For a modest $140, the Ninja Coffee Bar serves great-tasting coffee in multiple brewing styles and in a range of different sizes.
The Ninja brand of kitchen blenders is known for packing in features at a relatively low price. Euro-pro, the company behind Ninja, hopes to bring the same formula to drip coffee brewers. Its new $140 Ninja Coffee Bar sticks to this proven strategy. Hitting US shores first but with future plans for the UK market and costing much less than its gourmet competition, the machine still offers a ton of useful brewing modes plus the flexibility to handle various drink sizes at the flip of a switch.
Six brewing sizes: The brewer can yield a cup (9.5 ounces), XL cup (11.5 ounces), travel mug (14 ounces), XL multi-serve (18 ounces), half-carafe (30 ounces), and full carafe (44 ounces).
A most flexible brewer
In a similar approach to Brevilles YouBrew machine, the Ninja Coffee Bar offers multiple brewing modes designed to suit your personal tastes and the style of beverage you prefer. For instance hitting a “classic brew” button tells the machine to create a drink with, “smooth and balanced flavor” or in other words basic drip.
Likewise the product manual promises that a key labeled “rich brew” will yield java thats “richer than classic brew but still smooth.” The idea here is coffee that has enough flavor to stand up to milk, sugar, and other condiments.
The most potent option the Coffee Bar provides is a “specialty brew” mode which whips up concentrated coffee liquid thats made to form the building blocks of espresso-based specialty beverages like cappuccinos, flat whites and lattes. To that end, bundled with the Coffee Bar is a frother accessory built to manually aerate its contents into milk foam.
When the weather gets too hot to handle, the Ninja has a dedicated “over ice brew” function as well. Essentially you fill up the Coffee Bars carafe to the brim with large ice cubes, add grounds and water as you would normally, and the machine will take care of the rest.
The water temperature gets very hot but it’s unclear what the top temperature actually is. The included literature doesn’t say. Optimal brewing temperature is 195-205 depending on your coffee origin, blend, and roast. Different roast levels can benefit from different temperatures and this does not adjust accordingly.
The coffee filter basket has a drip-stop feature that allows you to pour a cup before the pot is complete. However, I don’t recommend it because it weakens the flavor of the rest of the batch and nobody likes watery tasting weak coffee.
When using traditional brewers I like to use this coffee – water ratio card so I always know how much coffee to use. I usually weigh my coffee because I have the OXO burr grinder that has an integrated scale. Weighing coffee is more accurate than scoops and this grinder makes it so easy!
If you are someone who can work within the size options given, and just want to be given a formula and follow it, then this machine is easy and it makes good coffee. It may be the perfect brewer for you!
As someone who likes to control details, you want to weigh your coffee, brew a specific number of ounces at a specific flow rate and control the brewing temperature. If this is you, this coffee maker may be too simplistic for you.
Ninja CE251 12 Cup Coffee Brewer – Perfect cup of coffee every time! Amazon Quick Review
FAQ
What size is the Ninja coffee scoop?
How much coffee is in a Ninja?
How many ounces is my 12 cup coffee maker?
How many ounces is a travel size Ninja?
How many ounces of coffee can a ninja brew?
The Specialty Brew setting will produce 4 ounces of concentrated coffee. This is the smallest cup of coffee you can brew using the Ninja Coffee Bar. Another concentrated option is the Cafe Forte setting, which will brew 8 ounces of strong coffee.
How many coffees can one have in a day?
Specialists recommend for the general population have 3 cups of coffee per day. Caffeine at high levels can have side effects on your health. Some of these effects can be insomnia, headache, and irritability.
How many cups does a ninja specialty coffee maker have?
The Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker offers six brew sizes: standard cup, XL cup, travel mug, XL multi-serve travel mug, half carafe (five cups), and full carafe (10 cups), which matches the slightly more expensive Hot & Cold model. There are also two brew strength options; ‘classic ‘ and ‘rich.’
How much ground coffee does a ninja coffee scoop hold?
So, in a nutshell, the big scoop holds two tablespoons of ground coffee, while the small scoop holds one tablespoon of ground coffee. How Accurate Is The Ninja Coffee Scoop? The Ninja coffee scoop is designed to be as accurate as possible.