Ratio Six Coffee Maker Review: Is It As Modern As It Looks?

Looking for a coffee machine that will brighten your morning? Join the club. I used to regularly visit the nearest coffee shops for that perfect cuppa in the morning. But I soon discovered that smelling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee at your home is what everyone deserves. So I began the quest.

Ratio Six Coffee Maker is on the list, and it seems like it hits all the bells and whistles: it’s modern and elegant and can make your kitchen look fancy. Is that all there is?

In this article, we examine the main features of Ratio Six and answer whether it works as promised.

Summary: The Ratio Six Coffee Maker

• Compatible with multiple filters, baskets, and carafes
  
• SCA-certified Home Brewer
  
• High-quality materials with a 5-year warranty

The calibre of coffee this can consistently deliver is fantastic…delicious cups day in and day out.

– D. Tran, Ratio Six owner

CLICK TO CHECK PRICE

The Ratio Six Coffee Maker Review

Ratio released their Ratio Six in 2012. This coffee machine has a classic modern design and similar functions to the Ratio Eight coffee maker. It also has a slightly different approach to brewing. Only a decent number of brewers earn the Specialty Coffee Association tick and Ratio Six is one of them.

But is Ratio Six worth it? It certainly has robust features, such as one-button convenience and a completely enclosed brewing chamber that helps you make a hot coffee. Let’s look at more aspects that make this coffee maker such a great machine.

Ratio Six Coffee Maker UK Review

• Design
• Features
• Ease Of Use
• Value For Money

4.3

• CLICK TO CHECK PRICE

Design – 5/5

There’s no beating around the bush on this one: the Ratio Six Coffee Maker looks fantastic. No matter which of the three colours you decide on getting, you’ll have a gorgeous and sleek-looking machine. The curves and edges all look modern, and even the often poorly designed water tank fits the aesthetic. And with these colour options, you’ll surely find the combo that matches your kitchen design.

Classic Matte Black

There’s a classic matte black and no separate trim with the matte black finish. This model offers the most timeless look. It isn’t a loud design, doesn’t take up much space, and won’t be a focal point of your counter.

White (+Black Accents)

The opposite white colour with a matte black trim makes this model stand out a bit more than the previous model. The trim is only around the thermal carafe and the filter basket, and it fits perfectly with a kitchen with a brighter atmosphere or a white theme. But keep in mind that white coffee makers are harder to keep clean.

Matte Stainless Steel (+White Accents)

The matte stainless steel option is the most industrial and the most versatile. Or rather, where industrial meets a hyper-modern style. There’s still a matte black trim around the handle of the thermal carafe and the filter basket, but the rest is matte stainless steel.

It makes no sense to have a coffee maker that looks good but lacks usability. Remember what Steve Jobs said? “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Luckily for us, Ratio Six delivers on that front, too. It’s made with precision-stamped stainless steel, BPA-free copolymers, and some glass if you opt for the glass carafe instead of the thermal carafe.

The Water Tank

The water tank is an acceptable 1.3 litres, producing around 1.1 litres of coffee. The shower head is multi stream and much more efficient than one-stream older brewers, and it spreads out the water and evens out extraction. The unique heat shield keeps your coffee brewing at the ideal extraction temperature.

Dimensions

The entire machine doesn’t take up much room, either. It’s just over 36 cm tall and 34.5 cm deep. But it’s a pretty narrow 17.2 cm wide. That means it can easily slide into just about any space on your counter without much effort. The water tank isn’t removable and you don’t need to fill it from the top. So, if you like to keep your coffee makers under cabinets, just pull the entire machine out to fill the water tank.

Ratio Six gets full marks for the modern design that’s backed up by world-class coffee. It even has a Home Brewer Award from the Specialty Coffee Association.

Features – 4/5

Yes, the Ratio Six Coffee Machine might be the little brother to the Ratio Eight, but both have the same brewing capacity and similar features.

Carafe

Take the carafe, for example. You’ll get the standard thermal carafe and filter holder with flat-bottomed filters. But if you prefer a pour-over coffee style, you can switch out the carafe with the Ratio Eight glass carafe or the Ratio Eight thermal carafe. The glass is compatible with Chemex filters instead of flat ones. The other option is to buy the Ratio Eight Dripper and use that instead of the standard filter basket. And if you want to get fancy, you can even use Chemex paper filters in the Ratio Eight glass carafe to even further dial in your morning cup of coffee.

Heat Shield

The most advanced feature is the heat shield. It surrounds the shower head during brewing and ensures the perfect temperature throughout the brew cycle. The heat shield evens out extraction and keeps your coffee at just about 93 degrees Celsius. That said, some of us don’t like our coffee that hot when we drink it. With Ratio Six, you can remove the heat shield for a more open brew. Your coffee will still extract at the right temperature, but it will cool off faster for you to drink.

Water Tank

The only knock on the features side is the water tank. The size is great; at 1.3 L it’s big enough to make eight cups of coffee. But it’s the size of the top that’s not ideal. It’s just not big enough. You have to pour carefully when filling the water tank to ensure you don’t spill anywhere. And making your morning cup can be challenging. Still, the water tank is great. It’s accurate down to single ounces, which means you better control the amount of water that goes through your coffee grounds. Your brewing ratio doesn’t need to change with this machine (1).

Plus, you don’t have to brew eight cups at a time! You can brew as little as one cup of coffee with each brewing cycle. Regarding the single-cup brewing, you’ll need a minimum of 300 ml in the water tank to start a brew cycle. Using 300 ml of water will give you about 250 ml of brewed coffee.

Ease Of Use – 5/5

Delicious coffee is only really worth it if the automatic coffee maker is easy to use. So that begs the question: can anyone use Ratio Six? Yes, you don’t need to be an expert to brew great coffee.

Bloom Phase

Not every home brewer has a bloom phase! This phase is essential for producing a high-quality specialty cup of coffee at home. Blooming enhances extraction and influences a coffee’s flavour. The “Bloom” button is an easy-to-reach spot, making brewing super simple. Here is how:

1. Fill the water tank with the desired amount of water, with precision down to one ounce.
2. Fill the basket with coffee grounds to match the water, and press the button “Bloom”.

The brew cycle goes through a bloom phase, where the stainless steel shower head wets and evenly distributes moisture for your brew. That ensures that your coffee is pre-saturated and ready for the full brewing cycle.

Brew phase

The brew phase is where the bulk of the extraction happens. Consistent water temperature, a steady stream, and equal distribution are essential for a great cup of coffee.

The heating component in the Ratio 6 coffee maker keeps the water between 90 and 96 degrees Celsius. That’s the optimal temperature for coffee extraction and is also important for producing the best possible cup of coffee (2).

So, how long does Ratio Six take to brew?

Brewing a pot of coffee takes between 5 and 8 minutes. There’s a light on the front of the machine that tells you when your coffee is ready.

Cleaning and Maintenance

It is easy to maintain and clean Ratio Six. All you have to do is run a descaling cycle through your machine.

Ratio recommends a descaling cycle about once per month. Descaling keeps your machine running like new for a long time (3). Cleaning your carafe is as easy as giving it a rinse whenever you’re done brewing. None of the Ratio carafes are dishwasher safe, and they don’t need a deep clean, especially if you rinse them after each use.

With Ratio Six, you don’t need to know the ins and outs of coffee extraction to make a phenomenal cup. That’s why it gets full marks in this section. Keep in mind that you’ll have to figure out how much coffee to use per cup. However, the water tank is precise down to the ounce, so you can get exact regarding your brewing ratio.

Value For Money – 3/5

Let’s be honest: the machine is pretty expensive. But if a good cup of coffee is important to you and you want the simplest, most elegant, and most powerful machine with a little extra money, then Ratio Six is for you. On the other hand, if you want to save money, you can consider other SCA-certified home brewers.

In the manual for the machine, Ratio even mentions that multiple types of filters work just fine in the filter holder (4). The heat shield around the shower head is another nice touch that not many brewers have, but it still doesn’t fully explain the higher price tag.

The only feature that might turn the scale is the compatibility with pour-over drippers and the Ratio Eight carafes. However, if you want to use the Ratio Eight carafe on the Ratio Six, you’ll need to spend more to buy the carafe separately.

Plus, Ratio has a 5-year warranty on all its machines. But you shouldn’t have to warranty your machine because it’s built so well. And if you get a refurbished machine, you’ll still get a limited 2-year warranty instead. Ratio makes warranty claims easy; it’s still a small enough company to work directly with its customers.

Do Not Buy Ratio Six Coffee Maker If…

• You Need To Stay Under Budget: This is an expensive machine. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, we’d suggest taking a look at the Proctor Silex coffee machine.
• You Want A More Industrial Look: The classic diner-style design is sometimes preferable. If that sounds like you, consider the Technivorm Moccamaster. It’s a highly capable machine with many of the same features, including an SCA certification.
• You Need A Programmable Machine: We get it: you have a busy morning and don’t have time to make the coffee. The Ratio Six isn’t programmable, but the Wolf Gourmet coffee maker is a fully-programmable coffee maker that still makes excellent coffee. Why don’t you try it?

The Verdict

Ratio successfully delivered an incredibly modern coffee machine that delivers both brewing coffee and the design.

If it fits your budget, this coffee maker is one of the best options on the market. It makes such a great cup of coffee, and you can still customize your brewing style with different filters, baskets, and carafes.

It’s a great machine you’ll LOVE and brew with for many years.

CLICK TO CHECK PRICE