The popularity of smart coffee makers has been on the rise lately, and thanks to the development of the Alexa ecosystem, Wi-Fi connectivity technology, and the fact that the components needed to make the best coffee makers on the market are getting cheaper every year, we have finally entered the future

But what exactly is a smart coffee maker? Whether it's the simplest Cuisinart coffee maker or the most feature-rich espresso machine, they all essentially do the same job So what does the Internet of Things bring to the table?

The most obvious answer comes in the form of Alexa-enabled coffee makers Some coffeemakers are designed to be configured through a virtual assistant, such as the Echo Dot or a smartphone voice These coffeemakers generally come with a high price tag, but nothing compared to prices five years ago For example, certain coffeemakers from Hamilton Beach cost less than $100 on Amazon and can automatically set your morning routine and use the Alexa voice assistant to turn the coffeemaker on and off

Even cheaper are Wi-Fi enabled coffeemakers These machines do not have a built-in voice assistant, but rather come with their own smartphone app that allows the user to remotely adjust brewing settings, such as temperature and thickness, from their smartphone

These machines are designed to make enjoying your morning cup more convenient You can ask Alexa to turn off the coffeemaker when you leave the house, or schedule it so that your morning cup is ready when you get out of bed

If you really want to get technical, you could pair many of these devices with motion sensors to start the brewing process when you leave your bedroom or enter the kitchen at certain times of the day

It is also worth noting that the term "smart coffee maker" can also be applied to machines that automatically change their extraction presets based on the beverage being brewed For example, Nespresso's Vertuo Plus scans the bar code on top of each inserted capsule and adjusts the extraction temperature and timing accordingly

If smart brewers continue to drop in price over the next year, Wi-Fi enabled antics may join the most affordable inexpensive coffee makers like the Keurig machine But it may be a while before they take over the realm of professional baristas For now

Coffee makers still have some jobs that machines cannot do And for a convenient way to do so without the need for a smartphone app, take a look at the best Nespresso machines on the market today