Making coffee manually can be a wonderfully meditative process, but if you don’t have the time or inclination to worry about grinding, tamping, and frothing, there’s no need to spend a fortune on takeout – all you need is the right automatic coffee maker in your kitchen.
Automatic coffee makers handle every part of the brewing process for you, and are the best option if you want good quality, fresh coffee with minimal effort. Just take your pick from the menu, and the machine will handle the dosing, grinding, and brewing for you, then steam and dispense milk too if your chosen drink calls for it.
Automatic coffee makers tend to be more expensive than manual machines, and sometimes require more cleaning (particularly if the milk enters any part of the machine), but you’ll still save a lot of time compared to brewing yourself, and you can be assured of perfectly consistent results every time with no experience at all.
Curious? Here are my three top recommendations for effortless brewing. If you can’t see quite what you want, take a look at my complete guides to the best coffee makers and the best espresso machines for more option.
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Philips LatteGo 5500 Series
This compact automatic machine is my top recommendation if you’re the sole coffee-drinker in your household. Not only is it one of the smallest I’ve tested in recent months (it measures 9.7 x 14.6 x 17 inches, or 24.6 x 37.1 x 43.3cm), it’s also cleverly designed so you don’t have excessive quantities of beans, water, and milk hanging around to spoil.
First, let’s take a look at the water tank. It has a modest capacity of 1.9qt / 1.8 liters, and even less when you’ve fitted the supplied water filter (something that’s not included with many coffee machines in this price bracket), but that’s perfectly fine if you’re only brewing one or two drinks at a time. Fresh water is always best, so there’s no point in having liters of water hanging around in your machine unused.
I also like the fact that the tank slides out of the front, so you can place the machine up against a wall and don’t have to move it out when it’s time for a top-up.
The bean hopper is also small, capable of holding only enough coffee for a few brews at once. It has a rubber seal to prevent air getting in, and a tinted lid to protect your beans from light (both of which will make them degrade faster) but again, it’s best to only keep the beans you’ll need today in the hopper. For one person, this is just right.
Finally, we have the LatteGo milk system. You fill the carafe while it’s attached to the machine, which is a bit strange, but it works very well. There are measuring lines so you can add just enough milk for your favorite latte or cappuccino, and once you’re done the carafe separates into two simple parts you can wash up in seconds. No containers full of milk hanging around in the fridge, and no gross tubes to clean.
The only downsides are that you can’t adjust the direction of the spout, so you have to be careful where you place your cup on the drip tray, and the ‘iced coffee’ options are a bit of a cheat – instead of brewing coffee cold, the machine instructs you to add ice to your cup and then pours hot espresso over it. Personally I don’t think those are dealbreakers, though.
Read our full Philips LatteGo 5500 Series review
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Smeg BCC13
If you want an automatic coffee machine that looks great and doesn’t take up your entire kitchen counter, the Smeg BCC13 is the one for you. This super smart machine is available in a range of matt-finish colors (white, black, green, and blue), and has the -combination of curves and sleek lines you’d associate with Smeg’s 1960s-inspired appliances.
It boasts a generously sized water tank, which slots into the top of the machine (an unusual design choice that leaves the sides clear), a bean hopper with an opaque lid to protect your coffee from exposure to light, and a handy hatch for removing the brew group for easy cleaning. The whole thing feels extremely well put together, and it’s beautifully finished inside and out.
There’s no color touchscreen here. Instead, Smeg has decided to keep things classy and minimalist with a row of physical buttons along the BCC13’s top edge for your different drink and maintenance options. Pressing and holding will open up a secondary menu, and once you’ve picked a drink you’ll be able to tweak brewing options like adjusting the volume to suit your favorite cups.
It’s not as self-explanatory as a touchscreen, but it does look great. Just remember to keep the quick reference guide nearby until you’ve memorised what each button does.
The resulting espresso is delicious whether enjoyed alone, or as the foundation of an americano, latte, or cappuccino. The BCC13 has a milk-foaming system that includes a fridge-friendly milk container, with a hose that pushes onto the side of the coffee dispenser, where it releases perfectly textured foam. The system worked better with dairy milk than plant-based alternatives during my tests, so bear that in mind when making your decision.
Read our full Smeg BCC13 review
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Jura J10
If you want an automatic coffee maker that really does it all, the Jura J10 is well worth your attention. It’s a successor to the hugely popular J8, with one interesting addition that will appeal to anyone whose regular coffee order brings baristas out in a cold sweat: SweetFoam.
This is a cleverly designed system that infuses your milk with flavored syrup while it’s foamed, and works with dairy or non-dairy milk, hot or cold. Just pour your syrup into the small container provided, push it onto the milk dispenser nozzle, and it’ll be incorporated next time you make a drink. Because it’s distributed evenly throughout the milk, you only need a tiny bit to get the same flavor you would if you pumped the syrup into the bottom of your coffee cup.
Of course, none of that would matter if the J10 wasn’t also an excellent coffee maker, but there are no worries on that front – in fact, it’s one of the best around. Just choose your drink (there’s a vast menu of hot and cold options), adjust the grind size as instructed, and the machine will handle the rest.
The J10 makes some of the best espresso I’ve ever had from a fully automatic coffee machine, making the perfect foundation for your beverage of choice. The J10 also boasts an impressive cold brew option, which pulses cold water through your freshly-ground coffee at high pressure, producing a mellow-tasting drink that’s remarkably similar to traditionally-made cold brew that’s infused slowly overnight.
There’s even a smart system called Coffee Eye, which will detect where you’ve placed your cup and change the menu accordingly. If you’ve put the cup directly under the central coffee dispenser, it will only offer drinks without milk. Place it under the milk dispenser and you can also choose lattes and cappuccinos.
Read our full Jura J10 review
