Who we are
A bench, a scale, and a policy of showing our work.
BrewBench exists for one reason: coffee gear reviews are mostly opinions wearing a lab coat. We decided to build the actual lab.
What BrewBench is
BrewBench is an independent testing lab and editorial site for home coffee equipment. Since 2024, we have bench-tested grinders, espresso machines, kettles, scales, and drippers — buying every unit at retail, instrumenting every claim, and running every flavor judgment through a nine-person blind panel.
Our scores are anchored to measurements: temperature stability comes from thermocouple logs, grinder quality from particle-size analysis, kettle pours from 10 Hz scale capture. When a pick comes down to taste, we say so — and report the panel's margin.
What we are not
We are not a storefront, not an affiliate content mill, and not for hire. Manufacturers cannot send us review samples, cannot see scores before publication, and cannot buy a verdict. If a product wins, it won on the bench. If it loses, the data says why.
How we're funded
Reader commissions and nothing else. When you buy through our links we may earn a fee at no cost to you — the full mechanics are in our affiliate disclosure. Commissions have no path into scores; our editorial standards and testing methodology are public documents, and we publish our misses alongside our picks.
Who's behind it
BrewBench is a small team of engineers and Q-graders: Mara Lindqvist (lead tester, ex-café owner), Daniel Okafor (lab manager, materials engineer), and a rotating blind panel of nine home baristas. Questions, corrections, and product tips go to our contact page.
Editorial record
How this page was made
Who wrote and reviewed it
Written by the BrewBench editorial team — named testers who buy every product at retail. Reviewed by Daniel Okafor, Lab Manager, and fact-checked against our published protocol before publication.
| Published protocol | How we test |
|---|---|
| Bench work | Every published score follows the written protocol |
| Products graded | 12 products with published reviews |
| Last updated | See each guide or review for its own test date |
Scope & limitations
This page is for home baristas and anyone comparing coffee gear. We cover the products and methods we have tested on our own bench; we do not cover gear we have not measured.
- We only tested the products listed in our published reviews; out of scope means no BrewBench score.
- We did not test long-term reliability beyond each review window.
Sources & corrections
- BrewBench Testing Methodology — primary source for sampling, instrumentation and the scoring rubric.
- Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy — our review process and how corrections are recorded.
- The BrewBench Team — named testers, credentials and the nine-person blind panel.
Corrections: if a measurement or verdict is wrong, we correct the page and note the change in our editorial standards. Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission on purchases through links here; it never changes a score or a pick.