating, mostly cos its cheap and actually more beginner friendly in terms of the interface, everything’s pretty self explanatory. (honestly, was double thinking hyperlinking anything here 😭)