Improve your morning coffee with our favorite products | CNN

If you're a coffee aficionado, the type who knows various varieties and types of roasts, or the type of person who needs a jolt of caffeine before heading into the day, one thing is clear: a good cup can completely change your day.

We coffee addicts at CNN Underscored also know that's true.

That is why, throughout 2020, we have been testing all kinds of products, from machines to grinders and subscription services.

And our testing process is rigorous: hours of research - consulting experts, reading editorial reviews, and flipping through user ratings - to find the best products in each category.

Once we settled into a test pool, we spent weeks, if not months, testing and retesting each product multiple times in real-world environments.

All of this in an effort to establish itself with the absolute best products.

Based on that test, here are the best coffee essentials we've discovered in 2020.

Best Drip Coffee Maker: Braun BrewSense Drip Coffee Maker ($ 89.95; amazon.com)

We brew countless pitchers of coffee with the BrewSense, ranging from light to dark roast, and each produced a strong, delicious cup with no sediment, thanks to the gold-tone filter, designed to remove bitterness from coffee as well as reduce waste. single-use filter paper.

It is easy to operate, designed as a traditional automatic drip machine with manual operation buttons, but with a stylish and modern upgrade.

For less than $ 90, this machine offers the best value for money of any coffeemaker on the market.

Best Single-Serving Coffee Maker: Breville-Nespresso VertuoPlus ($ 136.99, originally $ 149.95; amazon.com)

The Breville-Nespresso VertuoPlus, which uses capsules that make espresso and 'regular' coffee, simply can't be beat for convenience.

Intuitive and a snap-to-use right out of the box, it looks stylish on the counter, contains a separate 60-ounce water reservoir so you don't have to refill with each use, and delivers perfectly hot and delicious coffee with a simple touch of a lever and pressing a button.

Best Cold Brew Maker: Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Maker ($ 22.58, originally $ 25; amazon.com)

The Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew coffee maker scored the highest of all cold brew machines we tested.

This sleek, sophisticated and streamlined carafe produces 1 liter (approximately 4 1/4 cups) of rich, robust coffee in just eight hours.

It was one of the simplest to assemble, created an exemplary cafe in the shortest amount of time, and looked elegant doing it.

Plus, it was the second most affordable of our test selection.

Best Burr Coffee Grinder: Virtuoso Baratza + Conical Burr Grinder ($ 249; amazon.com)

$ 249 isn't exactly cheap, but in the world of quality coffee grinders, the price is considered mid-range.

Performance?

Of first class.

Beginning baristas and coffee connoisseurs alike will be delighted with the Virtuoso + Baratza.

Consistent results, precise grind settings, sleek design, timer function, and other special touches - like the powerful yet quiet motor and LED-lit container - make it well worth the price.

Best Coffee Subscription: Blue Bottle (starting at $ 11 per shipment; bluebottlecoffee.com)

The Blue Bottle coffee subscription won us over with its balance of variety, customization, and most importantly, taste.

We tried both the single origin assortment and the blend assortment and loved the taste of almost every mug we made.

The flavors are complex and bold, yet unmistakably delicious.

Beyond your coffee, the Blue Bottle subscription is simple and easy to use, with tons of options to suit your caffeine needs.

Note: The above prices reflect the price at the time of publication of the article.