Ninja - Coffee Bar Brewer with Glass Carafe - Stainless Steel/Black

First let me say that I drink a lot of coffee, and I hate the Keurig. It's convenient, and it's very popular right now, which makes me wonder if most people just like weak, carelessly jet-blast brewed coffee in small quantities these days. (Starbucks and good coffee from fast food places is also very popular, so maybe people are just resigned to enjoy easy mediocre coffee until they get out the door). For years we found the best of both worlds by sticking to regular drip-brewed coffee from a coffee maker that could brew both a pot of coffee or a single cup, but there were still the drawbacks of burnt coffee from sitting on the warming plate or poorly measured water. Drip brewed coffee is just a slower version of the Keurig process anyway, so the coffee is a lot better, but not perfect. We finally achieved the best cup of coffee we've had at home by switching to a whole new brewing process. Heat the water to a precise temperature, soak the coffee grinds for a while before brewing the coffee through lab-grade filter paper and then serve before it cools down. (Using products from Chemex, which is not an electronic coffee maker. You would find this at World Market instead of Best Buy). This was the best cup of coffee, but quite a bit of work to do first thing in the morning. When I saw this Ninja coffee maker featured on BestBuy.com as a new product, I immediately recognized the laborious brewing process. They call it 'Auto-IQ' but it essentially is automating what we were doing by hand. A regular coffee maker will draw water from the reservoir through a one way valve and then boil it so that it rises up to where the coffee is and then drips down through to the pot. There's no control over anything until the water runs out. The Ninja draws the precise amount of water from the reservoir (like a Keurig) heats it to the right temperature (maybe like a Keurig), and then follows the process of wetting the grounds, waiting a while, and then brewing at just the right speed to get the coffee how you've selected it (most definitely not like a Keurig, like a Chemex). The filter basket on this Ninja has a more sophisticated drip stop than a normal coffee maker, and it's able to detect when you've closed the drip stop (so no spills, no overflowing), but I suspect that maybe it's able to control this itself to achieve higher concentrations of coffee for the special brew mode. The ninja also comes with a permanent coffee filter, and milk foamer. That's just pure additional value and with the included recipe book you can create some pretty fancy drinks with just a little extra effort and maybe a trip to the grocery store. That makes it more fun than just a simple pot or cup of good coffee. So did Ninja rip off Chemex? I don't know, this is just the most scientifically perfect way of brewing a good cup of coffee. The Chemex is a beautifully designed product which still stands proudly on our kitchen counter, but this Ninja brewer is quite a bit easier to get that first pot of coffee going on a busy weekday morning. How reliable is this coffee maker going to be? I can't say at this point. It's made us some good coffee, but it's only been a few days. We already own a Ninja blender and we trust the brand as being in the super-premium category of kitchen devices, but I didn't hesitate to purchase a Geek Squad extended warranty for this brand new product.

A good little versatile machine. The foot print is a little smaller than my Cuisinart coffee maker, which is a plus, but makes up for it in height. For filling the water reservoir, it can be removed and brought to the sink or your refrigerator water dispenser. It the locks back in place easily. No more slow pouring from the carafe or spillage into the basket. Thank you. A full pot is 43oz. Which is just under 9 cups compared to my Cuisinart coffee maker. But, let's face it, it's the one cup brew that's most intriguing. I don't care for the kcups, I think they taste stale and nasty. I want to use fresh ground coffee without the mess of a single serve filter. That is what's great about the Ninja Coffee Bar. You can use the permanent filter or paper filters your choice, with three brew settings. Classic, Rich and Specialty. The classic brew is a little too quick and yields less flavor from the grounds. but gives a smooth flavor to the coffee. Rich brew uses a little less water, but gets a better saturation. It yields a little bitterness, but just enough to remind you why you drink coffee. I would equate it to a French press brew. Close, but not quite. I haven't tried the specialty brew. I assume if you like to add a half a cup of milk or cream to your coffee it will taste good no matter what. It's a smart machine with easy to read display and control panel. A better choice over some other single serve machines.

This was a purchase to replace an average drip machine that replaced an over-the-hill single K-cup brewer. Wife was going to buy a nicer pot and I suggested the Ninja after an email from BB made me aware of the product and a deep discount to boot. Lots of options and positive press persuaded us to order . com and in store pick up. You will need to experiment to find the right grind but this coffee bar will make a great cup with a little patience. After the wife perfected her daily beans she made a weekend carafe and discovered the hot pad that should remain on for two hours shuts off. We tested a couple of pots and realized we had a defect after only a week. Going to Ninja's website revealed this was not an isolated issue but a number of complaints were logged. We exchanged at a different location, but found the same defect across two stores. Contacting support revealed another glitch in the second model: rep suggested we place more water than necessary for our setting, why that would make the warmer act differently is a mystery, but instead of drawing only the water needed for the selection as programmed it drained the overage as well, diluting the pot. This too was not always the case during our tests, but random, and of course provided no solution for the quirk we were troubleshooting. Even a lowly Mr Coffee is programmed to keep the deck warm for longer than 15-20 and manages to do so. Regrettably with the unpredictability documented by others on their support page as well, we elected to return the second unit. It is an ambitious coffee maker that seems to hold a few bugs. I will wait a year to see if a model refresh gets it right as this could be a wonderful product, but currently requires work arounds and indifference to it's flaws to remain on my counter. I do thank BB for allowing our first exchange w/o a box; we were sold on the unit and recycled our packaging before the problems crept up-- great customer service!

I did not know what to expect when I purchased the Ninja Coffee Bar as I have not had good luck with coffee makers. I have been using my Ninja Coffee Bar for one month and have been extremely happy! The unit fits well under my cupboard so I can utilize my counter space the way I like. The water reservoir comes out easily to be filled and reinserts just as easily. I really like how the cover flips up making it so easy to fill with water. The coffee filter is reusable, but I do not care much for the coffee ground mess so I prefer using paper filters which understandably slows down the brewing/pot fill process. I really like the design of the coffee filter section as it has a smart little clip that easily slides in the groove and into place on the coffee maker. I can slide this section out just far enough to remove the coffee filter for cleaning and adding coffee grounds. There are multiple selections for the amount of coffee I can choose to brew, which I love. I can make as little as a cup for before work...or a full pot for my days off. The warming plate has a 2hr auto turn off and I was so happy to learn there is a button to turn the warming plate back on. No other coffee maker I have owned had that feature. This unit has multiple brew options...I like strong coffee and this coffee maker delivers! If you like super strong coffee, the "Rich Brew" feature makes that happen...it is almost too strong for me. My husband loves the iced coffee that this unit makes, which was another reason that the Ninja Coffee Bar was so appealing to me. We no longer stop at our local coffee shop to get their iced coffee because the Ninja does such a good job. Overall, I am very happy with my Ninja Coffee Bar and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a coffee maker that makes great coffee!

It seems like it is impossible to get find a decent coffeemaker these days. I reviewed a lot of products before buying this on and to be honest, there were a lot of negative reviews about the Ninja coffee bar. I like the stated feature of being able to select either a cup, travel mug, half carafe, or full carafe. Although I typically don't drink fancy coffee, I like the idea of also being able to brew ice coffee. I was hoping that the negative reviews of the product were not accurate. Boy was I wrong, the bad reviews were spot on! It was impossible to consistently brew a decent cup of coffee, because the coffeemaker was so inconsistent in how much water it would use. I had this product for a month, trying to figure out how much water I needed to use to brief a cup and a travel mug. I still do not know. One day, if you put 16 oz in, only 12 oz came out. If you put in 12 oz, you might get 14 oz out. It changed every time I brewed coffee. I wondered where all the "extra" water went. I thought maybe it evaporated away in the process of brewing the coffee. Nope! When I was packing this back up to take back, I turned over the unit and shock it about. I found all the extra water. It was somehow trapped inside the unit. Don't believe the positive reviews. The negative reviews were more realistic in my opinion. I am now faced with trying to find a decent coffee maker.

Overall, my biggest thing is, it's a very noisy pot. When a regular pot of coffee is brewing and nears the end of the water, that sound gets louder-that's the sound from beginning to end that this pot makes. When i set the timer in the morning, i like to wake up to a fresh pot. But with this pot i am waken up by it, and now waiting for a fresh pot to finish. In terms of flavor i say is average. In terms of cleaning, if you don't put everything in the dishwasher and you hand wash things, you cannot stick a sponge and wash this pot. You will need one of those sponge on a stick because the opening is so small. In terms of making specialty cups of coffee, it's fine- if you like to waste paper cone filters for each cup you are brewing. Yes you can make a pot, but mom wants a dark hot coffee, dad wants a iced coffee, husband wants an espresso style etc...you need to switch out the cone filter for each one. This is what i didn't think about when purchasing. The frother is nice but i followed the instructions with the warm milk, but can't seem to get it right. With the cold milk it's fine. If it's the fancy cappuccino or latte style that is pulling you to purchase, you may want to get the regular pot and get a nice frother. For the price i do not think it's worth it. I enjoyed my Cuisinart with the hot water on the side much better and less money. If you are an occasional coffee drinker or don't have many guests who have special requests, this pot may be ok for you, but for me i hate using an entire paper cone just for a cup for myself so for now my keurig is still on the counter.

So before upgrading (Yes, I definitely am using the term "upgrading") to this wonderful device, I spent my mornings making coffee using an oh-so-convenient Keurig coffee maker. However, I grew tired of drinking watered down coffee that was being produced by my particular unit as well as spending the money on expensive pods. I tried to switch to a custom pod, but only found it to be even more watered own no matter how finely I grinded the beans. I dealt with it for quite a while before I stumbled upon a Black Friday deal on this particular coffee maker, and boy what a morning-changing discovery it was. I couldn't be happier with the coffee this device produces. Furthermore, I really appreciate the way it saturates the grounds before running the main cycle. I also appreciate how you can choose how strong you want your coffee, and that it works the way you'd think it would. Finally, I love the included frother which came with it, which I use to make some delicious desert coffees. Then only issue I've had is that my very first cleaning (as the manual suggest you do before the first use) the Carafe cracked from below the handle to the base. My wife called Ninja and they sent a new one promptly. In the mean time, I used the single serve option which I continue to use every morning before work. Highly recommend.

I was torn between this and Kuerig, but decided to go with the Ninja because it was on sale and it does both hot and cold drinks. It has been worth the cost. I love the drink making book that comes along with this maker for iced drinks, but it also has many hot drinks as well. The model I purchased comes with a glass carafe, which I wish was insulated, but that comes with the higher end model. I wish it was universally insulated for the price point, but it is not. I would like to have it, but I couldn't justify in my mind the extra cost to keep coffee hot vs just brewing what I need each time. The maker does have a warming plate though, so that helps. It also comes with an apparatus to foam milk to mix with/top off coffee, The timer is nice as well. I really like the smart IQ system that accounts for melting ice when brewing the iced drink. It keeps it from tasting watered down for the entire beverage. The only thing I am not a fan of is the size they used for a travel mug. I am sure how many OZs each setting makes are buried somewhere in the manual, but it should be printed on the front of the machine next to its respective setting illustration. For all the travel mugs I have, the travel mug setting only fills them about 2/3rds full. I then have to brew a cup size to top off the travel mug, but then it makes too much. I've just started to brew half a carafe and then filling the mug on the way out the door from that, but it does waste some coffee. Small price to pay I guess.