A good coffeemaker makes a practical holiday gift that could also save the recipient money—if that person cuts down on pricey visits to a favorite java joint—and might even boost health and productivity.
A number of competitively priced, competent models are featured in our ratings of coffeemakers (available to subscribers), and while they might not brew quite as well as the benchmark $265 Technivorm Moccamaster KBT-741, their overall performance is comparable and they won't bust your budget. The Black & Decker DLX1050B, $20, for example, brewed nearly as well as machines costing up to five times more.
Keep these tips in mind as you shop:
1. A programmable timer can be handy. These let you sleep a little later in the morning and avoid having to load up ground coffee while half asleep. The Black & Decker DLX1050B and the Michael Graves 40304, $40, include this feature.
2. A built-in grinder enhances taste. Even the best preground coffee can't beat the best freshly ground beans when it comes to taste. The Mr. Coffee GBX2, $50, has a blade-type grinder and programmable timers. The Krups Grinder & Brewer KM7000, $130, has a burr-type grinder (considered superior to blade-type grinders), as well as a programmable timer, a small-batch setting, and brew-strength control.
3. Brew-strength control lets you fine-tune coffee. This mechanism either diverts water past ground coffee or slows the flow of water, allowing you to produce a weaker or a stronger coffee, respectively. Also, the higher-scoring drip coffeemakers in our ratings, like the Cuisinart DCC-1200, $99, offer a small-batch setting that keeps you from getting a too-weak brew when you make only one to four cups.
4. A thermal carafe keeps coffee fresh. If you tend to drink coffee over several hours, you'll appreciate this feature; warming plates generally can't keep coffee tasting fresh for any length of time. The Kalorik TKM-20208, $45, includes a thermal carafe.
5. Pods provide convenience—at a price. Pod coffeemakers quickly make consistently good small batches of coffee, but they're more expensive than drip models. We also found that buying pods from a specific manufacturer could cost four times as much per cup as making drip coffee using supermarket brands. The Cuisinart Cup-O-Matic SS-1, $200, among the top performers in our ratings of pod coffeemakers, can use pods or regular ground coffee.
Essential information: Even a great coffeemaker can't make bad coffee taste good; see our ratings of popular coffees (available to subscribers). And check out our buyer's guide to espresso machines. Note that in our tests combination espresso-drip coffeemakers fall short didn't match the best specialized machines in our coffee-brewing tests.
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