Best pour over coffee maker for your money

Which is the best pour over coffee maker to get? That’s the question newcomers to pour over coffee ask all the time. The answer is: it depends. It really depends on your needs.

Before you rush out to buy the most popular new pour over coffee maker in the market, here are some questions to actually help you decide on the best pour over coffee maker you should choose to spend your money on. You might discover that you don’t need the most expensive or largest coffee maker, just one that brews the great coffee you (and your family or friends) need.

 

Pour over coffee comparison chart

Here is a comparison chart to let you easily see which pour over coffee maker is the best value for money in its category. Details of each model are below the chart.

We have selected the best pour over coffee in each different category. For those on budget, the Grosche Austin and the Bodum are manual coffee drip for home that gets the job done.  The only drawback is the amount of coffee that can be produced.

If you have a family of coffee drinker, then the KitchenAid model is a better choice for making more coffee without too much hassle.

For coffee drinkers who only wants the absolute best, try the KitchenAid pour over coffee maker. It is meant for commercial use and is at the top end of the range.

We have also included single cup pour over coffee makers for those who like to make small cups or like to play around with different brewing techniques.

 

	Automatic/ Manual	Price	Type	Where to buy
Grosche cold brew coffee maker	Manual	Affordable	Home	Buy from Amazon
Bodum11571 cold brew coffee maker	Manual	Affordable	Home	Buy from Amazon
Kitchenaid automatic pour over coffee maker	Automatic	High end	Home	Buy from Amazon

 

Best pour over coffee makers for 2016

There have been many new pour over coffee makers or drippers being introduced since this website started in 2014. To keep up with the changes, I have removed the previous recommended models to come up with what I think is the best pour over coffee makers for 2016.

 

Grosche Austin pour over maker review

This elegant Grosche Austin pour over coffee maker simply makes great tasting coffee with no fuse. Here is a list of great designs that I think makes it a really nice pour over maker to use:

• The glass bleaker has both a pour sprout and the filter all roll into one. In other words, you can use it as both a coffee maker as well as a pouring container. That is what I called intelligent design.
• A heat resistant metal handle that doesn’t feel hot even if you pour boiling water into it.  I always thought that only wood handle is heat resistant but this coffee maker surprise me.
• Neoprene grip has enough space for you to hold the glass bleaker without feeling any heat
• Eco friendly stainless steel filter. No more paper filter and waste. Also, the fact it is non plastic means you don’t have to worry about the boiling water melting the plastic and entering your coffee!

For cleaning up, the funnel is wide enough for your hand to go through but this is not necessary. What I do is to squeeze some dish-washing liquid and mixed it up with hot water. Then, rinse with normal tap water. This should be more than sufficient since it is just coffee and not some oily food stains.

A full brew of pour over coffee using the Grosche Austin maker should give you 3 to 4 cups of nice hot coffee.

For making coffee, these are steps:

• 3 table spoons of coffee grounds. For this device use medium to fine grind. If you use too fine a grind, it will take a long time to brew
• Start by pouring a bit of hot water to wet the coffee bed
• After 20 seconds or so, fill the funnel with boiling water
• Continue to add water if necessary every couple of minutes

Easy to use, brilliant design and great coffee. What else do you need in a p0ur over coffee maker?

 

Bodum 11571-01 review

I have done a more detail review on this product in my article on the best pour over coffee maker with permanent filter so I will just summarize some of the points here. If you want a more thorough review, click on that link to read the entire review.

Overall, this coffee maker is easy to use and is eco friendly due to the permanent filter feature. It also comes with a pour sprout as well as a Neoprene grip. However, it doesn’t have a heat resistant handle like what the Grosche Austin maker has so it is less ideal.

In terms of coffee taste, I personally feel the funnel design of the Grosche Austin is slightly better as less water seems to slip through without first resting on the coffee bed. The Bodum 11571-01 is too porous at the bottom such that water can pass easily without spending enough time in the coffee extraction phase, leading to a more diluted taste.

For this appliance, the use of medium to fine grinds is also recommended. Like the Grosche Austin, very fine grinds do not do well for such pour over coffee makers.

 

Kitchenaid automatic pour over coffee maker review

One of the new automatic pour over coffee maker in the market, the Kitchenaid KCM0802CU is one machine that does one thing correct, it actually drips instead of pouring water over the coffee bed. This small change in brewing method  is sufficient to create a taste that is so much better .

For those who worry about the temperature, the KitchenAid KCM0802CU has a smart temperature controller that keeps the water at the ideal 198 F that is needed to ensure a complete coffee extraction. Anything less and the pour over coffee will taste dilute and not strong.

Another great feature is the automatic function that allows to preprogramme the device to make you coffee overnight so that you have a pot of hot brewing coffee in the morning. To get to this function, you need to press the menu twice, which will give you access to the delayed started function.

Now, I am seen some negative reviews for this appliance that I felt wasn’t true. For one, some reviewers say that the coffee will spill everywhere. This is utter nonsense. I have seen this unit operate from up close and I have seen anything spillage anywhere so consider this a myth.

Another negative feedback is with regards to the the water reservoir at the top is too narrow for easy filling of water. I don’t think that is the case. Yes, this is a tall device and if placed at the right counter top level, you can easily fill it up with water.

The only minor grip I have is that the warmer for the Kitchenaid KCM0802CU is only for an hour. There are many times that I need the coffee to be heated for over an hour. The solution is to transfer the coffee to a thermal flash if you need it beyond what the warmer can do.

Overall, this is still a great machine that does automatic dripping of water at the right temperature onto the coffee bed to maximise the coffee extraction process. It does really save you lots of time and effort to make a great cup of pour over coffee.

 

Best single cup pour over maker

Pour over coffee originated from manual brewing, so naturally most pour over coffee makers are designed for brewing small quantities of coffee. Drippers like the Kalita Wave, Hario V60, Chemex, and Clever are all designed for a single cup. If you’re looking for a pour over coffee maker that will allow personal experimentation and enjoyment, here’s our comprehensive comparison of the most popular single cup pour over coffee makers out there.

 

Hario V60 ceramic pour over dripper review

Hario is a classic household name in the coffee scene, especially in Japan, and the V60 is an all-rounder single cup pour over coffee maker that works well for most coffees, even though it performs best with bright floral coffees. The spiral ridges on the inner wall of the V60 enable a more even extraction of coffee from the grounds, and the thinner filters impart less of a paper taste, if any at all. Drawbacks: The plastic version of the V60 may stain over time, so we recommend getting the glass version – which also allows you to observe the entire brewing process – or one of the colourful ceramic versions.

 

Kalita Wave review

Lauded by professionals as the best single cup pour over coffee maker for beginners, the Kalita Wave dripper has a flat base which reduces turbulence when the water is poured onto the coffee grounds and a fluted wave filter that minimizes contact between the coffee and the walls of the dripper. The options of glass, ceramic, and stainless steel mean that you can choose your preferred material for brewing. Drawbacks: You’ll have to use Kalita’s own wave filters for the Wave dripper when brewing your pour over coffee.

 

Chemex review

While the Chemex comes in 3-cup, 6-cup, and 8-cup sizes, users usually brew their coffee one or two cups at a time. Chemex pour over coffee is well known for being exceptionally clean and suitable for lighter fruity and floral coffees. The glass dripper-and-flask is easy to clean and maintain, and only requires a medium-coarse grind. Drawbacks: Making pour over coffee using the Chemex requires a little more skill than with the other manual pour over coffee makers due to the thicker and heavier filter that clings to the glass walls of the flask.

 

Handy Brew Clever Dripper review

The Clever coffee dripper is an ingenious little device that’s half-pour over dripper, half-French Press. Unlike the other drippers that immediately allow your brewed coffee to flow from the grounds, the Clever keeps your coffee steeping with a stopper that’s released only when you place the Clever over a cup or mug. And unlike a traditional French Press, the Clever still uses a filter for brewing so the brewed coffee remains clean and free of sediments. Drawbacks: The Clever pour over coffee maker is made of BPA plastic, so it’s not dishwasher or microwave safe. The plastic may also impart some off taste to your coffee or stain over time.

 

Bee House review

This neat little pour over coffee maker can sit directly on most mugs, and its wedge-shaped, flat-bottomed design produces a slower drain time that results in a sweeter and more rounded cup of coffee. Most pros recommend using Melitta filters to go with the Bee House dripper. Drawbacks: You won’t be able to observe the brewing process and see if the coffee is being brewed at the right consistency unless you are brewing into a transparent glass or carafe.
Given that most single cup pour over coffee makers are relatively inexpensive, you can even get two or three of these to play around with. After all, we believe a single cup of coffee is never enough! Remember, though, that different pour over coffee makers will require coffee in different grind sizes. On the other hand, if you just want your coffee without any hands-on hassle or want to brew larger quantities at one go, check out our preferred automatic pour over coffee makers.

 

Pour over coffee buying guide

1. What do you want out of your pour over coffee maker?

Do you want to have full control over the tweaking of variables and experiment with specialty coffee? Do you want to be able to tinker around with your pour over coffee and try to get the best flavor possible from each cup of coffee you brew?

Or, do you just want a good, consistent, reliable cup of coffee that tastes better than instant or drip? If so, you may want to start your day with the Bodum Bistro pour over coffee maker. It is one of the most consistent pour over coffee maker currently.

Click here for discounted prices from Amazon

 

2. How many people will be using the coffee maker?

Pour over coffee started off as a manual coffee brewing method and thus, most pour over coffee makers are sized to brew coffee for just a few people at one go. If you’re the only coffee lover at home, or you brew for just a few, then manual coffee drippers like the Chemex coffee dripper are wonderful.

If you’re introducing your office to the delights of pour over coffee, then an automatic pour over coffee maker will have everyone addicted in no time. Automatic machines like the BUNN pour over coffee maker can quickly and easily make coffee for around a dozen

 

3. What’s your budget?

Some coffee addicts don’t mind spending a bomb on the beverage that keeps them alive (so they say), but some of us still want to keep a level head. The simpler pour over coffee makers can be had for a reasonable price, but state-of-the-art pour over coffee machines will cost more, up to a few hundred dollars – and the coffee that’s brewed may not be as good because it’s new technology.

That said, a pour over coffee machine will undoubtedly produce a much better cup of coffee than overpriced Nespresso machines and capsules!

 

Points to remember

Getting a pour over coffee maker is actually a great investment. Why? Firstly, pour over coffee makers usually last a long time. Manual drippers don’t break unless you drop them on the floor, and aren’t expensive to begin with anyway. A good quality automatic machine, while much more costly, is easier to maintain than an espresso or drip machine – plus it will come with warranty in case of any technical faults and breakdowns.

Most importantly, remember that more expensive does not equate to better coffee. If you’re going to use stale or badly roasted coffee for your pour over coffee brewing, even the most premium coffee maker can’t turn straw to gold.

Enjoy your tasty pour over coffee!