13 Different Types Of Coffee Makers Available In 2024

Are you looking for new ways to brew coffee at home? You might feel a bit overwhelmed with so many different types of coffee makers. From simple one-cup manual setups to complicated coffee makers that brew for a crowd, you have many choices.

If you’re a coffee enthusiast about to purchase a new method, you may be wondering how one type is different from another.

Let’s take a bird’s eye view of the most common types of coffee makers so that you get the right one for your home.

The 13 Most Popular Types Of Coffee Makers

Drip Coffee Makers

Without a doubt, one of the most popular types of coffee brewers in the United States is the drip coffee maker. You can even program drip brewers to have your coffee ready for you when you wake up in the morning.

These are also known as filter coffee makers outside of the US.

Drip coffee machines are so common and loved because they make the brewing process easy, even brainless. All you do is add water to the tank, add grinds to the filter basket, and press a button. The drip brewer does the rest.

Espresso Machines

Home espresso machines are getting more popular – and more affordable. If you love drinks on your favorite coffee shop menu and want to replicate them at home, you’re probably thinking of getting yourself a home espresso machine.

An espresso machine can be as simple as a press-a-button or as complicated as a commercial machine. Deciding which to purchase depends on how much effort you want to put into brewing your shot and how much money you want to invest.

If you’re not interested in grinding and tamping, you’ll need to look at bean to cup coffee makers, as these do the entire job for you at a press of a button.

Thermal Coffee Makers

Thermal coffee makers use stainless steel carafes to keep your brewed coffee at the right temperature without using a warming plate. If you’ve ever had coffee that’s sat around for an hour on a warming plate, you know how stale and burnt it can taste.

With a thermal coffee maker, you can brew your coffee and come back to it even hours later and find that your pot still has the qualities of freshly brewed coffee.

Siphon Coffee

A siphon coffee maker is perhaps one of the most fascinating types of brewing methods.

When you heat the water in the bottom chamber, you create vapor pressure that pushes it to the upper chamber, where you add the grounds. After your coffee is brewed, you turn off the heat source and watch the brewed coffee descend to the bottom chamber, getting filtered along the way.

A siphon can produce a full-bodied but clean brew. But if something goes wrong in the process, you’ll get a burnt, bitter drink.

Electric Percolators

Before the drip coffee machine became so common, percolator coffee makers were a popular way to make coffee. Electric percolators look a lot like tea kettles, but they go beyond just heating water.

They actually brew the coffee inside the kettle. The percolator heats up water and pushes it through the grounds in the basket. A percolator brews a strong pot of coffee, but if the water temperature is too high, they may impart a slightly burnt taste.

French Press

French Press coffee makers are a classic brewing method that’s become a hot trend. They’re a simple setup – just a glass carafe and a plunger.

They’re easy to use, with no precise techniques or special skills needed. Add the grounds to the carafe, let it steep, and then use the plunger to filter the brew. Your drink is ready.

Since this coffee brewer uses a metal filter, the oils and some fine grinds stay in the brew and give it a full body.

AeroPress

The AeroPress is an excellent way to get great-tasting coffee on the go. This one-cup brewing method is fast, easy to clean, and easy to take on a trip.

Add grounds to the main chamber, fill with water, brew for about 2 minutes, and then apply pressure on the plunger. While this method does require a bit more skill, it also produces a clean beverage with more subtleties.

Pour Over

Even if you’re a beginner at coffee brewing, a pour-over method can give you a balanced, sweet drink. Simply place the brewing method over your mug or a beaker. Put the paper filter in place, add the coffee grinds, and add hot water.

By changing your pouring speed and technique, you can create more body, more sweetness, or accentuate the acidity. That’s why pour-overs are a favorite method for baristas.

Cold Brew Coffee Maker

Most cold brew coffee makers are a simple setup. They involve a carafe and a basket or filter to hold the coffee grinds. You simply pour in room temperature water and leave it for up to 24 hours.

A slow-drip cold brew coffee maker is similar, but it allows ice-cold water to drip slowly over the coffee grinds for up to 24 hours. That slow process eliminates bitterness or unpleasant acidity.

Vietnamese Phin Coffee

The traditional Vietnamese coffee maker is a phin. The simple pot is made up of the main brewing pot, a filter, and a lid.

You add the water to the filter and let it drip down into the pot one drop at a time. It takes about five minutes to brew one cup of coffee in a phin. That slow brewing gives it strong tastes and body.

Related Read: How To Make Vietnamese Coffee

Also, you don’t use a paper filter. The metal filter leaves all the oils and sediment in the coffee, creating a coffee that’s so heavy it feels chewy.

Moka Pot

If you crave a strong cup of coffee that resembles an espresso – without the expensive machine – consider a Moka Pot.

It’s simple to use, brews fast and goes right on your stovetop.

Add water to the bottom chamber, place the coffee in the basket, and screw on the top chamber. Put the Moka Pot on your stovetop and apply heat. As the water heats up, it travels up the inner tube and into the coffee basket, then comes out into the top chamber.

Turkish Cezve

Making Turkish coffee involves a special metal coffee pot called a Cezve or Ibrik. They’re easy to recognize, with a wide base, narrow neck, and long handle.

You heat the water and coffee together in the pot and brew the coffee slowly, over the heat, for 3-4 minutes.

If you’re one of those coffee drinkers who love a bit of tradition with your coffee, you’ll love this method. Turkish coffee is often heated in hot sand. Yes, the pot was half-buried in hot sand to heat it. If you don’t have a sandpit at home, don’t worry. Your stovetop burner does a respectable job too.

Nitro Coffee Makers

Nitro creates layers of bubbles that slowly rise to the top of this refreshing and caffeinated drink.

Start with cold brew coffee, generally a coffee concentrate. Add the coffee to your nitro coffee maker, insert the gas canister in place, shake well, and refrigerate. Once the drink is chilled, serve into a tall glass and enjoy the spectacle.