10 Best Coffee Makers for Boats: Pros and Cons of Each

When we set off sailing full-time over two years ago, finding the best coffee makers for boats wasn’t just a luxury—it was a necessity for starting each day right on the water.

There is nothing better than waking up with a great cup of coffee to get your day going, whether it’s to drink while sailing through the waves, or while enjoying a peaceful morning at anchor.

But not all coffee makers work well for boats. After testing several options, I’ve found the top coffee makers that are energy-efficient, space-saving, and safe to use while sailing.

In this guide, I’ll break down these key factors and review the Pros and Cons of the 10 best electric and non-electric coffee makers for boats.

So grab your favorite cup of coffee, and let’s sip our way through the top marine coffee makers that will keep your mornings at sea energized and stress-free.

How to Choose the Best Coffee Maker for your Boat: 4 Key Factors

The four main things to consider when looking to buy a coffee maker for your boat are:

1. Power Usage

Does your boat have enough battery storage in the morning hours to plug in a coffee maker? Or, like our boat, do you need to wait a little while for the sun to come up and your solar panels to kick in and charge your house batteries (we have AGM batteries for our house batteries; those with Lithium batteries tend to do better in this department).

2. Space: How much space does a boat coffee maker take?

Where will you store your coffee maker? Do you have enough counter space in the galley? Will it fit under any cabinets you have in the galley?

We started out by bringing our Keurig coffee maker to our boat when we were still at a marina and working full time. It worked great, but took up A LOT of space and didn’t fit under our counters.

3. Safety at Sea

Does your coffee maker have a glass coffee pot that could fall and shatter? Do you have to boil water for your coffee? 

We actually have multiple ways to make coffee on Pelagia, one involves a small 5-cup coffee maker with a glass coffee pot, and the other involves boiling water on the stovetop.

We only use the 5-cup coffee maker while at a marina with shore power, and the glass coffee pot is wrapped in a towel and secured while underway.

Since we are mostly at anchor, we regularly use our French Press, which involves boiling water on the stove top. On the occasion we do an overnight passage, that might mean boiling water while under way to make coffee at sea.

To mitigate any risks of splashing boiling water on us while underway, we take the following safety precautions:

• Make coffee before we leave and store it in my Thermos which keeps it hot for several hours. We did this on our overnight Mona Passage crossing and our overnight Gulf Stream crossing
• Use a tea kettle which contains the water from splashing out
• Gimbal the stove to keep the kettle and water from sloshing around
• Use pot holders to keep the kettle in place on top of the stove (and while cooking underway)

4. Supplies: Can you Find Coffee Maker Supplies While Sailing?

Sailing in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, we have learned that it’s not always easy to find what you are looking for while grocery shopping. And that includes supplies for your coffee maker!

Our 5-cup coffee maker that we use at marinas requires the smaller coffee filter baskets. I’ve only been able to find the 8-12 cup coffee filters in stores. Not a big deal, as I can cut them down to size.

For Keurig or Nespresso coffee makers, they require specific coffee pods for the machines. I’ve learned you may or may not find these in the stores, and they may not carry your favorite brands of coffee. It’s best to stock up on these (especially your favorite brands)  when you do find them!

One thing I love about our French Press is that we don’t need any special filters or supplies to make our coffee. Something to consider!

Non-Electric Coffee Makers for Boats

Since we primarily make our coffee without the use of electricity living on our sailboat, I’ll start by going over my favorite off-grid coffee makers.

1. French Press

Our go to coffee maker is our French Press. 

As I mentioned earlier, our house batteries are AGM (we have 3 of them at 198 ampere hours each) and we should not run them below 50% each night. 

We typically wake up around 65-75% full, so we probably could turn on our inverter and use our electric 5-cup coffee maker, but we don’t like to rely on being able to do that, and we actually love our coffee from our French Press!

Pros:

• Uses no electricity
• It’s stainless steel and easy to store
• No extra supplies are needed

Cons:

• It doesn’t keep the coffee hot for too long (I actually made a koozie for it, and/or pour the coffee into a thermos)
• Hard to clean out while underway.

Quick and Easy Coffee Solutions: 2. Instant Coffee and 3. Coffee Bags

There are people who love instant coffee, unfortunately, I am not one of them! Scott, on the other hand, could drink instant coffee every day. I much prefer the Folger coffee bags that look like tea bags.

Pros:

• Easy to make and easy cleanup
• Doesn’t take up much space (just the coffee itself)
• Instant Coffee: easy to find in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Cons:

• Taste – I’m just not a fan
• It doesn’t last too long in humid climates. It will clump together into a solid rock (ask me how I know 🙄) Tip: Use instant coffee singles if you can find them!
• Coffee Bags: Hard to find in the Bahamas and Caribbean

4. Pour Over Coffee Filter

Another great way to make coffee without the use of electricity is the pour over coffee filter, or coffee funnel. 

Pros:

• Simple to use
• Doesn’t take much space – can nestle with other galley gadgets
• Comes in varying sizes 

Cons:

• Hard to clean if you don’t use a filter and don’t want to put coffee grounds down your drain or have to keep coffee filters in stock

5. AeroPress

An AeroPress is similar to a French Press, but brews a bit quicker than a French Press and with less acidity, according to AeroPress.

Pros:

• Brews Quickly
• Versatile – Can brew espressos, Americanos, and cappuccinos
• Less acidic

Cons:

• Plastic (could also be a Pro) but you are putting hot water into plastic
• Several more parts to clean than compared to a pour over coffee filter, though others find it easy to clean

6. Percolator

When I think of a percolator, I think of our big family get-togethers for Christmas and Easter and the large percolator my family uses to make coffee. While theirs was electric, percolators also come in non-electric versions perfect for propane stoves.

Pros:

• No need for a kettle – Can put it directly on the stove top
• Can set it up the night before and just heat it up in the morning – great for early morning sails!
• No plastic

Cons:

• Several models come with a glass knob on top that can crack
• Can take a little longer to brew compared to other methods reviewed

7. Stovetop Espresso Maker

If espressos are your thing, and you are concerned with space and power usage, then check out the stovetop espresso maker.

Pros:

• Brews quickly and easy cleanup
• No glass
• Small to store

Cons:

• Needs to be constantly monitored while using

Electric Coffee Makers for Boats

After reviewing the above non-electric coffee makers, I want to note that there are several good electric coffee makers out there too that work well on boats.

8. Standard Coffee Maker

We use our small, 5-cup coffee maker in marinas when we are plugged into shore power. I love being able to make the coffee the night before, then wake up and just turn it on. The 110-volt Mr. Coffee 5-cup coffee maker uses 650 watts.

Pros:

• Small size fits under our galley cabinets
• Can set it up the night before and just turn it on in the morning
• Keeps coffee hot

Cons:

• Since it’s a smaller size, it only makes “5” cups which means we usually have to make at least 2 pots
• Has a glass pot so we must store it carefully when not using it
• Requires smaller coffee filters that can be hard to find in the Bahamas and Caribbean

9. Keurig Coffee Maker

Before sailing away from the dock, we brought our Keurig coffee maker onto the boat. I’m sure they make smaller versions than what we had, but they still take up quite a bit of space for our galley. The 110-volt Keurig Single Serve coffee maker uses 1500 watts.

Pros:

• Easy to make different flavors of coffee at different strengths
• Easy cleanup
• Easy to brew one cup at a time throughout the day

Cons:

• Too large for our galley on our Hunter 450 Passage
• The K-Cups are wasteful, and are hard to find in remote locations

10. Nespresso Coffee Maker

Similar to the Keurig machines, the Nespresso machines are a bit too large for our galley, but I have seen many of both types Nespresso and Keurig machines on friends boats (who have much larger galleys than ours on their catamarans). The 110-volt Nespresso Essenza Mini Coffee and Espresso Machine uses 1150 watts.

Pros:

• Great for making espressos
• I seem to be able to find Nespresso pods in the Caribbean Islands

Cons:

• It would be hard to use in rolly seas
• Still too large for our galley
• Cost

Not Recommended Coffee Makers for Boats

12 Volt Coffee Makers

I feel I need to include the option of the 12 volt coffee maker, and why I don’t think these are a good idea on a boat. The avigator portable 12 volt coffee maker uses 170 watts.

Pros:

• No need to turn on an inverter to convert to 110-volt (or 220-volt if that’s what your boat has)

Cons:

• Take a long time to brew (approximately 15-20 minutes for a cup of coffee)
• Concerns of blown fuses and hot wires
• More expensive than 110-volt versions

Best Coffee Maker Accessories

Once you decide on the best coffee maker for you and your boat, don’t forget about the accessories!

I’ve got a few favorite accessories that I love for my coffee and a few more listed that would definitely come in helpful, depending on your coffee maker.

Tea Kettles

We use our stove-top tea kettle every day to heat up our water for our French Press coffee maker. I like tea kettles with a solid base to it and a whistle to let us know when the water gets hot.

Another option if you prefer to go the electric route is an electric tea kettle. We rented an Airbnb while we were hauled out for some boat work, and the apartment had an electric tea kettle that heated the water up so fast! I loved that!

Thermos to Keep Coffee Hot

I’ve got a Thermos travel mug that I LOVE using for overnights. I can make my coffee before we set sail, clean out the French Press and keep my coffee in my Thermos to drink during my watches. 

I love that it seals well and won’t spill, and I love that it stays hot for hours! I literally will make coffee in the morning, then drink it during my night watch some 18 hours later and it is still hot! 

It saves me the hassle of having to boil water and make coffee while underway.

Travel Mugs

I have two go-to travel coffee mugs for my boat that I use. One is my Hydro Flask coffee mug. I love that it has a non-slip grip to it and keeps it from sliding around in the cockpit. I also love having a coffee mug with a handle.

My second go-to mug is my Yeti Tumbler. Scott and I each received ones as a gift from our friends, and we find that we use them a lot! I love that the lid closes, and prevents spills. It also fits well in our cupholders in our cockpit.

Be careful though, we figured out our Yeti Tumblers have a magnet in the cap and they throw off the magnetic compass if they get too close to it!

Coffee Grinder

If you have the space for it, having a coffee grinder on the boat allows for some really fresh coffee! 

We had a simple electric coffee grinder before we moved on our boat (didn’t bring it with us due to power usage and storage space), but it worked great! 

You can also use a manual coffee grinder if you are worried about power consumption.

Milk Frother

An item to up your coffee game is a milk frother. They are easy to store and are battery operated, so you don’t have to worry about power consumption.

Silicone Trivets

I use my silicone trivet every morning for my French Press. It protects the countertop from the heat, and keeps the French Press from sliding around in rolly anchorages.

Coffee and Filters

Always keep a good stock of coffee, whether its coffee beans, ground coffee, KCups or pods on hand. 

I’ve also learned to stock up on coffee filters, because when you run low, the type you need can be hard to find! It’s very difficult to find the 1-5 cup filters in the Caribbean 🫤

Frequently Asked Questions about Coffee Makers for Boats

What is Your Favorite Boat-Friendly Coffee Maker?

You don’t have to sacrifice a great cup of coffee while living on a boat. There are many coffee makers that work well on boats, depending on your space and power availability. 

For living on a monohull with limited space and power usage, I recommend the French Press. It takes no electricity, makes delicious coffee and clean up is very easy with no paper filters required.

We use a 42 oz French Press and that makes more than enough coffee for both Scott and me.

After waking up and getting energized in the morning, we are ready to start exploring the beautiful islands. So whether you are in or headed to the Bahamas or the Caribbean, check out these fun things to do:

• Top 10 Things to do in Hope Town, Bahamas
• Top 10 Amazing Things to do in Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• 15 Best Things to do in Grenada: The Ultimate Guide

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