Ninja Fresh Brew Coffee Maker, 12 Cup Glass Carafe, Stainless Steel, CE251

I got this coffee maker a little over 2 years ago, mainly because of its aesthetics, specifically the design and layout were visually pleasing to me compared to other coffee makers. Also all my appliances are black and stainless. On the two cup setting, it takes about 6 minutes to brew. When it's done the coffee is really hot, and I have to wait about 5 minutes before drinking it, or drop in an ice cube and I can start drinking in about 30 seconds to a minute. I found a combination of things with this coffee maker that turns a good cup of coffee into a great one. The ninja branded measuring spoon that comes with it is more important than you might think. They've literally hit the nail on the head regarding the exact amount of coffee grounds that should be used. It's very simple, one flat scoop for every standard size cup of coffee you want, and remember the word flat. Also there's markers on the water tank so scoops and water match up. I personally found if I use a flat scoop of coffee grounds, not letting the coffee grounds be higher than that, it tastes perfect every time for me. So I would say that's a huge key to a great cup of coffee on this device. Next up, paper filters improved the taste significantly! The goldish mesh metal filter that comes in the box does not filter out all the coffee grounds. I even tried other brands of metal filters to see if they improved that, but it didn't. You will likely have some coffee grounds in the bottom of your coffee cup if you stick with the included metal reusable filter. At first I didn't think it was very many coffee grounds, but then one day I immediately poured the coffee into a glass after brewing it. Then I held the glass above my head and shined a flashlight at the bottom, and there were a lot more grounds that I saw that way, than when I was getting close to finishing a cup of coffee. Meaning, I was likely swallowing a lot of grounds and would have never known that. So I stopped using the Ninja metal filter and started buying and trying #4 cone paper filters and that did 4 things. 1. No more coffee grounds in my coffee cup. 2. No more upset stomach after drinking coffee. 3. The oily stuff that kind of floated to the top of the coffee was gone. 4. The taste of the coffee significantly improved. I would strongly suggest trying a box of paper filters to see if it improves the taste for you. Do not attempt to use a paper filter and the mesh filter at the same time. I tried that once and it significantly reduces the flow of the coffee out of the filter area. This causes the water to build up in that filter area and overflow from there on to your countertop. In closing, this is a good coffee maker, but if you use flat scoops, a good brand of paper filters, and purified water, I think those might be the keys to turning a good cup of coffee into a great one.

I've owned this coffee maker over a month now and love it. Intuitive-to-operate controls and a very attractive appearance are among its virtues. Of course, hot water dripping over coffee grinds isn't rocket science and is something most coffee makers do comparably well, and the Ninja likewise makes excellent-tasting coffee. Other reviews were mildly critical of the "sneak a cup" functionality, but I've found it on par with that of my last two coffee makers (Krups and Cuisinart). Yes, a couple of drops of coffee will still splash on the hot plate while you pull the carafe out, but I've never used or seen a pot yet that didn't do that, and the spring mechanism on this carafe is at least as robust as any I've seen on other coffee makers. Where this pot really shines is in the clear, detachable water reservoir. That obviously offers you the (completely?) unique option of detaching the tank to fill it over the sink before brewing, which I've done a few times and anticipated doing regularly. Frankly, however, I find it unnecessary because the reservoir itself provides an unusually large opening/target for pouring directly from my filtered water pitcher. But there are other benefits to the reservoir design, including the fact that it allows you to easily monitor the conditions inside . . . i.e., when the moist environment inevitably leads to mildew, you will know it (and, because the reservoir is transparent to any ambient sunlight, mold/mildew should theoretically take longer to manifest in many kitchens.) More importantly, you'll be able to easily clean the reservoir in a sink of hot soapy water (with a little bleach) without repeated electric cleaning and rinse cycles for the whole brewer, followed by awkward attempts to wipe the nooks and crannies of the integral, typically black reservoir with a white paper towel to see if any undesirable residues remain. But perhaps the greatest advantage of this design is in what it will save you if you should *ahem* forget to put your carafe in place before you hit "brew." I've only done this twice in my life but, ironically, both times occurred within the last six weeks: once with my last Krups pot and once with this new Ninja. (Put aside for the moment what such forgetfulness might be saying about me.:-) At the very least, I gained valuable, first-hand experience in how the Ninja's design saved my a$$ while the typical integral design on the Krups resulted in a ruined coffee maker, which prompted my purchase of the Ninja in the first place.) When you fail to put the carafe under the filter spout on a coffee maker that offers the increasingly ubiquitous "sneak a cup" feature, the spring mechanism on the filter holder is never engaged and the water that's dripping down over your grinds to make coffee is never given proper egress below. So your mistake may go unnoticed for quite some time since you won't hear the kind of gushing and sizzling sound that an older model without the sneak a cup feature would produce when dripping coffee is merrily dispensing and burning on the naked hotplate below. Instead, the water stays in the filter holder, eventually having nowhere to go but over the sides, which, on the vast majority of drip coffee makers, means that the brewed coffee--complete with floating grinds--will spill over and back into the reservoir itself. That is exactly what happened to my Krups, and, despite hours of repeated cleaning cycles and an aborted effort to dismantle the innards, I realized the pot was shot (no pun intended) and would never process water properly through its (clogged) pump pathway again. Enter the Ninja. After making delicious coffee for a week or so, I, once again, got distracted by something (probably my Yorkie yapping to get out for a morning pee) and neglected to actually seat the carafe on the coffee maker before hitting brew. When I got back in, I noticed the problem just before the brewing coffee was about to overflow the filter holder. The difference was, even had I been a bit later, I would have only had to deal with a messy countertop and not a ruined $80+ coffee maker. In other words, if the Ninja coffee filter overflows, the brewed coffee will NOT go back into the reservoir because the latter is physically higher and isolated from the former in a way that would not permit that. So, should you repeat my negligence, you will hear coffee suddenly dripping on your hotplate and counter top, but you won't have to buy a new coffee maker. The only "negative" to the pot is that the carafe lid does not flip up via the common thumb depression above the handle. You have to slide/turn it to remove, which is more easily done with two hands. But this is a very, very minor ding in my view and not worth deducting a star for an otherwise very well-designed, highly practical, and elegant-looking appliance.

As a parent who needs coffee asap as possible in the mornings, I cannot emphasize how much I love this. It is so fast, easy to program, simple to use and clean, and brews a good cup of coffee - no burnt taste. The side handle for the scoop is really handy, and I love that the water reservoir can come off. The lid on the carafe is a very light plastic and I am not sure how long it will hold up, but overall I am very happy with this. After about 10 years with a beloved Cuisinart that went to coffee maker heaven recently, I was curious to try a new drip maker and I'm glad I gave this one a whirl!

I got this Ninja Coffee Maker to replace my old very old reliable Mr Coffee and I absolutely love it! 1) very easy to fill the water with removable water tank 2) temperature control is perfectly hot 3) filter is replaceable and inside a easy to clean holder and very easy to remove and clean out 4) carafe has the perfect design with no spillage and locks in place too 5) so much value to for the sale price of $69!

. I searched for a long time for a machine Apparently, no drip is great. I looked at the most expensive, top names, went through all the reviews, and all of them were terrible. Of course some people loved them. So it’s what kept me from buying an overpriced coffee maker that I would find mediocre. I’m a coffee snob. I use French press, being my favorite, have the chimex pour over, and percolator. Now the percolator makes pretty good coffee and I have a big one. Just takes a long time. I have a Moka pot too. Which I love. I drink a lot of coffee and the others were just getting to be a pain to clean. They are actually extremely easily but some days I just want to press a button. Or wake up and coffee made so I’m not running around like a psycho getting my kid to school. So, I love my coffee. It came quick, easy to take out, set up. Cleaned the water base with soap, water, rag like it says. Then ran a cycle of water. Someone complained how long this took to make. It brews pretty fast. My single keireg takes longer and drips all over 🙃. So I make my first pot. The small one. I’m not sure if the robust button works The light didn’t seem to go on when I pressed it messing around. That will be what I use. So I made a classic small cup. It’s ok. But I’m also not used to machine. But I do use kuereg. I’d say probably the same. It’s not bad. I hate that all coffee makers are all made with plastic. Even the ones that say they don’t. There is plastic somewhere in there. Maybe less. Tomorrow I’m goin to try the stringer brew. So I will be updating the difference. If it’s so so, then I may just make a moka pot daily, and just pour that in for more volume and flavor. I think if you like pour over coffee you may like this more than me. Tastes closer to that than my French press or moka. Maybe the same as my kerug. I’ll update tomorrow Update: I went to 4 stars. I used the rich button to brew. It was nice to have it ready in the am. I must say this makes a pretty good cup of coffee. The temperature of coffee is perfect. Definitely better than kuerig. Pods are terrible. Even if I use my own coffee with reusable cup. So being a person that uses French press, moka pot, also percolator. I’ve done pour over also. French press being my favorite along moka pot. Nothing can beat making coffee that way. It will always be better. So for that reason only I take a star off. This is a good drip machine. I’m happy I didn’t waste money on an expensive machine. I read review after review. And since nothing will ever compare to making it the old school way, this machine does a great job. An espresso machine may be a good buy. But I wanted a drip machine that I can program the night before and didn’t need much cleaning after bc I drink a lot of coffee. Not that it’s difficult rinsing the others out. But I’m lazy sometimes. So I’m definitely a coffee snob. Every machine even the expensive ones have plastic parts. So I’m happy with this purchase. I’m hoping it lasts, so when issues come up I will edit. I would like to get a good 10 years if not more out of this machine. I prefer to never have to buy one ever again. But things are made to not last unfortunately. So I expect this to last at least 10. It’s not asking much. So will see

My last coffee maker was a "premium" brand — three of them, actually, over six years, none making it past three years. When the latest one died, I had exactly two days of patience left before I needed a replacement, so I grabbed this one based on our family's good experience with Shark/Ninja products being reliable long-term. First impressions out of the box were mixed. The removable water tank and its lid feel like lightweight, cheap plastic — not the sturdier, higher-impact plastic I was used to. The lid especially isn't hinged or attached in any way, so it's a little awkward to get on and off, especially before I've had coffee. The carafe glass is thinner than my old machine's, and it doesn't have cup-line markings, which turned out to bug me more than expected since I like to glance and see how much is left. None of that matters once the coffee's actually made. It's hot, it stays hot, and — I genuinely didn't expect this — it tastes better than what my more expensive machine produced. The "Rich" brew setting gives a noticeably stronger cup without needing extra grounds, which matters if you go through coffee as fast as we do. I can't speak to long-term durability yet since I've only had it two weeks, and that's exactly where my last coffee maker let me down repeatedly. But replacement parts look easy to find if that becomes an issue down the road. For now: better tasting, hotter coffee, at a lower price than what I paid before. That's the part that actually matters to me, and it's why this is a 5-star review despite the cheaper feel of the hardware. This is standalone and Amazon-appropriate — no links, no brand mentions, no outside references, just the product experience. Want me to also trim it down further for Amazon's shorter-review norm, or is this length good?

Edit: I have to return. It doesn’t do small batches consistently. Sometimes it will only brew half a cups worth out of 2-4 cups of water. Even with the small batch button turned on. It’s good if you want to make larger batches. I want to say, I bought this to replace my Bonavita. I like it so far. It makes excellent coffee. Every cup has been so, so good. The machine itself is pretty large. If you have small counter tops then it might be too big. Everything else is quite nice for this price point. I love that the water is on the side and It comes unattached, so there’s no water mess on the counter. I won’t lie, I can’t tell a difference between the classic and rich setting. I’m not sure what goes into making the coffee rich, but it has tasted the same to me. If your ground/water ratio is right then it comes out rich regardless. Every time I’ve made coffee with this machine, my day has felt a little better. It’s worth it!

UPDATE: For our second brew, I ran it on "Classic" instead of "Rich". I really was a significantly superior brew. It tasted good with the old machine, but really fine with this one. Now after over a week of use- it's a consistent result every day, and a cup of coffee is, indeed, superior with this machine and all else being equal. I found another issue, though. There's a gap between the back of the carafe lid and the handle. Steam escapes there, and it gets very hot. I have fairly large hands and I tend to put my thumb there. I have gotten burned a couple of times. It's painful but not long lasting. It's not the steam alone, but the fact that the little bit of steam heats the material for the entire brew time plus serving time. Cleaning is getting burdensome. The carafe needs a re-design. I got this to replace (?) a very basic Mr. Coffee that is about 5 years old, that is one of my favorite examples of design. It's as simple as can be: an on/off switch and a carafe that is capacious and very easy and fast to clean. It has very few right angle areas that would make it hard to clean. (They have changed the design since we bought it, and not for the better.) It still works. This Ninja is nice, and the filter basket will barely sit on the scale while I weigh the grounds into it, but it's going to tip over, and often. Once the coffee is made, you can't pour all of it from the carafe, because the plastic rim extends around the edge and into the lip, and it has a square edge. The lid of the carafe, has a strange pipe that extends to near the bottom of the pot. Why? You'd have to use a round brush to clean it well. I've made one pot of coffee so far. I used the rich setting. My wife liked it, but I thought it was much more bitter than yesterday's coffee. It was visibly darker (remember, I weigh the grounds, so that's constant). I found the liquid measure to be the same as the coffee make we've been using. Tomorrow I will try the "classic" setting. I don't really need another clock to set, or a timer, or really any of the features this sports beyond "on/off". I will also mention that the reservoir works well. But it's clear plastic. So with our regular water, it will get mineral spots (and it's virtually impossible to clean with all the strange grooves and right angles). So we have to use distilled water. I like a spotless kitchen. (The reservoir in the old one doesn't need hand cleaning because it's mostly black plastic with a frosted window to gauge water level. It much much easier to see the water level with this Ninja, though.)