Bean-to-cup espresso machines are super convenient, but they often have one big disadvantage: they can be incredibly loud. Preparing your morning coffee doesn't have to leave your ears ringing though, which is why I've put together this list of three coffee makers specially designed to keep noise to a minimum.
One of the loudest parts of any bean-to-cup machine is the grinder, simply because roasted coffee beans are pretty tough, and reducing them to particles fine enough for espresso isn't easy. Nevertheless, some grinders are louder than others. A bean hopper with a silicone seal will help dampen noise, as will a grinder that rotates relatively slowly.
Then there's the pump. Rotary pumps are much quieter than vibratory pumps, but are also a lot more expensive. Almost all home bean-to-cup machines use vibratory pumps. If you want one with a rotary pump, you're looking at a pricier prosumer machine. All the options here use vibratory pumps, but have cases designed to deaden the noise.
All of the coffee makers on this list are Quiet Mark certified, meaning they have been independently tested and approved for minimizing sound output as much as possible. Now, let's get brewing.
1. KitchenAid KF6
KitchenAid's fully automatic espresso machines are some of the quietest I've ever used, and both the KF6 and its big brother, the KitchenAid KF8, keep noise to a minimum during the whole brewing process. I used a decibel meter during my tests and found that the pump was barely louder than the hum of a refrigerator (44dB). The grinder was louder (66dB), but still not excessively so.
KitchenAid's coffee makers feel premium inside and out, with matte cases and smooth lines, and they're surprisingly compact as well. The KF6 measures 10.2 x 14.3 x 18.6 inches / 260 x 363 x 473mm, so you should be able to find space for it even in a small kitchen. You'll need a little extra headroom to open the hopper (nicely sealed to keep down the noise) and lift the water tank out of the side, but only a few inches.
Most importantly, the KF6 brews excellent espresso. It has the smallest menu of the three machines in this list and is the only one that doesn't offer iced drinks, but it has all the essentials covered: espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte, macchiato, latte macchiato, americano, and coffee (essentially a long black). You can tweak the strength, temperature, volume, and body of each drink before brewing, and store your preferences as a preset.
Foaming milk was the loudest part of the process, with the steam wand emitting the usual ripping sound as it incorporated air into the milk, reaching 75dB for just a moment. For whisper-quiet coffee-making, you can skip this and take your coffee black, but if you can tolerate two seconds of noise, the silky microfoam is worth it.
Read our full KitchenAid KF6 review
2. Jura J10
I fell in love with this Quiet Mark-certified espresso machine during testing, and was a little sad to package it back up in its flight case when I was done.
The J10's hopper (which can accept a scoop of pre-ground coffee if you want a change from your usual beans) has an airtight seal that keeps your beans fresh while limiting noise from the grinder, and its case effectively limits the noise from the pump when pulling your shot.
Espresso turned out perfectly extracted; the J10 will help you pick the correct grind size and adjust all the other brew settings for you. My favorite beans have never tasted so good, and the crema was so thick that TechRadar's reviews editor Josh Russell stopped in his tracks to comment on it.
The J10 also produces the most authentic-tasting cold-brewed coffee I've had from a bean-to-cup machine. If you want the real deal, then the Sage Luxe Brewer Thermal will let your grounds steep for a full 24 hours and beep when it's ready to enjoy, but the J10 achieves a similarly well-rounded flavor profile by pulsing hot water through coffee grounds at high pressure. It foams cold milk too, so you can have an iced latte macchiato in your hand within a minute.
If that's not enough, Jura's SweetFoam system can incorporate your choice of syrup into the milk as it's dispensed, making it easy to create the kind of complicated drinks that would give your local barista a headache. If money were no object, this is the quiet coffee machine I'd choose.
Read our full Jura J10 review
3. Philips LatteGo 5500 Series
I tested this super-compact espresso machine just a few weeks ago, and it's a great option if you're the sole coffee-drinker in your house. The Jura and KitchenAid machines are a joy to use, but unless you're sharing them with other people, you might find it tricky to justify the expense. The LatteGo 5500 Series is a cleverly designed little machine that's whisper-quiet, just the right size for one, and has a much more palatable price tag.
This machine features sound shielding and, according to Philips, produces 40% less noise than previous models, with a particularly quiet grinder.
Its water tank and airtight bean hopper are smaller than average, which is great for brewing just a few drinks per day. You don't need to load up a whole bag of beans for a couple of cappuccinos, after all, and there's no need to keep liters of water hanging around all day.
The LatteGo system is smart, too. The carafe has handy markers on the side so you can see exactly how much to add, so there's none left over at the end. Once you're done, just unclip it and wash the two pieces of hard plastic by hand or in the dishwasher. There are no tubes or pipes that need special cleaning. The only downside is that you can't adjust the direction of the nozzle, so you have to position your cup just right on the drip tray, but that's not exactly a dealbreaker.
Read our full Philips LatteGo 5500 Series review
Even quieter espresso
If you really want to keep noise to a minimum, consider skipping the automatic machines entirely and making your espresso by hand.
Using a manual coffee grinder will be quieter than an electric one due to the much slower rotation of the burrs (they can only rotate as fast as you can turn the handle, after all). Decent manual burr grinders are also considerably cheaper than good electric ones. Cheap electric 'grinders' use blades rather than burrs, which chop your beans into rough fragments rather than evenly-sized particles.
To avoid the noise of an electric pump, take a look at the hand-operated Wacaco Nanopresso. It's mainly advertised as a way to make espresso on the move, but there's no reason you couldn't use it in your kitchen. All you need is hot water and a little elbow grease, and you'll have a nicely extracted espresso in near silence.
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