3 Best Coffee Makers That Have a Built-In Grinder

Paul's passion for making and consuming coffee extends back over thirty years. An extensive traveler, he currently lives in Florida.

As an enthusiastic brewer and drinker of coffee for over thirty years, one of the first things that I learned was the importance of grinding the beans immediately before brewing. This captures the maximum amount of flavor available and produces the best beverages.

Buying pre-ground coffee, or grinding the beans too far in advance, will always sacrifice flavor and fragrance and is never recommended—unless it's a situation where there is no realistic alternative.

While it is entirely possible to buy separate machines to perform the grinding and brewing, a single coffee maker with a grinder built-in (also known as a grind and brew maker) provides a number of advantages, such as:

• It is generally faster, easier and more efficient.
• You use up less storage and counter space
• It is often less expensive to buy a single, combined unit, rather than two separate ones.

The only real disadvantage that I've found is when one function stops working and you are left with only the grinder and no brewer, or the other way around. In that case, you end up having to replace the entire unit.

This article looks at the main different types of grinder and the best grind and brew makers currently available.

The Top 3 Grind and Brew Coffee Makers

• Attractive and Affordable: The Cuisinart DGB-800 Burr Grind & Brew Automatic
• Durable and Reliable: The Capresso 464.05 CoffeeTEAM GS 10-Cup
• Quality and Excellence: The Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine BES870XL

I will explain my related experiences and the reasoning for my particular selections below.

Attractive and Affordable: The Cuisinart DGB-800 Burr Grind & Brew Automatic

I bought a Cuisinart DGB-800 Burr Grind & Brew for my daughter when she started college and she absolutely loves it. As well as drinking the brews that she's made, I've used this brewer many times myself. It's priced at the more affordable end of the scale, and I would recommend it for use in the home, or an office area.

Cuisinart DGB-800 Pros

• Maybe appearance isn't high priority for everyone, but I do like this machine's modern and elegant look.
• The Cuisinart is super straightforward to use. There are three settings to control the strength of the coffee: regular, bold or extra-bold.
• Sturdy construction and well designed. It's built to last.
• The grinder produces very consistent grounds.
• Though it's not the best machine out there, it's difficult to beat for the price.

Cuisinart DGB-800 Cons

• The grinder certainly isn't the quietest that I've used. The noise doesn't bother my daughter, but it may put off some people.
• It does require regular and thorough cleaning.

Durable and Reliable: The Capresso 464.05 CoffeeTeam GS 10-Cup

The Capresso 464.05 CoffeeTeam GS 10-Cup is another favorite coffee maker with a grinder built-in that's at the lower end of the price scale. I've had one of these machines in my office for a number of years and I love it. I find that visitors have no trouble making drinks if I'm otherwise engaged, thanks to the intuitive and easy to use settings. You can select to grind and make 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 cups and pick a mild, regular or strong brew.

Capresso 464.05 Pros

• I particularly like the feel of the carafe. It's comfortable to hold and doesn't tend to leak or spill, unlike some machines I've used in the past. It's particularly important in a work setting, when you really don't want coffee spilled everywhere.
• Unlike some grind & brews, the grinder and water are in separate compartments, so the steam doesn't get into the grinder and clog it up. It doesn't produce a lot of steam generally.
• The Capresso is easy to clean and doesn't require as much cleaning as some other machines.
• There are two choices when it comes to the construction of the carafe: there's a glass and a stainless steel version. I appreciate having the stainless steel option, you wouldn't believe how many glass ones I've broken over the years.
• The grinder works well and has easy and clear settings.

Capresso 464.05 Cons

• The grinder is fairly noisy.
• Secondly, there is no easy way to swap out the beans if you have a few in the hopper and you want to get them out or change them.

Quality and Convenience: The Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine BES870XL

For those looking for high quality combined with convenience, it's difficult to go wrong with this grind and brew espresso machine. For sure, the Breville BES870XL Barista Express is not the most affordable model on my list, but don't let that put you off. I've been using this machine at home for nearly five years to make my espresso and I would describe it as an excellent investment.

Breville Barista Pros

• This coffee maker is as automatic as it gets, using state-of-the-art digital technology to give you complete control over your coffee.
• It's well designed and an easy machine to keep clean. There's a "clean me" light that comes on periodically. When that happens, you will need to purchase and use cleaning tablets, as recommended.
• It's well constructed and built to last. I envisage it will last me many years. I've read some reviews where the buyers say that their Breville was amazing when they first bought it, but it went downhill over time. I suspect, from the symptoms mentioned, that in most cases, the issues are cleaning-related. I've had zero issues.
• It makes really great tasting coffee.
• This Breville really is a nice looking machine, everything about it says a high-end quality. I consider it to be a thing of beauty.
• Some basic investigation online tells me that there are replacement parts for this machine available for reasonable prices, I'm talking about things like the filters, tray pieces, shower head, and frothing tip. I've not had to replace much in the years since I bought mine, but it is always good to know that if anything does wear out, I can just swap out the parts myself without paying someone to fix it, or having to buy a brand new machine.
• I've seen reviewers describe this machine as the best grind & brew out there, and I would have to agree.

Breville Barista Cons

• The pressure gauge can sometimes go a little off and show readings that are too high or low. When this happens, I would recommend cleaning out the grinder, it never fails to fix the problem for me.
• This Breville is not cheap, but worth every penny in both my opinion and experience. It's a high-end machine and you get what you pay for.

The Two Main Types of Coffee Grinder

If you are new to grinding your own coffee, you may not be aware that there are two main types of grinder: blade and burr.

• Blade grinders work by cutting the coffee beans up with a spinning blade, which looks a bit like a propeller. This type of grinder tends to be the most affordable, but they are generally noisier and less precise than burr grinders.
• Burr grinders work by crushing the beans against a static surface with a grinder wheel. They are split into two sub-types: those with flat grinder wheels are named: “wheel burr” and those with conical grinder wheels are called, “conical burr”. Wheel types are usually the more affordable out of the two, but the conical version is generally accepted as being the best, mainly because they are quieter and less messy than other types.

In summary, burr grinders are generally superior to blade grinders in pretty much every respect, but they are also more expensive.

How to Store Coffee and Keep It Fresh

Below are the four main issues that can cause coffee to lose its flavor, along with what you must do to protect the beans:

1. Exposure to air and moisture. This can be minimized by storing the coffee in a sealed container. Glass and ceramic vessels are often best, but a stainless steel container can work well too.
2. Exposure to excessive light or heat. To avoid this happening you should keep the coffee away from bright places, especially if you are storing it in a glass jar. Instead, keep the coffee somewhere relatively dark and cool, away from heat and direct sunlight.
3. Freezing and refrigeration. Excessively cold temperatures can damage the coffee's flavor.
4. Grinding your own coffee makes a difference. It is recommended that you buy your coffee in bean form, rather than pre-ground. The beans should be ground immediately before brewing to extract maximum flavor.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Questions & Answers

Question: I'm looking for a coffee machine that makes both espresso and a regular cup of Joe? Do you have a recommendation?

Answer: As far as combination coffee makers go, your options are fairly limited. I've not found a machine that I'm entirely happy with, but you may want to consider the KRUPS XP1500 or the DeLonghi BCO320T.

© 2011 Paul Goodman

Comments

Thejulieb on October 28, 2019:

Not sure why you compare two grind drip with the Breville espresso maker. Breville offers the Grind Control grind and drip coffee maker that is the best over all. Highly recommend it!

Mahfuz Ahmed on January 01, 2018:

Wow! Great post it helps me a lot, I'm impressed

Aaron Junior from San Jose, California on November 07, 2017:

Hey Paul! You wrote a superior article on coffee makers. The Breville BES870XL would be a perfect one for my home coffee needs. Automated Cleaning Cycle would save my time. The fantastic programmability will help me a lot.

Elizabeth Martin Leveille Beth Holyoke MA from Holyoke MA on June 11, 2017:

I love cpffee this is very helpful. Thank you

Carbonated Coffee on January 09, 2017:

Thanks for sharing!

Amie Forsyth from Michigan on November 06, 2016:

Thanks for the info! I currently use a Hario and an aeropress at the moment.

maged from kuwait on September 07, 2016:

Thank you Paul

Christopher Watson from Ohio on July 26, 2016:

However, for those of you who decide to brew on your own, the variety of coffee makers on the market might leave you scratching your head when it comes time to pick up an at-home applicant for doing so. thanks for this tutor

SCUBAsabre on August 26, 2015:

great description and comparison / contrast on the grinders

I actually purchased and returned both the Capresso and the Cuisinart on this list. Capresso just didn't make a strong enough cup of coffee even when I faked out the brew setting by putting less water than selected. Cuisinart had all kinds of issues... temperature not hot enough during brew so super weak coffee was the biggest issue even if maker was repaired. I have owned Krups in the past but on other Krups appliances I have owned since, I noticed a serious challenge in their quality control. The reviews on this pot demonstrate what I found with their other appliances. I would gladly pay the money if only someone would build this version of the Krups with actual quality parts so it lasts more than 11-24 months