Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As an auto brewing coffee pot: Pros -has a preinfusion/pre-wetting phase where it introduces hot water to the coffee then waits around 30 sec to actually begin the brew -has a nicely spread out shower head to hit MOST (but not all) of the grinds as it brews -easily select the amount of brewed coffee you want (takes a little while to dial in the coffee weight desired for each brew output): from single cup (20g coffe for me) all the way to full carafe (93g coffee for me) and lots of fun amounts in between -could easily replace a keurig AND a regular coffee maker for this one machine since it does both (but with freshly ground coffee, not plastic pods!) -easily add water to the coffee maker -reusable metal filter works great -the stay warm feature of the heating element under the full carafe can be turned on and off Cons -doesn’t brew at 195-205 degrees. Brews a little under that so slightly under extracted -no control over how much water goes over the grounds other than the selected brew amounts for each brew size (once you click the brew button you’re stuck with the pre-programmed volume variable). So, the only variable the user has control over is the amount of coffee you put in the filter at the beginning -it’s rather large and and may not fit under some people’s cabinets (Just measured: 14.75 inches tall, 11.5 inches wide) As an “espresso” maker: (yep, it tries to do this as well) Pros -the “espresso” “shot” actually tastes petty good -the “lattes” that come from this actually taste pretty good too -it’s does an ok job of “frothing” milk with the auto-frother on the side that stays hidden until you need it -overall, a fun way to begin to experience the world of cappuccinos and lattes to see if you’d ever want to go to the next level of actually getting a stand-alone espresso machine Cons -it’s not really espresso of course. Just a 4oz brew of whatever coffee you use -the frothing device does work, but you’ll need to heat your milk up in microwave first because the device doesn’t add any heat. It’s very similar to a frothing wand -this is not the machine’s strong point OVERALL: The ninja will never make better coffee than my electric gooseneck kettle and Kalita Wave pour-over brewer. My first cup of coffee every day is made that way. However, that’s a 7 min process. Mine and Dana’s second cup that we make every day is always made via the Ninja on the “XL multi serve” setting which makes a perfect amount for filling up two to-go yetis. It’s consistent, makes the perfect amount ever single time, and we’ve dialed in the preferred ratio of coffee/output for us. I love it as a convenient, consistent brewing device that can be tweaked to different factory-decided brew amounts on the fly. If someone needs a “do it all” type device- this is the one. If someone would rather have a coffee pot that makes an amazing carafe-full of coffee perfectly, at the right temp, every single time then I’d recommend the Bonavita. If someone wants to be able to brew different amounts, throw away their keurig in favor of using fresh coffee, throw away their old Mr Coffee, try “espresso”-type stuff just for fun, and have one machine to do it all rather adequately, I’d def recommend the Ninja.