What’s a smart coffee maker? For our purposes, it’s a programmable coffee maker you can operate with a smartphone or home assistant. Here are a few smart coffee makers available to the Canadian coffee consumer.
Type of coffee: filter coffee.
Uses: ground coffee.
Connection: Bluetooth, Alexa, Amazon Echo
Cost: $130
Hamilton Beach’s coffee maker aims to be the best coffee maker for people who want their devices to be voice controlled. But you can do more than tell Alexa to turn on your coffee maker. You can set up routines and whatnot and ask for things like stronger coffee or to schedule your brew. It’s also part of Amazon’s Certified for Humans program, which is a family of tech devices for the non-technically inclined. They are easy to set up, don’t require much tinkering or trouble shooting, and should start right out of the box.
Type of coffee: espresso and café drinks.
Uses: branded capsules.
Connection: Smartphone app.
Cost: $370
If you’re very particular about your cup of coffee and like the idea of coffee in hermetically sealed capsules, then maybe you’ll also like the idea of ordering a cup of coffee with a smartphone app. The app can also manage specific coffee recipes, manage your capsule stock, order more capsules, schedule brew times, brew remotely, and more. This coffee machine does four cup sizes, offers three temperature settings, fits flat against the wall, and offers an unbelievable amount of customization.
Type of coffee: filter coffee.
Uses: ground coffee.
Connection: Smartphone app.
Cost: $250
Are you the type of person who starts reading the news from your phone as soon as you wake up? Well, why not turn on your coffee from your phone while you’re at it? BrewGenie’s app is pretty simple. You can schedule your brew, brew on command, have your machine send you notifications, tell it how long to keep your coffee warm, and have it remind you when to pick up more coffee. You actually don’t even need a WiFi router to set it up. Other key features include pause and serve, so it stops making coffee when you pour yourself a cup, and automatic shutoff.
This isn’t to say that they’re inherently better than other coffee makers. If you like your old Mr Coffee, by all means stick with that. But if you like the idea of ordering up a cup from your phone while you’re on a video conference and having it ready for you when you wrap up in twenty minutes, then maybe it’s time to think about a smarter cup of coffee.
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