The Best Automatic Pour Over Coffee Maker + 7 Contenders

A good old pour over coffee is sometimes all you need to get your day started. No fuss, no faff, just delicious coffee! 

In this article, we take a look at the best automatic pour over coffee maker and 7 other favorites so you don't have to scavenge the internet to find them yourself.

We also discuss how easy they are to use, how customizable they are, and which ones consistently make high-quality coffee.

What is the Best Automatic Pour Over Coffee Maker?

1. Breville Precision Brewer

Best Customization

The Breville Precision Brewer BDC450BSS has a large water capacity, multiple brewing modes, and many customizable settings, which makes it our best overall automatic pour over coffee maker!

The brushed stainless steel appearance and the compact design of this coffee brewer are sure to suit any kitchen aesthetics. 

It has a large water tank capacity of 60oz, which means you won't have to refill it constantly. And it has a stainless steel carafe which helps to keep your coffee warmer for longer, roughly three to four hours (as long as you don’t mind that it will be more bitter the longer the coffee sits out). 

There are six brewing modes which include gold, fast, strong, iced, cold brew, and "my brew". The gold cup preset mode will automatically adjust the water temperature control and brew time to meet standards set by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). 

The "My Brew" option allows you to customize how to brew your coffee including the bloom time, temperature control, and flow rate. 

Along with being able to select different brew modes, this Breville pour over coffee machine gives you the option of controlling the temperature with three different flow rates to optimize the contact time.

This automatic pour over coffee machine uses Thermocoil heating which promises to deliver water that is more pure. This is important because the more impurities there are in the water, the more this could affect the taste of your coffee. 

This coffee brewer has a patented steep and release valve which holds the water in contact with the coffee when you make smaller cup volumes. This should help with the extraction of flavor from the grounds.

With dual filter baskets, a flat bottom and a cone stainless steel filter, you can choose whichever one you prefer. 

The brewing method creates a pour over coffee that you can change to suit your needs but it will probably take a bit of experimenting with the different settings before you find your ideal settings.

This coffee brewer also includes a coffee spoon, mesh basket filter, paper filters, and a water hardness test strip.

This automatic pour over coffee machine is a little on the louder side but unless you’ve got someone in your home who's a light sleeper, this shouldn’t be a problem. Or it's an extra perk if you like to push their buttons...

2. Technivorm Moccamaster 79114 KBT

Best Quality

This runner-up to the best automatic pour over coffee machine makes ten (10) cups of coffee, is robust, and brews quickly to give you that caffeine hit from freshly brewed coffee when you need it. 

It is made with BPA/BPS/BPF and phthalate-free plastics, durable stainless steel, and aluminum. While the plastic in this meets relevant regulations, some people prefer not to have plastic in their coffee machine as it can mean it is less robust or to avoid any sort of plastic taste or smell.

But don't fret, this doesn’t seem to be an issue with this machine. There have been no reports of any issues with its quality and it actually has a five-year warranty which shows how confident the brand is about the quality of its product. 

It’s also SCA certified which promises a certain standard of quality to each cup of coffee you brew.

This coffee machine has a 40 oz pot of coffee which makes around 10 cups in four to six minutes. You can also brew half pots if you’re the only one in the house or workplace who drinks it, so the coffee doesn’t go to waste. 

This coffee brewer uses a copper boiling element to quickly heat the water to the correct temperature for optimized coffee extraction. 

Another cool thing about this pour over coffee maker is that Moccamaster makes their coffee machines without pumps. Instead, it uses the boiling action to percolate the water up. Similar to how a percolator works!

If you don’t want to be bothered with customizing your coffee, then this brewer will make all the decisions for you as it doesn’t have any adjustable settings.

This pour over coffee maker dispenses coffee into a double-walled stainless steel carafe. This helps to keep it warmer for longer and the "Brew-Thru" lid also helps to minimize heat loss by allowing the coffee to drip down into the carafe. 

The carafe also comes with a travel lid, so you can take it with you anywhere you go.

The auto shut off feature is almost standard on coffee machines to save energy and as a safety feature. This automatic pour over coffee maker shuts off when the water reservoir is empty, so it doesn’t continue to heat up your coffee and make it bitter. 

It is easy to clean this coffee brewer but it does take a bit of time and it can be difficult to get your hand in and properly clean the carafe which looks a bit like a milk jug. 

The carafe also sits directly on your counter which means there’s nothing to protect your worktop from stray coffee drips. Although, this doesn't seem to be a problem unless you're pretty clumsy...

3. Bonavita Connoisseur

Best for Even Saturation

The Bonavita Connoisseur electric pour over coffee machine is a compact coffee brewer that will slip under your counter or blend in perfectly on your countertop. 

The Bonavita is a popular choice among pour over coffee lovers. It makes eight cups of coffee at the touch of a button and brews in around six minutes. It might not be as quick as the top 2 on this list, but what's an extra minute or two?

It’s easy to use, requiring only one touch to brew your coffee and the only choice you need to make is whether you want the optional pre-infusion mode. This allows the freshly roasted ground coffee to bloom before brewing, which is important for the ideal cup of coffee. So utilize it whenever possible.

Like most coffee makers, this machine has a stainless steel carafe that can keep your coffee warm. Most of the models on our list use thermal carafes instead of glass carafes because they don’t include a hot plate. The Bonavita is the same.

This can be a good thing if you don’t like the bitterness that comes with your coffee sitting on a hot plate for a few hours, plus it’s lukewarm at best. 

This automatic pour over coffee maker uses a larger showerhead to evenly saturate the coffee grounds in order to extract as much flavor as possible. 

The Bonavita makes an audible signal when the brewing process ends, and don't forget to screw on the thermal lid once it's done brewing to maintain your coffee's ideal temperature.

4. OXO Brew 9 Cup

Best Thermal Carafe

The OXO Brew is next on our best pour over coffee maker list, and it's mainly because of its thermal carafe!

But before we talk about the carafe, the "BetterBrew Precision Brewing" allows you to control the water temperature and it optimizes the brew cycles to make a perfectly brewed coffee. 

And this automatic pour over coffee maker gives you control over how to brew your coffee instead of the machine doing it for you, like some other options on this list.

It is fully programmable with a wake-up timer to have your coffee ready for you first thing in the morning. In my opinion, this is a great way to wake up, with the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

It has a pause and pour function, so if you’re dying for some caffeine and you can't wait, then you don’t have to wait until the whole pot is brewed. However, we need to talk about your patience... But we will deal with that on a different day...

This is another Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) certified pour over machine which means that it meets high standards for its quality of coffee. 

There’s one dial to choose the different cup sizes from two cups to a full pot. The water tank isn’t as bulky and it has an LED screen that fits nicely on the side.

Like other coffee makers on our list, it uses a rainmaker shower head to evenly distribute the water over the coffee grounds to extract the best flavor.

Now, what makes this machine special is its thermal carafe. Unlike the other coffee carafes on this list, this one has an internal mixing tube that mixes the coffee to ensure an even and consistent flavor from your first cup until your last. 

Other cool features include a freshness timer, where an icon will appear on the screen and count down 60 minutes to show the time elapsed since the brewing time was completed.

You do need to buy paper filters separately as it doesn’t come with a mesh brew basket and some of the plastic parts do come into contact with hot water which as we talked about earlier, can be a no-no for some. 

While it is easy enough to clean, the water tank is not removable, so it makes it harder to thoroughly wash. 

5. Ratio Six Coffee Maker

Cool Design

This automatic pour over machine is a fave among pour over coffee enthusiasts. Its retro look, one button functions, and consistent cups of coffee make it quite popular. 

The Ratio Six looks like a flask from the 70s with its shape. It does come in three colors, matte black, stainless steel, and white which gives you some flexibility to match it with your kitchen appliances. 

You won’t need a manual to start using this automatic pour over machine, because it only has one button to operate it. It has three LED lights that show the different phases of the coffee cycle, bloom, brew, and ready. 

It precisely meters the water flow through the bloom and brew phases to extract the best flavor. It also uses a die-cast aluminum heating element. So the water that flows through the stainless steel showerhead is at the ideal extraction temperature. 

It has a thermal flat-bottomed carafe and the filter basket has a lid with a heat shield that prevents heat loss. If you prefer a conical filter, then you can purchase the Ratio Eight glass carafe separately.

You have the option of brewing two to eight cups and it keeps the coffee hot for hours even without a warming plate. 

The carafe is a bit bulky and the machine needs to be descaled regularly but if you’re happy with the coffee, this probably won’t bother you. 

Keep in mind that all coffee machines should be descaled regularly. It's just that some require it more often than other, like the OXO Brew.

6. Cuisinart CPO-850P1 PurePrecision

Best for Coffee Strength

The Cuisinart PurePrecision is more of a hybrid between a regular drip coffee maker and an automatic pour over coffee machine when it comes to its appearance. But don't worry, it is fully the latter in the way that it prepares the coffee.

Like most of the coffee machines on this list, it brews eight cups in a thermal carafe but doesn’t have a heating element, which is not really required.

Important Tip: One thing to keep in mind when all these coffee brewers say that they brew 8 cups of coffee, they are referring to a 6 to 8 oz cup. While most mugs in North America are around 10 to 12 oz.

As the name suggests, this coffee machine has precision brewing for superior flavor extraction. And it’s SCA certified, which validates the quality of the coffee being made. Similar to manual pour over coffee brewing, it pre-wets the coffee grounds before brewing to let the flavor “bloom”. 

This pour over machine has a permanent stainless steel filter which cuts down on buying disposable paper filters. 

You can customize settings such as the water temperature and coffee strength, which brings us to this machine's highlight: the ability to choose between mild, medium, and bold coffee settings.

And for those who prefer piping hot coffee, there is a hot and extra hot option. 

It also has a 24-hour programmable function. Now imagine yourself as Tom smelling a freshly cooked breakfast and letting the smell guide you to the kitchen while you're half asleep still. But the breakfast in this case is your freshly brewed coffee!

Haha, joking aside. This coffee maker also has a self clean function to take away some of the hassles of manually cleaning it yourself.

It doesn’t give you the option of different cup sizes, so you have to brew a pot of coffee every time, which is maybe fine by you. If not, it does have the brew-pause function. 

And the way the lids for the water tank and the coffee grounds open up can be an issue if you're planning to place this underneath your cupboards.

7. Brim Coffee Maker

Best Budget

The Brim Coffee Maker is a great budget coffee brewer for those who are on a tight budget but don't want to skim out on quality.

It offers a Brew Pulse feature for a full bloom, and it is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association.

The Brim coffee maker is easy to use with a one-touch function, the power button... That’s it!  

There’s no LED screen for selecting different strengths or sizes but it’s simple and if you’re someone who prefers to have as few choices and options as possible, then the simplicity of this coffee machine will appeal to you. 

The coffee maker makes eight cups of coffee, like most other coffee machines on this list, and again like most others it uses a showerhead to evenly saturate the coffee. And as we mentioned earlier, the Brew Pulse allows for full blooming which helps to extract as much flavor as possible. 

The Brim automatic pour over coffee machine is made of stainless steel and has a glass carafe similar to the one you would purchase for a manual pour over, such as the Chemex.

Of course, the only issue with the carafe is that it is fragile and it doesn't keep your coffee warm for long, but it does come with a warming plate.

8. Ninja CM407 Speciality Coffee Maker

Best All-in-One

The Ninja is one of the bigger brew capacity coffee machines, with a 50 oz thermal carafe that can make 10 cups of coffee and it comes with a fold-away milk frother, which is what makes this coffee maker our Best All-in-One option!

While the Ninja coffee maker has one of the larger pot sizes, it also has a wide range of brew sizes. These include a single cup, XL cup, travel size, XL travel mug, half carafe, or full carafe. This gives you a lot of choices in how you use this coffee maker. 

The Ninja CM407 looks different from other automatic pour over coffee makers on our list. Instead of the water tank and coffee spout back to back, the coffee maker is a square shape with the water tank at one end and the coffee spout in the middle. 

Unlike the other automatic pour over coffee makers we’ve looked at, the Ninja has a fold-away milk frother which means you can make any type of specialty coffee, whether you want a simple pour over coffee, or a cappuccino or latte, you can do it all with one machine. 

The water tank is removable which makes it easier to fill and clean. It also has a self-clean function which flushes water through the system itself to clean internal parts but sometimes the cleaning light comes on even after it’s been cleaned. 

This automatic pour over coffee machine gives you some options if you like to have full control over your cup of coffee. It has four brew types: classic, rich brew, iced coffee, and specialty brew to make milk-based coffees. It also gives you the option of a timed brew setting. 

Unfortunately, the milk frother does not heat up the milk, which makes it better for iced coffee than hot coffee.

How to Choose an Automatic Pour Over Coffee Maker

Brew Capacity

There isn’t a lot of range between the most popular models but a pot size can range from eight cups up to ten cups.

You will want to check if you can brew a single cup or does it always brew a full pot. If you want pour over coffee, but you’re the only one in your house who drinks it, you probably won’t drink a full pot in one day (let’s hope not or you’ll be running to the loo).

Programmability

Do you want to have control over how your coffee is made? There are pour over machines that do everything for you, all you have to do is decide that you want coffee and press a button. 

Other machines will give you choices when brewing coffee, such as brew strength, cup sizes, temperature, or timers to set your coffee maker to brew coffee for you in the morning. 

But if you are looking for a coffee maker with a built-in grinder, so you can use fresh coffee beans every time, then you want to check out a different type of machine. Check out our list of the Best Coffee Maker with Grinder!

If you want to control some of the coffee-making processes, then a pour over with some added functions will suit you best. 

Type of Carafe

Coffee machines will either have a thermal carafe or a glass carafe. All but one on our list have thermal carafes. 

Generally, thermal carafes are seen as better options because they keep the heat in better and they are robust. 

Glass carafes look better and allow you to keep track of how much coffee is left, but they are hot to touch and are easier to break. If you’re clumsy like me, a glass carafe may not be ideal. 

Price

Of course, the cost is going to be a factor in choosing an automatic pour over coffee machine. The machines can range from just under $200 up to nearly $400. 

You’ll need to balance what you want with what you can afford (like everything in life, unfortunately). 

Design & Size

Finally, you want to pick a coffee maker that you will enjoy seeing on your kitchen counter every day. One that fits in with your aesthetics and your kitchen design.

Also, keep in mind the size of the machine. Are you able to fit it under your kitchen cupboards?

The Ideal Coffee to Water Ratio for Pour Over Coffee

A good coffee to water ratio to start with is 1:17 - which means for every unit of coffee you need 17 units of water. If you don’t have a scale, then you can use 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 ounces (355mL) of water.

Check out this handy chart for the coffee-to-water ratio for different serving sizes. Keep in mind that the cups we are referring to here are 6 oz cups.

If you're trying to calculate a serving size that is not listed above, then use the following formula:

1. Figure out the serving size: in this instance, we will use 7 cups
2. Figure out the water required for this serving size, keeping in mind that one cup is 6 oz: 7 x 6 = 42 oz
3. Divide that amount by the ratio given above (16.6945): 42oz/16.6945 = 2.52 oz of coffee

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