Best iced coffee makers of 2024 - our tried and tested favourites from De'Longhi, Breville and GRIND
From bean-to-cup coffee machines to cold brew cups, we've tried them all
One of the best iced coffee makers is not just for the summertime, for some (me included), it's an appliance that can feed a year-round passion. While heading to your favourite coffee shop for an iced this or that is a lot of fun, the £££s can start to add up quick, which is where these machines and gadgets are as essential as putting something on ice on a hot day.
The best iced coffee makers differ from the best coffee machines thanks to built-in settings or features that enable you to either make cold brew for yourself at home or pour specially brewed coffee over ice. They're aren't a neccesity, no, but if you mostly drink iced coffee they'll certainly make your life easier.
To cover every budget, we've tested a cup which allows you to make cold brew at home, a budget filter machine, and a top of the range bean-to-cup machine that has built-in iced coffee programs. So all you need to do now, after reading our expert takes on each one, is decide which one suits you best.
The quick list
If you're looking to get from A to B quick, then our quick list will get you where you need to shop, fast!
Best iced coffee maker
Our expert reviewer was blown away by the extensive menu of iced drinks with the Eletta. Iced drinks and cold brew are available, and all of that is available at just the push of a button. Though the price tag is astronomical, iced coffee lovers will be in heaven at home with this machine.
Best budget iced coffee maker
This is a filter coffee maker that comes with a large double-walled cup which you can fill with ice. The machine is then perfectly sized to pour said filter coffee over your iced, and voila, you have an iced coffee at home. It doesn't even come close to the Eletta above in terms of quality, but for the price, it's a good stopgap, and the included cup is worth paying even half the price for in my opinion.
Best cold brew maker
With this one, you don't even need to clear space for a machine in your kitchen. This one bottle does the job, and then you can take it with you on your commute too. Our writer Jullia was (and continues to be!) enamoured by this when she tried it out. It's easy to use, and in 8-24 hours, does all the work for you.
The best iced coffee maker overall
Specifications
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This De'Longhi machine costs almost £1000, which we know is pretty wild. But, if it's an at home barista service for iced drinks you're looking for, the Eletta is faultless. Bean-to-cup coffee machines are ordinarily the most expensive way of making a cup of joe at home, but if you want it, they can give you the highest quality at-home coffee at the touch of a button.
The Eletta Explore takes that idea one step further, with a huge menu of drinks available, as well as a dedicated cold drinks offering. In total, the Eletta Explore offers: 'Cold Americano, Cold Cappuccino, Cold Cappuccino Mix, Cold Latte Macchiato, Cold CaffeLatte, Cold Flat White and cold brew options.
Our reviewer Helen loved the depth of choice available with iced drinks. The Eletta Explore registers exactly how cold you want your iced drink and then instructs you on exactly how many ice cubes you should add to your cup. Helen also noted that rather than just hot coffee pouring over ice, the brew technology of this machine means that the brew process is actually formulating an iced drink.
Helen found cold drinks as easy to make as hot drinks, and the overall set up and use of this machine couldn't be easier, too. For cold cups of coffee, it's the superstar buy you need.
Read our De'Longhi Eletta Explore review for the full details.
Best budget iced coffee maker
2. Breville Iced+Hot Coffee Maker
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
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This is a basic filter coffee machine (featuring a reusable filter basket), which also comes with a double-walled iced coffee cup. Pop that under the machine's spout and fill it with ice, and you've got a DIY iced coffee at home. It's a very simple machine, with no frills compared to the decadence of the Eletta Explore, but for those looking for a bargain, it'll fill an iced-cappucino-shaped hole.
There's no special brew process at work here to craft cold brews. Instead, the hot coffee will be going over ice, so you need to make sure there's plenty of it in the cup below. There's also no capacity for milk frothing, so you'll need to do that separately too.
I did find throughout testing this buy that it tended to be a little leaky after dispensing coffee. Despite that, though it's a budget option, I really love the included cup that comes with this machine, and think that it's a great standalone buy.
Best cold brew iced coffee maker
3. GRIND Cold Brew Bottle
Our expert review:
Specifications
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This cold brew cup from one of our favourite coffee brands GRIND helped our writer Jullia to kick her takeaway coffee habit for good. At £30, it's a perfect inexpensive buy if it's specifically cold brew coffee you're after.
To operate it, you add your ground coffee and water to the bottle the night before you want a cup, or up to 24 hours beforehand. Then, pop it into the fridge so that it can steep overnight, and wake up to a delicious cold brew to enjoy on the go. It has a huge 1 litre capacity too, so there's cold brew enough for your entire household.
Our tester Jullia loved how easy to use this gadget was, and with no need to make space for a coffee machine on your worktop, it's a gem for small kitchens too.
Our GRIND Cold Brew Bottle write up has the full details.
How we tested these iced coffee makers
Here at Ideal Home, we're passionate about thoroughly reviewing the products we recommend to you as per our testing protocol. We're also a team that's big on iced coffee, which is why you'll see this list is curated of products tested by different members of the team. Regardless of who tested each product, each iced coffee maker has been put through it's paces at the home of each reviewer, with each person looking for the product to fufill a set criteria.
That includes ease of use, smoothness of set up, the quality of parts and the resulting coffee, and considerations on value too. With all of that considered, we've settled on the rankings above. To see more on how we tested these iced coffee must-haves, take a look at our testing gallery below.
So now you've got the low down on all of the best iced coffee makers that have our seal of approval, the only thing left to do is decide which one is right for you. And start stock piling ice cubes, of course.
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Molly is Ideal Home’s Kitchen Appliances Editor and an all-around baking and cooking enthusiast. She joined the team in September 2022 as an Ecommerce Editor after working across Real Homes, Homes & Gardens and Livingetc. She's been reviewing products for 4 years and now specialises in weighing up kitchen essentials' pros and cons, from air fryers to bean-to-cup coffee machines.
She's always been a keen reader, so after graduating from the University of Exeter in 2020 she was thrilled to find a way to write as a full-time job. Nowadays, she spends her days at home or the Ideal Home test facility trying out new kitchen innovations to see if they’re worth a space on your worktop. Her most beloved and hard-working appliance is her Sage coffee machine though she also takes the title of Ideal Home’s in-house air fryer expert after writing about them religiously over the past few years.
When she's not thinking or writing about kitchen appliances, she loves getting around London exploring new places, going for a dip at the Ladies’ Pond and consuming every bit of pop culture she can get her hands on.
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