5 Home Coffee Machines, 1 Winner

[Julian] Five coffee machines.

Five ways to brew coffee in the morning.

But does the average user like them?

It looks like the chemistry set.

[Julian] I put them in a room with three strangers

while I watch from behind a one-way mirror.

Cheers, guys. Cheers.

[Julian] Here's what they really thought.

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This is Focus Group.

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This one I like.

The structure, it looks simple.

But then also extremely hard to use.

I thought that was the most unique looking.

[Jesse] I like the squareness of it.

It's very geometrical.

It's a conversation piece.

I think it would actually look really good

on a countertop.

Machine B, yeah. This one seemed

less intimidating to me.

It reminds me of a motel coffee machine.

[Julian] Oh, really?

I'm attracted to the simplicity of it.

Moving on.

[Patrick] What do we think about C?

It's too tall.

Not sure if it's gonna fit under my counter.

I like the cabinet above it.

The stainless steel carafe.

I do like that.

You like that? Yeah.

Because the glass ones,

once you do turn the coffee machine off,

it does cool down.

Moving on to D.

[Jesse] What's going on here?

It looks sophisticated. This one's so difficult.

I feel like we've started a chemistry set.

[Julian] Maybe it brews really good coffee.

I think it's designed to look like it brews

really good coffee.

What's this thing? Mystery.

Is this the thing that winds up in your kitchen drawer

in like the very back of it?

Yeah, I have no idea.

Okay. Machine E.

You know, I kind of like the narrow profile

of this machine,

but on the other hand I feel like

it might wobble and like lean over.

Shake test.

It's not that sturdy.

Seems a little easier to use.

I really do think that would fit

the aesthetics of my kitchen well.

See, I'm still on this one.

You like the small one? I like the small one.

It feels like it's easy to use.

If it looks hotel looking-

I wouldn't say hotel.

I would say motel.

[group laughs]

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Elevation?

Oh my gosh. We're at sea level.

Yeah. What are our options?

Instant brew,

guided brew,

profiles.

Instant brew, I think that's the move.

Brewing bloom.

205 Fahrenheit.

There were too many options on that screen.

It has a countdown.

That's actually really nice.

You can't see through the carafe,

so you don't totally know when it's done,

other than the beep.

[Julian] Yeah, machine B.

Where does the coffee go?

In there?

I can do that. Amazing, lid.

And we put this on.

Well, bam. That was pretty easy, right?

Yeah. It's doing

better than I thought.

Let's try to make this one, C.

I don't like that.

This one.

Do you guys prefer having a separate water tank

that you can remove

or do you prefer it being integrated?

Because this one is so tall,

so when it's on your counter

and then you have your cabinet above it,

it would be much easier to have a removable tank.

I think generally,

I would prefer it to be fixed,

but this machine is just kind of too bulky.

Close that. Okay.

Did it do it?

I have no idea.

[Abrielle] I know.

You have to push again.

It's not intuitive at all.

I don't understand what it wants from me.

I don't wanna say that we've been bested

by a coffee machine,

but we probably need a manual on this one.

Now I want nothing to do with it.

[Jesse] All right, so D.

This reservoir is also fixed.

Screw down. It gets screw down.

I don't know why there's this giant cutout

in the top of it,

that's very suspicious to me.

This side.

Oh yeah, that thing.

Let's remember to use that thing.

I think I know where it goes actually.

So we put this like this, yeah.

And this part lines up with the part here.

Oh, you're right.

You have to brew with the metal stick.

I wasn't gonna use that.

Clicks in and then...

Honestly, this just seems so complicated.

Yeah. Whoa.

That one's cool. Oh, it's working, good.

It's a little intimidating at first,

the entire process of it.

But now that I see it working,

I like it. It's entertaining too.

We've come around. We've come around-

I have to change my rating on it.

[Abrielle] Same.

[Julian] Do you guys want the manual

for coffee maker C?

Oh.

Yeah. Okay.

So press button to start brew cycle,

brew icon will appear.

So maybe the little water droplets.

So that means it's brewing- I think it's brewing.

Maybe we hit it too many times

and that's why we got the red flashing button.

Well, yeah, we lacked patience.

But also I don't feel like that's a strong indication

that it's doing anything.

No, imagine just waiting there.

No.

[Jesse] Machine E.

This one, water tank is back here.

There are no numbers on this one, that's-

Oh, really? I don't think so.

That's kind of a demerit.

I know that it was kinda

like two of these bottles of water,

equaled four.

That is a little strange.

Unless there's some type of setting

once we actually get it going

that says how much you wanna make.

A little questionable. Yeah.

We got premium filter.

That is-

Yeah, that's nice. That is actually very nice.

You don't need it. Don't need it.

It's like a forever filter.

You just wash it.

[Abrielle] Wow.

See I like that. Yeah, so that's cool.

Hot. Hot.

Oh, so we can select the amount of water that we want.

Okay, that was a little confusing.

I feel defeated, But honestly

if you weren't here,

I don't think we would've figured it out.

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So let's start where we originally started brewing.

[Julian] How's the temperature on that?

It stayed hot,

smells nice. It should be hotter though.

You think the carafe should have

maintained the temperature better?

I do,

maybe there's settings in there

that adjust to a hot plate temperature.

The coffee's not bad.

It's a little maybe fruity.

Definitely get fruity notes.

We brewed all the machines with the same beans.

So until we start trying all of them,

so much of it is recognizing the coffee itself

and the flavor profile of it.

I think we'll have a better idea

once we've tried going down the line.

[Jesse] All right, machine B.

[Patrick] It's the motel machine.

Yeah, definitely hotter.

[group laughs]

This is true motel coffee.

That's terrible.

There's kind of an aftertaste that I'm getting

with this that I did not get on the first one.

There were no settings or anything to that.

So there's no adjustments you can make to this.

This is what it is.

I don't totally hate it.

I think it's a bit smoother.

A bit less acidic.

Moving on to C.

This was the really tall machine.

It's definitely hot.

Really like that. Oh, it is hot.

I'm not getting any strange flavors.

C is pretty good.

Taste and flavor profile,

I really do think it is.

Moving on to D.

[Jesse] The machine that we felt

was the most unapproachable.

This is brighter,

the way this is brewed,

I'm getting more fruity notes compared to C.

A little bit more bitter.

It is a little bit more bitter.

I like the little bitterness.

Considering that I drink so much of it,

maybe five cups a day,

this is a little too bitter.

I like the flavor of it just fine.

Not as memorable as you'd expect

from what the machine looked like.

You'd think that machine was gonna

brew something exceptional.

Once we got it going,

I actually really liked the machine.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I thought it was cool.

Maybe I'm changing my mind.

I did like the machine.

So the machine impacts your taste of it.

If I'm gonna be entertained in the morning-

Okay.

Throw a couple sugars in- She'll cover it up.

That's it.

It would be good with a couple sugars, yeah.

This one doesn't need, C.

I feel like I could drink that.

Okay. All right, E.

See how it tastes.

For our last cup.

Yeah, cheers guys. Cheers.

Smells like water.

It's hot.

It's like hot water.

It's so weak. Yeah, this is a bummer.

It was the most intuitive one

and then the coffee was just meh.

[Julian] So now that you tasted them all,

do you have a favorite?

I thought C was the best. Yeah, I think C's

the clear winner. C had the fullest

flavor profile.

Boldest, it was hot.

It smelled great.

I think C is the clear winner in terms of taste.

[Julian] You guys have prices with you.

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves

and consult each other.

I mean, I think this is the most expensive one.

[Patrick] I agree with that.

I think this is 400 bucks.

[Abrielle] Might be completely wrong.

225 on that one.

It's a choice. It's a choice.

I think B has got to be the cheapest one.

[Abrielle] I agree with you on that one.

I'm going 225 on C.

[Jesse] I agree with that.

320. Okay.

I'm going to 320 for this one, D.

I'm sure that this is either the most expensive

or the second most expensive.

[Abrielle] I feel like this one might-

Could be. It could be.

It's the only other one that could be $400.

[Patrick] Machine E.

107. Yeah, 107.

We have consensus.

You two got all of them correct.

Oh yeah. All right.

That is the Fellow Aiden,

and it is 400 bucks.

Our top pick in our guide.

It is, I think, by far the prettiest.

It has a lot of customization options in there.

The one next to it is the Zojirushi

and that is our budget pick.

So obviously it's the cheapest.

You just want a simple drip coffee machine,

maybe our tester had a different experience.

They thought it tasted fine.

But obviously for $90,

that is quite a big gap.

The middle one that is the Oxo.

It's a pretty reliable,

great tasting cup.

Actually to be our topic pick for several years.

Does not really actually have a lot of the advancements

that some of the other ones have.

And then this is the Moccamaster.

The reason why we like this one

is this is sort of our buy it for life pick,

it's repairable, has the longest warranty.

You kind of mentioned that having that replaceable unit

and this metal tube especially,

those are the kinds of things

that you'd be able to repair

over a longer period of time

and makes a good cup of coffee.

The Mr. Coffee is actually not one we recommend.

So I'm very glad that you guys went that route.

That one is one we've tested,

we found the controls a little finicky

and it just didn't really do well

with one particular thing.

So the Fellow Aiden,

that's actually the highest scoring for me.

[Abrielle] Yeah, I actually scored this one pretty high.

I liked the look of it.

It was also my highest score.

The assessment overall,

you guys tended to like the ones

that we actually tested and liked,

but obviously the Aiden is our top pick.

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Coffee is a very personal and a finicky thing.

Would you actually buy any of these?

Would you spend $400?

I would receive this as a gift.

[Patrick laughs]

I'm probably not gonna spend 400.

I feel like a drip machine is your first experience

to home coffee brewing.

It is very affordable.

From a box store

and it's maybe like 40 or 50 bucks.

I would consider all of these more of a premium option.

Drinking five cups of coffee a day,

I would buy one of these two.

[Julian] Which of these would you actually

wake up to every day?

Drop us a line in the comments.

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