 Here at The Verge, we like our coffee. It keeps us happy, it keeps us awake, and on those very rough mornings, it keeps us alive. Coffee only has two ingredients, water and coffee beans. Sounds simple, right? Well, it's not. One wrong turn, you're sipping black sludge. Too far in the other direction, and you're drinking tepid rust water. We found that for just under $200, you can get a machine that consistently produces a quality brew. To find the best coffee maker, we tried out a spectrum of machines that range from adorably petite pod contraptions to full-sized automatic rigs. But in terms of consistency, quality, and simplicity, nothing beat the Bonavita BV 1900 coffee brewer. Now, there are a lot of coffee machines out there, and many of them come with a full roster of features. So, before I tell you what it can do, let's start with what it can't do. The Bonavita doesn't have a built-in grinder, so unlike the Breville you brew, it can't grind your beans. It has no automatic timer like you'd find on the Cuisinart automatic coffee maker, so there won't be a cup of coffee waiting for you when you get out of bed. And, it doesn't use a pod system, meaning that there is a minimal amount of effort required on your part. But what you get with the Bonavita is an elegant, simple machine. In fact, it only has one button, which makes it feel functional and minimal. I mean, how many buttons does a coffee machine really need? The Bonavita uses 1500 watt heaters to heat the water to the optimal 200 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take 5 degrees. And, it has a wide shower head to douse the grounds evenly and recreate a pour-over method. Now, if the machine has one special feature, it's a pre-infusion mode that wets the coffee before brewing in order to degas it. Its thermal craft keeps your coffee hot for hours. Each pot we brewed with the Bonavita took about 7 minutes. We tapped the extensive network of coffee addicts in our Vox Media offices to sample our brews, and the Bonavita consistently produced a superior product. It made a cup of coffee that was neither watery nor sludgy, rich enough to get the job done, but not so strong that it would knock you on your ass. The first batch we made on the machine did have an acidic kick, but it mellowed out over later pots. And, the Bonavita is cheaper than both the Copresso Coffee Team TS and the Krupps KM7000, two feature-heavy machines that made inferior coffee. But, my favorite part of the Bonavita was just how basic it was. No touch screens, no dials, no unnecessary buttons. It just makes an excellent cup of coffee. Now, I have to admit that although the Bonavita is the best option in terms of price versus performance, it didn't actually make my favorite cup of coffee during the trial. That award goes to the Chemex Automatic. In a sense, the Automatic is even simpler than the Bonavita. It takes the wildly popular glass Chemex manual brewer and adds a kettle and pour-over system. This setup produced the best cup of coffee I've tasted. But, at a cost of nearly twice that of the Bonavita, it feels like a rip-off. The original Chemex cost about $50, so you're paying roughly $300 just to heat water. The plastic componentry feels cheap and it detracts from the Chemex's original design. So, if you want to buy a Chemex, just buy the basic one and spend the rest of your money on beans. The lesson here is that with coffee, less is more. Adding features, contraptions, and options muddies the concept, and maybe your coffee too. Doing anything before you've had coffee in the morning can be rough, and no one wants to get lost in features and options and menus before you've had your first cup. So, do yourself a favor and get the Bonavita. Your 7 a.m. self will thank you.