Coffee and gear, compared on the specs that matter.

Brewers with no motor, no board and no plug: presses, drippers, stovetop pots and the ones you push. They all still need hot water from somewhere - a kettle, a hob, a camp stove - so this is a list of things that do not plug in rather than things that need no heat. What you get for that is a brewer with nothing electrical to fail, no standby draw, no firmware and no descaling routine, and one that works in a power cut. What you give up is that water temperature becomes your problem rather than the machine's.

Brewers that come in black, ranked from our reviews. It is the default finish for a reason: it hides the stains that a glass carafe and a steel body both show within a month, and it disappears against most kitchens rather than announcing itself. Makers call it Matte Black, Obsidian, Onyx and Black Truffle, and they are all the same decision. What you give up is the ability to see anything: on a black machine the water line, the bean level and the drip tray are all harder to read than on steel, which matters more than people expect at six in the morning.

The best coffee beans under $50, ranked by our review scores. Entry money, and the point of this list is which ones are honest at the price rather than which ones are cheapest.

Brewers that make ten cups or more, ranked from our reviews. The specification that matters most at work is not capacity but what happens to the coffee after it is brewed. A glass carafe sits on a hotplate and keeps cooking, so by the fourth cup it tastes burnt and nobody can say why; a thermal carafe holds it for hours without a heat source. The second thing is that nobody descales a machine at work, ever, so a cleaning reminder and dishwasher-safe parts do more here than they do at home.

Capsules ranked from our reviews, across every system we cover. Two things decide this more than taste does. The first is which machine you own, because a pod that does not fit is worth nothing: Nespresso Original, Nespresso Vertuo and K-Cup are three separate systems and none of them takes another's capsule. The second is the box you buy, because the same coffee runs from $1.50 a pod in a ten-pack to $1.00 in a hundred, and Nespresso sells sleeves of ten and nothing larger while a K-Cup roaster will sell you 120. Every price here is worked out per pod on the largest box the maker sells.

The best turkish coffee pots under $100, ranked by our review scores. The band where build quality starts to separate the field, and where most people buying their first serious piece land.

The best coffee scales under $100, ranked by our review scores. The band where build quality starts to separate the field, and where most people buying their first serious piece land.

Grinders that claim a true espresso range, ranked from our reviews. This is the most expensive mistake in the category. Espresso needs a grind finer than almost anything else and, more importantly, fine adjustment down at that end - the difference between a good shot and a choked one is a fraction of a turn. Most grinders sold for filter simply cannot hold it: they will produce fine coffee, but not repeatably, and not adjustably. Buying one and discovering that afterwards is how people end up owning two grinders.

The best kettles under $100, ranked by our review scores. The band where build quality starts to separate the field, and where most people buying their first serious piece land.