Brew It Yourself

Chemex Coffeemaker

Unlike automatic-drip machines that direct a focused stream of water over one area of grounds, pour-over brewers like the six-cup Chemex allow you to saturate the coffee more evenly, resulting in a balanced and flavorful cup. Not only was the Chemex the best looking of the manual drip systems we tested, but because the cone and carafe are a single sheet of glass, it was the easiest to clean.

Bodum French Press

The baristas at Portland, Oregon–based Stumptown Roasters obsess over every cup. The hardware they use most? The French press, like Bodum’s 34-ounce Chambord. This is partly due to the press pot’s simplicity: add water, wait a few minutes, plunge the grounds home. But mainly it’s because the technique produces a rich, robust cup in less time than drip devices like the Chemex. We like the Chambord best because its double-walled glass keeps your brew warm longer, while the stainless-steel casing helps protect it from inevitable drops.

Rok Espresso Machine

Espresso machines are expensive and require a lot of maintenance. That’s why Britain’s ROK, with its heavy steel hand pump, is such a brilliant brewer. The pump forces highly pressurized water through finely ground coffee, but it does so via muscle power, not damage-prone moving parts. It takes some practice to get the pressure right, but for the price, the ROK is the best coffeemaker on the planet.