Best home coffee makers 2022: filter, pod and bean to cup machines

According to the British Coffee Association, 95 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the UK. Given that there are only around 66.6 million of us living on this little cluster of islands (a sizeable slice of whom are wedded monogamously to tea) those are some pretty startling numbers.

Café culture is a huge part of our addiction – while we try our best at home, there really is nothing like a coffee made by professional hands to see us through the day.

Whether it’s nipping into a high street chain on the way to work or folding ourselves into a rusty old chair in the corner of a hipster café on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the smell of freshly ground beans can be one of the most comforting things in the world.

From pods, to filters, to cafetieres and bean-to-cup wizardry, we’ve tested the lot and found the best machines to see you through the winter slump.

What types of coffee maker are available?

• Pod coffee machines - For barista-quality brews at home, these machines take the fuss out of the process by compressing the espresso, latte or even hot chocolate that you are after in a vacuum sealed pod for added freshness. These give you a great tasting coffee instantly at the press of a button. Convenient yes but the pods themselves add an on-going cost.

• Bean to cup coffee machines - These are some of the priciest models but offer the freshest brews around by grinding the coffee beans and extracting the mot amount of flavour. They often also come with an automatic milk frother and may have smart controls.

• Filter coffee machines - For black coffee lovers, filter machines may be all you need for a milder brew. Often a feature in 1970s and retro diners, they still are packed with modern features but tend be striped back to just the basics.

• Cafetieres - Also known as a French press, these devices act as a middle ground between instant coffee and some of the fancier machines. You simply pop in your ground coffee, add boiling water, leave for four minutes and push the plunger to the bottom. Voila.

POD MACHINES

Nespresso Vertuo Plus

Best for: Fuss-free professional-style coffee

The Nespresso Vertuo Plus is an incredible bit of kit, offering full-flavoured, complex coffees at the touch of a button. The machine does all of your thinking for you, perfect for those who find simple functions difficult first thing in the morning.

With this, you simply put your pod in and it scans the barcode, bringing just the right amount of heat and pressure to the coffee at hand and resulting in a silky smooth crema.

Nespresso makes returning the pods for recycling an easy task, so there isn’t a great deal of environmental guilt to be had. Still, the pods do bring their own issues: the barcode technology means that the machine isn’t compatible with third party suppliers, so you have to go direct to Nespresso for the good stuff.

Features

- Barcoding system to tailor coffee preparation for the drink at hand.

- Unique centrifusion extraction system, in which the pod spins 7000 times-per-minute.

- Removable tank for easy filling.

- Just one button for ease of use

Buy now £100.00, John Lewis

Lavazza Jolie & Milk Pod Coffee Machine

Best for: Compact and sound proof brews

Small and mighty, the Jolie & Milk from Lavazza packs a hell of a punch, offering coffees that range in size from espresso to lungo alongside a milk frother that produces luscious, silky foam.

The machine has two options – automatic and programmable, with the latter allowing the drinker to choose just how tall they want their coffee. Everything happens at the touch of a button and the coffee is made super quickly and with very little noise. The best feature is the compostable pods, which make this the most eco-friendly of all the pod machines.

Features

- Removable water tank for easy cleaning.

- Integrated milk frother.

- Coffee capsule drawer alert to alert you when it is nearing capacity.

- Compatible with a range of cup sizes.

Buy now £169.99, Lakeland

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio S Pod Coffee Machine

Best for: Simple and personalisable coffees

The Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio S is a cheap and cheerful pod machine that takes up very little space on the kitchen counter top, whilst still offering a huge variety of coffees. There are 40 different coffee drinks available via the pods, including those of a frothy variety. The drink arrives at perfect drinking temperature – not hot enough to burn, but hot enough to warm you from the inside out.

The Genios S is incredibly easy to use – you simply turn the dial to instruct the machine how much water it needs and it gets to work, producing a perfectly made coffee that will get you up and at ‘em in the morning.

The good news is that the Dolce Gusto machines are compatible with alternative pods, so you can save a few pennies here and there by shopping around.

Features

- Removable water tank for easy cleaning.

- Dishwasher safe parts for easy cleaning.

- Auto shut-off after one minute

Buy now £70.00, Argos

Lavazza A Modo Mio Voicy

Best for: Smart coffee machine

If you think a coffee machine can only make your morning brew, then think again. Lavazza’s A Modo Mio Voicy machine comes with an in-built Alexa feature meaning the entire machine can be voice controlled. Using the Piacere Lavazza App, you can customise your coffee experience by adjusting settings such as the temperature and size of the coffee. We also love the ability to set up an automatic re-order for the coffee capsules via either Amazon or the Lavazza app.

Not only will the Alexa register your coffee requests but it also offers a whole host of other functions such as smart home control as well as weather, music and news updates - so this coffee machine can create your perfect espresso whilst reading you the daily headlines.

Features

- Voice controlled via Amazon Alexa

- Customisable length and temperature of coffee

- 1.1L water tank

Buy now £251.99, Amazon

BEAN TO CUP MACHINES

De’Longhi Primadonna Soul

Best for: State-of-the-art coffee making

The price tag is vast, there’s no denying it, but this is the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to a home-brewed coffee. With 21 different drinks on tap, from flat whites, to macchiatos, to cortados to a jug of straight-up filter fuel, this is an all-singing, all-dancing bit of kit that assesses your beans, grinds and extracts them accordingly and gives you the most silky, sumptuous coffee you’ve likely ever tasted in your own home.

Seriously, the resulting flat white was so good it prompted tears of nostalgia for the outside world.

Though setup seems initially intimidating (the box it comes in could house a spaceship), the machine is one of plug and play simplicity and guides you through the process seamlessly via its touch screen LCD screen. The De’Longhi Primadonna Soul connects to WiFi, too, so once you download the app you can sync it to your phone and start adapting it your specific needs. It’s a big investment, yes, but one you’ll never regret making.

Features

- An option of 21 coffee drinks, customisable via the app.

- The option to make two cups at once.

- Milk frother.

- Adjustable spout to suit cup size.

- Neat touchscreen LED display.

- Automatic cleaning after each use.

Buy now £1299.99, John Lewis

Breville Barista Max Espresso Machine

Best for: All the bells and whistles

The Breville Barista Max isn’t quite as straightforward at other bean to cup machines, the main difference being that an external

group head means you have to be a little more hands on with the process. The benefit of this, of course, is that you can use ground coffee as well as the freshly ground coffee beans. Taste wise, it’s the equivalent of having a coffee shop in your house, so the end product is incredibly aromatic and satisfying.

The milk steaming wand also shoots out hot water, so if you want a drink longer than an espresso you can top it up to your heart’s content, before adding the milk you desire. The wand adopts the traditional coffee shop method – so a glut of steam pumps out into your ready and waiting jug to create a velvety smooth froth that will satisfy those with a flat white/cappuccino addiction.

The machine is a little complicated to get to know, admittedly, so if you’re after something that does all your thinking for you it’s not going to work. Still, the end result is a lovely cup of barista-style coffee in your own home.

Features

- 1 or 2 shot options with manual control.

- Coffee-shop style equipment.

- Integrated grinder and milk frother.

- Warming plate on top to keep your coffee hot.

Buy now £299.00, Currys

Melitta Purista Series 300

Best for: Functions galore

This is a machine for those who go to a restaurant and sit absolutely flummoxed by the endless list of options in front of them. There is one option here: coffee. A rich, flavoursome, fresh brew that fills your kitchen with a beautiful café aroma and wakes all your senses up with a bang.

We absolutely loved the simplicity of the machine, which asks you to make only one choice: one cup or two? It works hard for its money, though it doesn’t quite live up to the promises it makes of a ‘whisper quiet grinder’ – we can only assume the noise test was conducted on a building site.

Still, its slender shape and gorgeous look means that it will fit in nicely to any modern kitchen, and the resulting drink is one that’ll make you feel like you woke up on the right side of bed.

Features

- The option to make up to two drinks at a time.

- A ‘favourite coffee’ feature meaning the machine will remember the strength and length you desire.

- Automatic cleaning and descaling after each use.

Buy now £289.00, Amazon

FILTER COFFEE MACHINES

KitchenAid Drip Coffee Maker

Best for: American diner vibes

The KitchenAid Drip filter machine is an absolute pleasure to use and behold, with the cream and chrome colouring and rounded edges conspiring to create a look that is at once vintage and timeless. It’s actually even prettier in person than in photograph, but hey, this isn’t a beauty pageant, it’s a coffee machine review.

With a detachable water tank, this is the easiest of the lot to fill up and get going. It’s a quiet, smooth process from start to finish, and the end coffee is clean and delicious. The 1.7-litre tank means that it’s big enough to make coffee for the whole family, while the permanent filter has a clever step inside to help measure out the perfect amount of grounds. We think the functionality alone well and truly justifies the price tag here (and you really don’t need us to start banging on about how good looking it is again…).

Features

- Removable water tank for easy filling.

- Reusable filter with steps for measuring coffee.

- 24h timer to ensure your coffee is ready when you are.

- A variable brew strength selector.

- Pause and pour function.

- Hot plate to keep your coffee warm for up to 40 minutes.

Buy now £139.00, Argos

SMEG Drip Coffee Machine

Best for: Style points

SMEG is a hallmark of retro chic and statement pieces, with homewares that are attractive enough to lead the styling of a whole kitchen. The drip coffee machine is no different, with its curvaceous pastel body all but begging to be coveted.

The coffee it churns out is rich and flavoursome and the hot plate keeps it warm for a good half an hour after brewing. It is a little fiddly to fill the tank though - it’s almost impossible to get the last few drops out of the jug and into the machine.

Still, the pros outweigh the cons – the SMEG Drip Coffee Machine also has a programmable timer and the reusable filter ensures a brew free of mud.

Features

- Ability to select aroma intensity.

- A separate function to make a smaller brew should 10 cups be too many.

- LED display and easy-to-use timer.

- Hot plate to keep coffee hot for up to 40 minutes.

Buy now £172.00, Amazon

CAFETIERES

Le Creuset Stoneware Coffee Press, 1L

Best for: Durability

As you would expect from a brand as renowned as Le Creuset, the stoneware coffee press just sings with quality the second you take it out of the box. The finish is gleaming and the colour range is the perfect way to inject a bit of colour into your kitchen, from the signature volcanic orange to sunshine yellow or a swanky shade of teal, there’s a colour to match every kitchen.

The Le Creuset Coffee Press is more than just a pretty face, though; it brews a bold, smooth cup of coffee and the enamel-clad stoneware keeps the drink warm for a good amount of time. It is a little heavy to hold when full, so it’s not one for those with delicate wrists.

Buy now £54.55, Amazon

Eva Solo Thermo Cafetiere

Best for: Simple but effective coffee making process

The Scandinavian touch means that the Eva Solo Thermo Cafetiere is as stylish as it is functional. With a stainless-steel body and an ergonomically designed oak handle, it well and truly looks the part.

The coffee comes out clean, smooth and piping hot even an hour after it the jug is first filled. In fact, it’s still warm enough to drink without taking a little spin in the microwave over two hours later. There’s no mess or drips when pouring due to the shape of the spout, and while £100 might seem a little steep for such an everyday item, the solid construction means this is likely to see you through a good few decades.

Buy now £100.00, John Lewis

Verdict

We’ve got two machines fighting it out for the top spot, but the De’Longhi Primadonna Soul probably takes the crown. It really does do it all for you, resulting in an utterly perfect drink for those with a frothy coffee addiction. Like we said, the price tag is pretty commanding, but it’s the closest we came to creating a drink at home that tasted like a professional made it.

The KitchenAid Drip Filter Machine gets a special commendation, though; it’s stylish, affordable and incredibly easy to use, making a really lovely jug of wake-up juice to get you through the day. And you probably won’t have to sell your soul to afford it.