7 Best Coffee Makers With Removable Water Reservoir in 2024

This is a review of the best coffee makers that have detachable water tanks. Keep reading to find your next dream machine.

Small counter spaces often require creativity when shopping for coffee makers. Part of this creativity includes getting a detachable water tank. And that led me to write this guide.

I went with the Braun multiServe as the best choice because it has SCA certification, a reusable filter, and doesn’t cost too much.

Braun MultiServe Coffee Machine: Best Overall

• Price: $$
• Machine Type: Drip coffee maker
• Dimensions: 7.1 × 13 × 15 in (D, W, H)
• Water Reservoir Size: 10 cups
• Material: Plastic & stainless steel
• Warranty: 3 years

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You may not like the machine’s quality, though. Or the way you’d remove the water tank. I provide a bunch of more ergonomic coffee makers throughout this guide.

Read on to find the first review.

7 Top Coffee Makers With Removable Water Reservoirs

1. Braun MultiServe Coffee Machine: Best overall
2. Bialetti 12 Cup Coffee Maker: Most durable 
3. Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto: Most affordable
4. Capresso Chef Buddy Smokeless: Best easy fill coffee maker
5. Keurig K-Supreme Plus: Best K-Cup maker
6. Nespresso Vertuo: Best single-serve machine
7. Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB: Best machine with thermal carafe

7 Best Coffee Makers With Detachable Water Reservoirs for Home

Detachable water reservoirs make refilling and cleaning water tanks easier for home baristas. Since you won’t need to drag your coffee maker to the sink. It could result in a bit better tasting water since you’ll have fresher water.

Though, coffee makers that plug directly into your home’s plumbing will have better-tasting water.

Anyway, let’s get to the first pick.

1. Braun MultiServe Coffee Machine: Best Overall

Price *	$$
Machine Type	Drip coffee maker
Dimensions	7.1 × 13 × 15 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	10 cups
Material	Plastic & stainless steel
Warranty	3 years

The Braun MultiServe coffee maker is the best coffee maker with a removable water reservoir due to its versatility and convenience. Ideal for folks that want an easy-to-clean machine.

Drip coffee makers produce black coffee by pouring water over coffee grounds sitting in a paper filter. The resulting drink then accumulates in a large glass carafe.

Making it an ideal option for serving many folks black coffee.

Its SCAA certification ensures a high-quality brew, while its BPA-free and dishwasher-friendly carafe ensures ease of use and safety. That’s thanks to the carafe’s design that’ll make it difficult to accidentally splash coffee on yourself. Meanwhile, it’s not a pain to remove the lid, making it easy to clean.

Moreover, its self-cleaning system adds to its convenience. Making it a valuable addition to any kitchen.

Unlike most machines, it uses a reusable filter, saving you money otherwise blown on paper filters. However, you’ll have a bit more cleaning to do. You’ll need to ensure you clean out all the rogue grinds jammed in the filter.

However, 

It has a “Clean” button, which will help you with descaling when it’s time to do so—every couple of months. Otherwise, buttons allow you to dispense water, adjust temperature, and select among 4 brewing options:

• Over Ice: More diluted taste.
• Light: A bit less diluted.
• Gold: Brews drinks according to SCAA coffee standards; meaning, “ideal” temperature & brewing time.
• Bold: Stronger-tasting drink.

Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) means your coffee maker can produce coffee that meets their heritage coffee standards [1]. Examples include having an extraction yield of between 18 and 22%.

This next pick’s much more durable.

2. Bialetti 12 Cup Coffee Maker: Most Durable Coffee Maker With Detachable Water Reservoir

Price *	$
Machine Type	Drip coffee maker
Dimensions	8.9 × 13.15 × 15.2 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	12 cups
Material	Stainless steel & glass
Warranty	2 years

The Bialetti 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker stands out for its durability, attributed to its solid construction and stainless steel design. Making it a solid choice for anyone wanting a long-lasting machine.

It’s another drip coffee maker that produces black coffee by pouring water through ground coffee in a filter.

Regarding value for money, the Bialetti Coffee Maker is a worthy investment. Despite some design criticisms, users praise its longevity and user experience (in some areas).

The removable water filter is nice, but it’s not front-loading. Meaning, you must remove the reservoir from the top. Not ideal if you don’t want to risk bumping into your cabinets. The buttons are also tiny, which isn’t great for folks with large fingers.

Since it has no thermal carafe, drinks will lose heat quickly. You must rely on the warming plate to keep it heated.

The machine isn’t entirely made of plastic, like most machines in this price range. It’ll last a lot longer than their plastic counterparts. As stainless steel resists wear and tear much better than plastic.

The 12-cup maker doesn’t have the most features—brewing strength selector, for instance—but what do you expect at this price range. You’re getting the bare minimum. Not a bunch of features you likely wouldn’t use.

Plus, Bialetti is a brand known for their durable machines. Though, more people tend to know them as a brand from Italy.

Too costly? Keep reading.

3. Zojirushi Zutto: Best Affordable

Price *	$
Machine Type	Drip coffee maker
Dimensions	6 × 8 × 10 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	5 cups
Material	Stainless steel & glass
Warranty	1 year

The Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto is the ideal coffee maker for budget-conscious consumers seeking quality and convenience.

Like all other drip coffee makers, it pours water over coffee grounds in a paper filter and the resulting black coffee trickles into a glass reservoir. Great for serving many people black coffee. Though, it won’t keep drinks hot all day like thermal carafes.

Its unique features, such as the removable water tank and automatic keep-warm function, offer convenience that surpasses many other models in its price range. Moreover, its durable construction ensures longevity. Making it a cost-effective choice in the long run.

This machine’s simple to use since it only requires toggling an on/off button. You can’t program it to power on at a specific time, but you can fix that by getting a smart plug.

Many may hate that it doesn’t provide a strong coffee option. Grind your beans a bit finer, and you’ll have a bit stronger coffee due to increased surface area. Problem solved.

Every Zojirushi product I’ve used has excellent water heating. This coffee maker’s no exception. It’ll also help purge certain chemicals (e.g. chlorine) from your water due to its charcoal filter [2]. Great for better-tasting coffee.

Unfortunately:

It isn’t a coffee maker where you remove water reservoirs from the front. You must remove this one from the top. However, the machine’s small, which makes it easy to pull out from under an upper wall cabinet.

Because it’ll prove painful when attempting to remove the water tank while the machine’s under a low-hanging wall cabinet.

4. Capresso Chef Buddy Smokeless: Best Easy Fill Coffee Maker

Price *	$
Machine Type	Drip coffee maker
Dimensions	8.5 × 9 × 14 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	10 cups
Material	Stainless steel & glass
Warranty	1 year

The Capresso Chef Buddy Smokeless coffee maker is a breeze to refill due to its removable water tank and top-fill feature. This design allows for quick, mess-free refills without moving the machine.

Drip coffee makers produce black coffee in a glass carafe because hot water flows through coffee grounds in a paper filter.

It’s worth the money due to having a stainless steel body. It’ll resist wear and tear much more compared to plastic. However, components like the carafe lid feel a bit flimsy. I wouldn’t smack it around if you don’t want it to break.

However, it’s noisier than other coffee makers. I wouldn’t program this thing to run before you wake up if you’re a light sleeper. Make it turn on once you wake up and are showering.

The reusable filter is an excellent addition to this machine. As it removes the need to purchase paper filters continually. The handle on the reservoir makes it ergonomic to remove if placed on a coffee cart. Or a counter that doesn’t have a wall cabinet above.

Imagine attempting to lift a reservoir—that’s on the machine’s rear—with a handle that requires you to pull it several inches above the machine. Pulling out the reservoir requires a lot of free space above and around the machine.

I don’t think you’ll get it out in a compact kitchen.

I hate the buttons. They aren’t clear and require you to look at the manual. Seriously. One of the buttons just has “H.” Another has “M.” The former stands for hours and the latter for minutes.

And upon first look, how am I supposed to understand what the filter indicator does? After reading the manual, it’s supposed to tell you when to replace the charcoal filter.

5. Keurig K-Supreme Plus: Best K-Cup Coffee Maker

Price *	$$$
Machine Type	Drip coffee maker
Dimensions	13.35 × 8.31 × 12.24 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	78 fl oz = 13 cups
Material	Stainless steel
Warranty	1 year

The Keurig K-Supreme Plus’ sleek design, large water reservoir, and quick brewing time make it a top choice for Keurig enthusiasts.

All Keurigs use K-Cups to brew coffee based on the pod’s specifications. It’s a great way to get decent-tasting coffee quickly. Though, you sacrifice all control over your drink’s strength.

Despite being slightly pricier than other models, it offers unique features such as adjustable strength, temperature control, and quiet operation. Its versatility and convenience make it a worthwhile investment.

While I said you couldn’t control its strength, technically, you can with this one. But not like with espresso machines. Press the “Strength” button, and it’ll brew your coffee slower, extracting more flavors.

Also, adjust the drink’s temperatures to your preference. Upon finding a desired strength and temperature, save it in 1 of 3 programmable buttons.

You don’t have options for machine color choice. Who cares? However, most of its components aren’t dishwasher safe. You must clean the machine by hand.

This Keurig has my favorite design choice regarding its reservoir. First off, you could adjust a swivel to move the water reservoir behind the machine. Great for narrow countertops. Unlike the Nespresso I’ll cover next, which has a similar design, this reservoir has a handle.

It makes gripping the reservoir much easier. And you won’t risk smudging fingerprints all over the reservoir.

Single folks out there will love the next choice.

6. Nespresso VertuoPlus: Best Single-Serve Coffee Maker

Price *	$$$
Machine Type	Capsule coffee maker
Dimensions	14.1–16.7 × 5.6–9.1 × 12.8 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	8 fl oz = 1 cup
Material	Plastic
Warranty	2 years

The Nespresso VertuoPlus is a top-notch choice for those seeking a compact, single-serve coffee maker with a removable water tank.

It’s a capsule coffee maker, meaning it’ll scan the barcode of the inserted capsule and brew based on its instructions. For instance, inserting a lungo pod, the VertuoPlus will brew a watered-down espresso shot.

Perfect for making a tasty, quick cup of black coffee or espresso.

Despite the slightly higher cost of its pods, the machine delivers high-quality coffee that rivals café-grade beverages. Its quick brewing time, quiet operation, and ability to brew multiple cup sizes make it convenient.

The ongoing cost of the pods and the lack of a built-in milk frother might be a consideration for some. You also must use the Vertuo line pods, not the regular ones.

The lack of cup size selection and water dispenser makes me weary about recommending this Nespresso. However, the adjustable and removable water tank makes it a dream for small kitchens.

You must buy specific capsules that make 5- or 8 oz cups to compensate for the lack of cup size control. Or ones that’ll produce double-shot espressos. It’s a bit intuitive, but it requires more work when shopping.

Since you must read into what size each pod produces.

Do you need room for a more narrow machine? Swivel the water tank behind the machine. Otherwise, for easy access, swivel it to the size. You also won’t have to reach behind or above the machine to pull off the reservoir. Do so from the front.

Fantastic for wall cabinets that don’t give your counter much breathing room.

7. Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB: Best Coffee Maker With Thermal Carafe

Price *	$$
Machine Type	Thermal coffee maker
Dimensions	8 × 10 × 14 in (D, W, H)
Water Reservoir Size	10 cups
Material	Stainless steel
Warranty	1 year

The Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB works best for anyone who wants to keep their coffee warm throughout the day.

I’m ending things with a thermal coffee maker. It’s a drip coffee maker, but with a thermal carafe. Instead of the carafe relying on a warming plate to keep your coffee hot all day, it uses a stainless steel body. It retains heat better.

It offers a range of features such as easy cleaning due to its removable filter basket and holder, and the convenience of an auto-start feature. These features make it well worth the cost.

Compared to the Zojirushi I reviewed earlier, this one has many more features. You can remove the water reservoir from the side instead of having to withdraw it from the front entirely.

If you have a low-hanging wall cabinet, place this maker toward the end of your countertop.

Need to program the machine to power on at a specific time? Tinker with the timer button. Otherwise, you don’t have “advanced” features allowing brew strength selection.

And because of its lack of unnecessary features, you must pay attention to how much coffee is brewing. Otherwise, the coffee could overflow. Or only put in the water you want to fill the carafe with.

That’s a great solution.

Then it includes a reusable coffee filter. It’s a great way to save money on paper filters. But often requires more cleaning.

Every Zojirushi product I’ve used has proven reliable and outlived its warranty period. Hence, why I’ll always recommend their stuff when possible.

That’s all, folks.

How to Clean Water Reservoir in Coffee Maker

Cleaning your coffee maker’s water reservoir is a simple process.

Here are the steps:

1. Empty the coffee maker: Remove any leftover coffee or water.
2. Create a cleaning solution: Mix equal parts of white vinegar & water.
3. Fill the reservoir.
   1. Pour your cleaning solution into the coffee maker’s water reservoir.
4. Run a brewing cycle: Start a full brewing cycle without any coffee in the machine.
   1. Halfway through, turn off the coffee maker and let it sit for an hour.
5. Finish the cycle.
   1. After an hour, turn the coffee maker back on and complete the brewing cycle.
6. Rinse thoroughly.
7. Run 2 more brewing cycles with clean water: Rinses remaining vinegar solution.

Over time, minerals in the water, such as calcium and lime, can accumulate and affect the performance of the machine and the taste of the coffee. You’ll need to regularly clean this buildup.

The process is known as descaling [3].

After cleaning the coffee maker with the vinegar solution as described in the previous steps, you’ve already started the descaling process. Vinegar is a natural descaler that helps break down these mineral deposits.

For a thorough descaling, consider using a commercial descaling solution. Follow the instructions on the product. Steps usually involve filling the reservoir with the solution, running a brewing cycle, and then running a few more cycles with clean water.

Regular descaling, depending on the hardness of your water and the frequency of use, keeps your coffee maker running efficiently and your coffee tasting its best.

What to Look for When Buying a Coffee Maker with a Removable Water Reservoir

Here’s what to consider when shopping for a coffee machine with a removable water tank:

The following sections will go over each point and provide tips on choosing the best coffee maker.

1. Capacity

A large reservoir saves time, allowing multiple brewing cycles before refills. However, it occupies more space. Conversely, a small reservoir is compact but needs frequent refilling. For heavy coffee drinkers or large households, a big reservoir is beneficial.

Those with limited kitchen space might prefer a smaller one. Your choice should balance your brewing needs with available space.

2. Programming Ability

Programming ability in a coffee maker with a removable water reservoir allows users to set their brewing time in advance. Making fresh coffee available when desired.

However, such coffee makers have drawbacks. The complexity of programming features can provide a barrier for those less tech-savvy. A simple coffee maker is easier to use but lacks advanced scheduling features.

3. Carafe Size

Larger carafes brew more coffee, which is ideal for heavy drinkers and large gatherings. But they consume more energy and may make coffee sit longer, affecting taste.

Smaller carafes save energy, keep coffee fresh, and fit snugly in compact kitchens. However, they require frequent refilling, which may be inconvenient and requires more energy.

Coffee makers with detachable water reservoirs have varying carafe sizes. It depends on the model you choose.

4. Coffee Maker Size

The size of the coffee maker with a detachable reservoir impacts the amount of coffee it can produce. If you frequently host guests or have a large family, a larger coffee maker may be necessary. 

The dimensions of the coffee maker determine where you can place it in your kitchen. A bulky coffee maker may not fit under low-hanging cabinets or in tight corners. Therefore, you must measure your available space before making a purchase.

To ensure the coffee maker fits comfortably in your kitchen. 

As for whether many coffee makers with removable water reservoirs will fit in small kitchens, the answer is yes. Manufacturers understand the need for compact appliances in modern homes. 

They design coffee makers in various sizes, including compact models perfect for small kitchens.

5. Machine Materials & Design

The right materials ensure durability and affect the taste of your brew.

Stainless steel models, for instance, are sturdy and preserve the coffee’s original flavor. Glass carafes are easy to clean and allow you to monitor the brewing process. Plastic components might impart an unwanted taste but offer affordability and lightweight convenience.

Removable water reservoirs usually feature plastic or stainless steel. Stainless steel reservoirs are durable and resist mineral build-up, contributing to a cleaner brewing process. 

Plastic reservoirs are lighter and easier to handle, but require careful cleaning to prevent any taste interference.

Both materials, if well-maintained, can provide a hassle-free coffee experience.

What Are the Benefits of a Coffee Maker With a Removable Water Reservoir?

Coffee makers with removable water reservoirs eliminate the hassle of refilling and cleaning fixed tanks. Making the process of making coffee more convenient. Detach the tank, fill it under the tap, and reattach it to the machine.

This feature simplifies the brewing process and reduces the risk of spills and messes in your kitchen.

Moreover:

These coffee makers often come with large-capacity tanks. Some models can hold up to 50 fl oz of water, enough to brew about 30 cups of espresso. This capacity is ideal for large families or offices, reducing the frequency of refills.

These coffee makers often feature durable, high-quality tanks. These tanks withstand the wear and tear of regular use, ensuring longevity. Some models even offer programmable features. Allowing you to set the brewing process to start and stop at specific times.

FAQs for Coffee Makers with Removable Water Reservoirs

Keep reading to find frequently asked questions about coffee makers with removable reservoirs.

Our Verdict

Here are the best 3:

1. Braun MultiServe Coffee Machine: Can make descaling easier with its self-cleaning feature.
2. Bialetti 12 Cup Coffee Maker: Durable & has a built-in filter for clean-tasting drinks.
3. Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto: Has a consistent water heater.

The Braun MultiServe has the potential to produce coffee based on the SCAAs Gold Cup standard. Providing a consistent taste in every cup.

Braun MultiServe Coffee Machine: Best Overall

• Price: $$
• Machine Type: Drip coffee maker
• Dimensions: 7.1 × 13 × 15 in (D, W, H)
• Water Reservoir Size: 10 cups
• Material: Plastic & stainless steel
• Warranty: 3 years

Check Current Price

Footnotes:

* Price will vary by model, manufacturer, and vendor.