Finally: A Coffee Maker With Zero Plastic in the Brew Path

Keeping track of what plastic is okay and what’s not for food prep and storage is a challenge. For me, it feels like a matter of time before all plastic is deemed not worth the risk 

There are a number of ways you can coffee (using the golden ratio, of course) in which plastic and liquid never interact. Unfortunately, most of them are either single-cup or small volume operations, necessarily hands-on — or both — such as a moka pot percolator, French press, or pour-over.

Until recently, automatic drip coffee makers have mostly all had one or more plastic elements that were key to the brewing operation. While the plastic casing of many coffee machines is innocuous and practical in order to keep things lightweight, the water reservoir, filter basket, and any internal architecture that allows water to flow through the mechanism have typically been made of some form of plastic. PFAS-free or no, does it seem weird to anyone that we’ve all accepted that allowing water that is essentially boiling to pass through plastic is okay? Are we routinely taking our morning joe with microplastics in addition to cream and/or sugar?

This is what Simply Good Coffee aims to correct, with its plastic-free, automatic coffee maker dubbed “The Brewer.” Its MSRP is $479, though it is frequently marked down to $429 or less on its website and Amazon. A programmable version is available for $520.

What constitutes plastic-free brewing?

At first blush, it’s clear that the Brewer does include plastic elements, but everything that touches water is either made of glass or stainless steel. While a glass carafe is par for the course with coffee brewers, the Simply Good Coffee water reservoir is also made of glass. Despite this, the whole model is still relatively lightweight, clocking in at only just over 10 pounds.

The biggest point of departure with Simply Good Coffee’s model is with the filter basket, which holds the coffee grounds. The exterior is plastic to insulate against potentially heated elements, but the interior of the basket is stainless steel. The conduit between the water reservoir and the showerhead, plus the funnel from the brewer to the carafe, are also stainless steel, as is the mouth of the glass carafe. A stainless steel coffee scoop is also included, which I found to be nice punctuation on the principle of plastic-free operation.

While the machine is very similar in appearance to a Moccamaster, a coffee brewer with glass reservoir near to our hearts at CNET, the main point of departure here in is the brewing basket — Moccamaster has staked a claim on intentionally using plastic in this element for temperature consistency, and the ability to immediately brew a second pot without a cooldown period. The degree to which that might matter to you depends on how often the need to rebrew immediately arises in your household. 

The plastic elements used in Simply Good’s model, indicated as medical-grade silicone, serve critical functions. While the carafe’s mouth is lined with stainless steel, the edges of that piece are insulated with plastic to prevent contact with elements that conduct heat extremely well. Same goes for the exterior of the filter basket, as well as the wand that contains the shower head.

Simply Good Coffee in operation: thoughtful features and intuitive design

The Simply Good Coffee brewer comes apart easily and is intuitive to use, with placement of the shower head and brewing basket lid, and for releasing the brewing basket from the base to easily dump the grounds. All of these pieces are dishwasher safe.

A nifty toggle saves the hot plate from post-brew coffee drips

While a programmable model is available, the model I used relies on a simple on/off toggle switch, comparable to much more simplistic makers. A bloom function, similar to what happens during a pour-over process, is a nice feature that briefly stops the transfer of water, allowing the grounds to saturate and release nitrogen before continuing the brewing operation. The shower head that transfers the water into the filter basket also acts somewhat like a pour-over in that it agitates the grounds, which most coffee pros say is key to a superior cup.

I also very much appreciated a toggle located on the brewing basket that indicates “open to brew” and “closed to stop drip,” which doubtlessly extends the life of the machine’s hot plate, or at least results in one less thing to have to clean regularly. I was preparing for a potential “gotcha!” moment here, but when I went looking I found that even this tiny detail is stainless steel; seriously no piece of plastic ever touches the coffee. The only potential drawback with this feature is potentially forgetting to open it before brewing again, which is no small concern. This can evidently lead to a minor disaster: if you’re not paying attention to the fact that no coffee seems to be collecting in the carafe, it is entirely possible for the filter basket to overflow.

Is the Simply Good Coffee maker worth the big price?

This is where things get more complicated, as there are a lot of pros in Simply Good Coffee’s favor, but the major con is a pretty substantial one. Whether the Simply Good Coffee brewer is worth its $479 price tag comes down entirely to what that plastic-free, automatic-drip peace of mind is worth to you, especially given the comparatively minuscule prices of other plastic-free coffee mechanisms like pour-over equipment, moka pots, or French presses. 

Simply Good Coffee’s volume isn’t huge; with only an 8-cup capacity, you’re not getting a “serve a crowd” upside at that price. It is arguably stylish, has a relatively small footprint, and an almost unheard-of 5-year replacement warranty, but for $479, you can get a much larger drip coffee model or even a reasonable espresso machine with more bells and whistles, peace of mind be damned. 

For more coffee intel, see our hand-tested list of the best espresso machines and read why coffee professionals always use this type of grinder.