Best Coffee Maker of 2026

Evaluating the performance of a coffee maker is trickier than it might sound. You need to know what good drip coffee is and, according to the Specialty Coffee Association, there are essential criteria for brewing well. Brewing time and water temperature top the list. Hot water should come into contact with grounds for no less than four minutes and no more than eight. The ideal water temperature range is between 197 degrees Fahrenheit (92 degrees Celsius) and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (96 degrees Celsius).

To see how well each coffee maker met that challenge during our initial test years ago, we logged the length of their brew cycles. We also employ thermocouple heat sensors connected to industrial-grade data loggers. That enabled us to record the temperature within the coffee grounds while brewing is underway.

After brewing coffee, we took sample readings of the produced coffee liquid with an optical refractometer. Given that we factor in the amount of water and freshly ground coffee used, that data lets us calculate the Total Dissolved Solids percentage of each brew. From there we arrive at the extraction percentage. The ideal range is commonly thought to be between 18% and 20%. To be certain, we brewed identical test runs a minimum of three times to get a sense of the average results.

During our most recent test, we tested a total of nine coffee makers, some of which were previously tested and some that were new. We used one cup of ground coffee for each and eight cups of water. We took into account features each coffee maker had, how easy they were to use and clean and the brewing temperature of the coffee directly after brewing and up to an hour later as well to determine how well they held temperature.