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Our team of coffee professionals and enthusiasts has tested almost 70 brewers since 2017, to bring you this lineup of the 15 most promising drip coffee makers available today. You've come to the right place if you need a drip coffee machine to accompany your morning routine. We've spent thousands of hours extensively brewing, measuring, cleaning, and analyzing hundreds of pots of coffee. We pressed every button, experimented with every setting, and blind-taste-tested an unholy volume of coffee, all to help you make an informed decision about your caffination. The world of coffee equipment can be overwhelming, but we are here to guide you through coffee terminology that can often overcomplicate finding the right equipment.
Editor's Note: Our drip coffee maker review was updated on October 16, 2024, to ensure our lineup is current and to share more recommendations in our award section.
There's a lot to love about the Ninja 12-Cup Programmable. While it doesn't come with every available customization point — see the Breville Precision Brewer if you want enhanced customization features — it does offer a sufficient amount of settings and customization for a great coffee experience. We love that the Ninja is not ridiculously expensive, it makes good coffee, and it is programmable, which means you can set it to automatically brew at a specific time and have your favorite coffee waiting for you when you get out of bed. Its impressive brewing temperature (202.5 °F) and decent water distribution ensure optimal flavor extraction for a tastier cup. The pre-infusion setting soaks your grounds before brewing to encourage even distribution. This keeps your grounds from being over-extracted in some areas and under-extracted in others, which can lead to a flatter flavor. We also like that the hot plate isn't too hot, which can often give coffee that burnt, acidic flavor.
In our tests, the Ninja 12-Cup brewed a great cup of coffee, but it's not perfect. For the coffee connoisseur, the Ninja may be lacking in the customization options department. It does not offer the option to control the flow rate or change the water temperature. If you are more particular and prefer to have more control over the granular details of your brewing and don't mind spending the money to get it, you may want to consider the highly customizable Breville Precision Brewer we tested. Alternatively, the Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable is a better option for those just hoping for an acceptable cup of coffee and a little money left in their pocket by the time they're done. Even so, we love this Ninja's brewer's tasty coffee and its reasonable price point.
The Hamilton Beach 2-Way is a modestly priced drip coffee maker without too many bells and whistles. The 2-Way is a convertible brewer, meaning, on one side, you can brew a single cup or switch the toggle to brew a full pot on the other side. During testing, we found the 2-Way is not as convenient as pod-brewing. That said, if you want the quick convenience of pods, it includes a pod basket attachment, allowing you to brew with a Senseo capsule. Otherwise, Hamilton Beach provides reusable mesh filters for regular ground coffee. And, of course, you can always use a paper filter instead of the reusable filter.
Compared to other competitors we tested like the Ninja 12-Cup, the Hamilton Beach is not the most impressive machine, but it is a great consideration for those not wanting to spend hundreds of dollars on a specialty machine. We recommend thrifty consumers also check out the Black+Decker 5-Cup, which is great for a smaller space. Just know it doesn't have an auto shut-off, which is a feature many people want. The Hamilton Beach 2-Way and our other favorite budget model, the Black+Decker 12-Cup, both have the auto shut-off feature. Either model is a great choice for the budget-conscious coffee drinker.
The Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable is a solid choice for a coffee drinker on a tight budget. This is a great lightweight and inexpensive option with features we only expect to see in pricier models. With the automatic brewing timer, you can have a freshly brewed pot of coffee waiting for you in the morning. It also offers a Strong brew setting, a feature not seen on most lower-end models. While you may not extract the delicate flavor profiles of a light roast coffee with this machine, its water distribution is pretty impressive.
The Black+Decker 12-Cup might not brew hot enough temperatures, but we think it does a much better job than most budget-friendly machines we tested. Its average brewing temperature is just a few degrees shy of the optimal 195°F-205°F, but it offers a few more features than most competitors in its class. We appreciate the dishwasher-safe parts and an auto shut-off for that piece of mind on rushed mornings. If the 12-Cup is a bit much, you could also consider the Black+Decker 5-Cup, which is comparable in taste and performance but much smaller and costs a little less. For those who require a machine that can quench the caffeine thirst of the masses, the Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable has a larger capacity, and the Bunn Velocity Brew BT keeps things rolling by brewing pot after pot in under four minutes each.
Pour-over style coffee is popular because it produces the cleanest cup possible and is almost infinitely customizable. With minute variations in pour and brew time, water temperature, and grind size, you can pull out even the most delicate nuances in your coffee by manually brewing. The problem is the concentration required for a pour-over can be difficult to learn and challenging to get right every single time. Switching to a larger batch brew usually means giving up your ability to dial in your brew recipe. The Breville Precision Brewer solves this dilemma. This top-performing brewer stood out in brew quality with enhanced flavor notes similar to a pour-over. The customizable features on the Precision Brewer allow for adjustability over pre-infusion, water temperature, and flow rate for your various brewing needs.
The Precision Brewer probably isn't worth the high price if you're not incredibly discerning about your coffee. In our testing, we found this machine is for true coffee nerds, not those simply seeking a straightforward way to make coffee. For a delicious taste that isn't quite as involved, the Ratio Six is a fool-proof option that consistently gives you a great cup. The Bonavita One Touch 5-Cup is another great-tasting option without all the dialing in of the Breville Precision. Still, this Breville brewer is worth the investment if you love pour-over quality but want something more convenient. It's a drip machine that allows you to transfer your pour-over preferences to a 12-cup coffee maker. With everything from single-cup brewing to a cold brew setting, this impressive machine does it all.
The Breville Precision has a plethora of great features and makes really good coffee. It features a large, easy-to-navigate interface that you can use to customize your coffee experience.
The OXO Brew 8-Cup impressed our testers with its great consistency. It brews at a perfectly acceptable temperature and time frame without varying too much from one brew to the next. Impressively, the OXO consistently brews coffee within a very tight temperature window of 199.8°F to 200.6°F, right in the sweet spot of optimal brew temperature. With automatic pre-infusion for your grounds, the cup of coffee this machine makes is consistently above average. It's remarkably straightforward to use and very easy to keep clean without a hassle.
Potential buyers should know that the pre-infusion feature on the OXO cannot be adjusted or turned off, and this model really doesn't offer customization features. It lacks an auto-brew function, so you can't have your coffee waiting for you when you roll out of bed in the morning. If you simply can't live without that auto-brew feature, the Ninja 12-Cup is one of our favorite drip machines we've tested, has just about everything we want from a coffee maker, and costs much less. Also, the OXO is a bit pricey for this level of simplicity, but we love its predictability and the good-tasting cup it consistently offers.
The OXO is a great option for someone searching for simplicity and a consistent machine that will give you a great cup time after time.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
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We tested each coffee maker side-by-side using the same performance metrics.
Credit: Laura Casner
How We Test Drip Coffee Makers
Since 2017, we've researched, purchased, and tested scores of the best drip coffee makers available. Our core team of coffee professionals has spent hundreds of hours testing, cleaning, measuring, and analyzing these appliances side-by-side in our lab. We compared the quality of the brews, evaluated how easy each machine is to use and clean, and paid particular attention to consistency. We tested in a controlled environment to manage variables such as temperature and humidity changes and brewed batches of coffee back-to-back using the same batch of roasted beans in each brewer. These controls allow us to assess each model relative to each other objectively to help you find the best drip coffee maker for your space.
Our in-depth testing process of drip coffee makers breaks down into four mutually exclusive testing metrics:
Brew Quality (35% of overall score weight)
User Friendliness (30% weighting)
Ease of Cleaning (20% weighting)
Consistency (15% weighting)
If you want to learn more in-depth info on our testing, take a look at our How We Test article, where we outline our process in more detail.
Why Trust GearLab
This review is the combined efforts of several GearLab testers. Michelle Powell has been working in the specialty coffee sphere for more than 10 years. Advanced training at cornerstone coffee institutions such as Blue Bottle Coffee, Four Barrel Coffee, and competing in the prestigious Southwest Regional Barista Competition are just a few highlights from her time in the field. Liz Nelson has spent the better part of the last two decades in the world of specialty coffee. Liz began her coffee career as a barista and trainer, facilitating brewing classes from Southwest Colorado to Chiapas, Mexico. More recently, her role has been as the roaster and founder of Cuttylane Coffee. Working with friends at Native Root, a family-owned and operated farm in Cauca, Colombia, Liz imports and roasts coffee in the Four Corners region. Jessica Riconscente has worked as a barista in both hemispheres: New Zealand, Australia, and back at home in the United States. Jessica has a technical background studying manufacturing processes at Cal Poly. Manufacturing has stringent tolerances and specifications that Jessica transfers into her testing procedures.
Joining these coffee experts is Maggie Nichols, who has a vast scientific background. She earned her BS and Master's degrees by designing and conducting dozens of field experiments. She has almost a decade of experience working in university research laboratories, publishing results, and contributing to numerous collaborative studies. Her shrewd attention to detail allows for precise measurement and testing to get exact results. Finally, our team is rounded out by Kendra Ridenour. Kendra is a former homemaker who has relied on coffee to get her through many challenging days raising children and managing a busy household. She spends much of her free time working to perfect her writing capabilities. She has a knack for formulating thoughts and test results into an easy-to-digest format without losing any of the important data along the way.
The cold brew setting allows for no-heat brewing in the brew basket for a set amount of time, 10 to 20 hours, before releasing it into the carafe.
We collected copious data from each machine's brew basket and carafe, to see which are doing the job properly.
We used the same coffee in each brewer for fair comparison and brought our machines down to sea level for accurate temperature measurements.
Our team of testers puts every one of these machines through the same series of side-by-side tests to see which ones are truly the best.
Analysis and Test Results
For so many of us, coffee is that one little thing that makes it easier to get up in the morning. While some prefer the simplicity and taste of a pour-over, others prefer a quick and easy machine. For a brewer to make a great cup of coffee and give a good experience, it has to possess a few key elements.
What's the Best Value?
There are a lot of drip coffee makers to choose from and equally as many price ranges. For most people looking for the right blend of performance, taste, and price, the Ninja 12-Cup is the ideal choice. If you're a daily coffee drinker and prefer to actually enjoy the flavor of your coffee even before adding creamer or sugar, this modestly priced model delivers. For folks looking to save more cash and who plan to spruce up their coffee with fun additives anyway, the Hamilton Beach 2-Way is a decent choice for a low price. We're also big fans of the high-value offered by the Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable, which makes decent-tasting coffee for a fraction of the cost. However, for those who are ready to invest in a brewer that makes seriously excellent coffee, the customization and seriously excellent features and options of the costly Breville Precision Brewer may be worth its price.
A great cup of coffee starts starts with a great brewer. The Breville is a great brewer with a high price point.
Credit: Laura Casner
Brew Quality
Taste is most likely the highest priority for coffee lovers. For this reason, we made it a point to be as objective as possible in testing for this metric. Our coffee experts meticulously evaluated samples from each drip coffee maker. We had each tester try samples from all of our drip coffee machines and one sample from a pour-over control (made with a Hario V60).
Tasting each pot of coffee may have given us a bit of a caffeine buzz, but it was the best way to compare overall flavor from each brewer.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
We used the same coffee from the same roaster, origin, and roast date in each test. Only a drip machine that can equally match the pour-over quality could earn a perfect 10 out of 10. While none of the brewers excelled to that degree, some came close. The Breville Precision Brewer far surpassed the competition in our brew quality metric, coming as close to pour-over flavor and perfection as a drip coffee maker can achieve. We were also impressed with the Ratio Six and the Bonavita One Touch 5-Cup, both of which gave a very tasty cup of coffee.
The Specialty Coffee Association's (SCA) Golden Cup brewing standard recommends preparing coffee with a brewing temperature between 195°F-205°F. Proper water temperature is essential to opening the flavor nuances of every coffee. A brewing temperature that is too low won't pull those flavors from your grounds. An optimal temperature extracts more; therefore, the hotter the brew temperature, the stronger the flavor. For a lighter roast coffee, a higher temperature is needed, while a darker roast may not necessarily need a brewing temperature as high.
Measuring the brew temperature in the basket during brewing is essential to getting a proper measurement. The SCA suggests brewing at 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal flavor extraction.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
To be fair and objective, we measured the brew basket temperature of all machines over repeated brews at sea level. The Ratio Six had the highest average brew temperature, coming in at a whopping 204.4°F, almost a bit too high for folks who prefer a dark roast. The Ninja 12-Cup, Breville Precision, and OXO 8-Cup also did a great job brewing at optimal temperatures for flavor extraction. They hit right in the perfect temperature range, brew after brew.
The average brew temperature doesn't paint the entire picture, though. Some of these machines were better than others at providing a consistent brew temp, time after time. Models like the Breville, Bonavita, Cuisinart, and OXO provided nearly the same temperature over multiple tests. Other machines had more variable temperatures, like the Mr. Coffee Simple 12-Cup, which ranged from 177°F to 207°F in our tests. These temps stray outside of the recommended ideal 195°F to 205°F brew range. Below, the chart shows which machines had broader temperature ranges (longer bars) vs. more exact and consistent temps (shorter bars).
Average brew temperature across testing is shown to the right of each bar on the graph. Shorter bars indicate consistent temperature, while longer bars are indicative of wider temperature variance.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Water distribution is an essential factor in ensuring coffee grounds have been evenly saturated. If the water distribution of your machine tends to focus in the center of your brew basket, it may over-extract those grounds while hardly touching the ones around the outside, leaving your coffee flavor flat.
A shower head with fewer holes that are concentrated in the center can give you uneven saturation of your grounds, which won't give you the full flavor potential of your coffee.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
An expensive brewer may offer amazing settings and reach proper brew temperature but still be unable to provide an even extraction due to poor water distribution. On the other hand, a lower-end, more affordable brewer may have few settings to boast but surprisingly acceptable water distribution, like the Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable. While it didn't quite manage to hit that optimal brewing temperature, it did a great job with even distribution for a lower-end machine.
Worried about plastic?
We have not come across any traditional drip coffee makers that don't put hot water in contact with plastic at some point in the brewing process. If you're concerned about plastic, you'll likely have to adopt a slightly less convenient brewing method, like manual pour-over.
Our best brew quality was found by far in the Breville Precision Brewer, the Ratio Six, the Bonavita One Touch, and the Ninja 12-Cup. All of these brewers managed to hit optimal brewing temperatures and had great water distribution. What is also quite noteworthy is that all of these machines also have pre-infusion features, which saturate your grounds fully to keep the water from channeling during brewing. This leads to naturally more evenly extracted coffee grounds, where certain areas of the brew basket are not being missed during brewing.
Even coffee ground saturation is crucial to even flavor extraction. The Ninja 12-Cup did well with its water distribution, saturating the grounds nicely.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Breville Precision Brewer allows for the most customizability of the brewing process. It allows you to manipulate the speed of brewing and, therefore, the strength of your coffee. A slower brew speed will give stronger caffeine content, while a faster brew gives you less. The Breville also boasts a cold brew function, which slows down brew time to 10-20 hours. There is also a My Brew feature, which allows you to use your favorite V60 or Kalita pour-over device in place of the Breville's brew basket and carafe.
You can have the best of both worlds with the Breville Precision Brewer. It allow you to replace its brew basket and carafe with your favorite V60 or Kalita pour-over device for the ultimate experience.
Credit: Laura Casner
Taste is subjective, but when compared to pour-over, it's obvious when a machine gets close and when it completely misses the mark. In our taste test, the OXO was noticeably better than most. The flavor was better than your standard drip coffee maker, but the only ones that came close to pour-over were the Breville Precision and the Ratio Six. Also to note, the Bonavita, Ninja, Bunn Velocity Brew, and Cuisinart 14-Cup made a passable coffee. While they weren't comparable to pour-over, they did hit the mark in an adequate cup that wasn't too bad for a drip machine.
We tasted each machine's coffee compared to a pour-over, to gauge how well they brew identical grounds.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
User Friendliness
Our user friendliness scores are based on the brew process, convenience of the water tank, and ability and design of the carafe. An interface that is too complicated can be a bit of a pain, especially first thing in the morning, and without any caffeine to jump-start your brain. A carafe that pours sloppily is aggravating, and an inaccessible water tank could prove to be difficult. We kept these things in mind as we assessed the user-friendliness of each machine.
While we appreciate a more personalized coffee experience, a complicated interface may be challenging for a coffee novice. For this reason, we love the Ninja's simple interface, with a separate labeled button for each setting.
The Ninja 12-Cup gives you options, and a simple foolproof way to use them with a separate button for each setting.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
For coffee perfectionists, we know grinding your beans first thing in the morning is best. However, for those who don't have the time for such a morning ritual, it's nice to have a machine that will greet you first thing in the morning with a nice steaming cup of caffeine. The Ninja 12-Cup, Black+Decker 12-Cup, Cuisinart 14-Cup, Breville Precision, Braun BrewSense, and Hamilton Beach 2-Way can all accommodate. You can prepare any one of these machines the night before and have that sweet smell of coffee to coax you out of bed and start your day.
We love that the Cuisinart 14-Cup give the option to automatically brew a steaming cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
While a single switch or button may seem like the simplest interface there can be, that doesn't always mean it is the best. The Black+Decker 5-Cup and the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup both offer a simple, single switch but also do not have an auto shut-off feature — they scored the lowest in this metric. On the other hand, the Bonavita has only one button, the simplest possible interface, and also includes a pre-infusion option, giving it an average all-around performance in this metric. For the ultimate customized coffee experience from a drip coffee machine, the Breville Precision is where it's at. It allows you to control nearly every aspect of your brewing experience. With an interface that is a little more involved, but intuitive to use, this brewer is a great tool in the search for that perfect cup.
The Breville Precision takes the cake when it comes to customization options and great features.
Credit: Laura Casner
We appreciate an easy-to-fill water tank and the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup hits the mark, even though it shares an opening with the grounds. With sufficient space to pour, there is no hassle in filling this water reservoir. However, there is no automatic shut-off for this machine — you have to remember to turn it off yourself — so it scored just around average for user-friendliness.
Even though the opening to the water reservoir shares an opening with the coffee grounds on the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup, there's plenty of space to pour.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
We like a good removable reservoir that can be carried to the sink to fill, like the Ninja's, that lifts off easily and with conveniently placed grips. Some machines also offer a large enough opening on the tank to make up for a tank that's fixed in place like the Bonavita. A left-handed consumer may be hard put to find a tank that is easy to fill — like the Bunn Velocity Brew BT, which did fairly well in the user friendly metric and has a tank that's easily filled from the front of the machine.
The Ninja's water reservoir is removable and is very convenient to fill, without having to worry about spilling water on your counter or in your coffee grounds.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Brew speed is another important factor in consistency, as well as convenience. The Bunn Velocity Brew BT surprised us with its brewing consistency, and it was remarkably fast. After timing five consecutive pots, we were impressed by this brewer's average brew time of just three minutes and forty seconds. While the Bonavita One Touch, Cuisinart 14-Cup, and Ratio Six took nearly twice that time, they were still below the average brew time among the models we tested. Meanwhile, the OXO averaged an impressive five minutes and twenty-two seconds, and the Breville Precision averaged just 2 seconds longer.
A tank that is hard to get to or that shares an opening with the grounds can lead to an unpleasant user experience. Nobody likes to spill water in their grounds when filling their machine, which we found to be a possibility with certain machines like the Mr. Coffee Simple Brew 12-Cup, where the water tank opening doesn't have sufficient space between itself and the coffee grounds. The Mr. Coffee 12-Cup scored below average in our user-friendly average, in large part for this reason.
The Mr. Coffee 12-Cup has a water reservoir that shares an opening with the grounds, much like its smaller 5-Cup cousin. But with the lid opening to the rear of the machine, it's much harder to hit the target in this larger version.
Credit: Laura Casner
Some insulated carafes do a great job of holding in your coffee's heat. In particular, the Ratio Six does a great job maintaining the temperature of your coffee. An insulated carafe may be desirable to some people, as it won't alter your coffee's taste or overheat it, giving it that burnt flavor. A hot plate isn't necessarily a bad option — especially for folks who want to still be drinking the same morning-brewed pot of coffee in the afternoon — but if they are too hot, they can actually heat your coffee and change the flavor, making it more acidic and burnt-tasting. Some hot plates are just hot enough to maintain, keeping your coffee tasty enough to drink for longer. The Cuisinart 14-Cup did a great job of keeping that freshly brewed coffee hot while not heating it at the same time. After an hour of sitting, the coffee in the carafe had only lost 2°F, a remarkable feat. The Braun Brewsense and Black+Decker 5-Cup also kept the coffee close to the same temperature after an hour, raising it just a few degrees.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The size of a machine can also impact the decision to buy one model or another. A large machine may be a good option for some, while other consumers may not have the space required for a monster of a brewer. The Mr. Coffee 5-Cup and the Black+Decker 5-Cup are great options for a small space. They have a small footprint, making them unassuming and easy to store for someone living in an efficient apartment, dorm room, camper van, or other smaller locations.
When considering a coffee machine, it's important to consider the size of the space you will be using it in. A larger machine may be no problem for a big kitchen, but a smaller space may not be able to accommodate.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Ease of Cleaning
A machine with lots of build-up can make coffee taste stale, so it's important to keep your machine clean for the best-tasting cup. We assessed the ease of cleaning based on dishwasher compatibility, ease of daily washing, and descaling process. We hand-washed all the parts and pieces from every model, taking note of all the little nuances that make a machine simple to take care of or more difficult to keep sparkling clean. We also ran through the descaling process on every machine, noting which machines took a terribly long time or were very complicated and which ones managed the task with no sweat.
When it comes to daily cleaning upkeep, it is convenient to have a carafe that is big enough to fit a hand inside to wipe it out. The Ninja 12-Cup and Breville Precision, in particular, have carafe openings with plenty of space to reach in and wash them out. The Braun Brewsense has components that are mostly dishwasher-safe, and the carafe is easy to clean by hand. The outside of the machine, however, showed fingerprints that required a bit of elbow grease to remove, if you care about that sort of thing.
The Braun BrewSense has a carafe with a large opening, making it easier to clean by hand, but the machine itself takes a bit of scrubbing to get fingerprints off.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Cuisinart 14-Cup did about as well as the Braun, with easy-to-clean parts and pieces, several of which are dishwasher-safe, but again, the machine itself didn't stay clean enough for our neat freaks.
When emptying the Bunn Velocity Brew BT, we had to take the entire machine and turn it upside down to empty the water reservoir, and there was no way to see into it or clean inside it by hand.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Bunn Velocity Brew BT proved difficult to clean, to the point where we feel compelled to mention it. The grounds frequently made a mess and often came out of the brew basket during brewing, making an extensive clean-up necessary. We also found the lack of access to the water reservoir a bit concerning. We had to take the entire machine and dump it upside-down over the sink to empty it, and there was no way to get a hand in there to wipe it out, dry it, or see that it was actually clean.
While the carafe is cute on the B+D 5-Cup, it is a bit too small to comfortably get an average-sized hand inside to wipe it down.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini Brew was simple and straightforward to clean, but we did notice the sneak-a-cup feature tended to drip, leading to burnt coffee on the hot plate. The Breville Precision Brewer had the same issue, but without the hot plate that scalds coffee into unsightly and difficult-to-clean messes.
A large carafe opening can make daily handwashing a breeze, while a carafe with an opening that is too small can be a bit tricky to clean.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
We all know dishwasher-safe parts and pieces are a joy. We love being able to toss our brewer's components in the dishwasher and forget about them, coming back to them being sparkling clean. That's why we loved all the dishwasher-safe components of the Ninja. The permanent filter, carafe, brew-through lid, filter holder, water reservoir, reservoir lid, and measuring spoon were all dishwasher safe, making deep cleaning a breeze.
The Ninja 12-Cup's reusable filter, as well as the carafe, water reservoir and lid, and the included measuring spoon are all dishwasher safe.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The OXO and Hamilton Beach also boast a majority of dishwasher-safe parts and pieces, including the single-serve tray, basket, and filter, as well as the full carafe, but the OXO surpassed the Hamilton Beach in this regard and was only slightly less impressive than the Ninja. The OXO's tray, basket, single-serve basket, spray head, and scooper are all dishwasher safe. The carafe must be washed by hand, though, but it isn't notably difficult to do.
The OXO 8-Cup has easily removable components for quick weekday cleaning.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The descaling process is another factor to consider when owning a drip coffee maker. A machine with a very long, involved descaling process can feel like a chore you'll never actually do, and a machine that requires vinegar to descale can take a much longer time and half a dozen or more empty cycles to rinse that strong smell and flavor out. The Ninja 12-Cup descaling process takes just over 42 minutes to complete. The Braun BrewSense and OXO 8-Cup have indicators for descaling, and each takes about 45 minutes.
A descaling cycle is a feature some brewers have, while others use their standard brewing cycle for the process. Both were considered when testing for our ease of cleaning metric.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Breville Precision, while it doesn't have a distinct descaling cycle, does have an indicator for when descaling is needed. The Ratio Six is quite impressive, taking only 27 minutes for its descaling process, though it doesn't have an indicator for when descaling is necessary, nor does it have a separate cleaning function. All of these models do require a descaling liquid or a citric acid mixture, which cleans the build-up and deposits better than plain vinegar.
The Ratio Six has a quick descaling process to help keep it running smoothly.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Consistency
To test the consistency metric of each drip coffee maker, we made five back-to-back pots of coffee and measured both the brewing temperature and the temperature of the final product. Finally, we measured the consistency of brew speed to determine if the machine slowed down after brewing multiple batches.
Consistency is important to ensure each pot has a comparable flavor profile. With a machine that speeds up or heats up after a few brews, you may not get the same flavor results from one pot to the next. A machine that starts out at a lower brewing temperature may not give a first pot with the extraction temperature it may be capable of after a pot or two.
The range of brew times of each coffee maker in our lineup. Shorter bars denote more consistent brew times.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The OXO impressed our testers with its great consistency brew after brew. Its brewing temperature only varied by less than half a degree across three brewing cycles and every brew was within five seconds of each other in duration.
Testing multiple brews allowed us to get a good picture of a drip coffee machine's average temperature and ability to stay consistent. The Mr. Coffee 5-Cup didn't impress us with its low and inconsistent temperatures.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The Breville and Ratio tied for second best in this metric, holding steady brewing temperatures impressively and within a tight range. The Breville only deviated by around 0.25°F per brew, while the Ratio varied by around 1.0°F. They both also had remarkably consistent brew times, making it easier to plan your mornings down to the minute.
Some of the machines we tested, like the Ratio Six, brewed coffee for remarkably consistent times.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Conclusion
It is easy to get overwhelmed by the seemingly countless drip coffee makers available. At a glance, many of them have few significant distinguishing features. It is also easy to spend hours researching, only further confused by dubious marketing claims and conflicting opinions. Our tests provide side-by-side, real-world, and directly comparable results, so you can rest assured that our data will lead you to the best model suitable to your needs. For other home and cooking items, check out our best kitchen appliances list and peruse some of the things we can't live without.
