The WIRED Gear Live Blog: Live Black Friday Deals on Espresso Machines, Grinders, French Presses, and Cold Brew

Black Friday is a perfect moment to update your coffee game with the best new gear and accessories at discount prices. We combed through the Black Friday deals to find the best buys on espresso machines, grinders, French presses, and cold brew. Check out our live blog for more live Black Friday deals and our tips for navigating Black Friday.

Coffee heads tend to focus more on the coffee machine than any other device this year, as it has been a full of hype. The Aiden is stylish and it is well made. But the Aiden is not about hype at all. “A coffee machine’s ability to brew delicious coffee with as little friction as possible should be the primary yardstick of greatness,” wrote WIRED contributor Pete Cottell in his rave review of the Aiden (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Its real strength is that it makes beautiful, café-quality drip or pour-over without being any harder to figure out than than a grimy old Mr. Coffee from the 1970s. Pair it with the WIRED Gear team’s favorite bean grinder, the Opus, and you’ve got a powerhouse brewing setup at a steep Black Friday discount. The same 20 percent off discount will be given if you purchase the Opus, a great grinder.

The Breville Barista Express 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 we like about the Barista? It’s a sturdily constructed, mostly metal machine that’s easy to use and easy to froth your milk with. It’ll grind your beans for you, and it’ll produce consistent water pressure you can watch on its included 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 overall best portable espresso maker that the WIRED Gear team has tested: compact, lightweight, and solid, with excellent extraction. It is a tiny device, which has a nice crema and little bitterness. Caveats are that you’ll need to use very fine grinds, and you’ll have to be able to apply quite a bit of manual pressure to get good extraction, making this a difficult device for those with joint pain or repetitive stress injury. We also had good results, though not quite as good, with the previous (and less expensive) Nanopresso.

This is a great deal on a cold brew maker. The Oxo Compact is my favorite device to make classic cold brew—the sort that brews for most of a day atop your counter. Why? It is easy to use and elegant of shape, and its combination of meshes and paper filters make it a good cup of coffee. The Compact understands that there is not much counter and fridge space. The coffee makes it taste delicious. The Oxo is the closest I can get to the best packaged or cafe cold brew.

We won’t oversell this blade grinder: It won’t give you the uniformity or the fineness of the high-end conical or flat burr grinders we’ll recommend to those looking for the very best. But if you are a default French press coffee drinker whose eyes don’t stay still when people talk about the separation of flavors or even the richness of the coffee? This sturdy little KitchenAid will grind your beans. Pro tip, if it won’t make your eyes cross: Pulsing will yield a more even grind than just holding the button down.

The French press is a low tech option for coffee lovers in the kitchen who prefer to use a portable tool. The Secura sells best if it’s sturdy, stainless steel, and insulated. It is said that the hot stuff stays hot and the cool stuff stays cool. Is this the right time to mention it’s the WIRED Gear team’s favorite French press to make cold brew?

This is a nice stocking stuffer if you need one until you got one, because you didn’t know you needed one. The mug warmer isn’t smart if you have an app to use or if it records your conversations. It’s smart because it’s smart. The device registers when there’s a flat-bottomed mug on top of it, and responds by keeping it warm at about 130 degrees Fahrenheit—thus saving you the endless dance of either chugging down your coffee or topping it off to keep it hot. The device will turn off if the mug is removed. It is easy.

The WIRED Deal on Atmos’ Twist-Action Pump: Real, High-Quality, Low-Cost Home Drip Coffeemakers

Coffee will taste better if there is bean storage. If you’re using fresh, premium beans from a local roaster, a vacuum storage container will better preserve the investment you’re regularly making in your beans. Drop your bag into this container, then turn Atmos’ twist-action pump. The sad oxidation process that turns your once aromatic coffee into a cardboard-like substance will be ruined by the device that removes all air and oxygen. 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. A cleaner cup, a little aeration, and even more satisfying cold brew are what the WIRED team found during testing. 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 drip machine is used to maintain water during the entire brew process. Note that to get this Black Friday deal, you may have to compromise on color. 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. Chances are that it will stay around for decades.

When this terrific, SCA-certified drip brewer came out only a few years ago, WIRED reviewer Joe Ray had to reassure readers that high-quality home drip coffeemakers were indeed possible, and real—and that the Oxo 8-Cup was resounding proof (9/10, WIRED Recommends.) 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.

The Terra Kaffe is a pricey hunk of coffee machinery and has its bugs, but it’s one of few on earth to offer not just quality espresso and macchiato, but also true drip coffee that’s not Americano in disguise. This all arrives in a nifty, easy-to-clean package with a smart screen and all the trimmings. Using a phone app, you can begin warming the machine up from your bed, just like a remote starter on your car. Anyway, it’s a whopping $500 off till December 15, with an extra hundo off the top if you sign on for a coffee subscription. —Matthew Korfhage

OK, I know: A classic AeroPress is already pretty 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. Another plus for people on the go is that an AeroPress is by its nature quite forgiving. 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. The WIREDGear team’s favorite overall grinder is quiet and has a consistent grind even at the finest espresso settings. It also has a lower price than grinders that cost much more.

Sure, the Tally (9/10, WIRED Recommends) will weigh your coffee, if that’s all you need. But it’ll also start a timer to track the progress of a pour-over, and calculate the weight of water you’ll need to add to it. It is a third-wave coffee pour-over lover’s true companion. Like most Fellow coffee gear, the Tally is 20 percent off right now.

Best Coffee Subscriptions: A Guide for Newcomers and New Mechanics for Beginners and Non-Mean-Fitters

The best way to increase your coffee quality is to make sure you’re using fresh beans, and a coffee subscription service is the most reliable way to get a bag at your doorstep. Read our Best Coffee Subscriptions guide for our various recommendations. Some of our favorites have offers that are worth consideration if you are not a subscriber.