Buying Guide to the 7 Best Programmable Coffee Maker Models

Having a programmable coffee maker at home or in your work space can make a world of difference. All the added features are very convenient and make the machine more versatile.

Have a house full of people with various coffee preferences? Or maybe you want a machine that makes coffee at specific times? There’s a brewer for most, if not all, of your needs.

Check out this guide to the 7 best programmable coffee makers to find the best one for you!

7 Best Programmable Coffee Maker Models

1. Breville Precision Coffee Maker – Best Overall

Key Features

• 12-cup pot
• 6 programmable presets
• Flow and temperature controls

The Breville Precision is the gold standard of drip coffee makers and our top pick because of its features and customizability. In our tests, we found that Breville makes the best coffee.

Don’t just take our word for it. Check out what the Specialty Coffee Association, coffee professionals, and the world’s best baristas have to say about this coffee maker.

https://youtu.be/HfkdkZRv6Mc

Programming Functions

The Breville Precision has six automatic preset modes for fast, strong, iced, cold brew, and a generic-sounding “Gold” preset.

The “Gold” preset is named after the SCA Golden Cup Standard, and uses SCA standard brew temperature and brew times for that gold cup.

If you don’t want to get too involved with the coffee-making process, we recommend trying the “Gold” preset.

But if you want more control, you can adjust your temperature, bloom times, and water flow.

Brewing Experience

Temperature is an important part of making coffee, and the lab tests for this brewer show that it keeps coffee at consistent temperatures throughout the process.

Overall, the experience with Precision can be as easy or as controlled as you need. The presets are all you’ll need for excellent coffee, but if you want to customize, Breville gives you that option.

Is The Breville Precision For You?

We won’t sugarcoat things: the Breville Precision is expensive. But it’s well worth the extra dollars spent on a machine that makes tasty coffee for years to come.

There’s a good reason both beginner coffee drinkers and pros alike love the Breville Precision. It tastes good, it’s durable and easy to use, and it just works.

Pros

• Accepts cone filter and flat bottom filter
• Durable stainless steel construction
• Easy to clean glass carafe

Cons

• Expensive

2. Braun MultiServe – Best Value

Key Features

• 10-cup
• Removable water reservoir
• Single-serve capability

Specialty coffee isn’t out of reach! Just like the Breville Precision, the Braun MultiServe is also SCA-certified, so you can make your own golden cup from the comfort of your own home.

The best part is, you can get all the outstanding features of the MultiServe for a really great price, and it’s durable enough to last you for years.

Programming Functions

The Braun MultiServe has four preset functions: iced coffee, light, bold, and gold. Just like the Breville, the Braun MultiServe’s “Gold” preset uses SCA-recommended temperatures for a delicious cup.

Our favorite feature is FastBrew, which brews an entire pot – that’s 10 cups! – of coffee in just 8 minutes.

It stayed true to its promise in our tests, making 5 cups of coffee in under 4 minutes. These are promising results for drip machines with this capacity.

Other program functions include the MultiServe dial, which lets you choose from different brew size options.

The MultiServe also has an auto-start timer, which we think should be a feature in every programmable coffee maker. The MultiServe’s timer is easy to use and fuss-free.

Brewing Experience

The MultiServe is a reliable drip machine, especially handy for people who just want a great cup of coffee in the morning. It makes tasty coffee, and it’s one of the quickest brewers in our tests.

With the MultiServe, you can make specialty drinks yourself for just the price of a month’s worth of your favorite café brew.

Is the Braun MultiServe For You?

We recommend the Braun MultiServe if you want specialty-quality coffee without the hefty price tag. Its features and ease of use make it our best value pick.

Pros

• Multiple brew sizes
• Multiple brew strengths
• Easy to fill water tank

Cons

• Uses more expensive cone filter
• Difficult to clean the glass carafe

3. Black + Decker QuickTouch – Best Budget

Key Features

• Removable filter basket
• Automatic shutoff
• 12-cup pot

If you need a programmable coffee maker for cheap, the Black + Decker QuickTouch can’t be beaten.

With a large capacity, easy programming, and even a showerhead water dispersion, there’s no reason you can’t have a great coffee machine for just under 50 dollars.

Programming Functions

The QuickTouch doesn’t have the most robust program functions, and it doesn’t have presets as other programmable coffee makers do.

But the timer and auto-shutoff are intuitive on the QuickTouch. You can set your coffee maker to make a cup exactly when you need it with just one touch of a button.

With Black + Decker’s proprietary Sneak-a-Cup, the dripping temporarily stops. You can get just enough caffeine to perk you up before your brewing ends without making a mess.

Brewing Experience

The QuickTouch is a pretty basic coffeemaker, but it offers a lot of features for its price. Ease of use is the standout feature of the QuickTouch.

For a quick and easy cup, the QuickTouch is a great choice.

Is the Black + Decker QuickTouch For You?

The QuickTouch is a great if basic, budget coffee maker. While it won’t make the best drip coffee around, it makes a decent cup.

Pros

• Filter is easy to clean
• No need to turn it off
• Large capacity for the price

Cons

• Clock may be inaccurate
• Grounds can spill into the brew

4. Ninja 12-Cup Programmable

Key Features

• 12-cup
• 24-hour programmable delay
• Automatic shutoff

The Ninja is another great value option if you want a coffee maker with plenty of features at a great price. Besides the features, the brew from the Ninja tastes great!

Programming Functions

The Ninja only has two presets, classic and rich. But they both make a tasty cup of coffee, enough to give you a jolt of energy in the morning.

The Ninja has a 24-hour delay brew. By pressing the timer button on the control panel and adjusting the clock, you can wake up to a warm cup of freshly brewed coffee every day.

And if you want a cup right away, you can pull out the pot and pour yourself a cup of joe without making a mess all over your kitchen counter.

Brewing Experience

The Ninja is simple and easy to use. It helps that the control panel spells out the settings for you without having to fiddle through an LCD display.

We also love that a small batch setting is available so you can make just enough coffee for a small family or group.

Is the Ninja For You?

We recommend the Ninja if you like your coffee freshly brewed and hot in the morning. It’s a versatile machine, and you can brew just enough for small families and big groups alike.

Pros

• Generous 60-oz. water reservoir
• Includes GoldTone filter
• Two brew-strength presets

Cons

• Hard to clean water tank
• No thermal carafe option

5. Mr. Coffee 12-Cup

Key Features

• Makes 12 cups of coffee
• 2-hour automatic shutoff
• Programmable clock/timer

Mr. Coffee is a known and trusted drip machine brand, for good reason. They make some of the easiest to use machines at a fraction of the price.

Programming Functions

This basic 12-cup coffeemaker comes with a timer and automatic shutoff, which is all you really need from a drip coffee maker.

Brewing Experience

It’s easy to brew with this machine. All you need is to set brew time up to 24 hours in advance, and you’ll be on your way to a great morning cup.

The post-brew experience is pretty great, too. For its price, this has something that even more expensive machines don’t: a dishwasher-safe glass carafe. Finally.

Is the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup For You?

This is a great coffeemaker if you want a machine to brew coffee without complicated stuff. Because its buttons are analog, you’ll never worry about breaking the control panel. That’s a big plus.

Pros

• Dishwasher-safe glass carafe
• Affordable

Cons

• Plastic build

6. Cuisinart Next-Generation Burr Grind And Brew

Key Features

• Makes 12 cups of coffee
• Auto-Rinse feature
• With built-in burr grinder

You probably hear people talk about how freshly ground coffee tastes better than buying prepacked coffee grounds. Beans are cheaper to buy, too.

But buying a separate grinder is expensive and takes up counter space. With the Cuisinart Grind and Brew, you can have freshly-ground beans for your morning cup.

Programming Features

The Grind & Brew has three brew strength presets: regular, bold, and extra-bold. They make very different, but delicious, cups of coffee.

It has the standard 24-hour advance brew start for a fresh cup of coffee when you wake up. The Grind & Brew also comes with auto-shutoff for your peace of mind.

The standout of this machine is the grind control feature which you can program for 4 to 12 cups of coffee. The Grind & Brew grinds just enough beans for the setting that you choose.

In our tests, we found that the Grind & Brew’s grind control is accurate, though it could taste more diluted if you’re not careful with your bean quantity.

Brewing Experience

While other coffeemakers probably have more presets and controls, the Grind & Brew is the only one with a grinder built-in. You’ll definitely taste the freshest brew from the Grind & Brew.

The extra features make the Grind & Brew stand out. Its built-in water filter and mesh grounds filter are nice add-ons, too.

Is the Cuisinart Grind And Brew For You?

If you want your coffee extra fresh and delicious, the Cuisinart Grind And Brew is the one for you.

Pros

• With thermal carafe option
• Adjustable brew strength
• With built-in water filter

Cons

• Expensive
• Built-in grinder is hard to clean

7. Cuisinart Premium Single-Serve

Key Features

• Programmable clock with auto on/off
• Compatible with K-cups and ground coffee
• Large, removable water reservoir

The Premium is a single-serve machine, but don’t let that stop you. Because it makes drinks in less than a minute, you can get a fresh cup of coffee enough for the whole family in just 5 minutes.

Programming Features

The Premium Single-Serve has the standard programmable clock which you can set easily. It also has additional brew temperature and brew size settings, which are easy to configure.

Other features include the hot water button to make your tea and hot cocoa with, and the rinse feature to clean out the brew chamber in between your brews.

Brewing Experience

The brew experience is simple enough. But when added with the Premium Single-Serve’s extra features, you get a better overall experience.

No other machine in this list lets you filter your water, but the Premium includes a charcoal water filter. Clean water means better tasting drinks, every time.

This machine isn’t just for K-cups, too. You can use grounds for this coffeemaker with the reusable filter cup included.

While the brew strength from a K-cup won’t be the same as an espresso machine, it still gives you a really strong cup.

Is Cuisinart Premium Single-Serve For You?

With the Premium, you can get the convenience of pods and still have the option to use beans.

The Premium Single-Serve is a great machine that gives you the freedom to choose how to make your coffee.

Pros

• Doubles as espresso maker with K-cups
• Easy to fill water reservoir
• Water filtration included

Cons

• Prone to leaking
• Not as durable

What to Look for in a Programmable Coffee Maker

Timer

The timer is the most basic feature that every coffee maker should have. After all, if you can’t even set a timer for your brew, your machine is no different from the average coffeemaker.

For maximum benefit, we recommend getting a machine that can either set the time up to 24 hours in advance or pre-saves your preferred time so you can set it once and never think about it again.

Auto Shutoff

The auto-shutoff is another basic feature of programmable coffee makers, though even regular coffee drip machines have auto-shutoff, too.

The auto-shutoff is a safety feature built into modern coffee makers to reduce the chances of burning when you leave your appliance unattended.

We recommend getting a device with an auto-shutoff for your peace of mind.

Presets

Presets are what separates the good programmable coffee makers from the great ones. Presets are a great way to make coffee without thinking much about it.

There’s a trend for iced coffee or cold brew coffee presets in coffee makers lately. If you want some variety, we recommend buying a coffee maker with iced coffee or cold brew coffee presets built in.

If you like your coffee hot, though, there are plenty of machines to choose from. You can try a specialty coffee maker with the SCA gold cup preset.

In any case, if you want your coffee to suit your tastes, check if it has at least a brew strength setting so you can adjust how strong or weak your coffee will be.

Other Controls

There are other bonus features in great coffee makers, like cup setting, temperature control, and flow control settings.

Temperature and flow control are a bit harder to find and are more expensive. It does give you control that presets don’t, though.

Brew size is looking to be a mainstay in a modern coffee maker, so we recommend that you choose a programmable coffee maker with a customizable cup setting. You can’t waste precious coffee, after all!

Conclusion

Now that you’ve seen all your options, we know you’re excited to get your hands on one yourself.

Just remember the tips we gave you and you’re sure to make a purchase that will make you happy for the foreseeable future.