At Wirecutter, we love coffee as much as you do, which is why we’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing the best coffee makers, grinders, French presses, and pour-over setups. The writer of the 2022 update of this guide, Ever Meister, is a journalist and coffee professional who has worked in the specialty coffee industry for 21 years. They started as a barista working at busy cafés such as Joe Coffee Company in New York City, later working as a trainer and educator for Counter Culture Coffee, and as the director of education and editorial manager for Cafe Imports. Ever has written about coffee for many publications, including The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Salon, Serious Eats, the Kitchn, and Marketplace.org, among others, and is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History.
Thais Wilson-Soler, who wrote the original version of this guide, was a barista in several high-volume Brooklyn restaurants and coffee shops before coming to Wirecutter. She conducted her tests with the help of the team behind Sey Coffee (who then ran Lofted Coffee in Brooklyn). Justin Vassallo, who wrote the 2019 update, is a former lead barista with 10 years of experience working in high-volume coffee shops in New York and Boston. He was trained in developing a palate for different roasts and brewing methods and also wrote our guide to espresso machines.
In addition to our testing, we interviewed various experts, including William Ristenpart, professor of chemical engineering and director of the UC Davis Coffee Center; Mark Prince, founder of CoffeeGeek.com; and Brian W. Jones, the founder and editor of Dear Coffee, I Love You. We also consulted reviews and tips from sources like The Kitchn, Serious Eats, James Hoffmann, Home Grounds, The Spruce Eats, and Good Housekeeping, among others. To better understand the customer experience, we analyzed thousands of reviews on Amazon using an artificial-intelligence-driven tool called FindOurView. We also contacted the manufacturers with questions about the sustainability of the machines and shared some of their answers in our sustainability section.