WIRED Black Friday Deals on the Most Popular Coffee Tools: The Barista, Picopresso, and Wacaco Espresso Machines
Black Friday is a perfect moment to update your coffee game with the best new gear and accessories at discount prices. We’ve sorted through a storm of Black Friday deals on espresso machines, grinders, French presses, and cold brew to find the absolute best buys on our highest-rated coffee gear. We have more live Black Friday deals and tips for navigating the day.
The espresso grinder on your espresso machine is an alarm clock for the whole house, as every espresso lover knows. What a delight, then, to hear the gentle spin of this KitchenAid machine (8/10, WIRED Recommends), whose burr grinder is like a susurration of the leaves. We can’t promise a light sleeper won’t stir, but it is the quietest such device our Gear team has tested. When not in use, the KitchenAid has wheels that let you tuck it away when not in use, and an intuitive operation. Note, however, our reviewer lamented it took a few more tries than expected to dial in the device to get a great cup.
The Breville Barista is the WIRED Gear team’s favorite premium all-in-one espresso maker that’s priced within reach for mere mortals—and this weekend it’s significantly below list price, with potential rebates that could push the price down still further. What do you think about the Barista? It’s a sturdily constructed, mostly metal machine that’s easy to use and easy to froth your milk with. If you want consistent water pressure, it will grind your beans, and you can see it on the pressure gauge. It’s also durable: It’s lived happily on WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu’s shelf for more than five years.
Wacaco’s Picopresso is the best portable espresso maker because of its compact, lightweight, and solid design. It’s a tiny device with delicious results, offering very little bitterness and a nice crema. The Caveats makes it difficult for people with chronic stress injuries and joint pain to use, since they will have to use a lot of manual pressure. We also had good results, though not quite as good, with the previous (and less expensive) Nanopresso.
This is a solid deal on a terrific cold brew maker. The Oxo Compact is a device that makes classic cold brew and is one of the best things to do when it’s warm. Why? It’s easy to use and elegant of shape, and its combination of mesh and (optional) paper filter makes for clean-tasting and fine-free coffee. The Compact evinces a firm respect for scarce counter and fridge space. And most important, the coffee it makes tastes delicious. I can make coffee with the Oxo that is the closest I can get to a cold brew.
It’s sometimes simple things that make you love a product. The burr grinder was praised for its ease of cleaning, but it was the kind of thing that you will appreciate after weeks or months of daily use. But it’s also a good grinder, if not quite up to the excellent grind execution of our slightly pricier top picks. The precise control of dosing and helpful guidelines on grind settings were some of the things we liked. This is the lowest price we’ve monitored on this model.
The French press is an essential and portable tool in any coffee lover’s kitchen, a low-tech default for countertop or camping. A big selling point for the Secura is that it is insulated and sturdy. It’s said that the hot stuff and the cool stuff stay the same. It’s the WIRED gear team’s favorite French press to make cold brew, is it a good time to mention it?
File this into the “you didn’t know you needed one till you got one” folder—a sweet spot that makes this smart warmer a nice stocking stuffer for the caffeinated people in your life. This mug warmer isn’t “smart” because you need an app to use it, or because it records your conversations. It’s smart because it is. The device will keep the coffee warm at 130 degrees or so, so you can either drink it or top it off. Remove the mug, and the device turns off. Easy is underrated.
The Moccamaster Drip-Caffe Maker: An Affordable Gift for the Aeropress Fans in Atmospheric Spectroscopy
Vacuum bean storage makes coffee taste better, longer. If you use premium beans from a local roaster, a vacuum storage container will keep your investment in your beans safe. When you drop the bag in this container, turn the pump. The sad oxidation process that turns your once delicate aromatic coffee into acrid cardboard can be stopped by the device. This is the lowest price we’ve seen on the Atmos this year, and it’s a great gift for the coffee-obsessed.
For the Aeropress lover in your life, even if it’s you: Swap out the cap on your Aeropress for a thicker Prismo, and you’ll drastically increase the pressure you exert on the resulting brew. WIRED found that this offered a cleaner cup, a bit of aeration, and a more satisfying cold brew. Science! Though this Black Friday deal isn’t a whopper, it still matches the best discount we’ve seen this year.
Technivorm’s Moccamaster drip coffee maker has been handmade in the Netherlands since 1968. It’s big, sturdy, and technically precise, making it a perfect machine for maintaining water during the entire brewing process. It is possible that you have to compromise on color to get this Black Friday deal. Some colors are sold out at the sale price already, so click around among the different color options to see if you find one you like on discount. It’ll stick around for decades if you choose wisely.
When the Oxo 8-Cup came out a few years ago, Joe Ray had to assure readers that high-quality home coffeemakers were indeed possible and could be done in a way that was good for the body. It’s still a great coffeemaker. And that insert allowing you to make just a single cup of coffee, rather than a whole pot? Still also a great idea.
It is a pricey piece of coffee equipment, but it is also a great coffee shop that offers both quality espresso and macchiato as well as a genuine coffee that isn’t Americano. The package is easy to clean and includes a smart screen and all of the trimmings. Using a phone app, you can begin warming the machine up from your bed, just like a remote starter on your car. If you sign on for a coffee subscription, you can take a whopping $500 off until December 15. Matthew Korfhage is a person.
A classic AeroPress is portable. But the Go is even more travel-friendly. It’s the WIRED Gear Team’s favorite portable coffemaker. It’s lightweight, just a little bigger than a coffee mug and utterly self-contained. An AeroPress is quite tolerant, and that’s a plus for people on the go. Throw in some grounds, stir it up, and plunge away: Chances are it’ll be a pretty good cup of joe. Anyway, Aeropress is discounting 25% off most Aeropress models for Black Friday, so pick your pleasure.
If you don’t buy it as part of Fellow’s Aiden Grinder kit, the Opus is well worth buying all on its own. It is the team’s favorite overall grinder, it is a quiet device with a consistent grind at the finest espresso settings. It also costs less than $200 and is able to compete with grinders that are more expensive.
Sure, the Tally (9/10, WIRED Recommends) will weigh your coffee, if that’s all you need. When you add water to a prourover you’ll need to calculate the weight of it. It’s the true companion of a third wave coffee pourover enthusiast. Like most Fellow coffee gear, the Tally is 20 percent off right now.