Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker, Hot & Iced, 10-Cup Carafe

Decided finally that with the cost of pods and the limited selections, it was time to move on from my Nespresso Vertuo after many years, but having the ability to make single serves was mandatory. Granted, scooping into a filter, then quick rinsing for additional cups, is not as easy as inserting a pod, but doing so isn’t the end of the world. What drew me to the Ninja, besides the very attractive price, was the flip down holder for a single serve, the choice of several cup/container sizes, and that most times not having to even use the carafe. As with other Ninja products, this one came nicely packaged, appears soldily made, and the controls are easy and intuitive. The quality of the brew of course is directly related to the quality of the coffee used, but a good brand provides an excellent taste. I like LaVazza and the result is similar to what you get in hotels and cafes in Italy. The only down side is there’s no espresso size. However, the frother is easy to use and doesn’t require flushing a line. Speaking of flushing, having read comments about a plastic taste, I flushed the machine three times instead of the recommended once. No plastic taste at all. Finally, it has a kind of 50s retro look which is nice. So well worth it overall.

Yes, I waited 2.5 years to write a review on this. I still vividly remember the excitement of it delivering from Amazon and firing it up, and it’s been all good memories since then. To start, we are replacing it due to it not functioning correctly anymore. Will try a hail-mary by doing a cleaning cycle tonight, but don’t have high hopes. The issue is that the coffee keeps dripping and dripping far beyond the time the Ninja beeps that it is done. It’s been doing this for about nine months or so. It was something we learned to live with, but now the water is actually backing up in the drip basket for some reason. We have not been able to find a clog. I think it has to do with the way the water is coming out of the top during the brew cycle. Yes, I did regular cleanings with vinegar as instructed in the manual (but we have soft water anyway.)

Additional small issue: at some point our burner plate got scratched up. We never used abrasives to clean it, so I think this was due to knocking into the plate with the Yetis sometimes. If you are careful you can learn from our mistake. We don’t have a ton of surface area that’s scratched, but it still sucks.

FYI: we never used the frother even once so I can’t speak to how it works. We also didn’t ever use the Delay function to have coffee waiting at the time of wake-up.

This is a very cool-looking coffee machine to have on your coffee bar or countertop. The foldaway cup holder not only looks cool, it’s functional to stop splashing when you are brewing a single or double mug. We didn’t use it this way often; but it worked well.

Half the time we were brewing the XL travel size into a Yeti using Classic mode, a quarter of the time we were brewing a half-carafe using Classic mode and it would stay on Keep Warm for two hours, and a quarter of the time I was brewing an Iced coffee into a Yeti. Every so often I’d use the specialty brew to make the Iced Coconut Chai Coffee recipe in the book (highly recommended!) All functions worked well and made delicious coffee.

The benefits (besides it being so nice-looking) was the removable water reservoir, being able to make both hot and iced coffee, the durability of using it nearly daily for over two years, and the simple fact that it made GOOD coffee. I personally would recommend this to others, as I think it lasted a perfectly respectable amount of time. Just make sure to care for it the way it should be (with regular cleanings.) Now the tough part– replace this with the same model, or get the CM371 which has a Cold Brew function that has replaced the Specialty brew…?

I wouldn’t say this machine blows me away with flavor, but it does make a cup of coffee superior to your basic cheap drip machines. Those machines excessively heat the water which makes a more bitter cup. I believe this brews at a slightly lower temperature.

The feature on this are nice. The removable water tank is really convenient. I always spilled water on my old coffee maker pouring a potful of water in. It’s also easy to clean. The delay setting is easy to program and setup. I use it almost every morning.

I haven’t really used many of the specialty brewing types yet, I generally just do a half or full carafe on rich. I did use the over ice function today and while I was expecting it to be sort of bitter, it came out very tasty and smooth. I have yet to use the frother so I have no opinion on it.

It took me a while to spend this much on a coffee machine, but I have been very satisfied with it. Why not spend a little more on an item you use every day?

I love this coffee maker! So many options in one machine. The specialty coffee with frothed milk is a fav. Easy to use and clean.