Last Updated on May 26, 2022 by John Moretti
Unless you specifically made a cold brew coffee, you probably don’t enjoy cold coffee. Keeping your coffee warm is just one of the reasons why a good coffee carafe can be very useful. Whether you need to keep coffee warm on the road, at home, or at work, a good quality carafe is essential. But since there are so many options to choose from, which one is the best?
The best overall carafe is the Hastings Lagom thermal carafe. The other top 6 best carafes include the GiNT Thermal Carafe, the PYKAL Thermal Carafe, the Moroccan Styled Thermal Carafe, and the Cresimo Airpot Thermal Carafe, and the Zojirushi SH-HC10NU thermal carafe as an honorable mention.
Below are the top 6 coffee carafes as reviewed by myself and others. The criteria I have used to find the best of the best include the amazon review ratings, how long it keeps your coffee warm, how it looks, and a couple of other factors. I will discuss all of the factors that weigh into my choice to help you pick the one that works best for you.
Best Overall: Hastings Lagom 50 oz Carafe
The Hastings Lagom 50 oz carafe is the perfect mix of beauty and functionality. This carafe is big enough for most of your uses and allows you to share a brew with others or keep yourself fueled for the whole morning. The German Beechwood handle is not only a gorgeous addition to this carafe but makes handling steady and easy.
According to the company, if this thermos is adequately heated before use and filled to the maximum capacity, it can keep coffee “piping hot” for up to four hours. This time frame means that your coffee will slowly be losing heat after four hours but should still be warm enough to drink for quite a while.
This carafe allows for a maximum liquid capacity of around 50 ounces, as included in the name. This large capacity means that you can make enough coffee to share with your friends, and family, or even take to work.
This elegantly designed carafe also comes with filters that allow you to brew your coffee in the pot. The filters also support the brewing of tea and cold brew coffee. Taking this carafe with you will also not be a problem as it is made of double-walled stainless steel to ensure it keeps your coffee hot and is unlikely to break.
According to the Hastings Collective website, this carafe also comes with a 1-year warranty from the day of purchase. While most of the ratings of this product are five-star reviews, some people mention the need for a cleaning brush and a lack of brewing instructions as a negative.
All-in-all, this carafe is my choice for the best coffee carafe due to overwhelmingly positive reviews, the beautiful style, and the extra functionality.
Best For Travelling: GiNT Thermal Carafe
The GiNT thermal carafe is a beautiful double-walled vacuum carafe perfect for traveling. Not only does this carafe keep your coffee warm, but the lid is leak-proof, easy to open, and straightforward to use.
The manufacturer of this carafe claims that it will be able to keep your coffee warm for up to 8 hours. However, if you ever feel like making a cold brew coffee, it will keep your coffee cold for up to 20 hours. The seal on the lid also allows you to keep the coffee tasting perfect and helps you preserve the aroma.
For this carafe, you also have the option of three different sizes, including 34, 51, and 64 ounces, respectively. The possibilities of size allow you to choose whether you want a carafe purely for your personal use or a bigger one to be able to share your favorite brew with others.
This carafe, made of stainless steel, also comes with a choice between two colors. The colors you can choose from are purple or silver, allowing you to customize the carafe further based on personal preference.
When looking at the listing of this carafe on Amazon, it is Amazon’s choice. However, though this carafe has had overwhelmingly positive reviews, there is no mention of a warranty included in its purchase. Even after looking at the GiNT website, I could not find a warranty for this product.
Longest Heat Retention: PYKAL Thermal Carafe
The PYKAL thermal carafe with a satin finish is another carafe that features both an elegant design and impressive capabilities. This carafe comes with a cleaning brush included in the purchase and is said to use German-engineered vacuum insulation technology to keep your coffee hot for longer.
This manufacturer claims that the carafe will be able to keep your coffee warm for up to 24 hours. They claim that these capabilities vary depending on a couple of factors, including the initial temperature of the contents. This carafe was also reportedly tested in a CNAS accredited lab.
With this carafe’s impressive size, it can hold up to 68 ounces of coffee at a time, making it perfect for holding a big brew or sharing with others. Though this coffee carafe is easy to use, with a manual lid, it is not the best for traveling as it takes little effort to open.
Since this carafe’s only manufacturing material is high-quality stainless steel, it is no surprise that it comes with a 2-year warranty. Reviews for this product say it does not keep your coffee as hot as it claims. However, if you contact them, the seller quickly replaces a broken or unsatisfactory carafe.
Overall the reviews for this carafe are good. With the added trust of others, I recommend this carafe to keep your coffee hot for as long as possible.
Most Stylish: Moroccan Styled Thermal Carafe
Though this Morrocan-styled carafe might not be the biggest, it is a wonder to behold. This carafe is a must-have if you have a white and gold-themed kitchen or coffee set. This carafe will keep your coffee warm and allow you to amaze guests simultaneously.
This glass, vacuum insulated carafe claims to keep your coffee warm for up to 12 hours and should also keep your cold brew cold for up to 24 hours. With a maximum liquid capacity of 32 ounces, you might not be able to serve too many people, but that might be better as bustling guests might cause the carafe to fall and break.
Though this carafe’s manufacturing material is not the most durable, it is truly the most stylish carafe you can have. The intricate design on the outside of the carafe is a golden color providing the perfect contrast with the white glass used for the rest of the carafe.
Best For Groups: Cresimo Airpot Carafe
If you regularly have large numbers of guests over or just don’t want to serve everyone individually, I recommend you purchase the Cresimo Airpot Carafe. With the pump-action pouring spout, all of your guests can quickly get coffee in no time while you sit and relax.
Not only is this carafe one of the easiest to use, but it also claims to keep your coffee’s temperature for up to 12 hours. Your coffee can stay hot in this carafe due to the combination of the stainless steel casing and the vacuum insulation technology used.
There is no need to brew more coffee either, seeing as the maximum capacity of this easy-to-use carafe is 101 ounces. The amount of liquid you can keep warm in this carafe means that you can brew coffee once and serve plenty of people before having to refill it.
This carafe also comes with a lifetime warranty, meaning that even if you receive a factory dud, you will have a replacement in hand very quickly. The primary manufacturing material for this carafe is stainless steel, ensuring high quality and durability enough to withstand the pressures of daily use.
This carafe is also double-walled to keep users from burning themselves when touching the stainless steel.
Reviews for the Cresimo Airpot carafe are mostly positive, though some customers say it is tricky to clean after using it.
Whether you are using this carafe at work or entertaining guests, I do not believe you will be disappointed with your purchase. The ease of use and the amount of coffee it can hold alone make this a great carafe.
Honorable Mention: Zojirushi SH-HC10NU
The Zojirushi SH-HC10NU is a brilliant and good-looking carafe like other carafes on this list. Paired with a dripper such as the Hario V60, this carafe will satisfy the needs of any coffee enthusiast looking to keep their drip coffee warm for a long time. By removing the cap of this carafe, you provide the perfect stand for a dripper.
Though the manufacturer does not say how long this carafe can keep your coffee warm, some reviews claim it can retain your coffee’s heat for up to a full day. This impressive feat is due to using vacuum insulation paired with a double wall and adding copper or aluminum foil between the walls.
There are three options for the size of this carafe, including 34 and 51 ounces. And there are also five different colors from which you can choose. The product page of this carafe claims that it is unbreakable because it is primarily made of stainless steel, though the plastic parts might break if the carafe falls.
According to the manufacturer’s website, this carafe comes with a 5-year warranty for this product’s “stainless steel vacuum heat retention” feature. However, some customers have had trouble getting refunds or replacements.
What To Look For
- Temperature Retention Time: One of the essential features of a carafe is to contain the temperature of a beverage. Temperature retention allows you to keep your coffee warm of your other drinks cold. Buying a carafe that does not keep your beverage at the temperature you want will ultimately cause you to be unhappy with the product.
- Maximum Capacity: If you are looking to take your carafe with you on the road or to work, you will need a big container to last you a while. If you end up purchasing a carafe that is too small to hold the right amount of your preferred beverage, you will have to spend more time brewing and less time enjoying it.
- Personal Needs: There are a variety of unique needs that need fulfillment for you to consider the product to be good. One of these personal requirements is the carafe’s style or look. If you are looking to make people do a double-take to stare at your beautiful or elegantly designed carafe, this is something you need to consider before your purchase.
- Warranty: It is always essential to ensure a warranty comes with the product you buy. Even when a manufacturer is known for selling only high-quality products, there is still the chance of getting a factory dud. The easiest way to ensure that you can keep using your carafe for the foreseeable future is to make sure it comes with a warranty.
- Manufacturing Materials: Whether you use your carafe for traveling or home use, the container’s material plays a big part in the quality. Cheaper products tend to come with lower-quality components. It is also good to measure the materials used for your needs. For example, it is probably not the best idea to travel with a glass carafe that can break easily.
- Other Reviews: Though some people will rate a product poorly just for the fun of it, reviews left by others are essential to ensuring you get a product you enjoy using. If a carafe comes with overwhelmingly bad reviews or reviews with recurring issues, you should consider this before purchasing.
Sometimes reviews can even include parts that regularly break, allowing you to choose a different product or buy replacement parts beforehand.
Conclusion
Whether you want to use your carafe for traveling, hosting parties, or even to fuel your work drive, there is a carafe suited to you. It is essential to remember that you should always research a product before buying it to ensure it fits your preferences. If you find a carafe that seems too good to be true, don’t forget the look at the reviews first.
