Making coffee at home from scratch doesn’t have to be difficult, or involve a lot of equipment. An espresso machine with a built-in grinder (also known as a “bean-to-cup” machines) makes using fresh coffee beans as simple as pods, with no mess or hassle.
I’ve tested over a dozen coffee makers in the past year here at TechRadar, including stacks of bean-to-cup machines, and here I’ve picked out my top three recommendations for quick and convenient home-brewing from scratch. There’s an option for every price bracket — from the Philips Baristina, which is perfect if you’re switching from a Nespresso machine, to the premium Siemens EQ900 Plus, which is the closest you can get to your own personal barista.
Best budget coffee maker
Philips Baristina
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The Philips Baristina is the most affordable bean-to-cup coffee maker I’ve tested, and it’s extremely impressive. Fill the bean hopper and water tank, then push the portafilter handle into the slot under the brew group, and slide it to the right. Pick a drink (either espresso or lungo, which has twice as much water) and the Baristina will grind the appropriate dose of coffee into the filter basket, tamp it down for you, and then slide the portafilter handle to the left and brew your drink. Philips calls it a “one-swipe” system, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.
During my tests, the Baristina brewed consistently delicious coffee with my usual light-roasted arabica beans. However, it’s worth being aware that this machine doesn’t offer any way to change the grind size. If you find that your espresso is under- or over-extracted then you’ll need to try different beans until you find something that works with the Baristina’s settings.
You should also be aware that the Baristina doesn’t have a steam wand for texturizing milk. If you’re drinks of choice are lattes and cappuccinos, there’s a bundle available that also includes a standalone Philips milk frother to create the perfect silky foam.
All in all, this is an excellent little coffee maker that’s a cinch to use and keep clean. It’s the perfect option if you want to make the jump from coffee pods to fresh beans, and just as easy to operate (with no annoying capsules to recycle when you’re done).
Read my full Philips Baristina review
Best mid-range coffee maker
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This coffee maker (known as the Sage Barista Touch Impress in the UK) has its own grinder, but unlike the other two here, it doesn’t just do all the work for you. Instead, it can teach you how to dial in a grinder, work out the best amount of coffee to use (the dosage), and then tamp it down evenly. It’s a great option if you’re interested in the coffee-making process but a little daunted by the idea of making coffee from scratch using a manual machine.
The Barista Touch Impress will suggest a suitable grind size for your coffee based on its type and roast, and direct you to set the size yourself. It will then grind a quantity of coffee into the filter basket for you, and invite you to pull down the lever on the left-hand side to tamp it down (something I found very satisfying). The machine will detect how much pressure has been applied and suggest grinding a little more coffee, or scraping some off the top with the trimming tool provided.
Once your coffee is ready, lock the portafilter handle under the brewing group and the Barista Touch Impress will pull a shot, timing it to see whether it’s extracting at the ideal rate, too quickly, or too slowly. It will then invite you to test the espresso — and if you like it, save the settings to use in future.
It’s a very thoughtfully designed system, and I particularly appreciated the fact that it encourages you to decide what tastes best to you. It can make recommendations but, ultimately, it’s your coffee and your choice. Th automatic milk-frothing system works very well, too, delivering impressive results when I tested it with both dairy and oat milks.
Overall, then, it’s an excellent coffee maker that encourages you to experiment with grinding your own beans, and helps you see how much difference the grind size can make to extraction time and flavor (and as the name suggests, it can make cold brew as well).
Read my full Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction review
Best premium coffee maker
Siemens EQ900 Plus
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At the premium end of the scale, the Siemens EQ900 Plus is a luxury coffee maker with a ceramic grinder that can be set to work manually or automatically. The machine has two modes, “barista” and “comfort” – the first gives you the option to tinker with brew settings yourself, while the second requires you to make just a few simple choices about how you’d like your espresso to taste and machine handles the rest.
There’s a huge menu of 36 hot and cold drinks to choose from, including options with and without milk. During my tests, the drinks the EQ900 Plus made were consistently delicious, and it produced the best latte macchiato I’ve had from a home coffee maker. Best of all, every drink in the list is customizable, so you can adjust the strength, drink volume, and proportions of coffee and milk to suit your tastebuds.
Your custom drinks are saved under your bespoke profile, so you don’t need to worry about anyone else accidentally overwriting them.
Cleaning up is a piece of cake, too. The EQ900 Plus holds a cleaning tablet at all times, so when the system needs a thorough wash, all you need to do is place an empty cup under the dispenser and allow the machine to do the rest.
If this particular model is a bit too pricey, take a look at the standard Siemens EQ900, which has all the same features except for the space for a cleaning tablet.
Read our full Siemens EQ900 Plus review
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The best coffee makers you can buy
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