The best iced coffee makers – save hundreds by switching your favorite coffee shop drink to a delicious homemade one

If you're anything like me, spring starts with a smooth, sweet iced latte. When the weather heats up, iced coffee is the perfect way to keep cool and caffeinated. I'll only go back to my hot flat whites and espressos in October, when things feel more cozy.

However, the costs of a daily iced coffee during spring and summer can quickly add up. Making your own can save you time and money, whilst impressing any guests at the weekends – and it is so easy with the right machine.

Before we deep dive into the details of the best iced coffee makers, there's one thing we need to clear up. These machines are completely different to the best cold brew coffee makers. We've written an article on the differences between cold brew and iced coffee, but if you want the headlines: iced coffee is quick to make, but more acidic. Cold brew takes at least 18 hours, but will taste smoother and sweeter.

If you're looking for that quick iced coffee, you're in the right place. Our panel of coffee experts has tested a range of the best coffee makers on the market. Some specialize in making iced coffee, others simply happen to include it in their repertoire. Whatever you're looking for – from budget to blowout machines – you'll find the very best here.

The quick list

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The best iced coffee makers 2025

The best overall

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We have tested nearly fifty different coffee makers, in all shapes and sizes and have yet to find one as versatile as the Eletta Explore. It looks professional, it feels luxurious, and the coffee tastes exceptionally good.

There are over 52 different types of coffees programmed into this bean-to-cup machine. Our coffee product tester, Laura, trialed every single one and the Eletta Explore didn’t miss the mark on any, including cold brew and iced coffee.

She says: 'The iced Americanos and iced lattes were some of the best I've had, even at a café. The specialty of these coffees really lies in their flavors. Each one had the gentle, distinctively acidic notes of iced coffee, balanced delicately with my coffee’s earthy, nutty tones. The cold milk texturing is better than plenty of baristas' hand-steamed efforts, even on plant-based milks.'

Whilst the essential flavors come from well-ground beans – which the Eletta Explore will grind for you – there's also a range of customizable settings. You can control the time, temperature, strength, and size of your coffee. You can even select how dense you'd like the foam to be when frothing milk. Online, everyone from beginners to baristas enjoyed using this. People with large homes particularly benefitted from the customizable settings; you can save personal preferences and swerve any battles between different people's coffee settings.

If that sounds too good to be true, there are some snags. Whilst the design is sleek and not too tall, the Eletta Explore is very deep. It will come out far onto the countertops. If that’s still okay with you, here's one more thing you need to know: this is incredibly expensive. It’s close to being overpriced, but we loved this too much to say that it’s not good value. It makes cold brew in minutes (rather than 24 hours), the iced coffee is the perfect balance of acidic and earthy, and, let me repeat it, you can choose between 52 different types of coffee. This is a luxurious iced coffee maker, but it comes with a luxurious price tag, too.

There's more information in our De'Longhi Eletta Explore review.

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The best drip coffee maker for iced coffee

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Breville's drip coffee maker is one of the greatest of all time. It comes with a versatile range of brewing settings, from single-serve to cold brew, but the one we're really here for is the 'over ice' setting. This brews your coffee like a concentrate, so that when it is poured over ice, the ice melts, cooling it and diluting it to the perfect ratio. However, the maximum amount you can make is four cups. It sounds a little limiting, but it means you'll savor every sip even more.

The Thermal Brewer is signature Breville. It's sleek and would look good in a modern kitchen, alongside other stainless steel appliances. Let's face it though, this isn't winning any beauty pageants. The team has ever so slightly prioritized function over form. Luckily, it's slender, so even though this has a 12-cup capacity, it doesn't demand much space. You can put it in a corner or cupboard and it won't become the focal point of your coffee station.

Anyway, what The Thermal Brewer lacks in looks it more than makes up for in functionality and durability. This feels like it would last you for a lifetime; the pre-sets are easy to navigate; and this boasts two different filter baskets, which can deliver on a range of flavors. If you're new to making iced coffee, all you have to do is select the setting and the Thermal Brewer can do the rest. If you're a borderline barista, you can control the temperature, bloom speed, and flow rate. Once you've tinkered and tailored this to suit your tastes, you can save your settings, so that you get your favorite flavors every single time.

Our experts' biggest gripes were that this is tricky to clean and pricy. A combination of the showerhead and fixed reservoir means that you have to get in some awkward positions with your brush if you want your coffee maker to sparkle. This is also expensive, so it's not one for those who are on a budget.

You can find more details in our Breville Precision Brewer Thermal Coffee Maker review.

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The best value iced coffee maker

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Since Nespresso makes the best single-serve coffee makers on the market, they make the best single-serve iced coffee makers too. All you need to do is change the standard pods for iced coffee pods, like the Ice Forte, available at Nespresso. Thankfully, Nespresso's iced pods make really nice, iced coffee. We've tested both their cold brew, iced, and hot pods and can vouch for them all: they hit on every flavor note that they promise: a rarity for single-serve machines.

The Vertuo Next is a single-serve classic. It has a sleek and slender design, is easy to use, and brewed my iced coffee in under a minute. There's very little to complain about. The only hitch you might find is that Nespresso's Vertuo machines are exclusively compatible with Nespresso's Vertuo pods. To be fair, they make over thirty varieties (not all of them are designed to be iced), but you have to use Nespresso's Vertuo pods. That means you can't grind your own coffee into a reusable pod, or opt for a special cold brew K-cup, for example.

You also won't be able to make cold foam for your iced coffees unless you buy this in a bundle or you invest in Nespresso's Aeroccino, available at Walmart, separately. The Aeroccino froths cold milk really well, even on plant-based options, but it won't be included by default.

You can find out more in our Nespresso Vertuo Next review.

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The most versatile iced coffee maker

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The Ninja DualBrew Pro boasts an extensive range of coffee options. It can brew coffee in classic styles, as well as a rich, specialty, and over ice function. If you like an iced latte, you're in for a treat. The over ice function brews concentrated coffee, designed to be watered down over ice, culminating in an iced coffee which consistently delicious. Our expert testers enjoyed working through these flavors and suggested that this 'might be the only specialty coffee maker you need'.

It's relatively compact, especially considering the range of coffee types that this can brew. It doesn't have an integrated grinder, so we'd recommend checking out our guide to the best grinders on the market if you want to make really good iced coffee. Alternatively, you can make use of the capsule compatibility and invest in some iced coffee K-Cups, available at Walmart, but make sure not to confuse the machine by brewing you're already concentrated over ice K-cups on the concentrated setting. It will all be overwhelming.

Our biggest criticism is that the DualBrew, is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Whilst we liked all the coffee options, and the iced coffee was good, it wasn't as flavorful as the Breville's, for example. If you like milky coffees, we found that the milk texturing tool is a little less than perfect, especially on plant-based milks.

There's more information in our full Ninja DualBrew Pro review.

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The most technical iced coffee coffee maker

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Even some of the best espresso machines don't have iced coffee functions. Instead, they rely on you being able to judge, by eye, how much to dilute your espresso by to make the perfect iced drink. For most people, this is tricky and you'll waste a lot of coffee trying to work out how to brew the perfect iced latte. Enter, La Specialista Maestro. This looks every part the specialist espresso machine, but it's beginner-friendly and easy to use too.

On the left, there's a dial that talks you through a range of coffee settings. A quick scroll through these will reveal that La Specialista can make a whole lot more than simple espressos. In fact, it will tackle a whole coffee shop menu if you let it. We're yet to test another espresso machine that can make cold brew (and in a matter of minutes too) as well as hot coffees. When you're brewing over ice you can opt for a heatless, low-pressure extraction or a normal, hot brew.

If you need your iced coffee to be stronger and more intense, the dials make it easy to adjust dosing quantities and temperatures. It might sound complicated, but that's only available to you if you want it to be. You can use La Specialista at a surface level and enjoy it just as much as a barista would. Plus, there are plenty of fool-proof features that guarantee that your coffees will be consistently tasty.

The one thing La Specialista can't do is make cold foam. You'll need a separate milk frother or steaming technology. Plenty of people are happy to simply drink their milk over ice, but De'Longhi also make the Eletta Explore, which is our overall winner as it has the capacity to create cold foam.

There's more information in our De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro review.

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The best blowout iced coffee maker

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The Jura Z10 is the most luxurious, hands-off coffee experience that money can buy. You won't need barista qualifications to be able to brew a delicious cup of coffee first thing. The menu covers ten different options (which becomes 32 with the different adjustments), so whether you want a black coffee, shot of coffee, milky coffee, iced coffee, or something in-between, the Jura has you covered.

When it comes to the cold brew, the Jura Z1O uses cold extraction technology to pulse cold water at high pressure with more coarsely ground coffee. The result is a smooth, rich iced coffee that is ready to drink in just a couple of minutes. We were able to make a delicious iced latte with cold foam, too. There's even a syrup attachment if you're partial to vanilla iced lattes, or you want to get creative with homemade sweeteners.

However, $3,800 for a coffee maker is a big investment. The Jura makes delicious coffee, looks sleek, and is easy to use, so if you've got the money to spend, you'll love it. But if you want to be savvy, there are cheaper options with similar offerings. The De'Longhi Eletta Explore at the top of our list is equally capable, although it lacks the sweet foam accessories and sleek Swiss design. Whether small details like that are worth another $1,600 is another question.

You can read more in our full Jura Z10 review.

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How to choose the right iced coffee maker for you

Personal taste: When you're choosing the perfect iced coffee maker, the best place to start is with the kind of coffee that you enjoy. If you prefer punchy espressos, an espresso machine will give you full-bodied flavor, even over ice. For iced lattes and cappuccinos, bean-to-cup machines with cold foam steam wands are ideal. If you require larger servings of rich black coffee, a drip iced coffee maker will suit you. If you like capsule coffee, a Nespresso machine will suit just fine. An automatic espresso machine is likely to satisfy all coffee preferences, suiting family households.

Space: If you have lots of space, you can choose almost any coffee maker. However, if your kitchen is compact, you'll probably want to steer clear of espresso machines and automatic coffee makers. These tend to be big appliances. You could still fit them on your countertop, but you'd have to work to do it. Specialist pod coffee machines are better for saving space, while still getting your iced coffee fix.

Time: If you don't mind taking your time with coffee, then you'll have the pick of the bunch. However, if you're normally five minutes late for being ten minutes late, you'll want a quick machine: pod machines, pre-set drip coffee makers, and automatic machines will be your best friends.

Capacity If you're the only coffee drinker in the house, you might not need a big machine. Pod machines are a nice option for single-cup coffee drinkers. However, if you want to serve iced coffee to a crowd or table of guests, a drip coffee maker will cater to the masses.

Ease: If you normally buy your coffee from a barista, you might not enjoy being very hands-on when making coffee. For that reason, a bean-to-cup machine would suit you really well. It'll be just like your barista, but without the small talk. If you like the idea of becoming a barista yourself, espresso machines are at the other end of the scale. They are technical, and be a lot of fun too.

Price: It goes without saying that price has to be factored into things. We've covered how much money you should spend on a coffee maker, to help you weigh up the value for money. A pod machine or drip coffee maker can cost a tenth of the price of a bean-to-cup machine or espresso machine. It's better to start small and work up to a bigger machine. That being said, we've included these machines in our roundup because we think they're good value for the exceptional quality they offer.

How we test

At Homes & Gardens, we have a rigorous testing process for all of our coffee makers. This enables us to score coffee makers both individually and against other models on the market.

Research: As Homes & Gardens' kitchen appliance expert, this is my starting point. I'm always on the lookout for the best coffee makers on the market. Once I’ve found one that I think you, our readers, will like, I order it to my kitchen or send it out to one of our experienced product testers. We usually like to test at home, as it means we can use the appliance in our regular routines for around a month. This helps uncover advantages (or most likely, pain points) we would never discover with a one hour session in the test kitchen.

Design: Once the machine is in our hands, we first consider the design and build quality. We give extra points to coffee makers that look good on the counter, but we never prioritize style over substance.

Brewing performance: The first thing we make with any espresso machine is an espresso. This is a way of testing how good a coffee maker is at the basics. A good espresso should be between 1.25-2 oz. It should be 190-205 degrees and full of flavor. A big giveaway is the crema on top: that should be thick with a hazelnut hue.

Then, we test other brews: including americano, latte, cappuccino and anything else the coffee maker has to offer.

Cleaning & ease of use: After brewing and tasting, we make notes on the clean-up process as well as how we would recommend storing and maintaining the coffee maker. We also think about how easy it is to use and what type of coffee drinker it would suit.

Value for money: After a month of testing and evaluating, I round up all of our notes. Then, I take a look at all of our other coffee makers to see how they compare on each testing criteria. I also look at online reviews to see what other experts and real-life customers thought, so that I could bring you more insight. After this, I give each coffee maker a score out of five. Only the five-star appliances make it into my best coffee maker buying guide.

If you’re interested and want to find out more, you can read all about the process in our how we test coffee makers page.

Meet our testing team

Lydia Hayman

Lydia is a trained chef and recipe writer, currently in charge of product testing as the Kitchen Appliances Editor for Homes & Gardens. Lydia trained at Leiths School of Food & Wine and she has shadowed professional baristas, attended coffee masterclasses, and toured roasteries to master the art of coffee. Her drink of choice is a frothy, Italian cappuccino (alongside a croissant, of course).

Laura Honey

Laura has tested over 60 coffee makers for Homes & Gardens. As a fully qualified barista, she's our expert in all things coffee – and she's even delved into matcha, too. She has also interviewed Q-Graders and world-leading experts in the coffee industry, so has an intimate knowledge of the industry.