Top 7 Best Automatic Pour-over Coffee Makers in 2021 - Reviewed
Quick summary
 Bonavita 8-Cup Coffee Maker One-Touch screen coffee maker is equipped with a powerful and precise 1500-watt heater and has a capacity of eight gallons.  best overall |
 Breville Precision Pour Over Coffee Brewer An impressive machine with a 60 oz capacity, it can easily make 12 cups of coffee.  |
 Cuisinart Pour Over Coffee Maker SCAA certified hiqh quality coffee maker which means it brews barista-level coffee at home |
We all wish we could get barista-grade coffee at home. Manual pour over coffee makers are considered one of the best options for producing flavorful coffee, but that could mean fiddling around with grounds, regulating temperatures and experimenting to get the perfect cup of coffee.
And not everyone has time for that.
Auto pour-over machines give you consistently tasty coffee that perks you up without the fuss. Let’s go over our top picks!
The Best Automatic Pour Over Machine Reviews
Not every pour over coffee machine is the same. We’ll go in-depth on our Top-7 picks and later, we’ll show you what to consider when buying one.
Bonavita 8-Cup Coffee Maker Review
- One-button operation
- 8-cup capacity
- Double-walled thermal carafe or glass carafe (depending on model)
- 1500 W heating element
- Brew SCA Golden Cup standard coffee
- BPA Free
- The design could be better
- No programmable features
The Bonavita auto pour over coffee maker is at the top of our list for a reason — it takes the guesswork out of making coffee. It has a one-touch brewing system and a 1500W heating element that maintains a temperature of 195°-205°F.
You have enough to do in your daily routine, and spending 30 minutes manually brewing can get tedious. And factoring in the cleanup, you could be looking at 45 minutes to brew a cup of joe. The Bonavita’s carafe lid, filter basket and showerhead are dishwasher safe and it only takes 6 minutes to brew a full 8-cup pot.
Usually, to make pour over coffee, you first have to “bloom” the grounds, which is akin to preheating the oven or limbering up before doing physical exercise. This machine includes a pre-infusion (bloom) mode that wets the ground coffee before running the brew cycle. The hot water isn’t just haphazardly splashed on, the showerhead on the Bonavita ensures the grounds are soaked evenly.
This coffee maker brews SCA Golden Cup Standard coffee — which takes barista-grade specialty coffee closer to home.
Breville Precision Pour Over Coffee Brewer Review
- 12-cup capacity
- Stylish design
- Good build quality
- Brews SCA Golden Cup Standard coffee
- Customizable settings for temperature, flow rate and bloom time
- 6 brewing modes
- BPA free
- Can be difficult to clean
- Thermal carafe doesn’t keep coffee hot for long
The Breville Precision Pour Over is the all-in-one, fully programmable machine you’ve been dreaming of. It comes with a mesh and cone filter, it has multiple brew settings, and you can brew your perfect cup of coffee no matter how you like it.
Unlike other auto pour over coffee machines, the Breville has 6 brewing modes: SCA Golden Cup Standard, Fast, Strong, Iced, Cold Brew and My Brew. Fine-tune the My Brew setting to your liking: adjust bloom time, flow rate and water temperature. The machine is stylish, the carafe has a wide opening for easy cleaning and the water reservoir has a maximum capacity of 12 cups (60 oz).
According to customer reviews, this coffee machine is easy to operate, requiring only a few buttons to get it brewing. You can also program it to brew whenever you want, so early mornings are even easier and you have less things to worry about.
Cuisinart Pour Over Coffee Maker Review
- SCA-certified
- Programmable 24-hour brewing, auto-shutoff and auto-clean
- 8-cup (40 oz) capacity
- Comes with a filter
- Has a hot plate
- Adjustable brew strength and water temperature
- Some customers complain that the display dims over time
- May be tricky to get the balance of coffee grounds to water right
Cuisinart has impressed us again with another great coffee maker. Their pour over machine comes in two models: one with a glass carafe and one with a thermal carafe. It meets the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) requirements, which means it brews barista-level coffee at home.
The Cuisinart allows you to adjust brew strength: mild, medium and bold, as well as the temperature: hot and extra hot. Also, it’s fully programmable — set it up to brew up to 24-hours in advance. And the addition of the adjustable auto-shutoff and self-clean functions ensure you don’t stress out if you’re in a rush and forget to shut it off.
The machine brews fast, and coffee stays hot thanks to the thermal carafe. But if you want it to stay hot for longer, you can turn on the built-in hot plate. The water reservoir isn’t removable, but you can see exactly how much water’s left (holds up to 40 oz of water).
Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Brewer
- Best-looking coffee maker on our list
- Comes with a 5-year warranty
- Includes a thermal carafe to keep your coffee hot
- Available in 3 different colors
- Adjustable filter basket
- Pricy
The Moccamaster from Technivorm would be higher on our list if it weren’t for the hefty price tag of $300. And it’s no surprise — you get high-quality materials like copper heating elements, glass tubes and a stainless steel thermal carafe. Oh, and a 5-year warranty to boot.
Technivorm is a Dutch company that knows a thing or two about elegance. They made the Moccamaster look like a chemistry experiment (in a good way). It’s stylish and will look good in any kitchen or setting. It comes in three colors: black, polished silver and stone gray.
The impressive brew time of 4-6 minutes and a SCA certification are also good perks. Get the full flavor out of your coffee with Moccamaster’s permanent filter and ideal bloom time.
This 1400W, 40 oz capacity machine is highly recommended by regular coffee drinkers and coffee snobs alike. The reason is — it only has one button and an adjustable filter basket to increase the steep time.
OXO BREW Coffee Maker
- SCA-certified Golden Cup Standard
- Compact design
- Includes 10 paper filters and a coffee scoop
- Easy to operate
- Double-walled thermal carafe
- Some customers complain of water temperature issues (some too hot, some not hot enough).
- No programmable features
- No water filter
The OXO Brew coffee maker made the Top-5 because it’s ultra-compact, just 7 inches wide, 10.5 inches long and 13.5 inches high. It’s one of, if not the best pour over coffee machine for kitchens with small counters or if you need to fit it into a tight space.
The OXO is also SCA-certified and has a patented showerhead to extract the most flavor from your coffee grounds. The double-walled vacuum-insulated thermal carafe will keep your coffee hot. Note, there’s no hot plate, which may be a plus for some people who dislike the taste of coffee heated on a hot plate.
This coffee maker has an easy-to-use button for brewing 2-4 and 5-8 cups. Also, it has a switch, so you can brew a single serving into a cup or travel mug. It also comes with an optional single serve accessory for the filter basket — add a paper filter and place it into the filter basket to brew.
While it has a modest 40 oz max capacity, it produces great tasting coffee fast, so you can always brew a pot when you need an extra caffeine kick.
Motif Elements Auto Pour Over Coffee Maker Review
- 8-cup (40 oz) capacity
- Programmable features
- Swiveling filter basket
- Fast brew time
- Warming plate keeps coffee hot for up to 1.5 hours
- Brew time may be too fast for the best flavor extraction
- Not SCA-certified
The Motif Elements automatic pour over coffee machines comes in at #6 on our list. It has all the goodies: pre-infusion (bloom) mode, programmable features, and a special showerhead.
It also has some unique features like the swiveling filter basket and auto-shutoff warming plate that keeps your coffee hot for up to 1.5 hours. There are two models: stainless steel and glass carafe. The advantage of the stainless steel carafe is that it’s double-walled, so you don’t have to worry about your coffee going rancid or stale.
While it doesn’t have brew strength options, you can always add more coffee or use less water. The pre-infusion (bloom) mode wets the coffee grounds for 20 seconds, then pauses for 30 seconds to “bloom” the grounds and add a barista-level flavor profile to your coffee. This unit heats water a little higher than others — between 197.6˚F and 204.8˚F.
Motif states that this machine has an advanced calcification sensor, which prevents the machine from malfunctioning.
Gourmia GCM3350 Pour Over Coffee Machine Review
- Beautiful design
- Built-in coffee ground scale
- Programmable features
- 33 oz water reservoir
- Water gauge markings are not clearly visible
- Expensive
- Some customers say the scale is inconsistent
And last, but definitely not least, is the Gourmia $400+ coffee maker. What can we say, wow! This is the most beautiful, jaw-dropping machine we’ve ever seen. It’s truly a unicorn among coffee makers.
With a slogan that reads, “Showers are for people. Not for Coffee,” the Gourmia does not have a showerhead. Instead, it uses an authentic planetary pour pattern to mimic manual pour over. And yes, it has a bloom mode.
For ease-of-use, it’s hard to match — it has a built-in coffee ground scale. No guessing or mental math — add the grounds, and the machine does all the calculations to make the perfect cup of coffee. Don’t worry, it’s not all automated. You can still adjust the temperature anywhere from 176ºF to 208ºF and dispense ratio from 1:10 (stronger) to 1:20 (weaker) to get the flavor profile you want.
Includes an LCD display that shows the time and temperature. Also, it has programmable settings: 24-hour timer and auto-clean. If you have a tea-drinker in the family, they’ll love the hot water dispenser button.
Difference Between the Manual Pour Over Method (Drip) and Automatic Pour-Over Coffee
Pour over coffee has seen a resurgence over the past 10 years, mostly due to the popularity among specialty coffee shops. Pour over coffee, whether it’s manual or automatic pour over is preferred by many people. But as we know, taste is subjective.
The biggest difference between manual and auto is that doing it manually takes longer. Ideally, you have to have a thermometer to measure the temperature and have the skill to brew coffee manually. The process involves heating water, blooming the coffee grounds and slowly pouring hot water over the grounds before enjoying a cup.
Manual gives you complete control of every step of the process, while automatic machines take out the guesswork. With as little effort as pushing a button, you can get barista-level coffee at home without the cumbersome task of manually doing it.
Things To Consider
Consider the following 6 features to choose the best automatic pour over coffee maker for you and yours.
Water Reservoir Capacity and Size
If you have a big family or you drink tons of coffee daily, choose a larger capacity coffee maker. Also, make sure to measure the space you have (especially the height) because some coffee makers (like the #7 Gourmia) are fairly tall.
Water Temperature Control
Several factors influence how good your coffee will taste: the amount of water and ground coffee, water temperature and brewing time. By controlling the water temperature, you have more room to make adjustments to suit your tastes.
Thermal Carafe or Hot Plate
Most electric pour over coffee makers come with a thermal carafe. Unlike glass, thermal carafes have a double-walled design, which insulates the contents inside. Coffee makers with a glass carafe usually have a hot plate; however, many people dislike the taste of coffee that’s been sitting on a hot plate, so we would recommend either drinking it right away or pouring the coffee into an insulated container.
Number of Programmable Settings
Programmable settings include a 24-hour timer, auto-shutoff and auto-clean. This is important if you get up at the same time every day (the fresher the coffee, the tastier it is) or you have enough to do in your daily routine and thinking about turning on and off the coffee maker isn’t on the top of your list of priorities.
Ease of Cleaning
Cleaning your coffee maker shouldn’t cause you to go into a fit of stress or rage. Most machines are easy to clean and don’t require too much maintenance. For descaling, refer to the user manual, as every machine has its specifics.
Durability
Like every other appliance, buy something that will last. Read as many reviews as you can to better understand what to expect in 6 months, 1 year and beyond. If you notice a trend of something breaking or malfunctioning, factor that into your decision on what to buy.
FAQ
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Why is pour-over coffee better than drip coffee?
While this is a matter of taste, manual pour-over coffee is said to taste better because you have total control of the brewing process. -
How do automatic pour over coffee makers work?
An automatic pour over machine works by heating water to a temperature just under boiling. Then that water is slowly poured over coffee grounds in a filter to produce great-tasting coffee.
Renat Mamatkazin
Founder and owner of Lion Coffee and 3ChampsRoastery, 1st place winner of Ukrainian Barista Championship 2017. Interested in travelling, football and Formula-1 (besides coffee, of course).