Small Coffee Maker | What is the Best Coffee Machine for Someone on a Budget?

What is the Best Coffee Machine for Someone on a Budget?


Being on a budget doesn’t have to mean that great coffee is out of reach. In fact, some of the best coffee machines are those that require little in terms of investment. Once you understand the basics behind producing a great cup of coffee you will quickly realize that the machine itself only plays a minor role in the process. Of course, the focus of this article will be to list some inexpensive small coffee makers, so we’ll do that for you as well. After reading this article you will be able to purchase just about any machine, cheap or not, and produce drip coffee that will make you proud.

Because drip coffee is composed almost entirely of water, it makes sense that the type of water you use is an important component in the brewing process. We’re not suggesting that you go out and purchase the most expensive bottled water available. In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable to use water from your faucet assuming it tastes good enough to drink on its own. On the other hand, if the water from your tap is less than desirable, it may make sense to use some form of bottled or filtered water. Most of the time, a home water filtration system or filtered water pitcher will suffice.

The other two critical aspects concern the coffee beans themselves. It’s critical that you use only freshly roasted beans and that the beans are ground just prior to brewing. It’s possible to purchase fresh roasted coffee at many independent coffee shops and online through specialty retailers. Once you’ve obtained the beans, it’s important to grind them using a burr style grinder immediately before brewing. While a blade or “whirly bird” grinder might be cheap initially, it won’t produce the uniform consistency that a burr grinder will. So, what is the best coffee machine for someone on a budget?

1.    Melitta Ready Set Joe – honestly, for someone on a budget, they don’t come much cheaper than this. The Ready Set Joe is actually a pour over device, meaning that you place it on top of your coffee mug, place a filter and ground coffee inside of it and pour hot water over the coffee. With good quality water and beans that have been recently roasted and ground, it’s hard to beat this little device. For under $7.00 through Amazon, it’s hard not to give in to it.

2.    Black and Decker Brew and Go – this small coffee maker is fully automatic and even comes with its own stainless steel mug. The machine is designed to brew just 1 cup at a time, which means that you will always have freshly brewed coffee. This small coffee machine costs under $20.00 through Amazon.

3.    Mr. Coffee 4-cup Programmable – this little coffee maker brews 4-cups at a time and can be programmed to brew up to 24 hours in advance. The machine also has a brew and pause feature that lets you sneak a cup of coffee in the middle of the brew cycle. All this for under $25 through Amazon.

Of course, there are many more small coffee machines available that won’t break the bank. In addition to their low purchase price, the machines mentioned above were selected because of their positive track record. Each machine has many positive user reviews on Amazon from customers that have put them through the test. At the end of the day, buying a budget coffee maker doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy great coffee. Rather, great coffee is achieved by using quality water and freshly roasted and ground coffee beans. The coffee maker is simply a vessel through which great coffee is achieved.

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