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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,967
Registered: ‎08-12-2010

Josea, I would definitely try another coffee.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 162
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@esmerelda wrote:

About the glass vs. thermal carafe...

 

I think one of the "bells/whistles" on this item is that the heat source keeps the coffee in the pot at "just right" temperature based on volume, which I guess has something to do with weight.

 

So unless both carafes weigh the same, it seems like that feature would be negated.

 

Any info on weight of the different containers?

 

I'm waiting for the right price on this too. 


 

Esme, I ordered the version with the stainless carafe and the heat source/warming plate is non-existent. The heating plate only comes on the version with the glass carafe. So as you drink coffee from the glass carafe and the weight goes down, I guess the heat must automatially lower to compensate for it. After discovering this I think I'm going to return the stainless carafe version and get the glass one instead. I only drink a couple cups a day so I'm using the single cup feature, but my husband says the stainless carafe doesn't keep the coffee warm for very long.

New Member
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎06-10-2015

Please please please get the Ninja Coffee Bar.  Only buy my kitchen electrics from QVC and I really wAnt the coffee bar!!!!!

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,967
Registered: ‎08-12-2010

@mickeytick wrote:

Please please please get the Ninja Coffee Bar.  Only buy my kitchen electrics from QVC and I really wAnt the coffee bar!!!!!


QVC has had it online recently but I see it's not there any more.  Very strange.  I got mine for less than $130 (see my post #7 in this thread).  QVC's price was $199.99 and then shipping on top of that.  Maybe they plan to bring it back as a TSV.  But I'm glad I got mine where I did as I don't think even a TSV will beat that price.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 162
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

 

 

I ended up returning mine. No matter what I tried the coffee was just too bitter. The specialty drink I made was really good, but a coffee maker is useless to me if I can't get a decent cup of coffee out of it.

 

 

Contributor
Posts: 59
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

I returned mine.  The coffee was not hot enough.  Apparently Ninja knows this because they give you directions on heating your cup before you make your coffee if you put milk in it and I put milk in my coffee.  I even had a friend try it black since he drinks his coffee black, he said it wasn't hot enough.  Because the pot does not make HOT coffee the coffee comes out bitter.  They want you to use 2 to 3 scoops to make a single cup.  I've tried using only 1 scoop and still the coffee was bitter and mucky.  It was not a clean tasting cup of coffee.  Also another thing I did not like about it is that the opening of the pot is small.  I do not have a dish washer, I have very small hands and still could not get to the bottom of the pot to clean it.  I played with it for over a week and never got a good tasting, hot cup of coffee.  I did try other coffee brands, my friends gave me some to try, none tasted good because the water does not get hot enough.  

 

soonersis, what is your review on this?

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,967
Registered: ‎08-12-2010

@mistylady wrote:

I returned mine.  The coffee was not hot enough.  Apparently Ninja knows this because they give you directions on heating your cup before you make your coffee if you put milk in it and I put milk in my coffee.  I even had a friend try it black since he drinks his coffee black, he said it wasn't hot enough.  Because the pot does not make HOT coffee the coffee comes out bitter.  They want you to use 2 to 3 scoops to make a single cup.  I've tried using only 1 scoop and still the coffee was bitter and mucky.  It was not a clean tasting cup of coffee.  Also another thing I did not like about it is that the opening of the pot is small.  I do not have a dish washer, I have very small hands and still could not get to the bottom of the pot to clean it.  I played with it for over a week and never got a good tasting, hot cup of coffee.  I did try other coffee brands, my friends gave me some to try, none tasted good because the water does not get hot enough.  

 

soonersis, what is your review on this?


Hi, mistylady.  I just logged on to write my review of  this after using it for almost a week.  I'm sorry it has not worked for you.  I was a little nervous as I had such high hopes for it but then read some bad reviews of it here (although many good ones other places).  However, I can now say I LOVE THIS MACHINE!  It replaces my Keurig Rivo which I liked but I decided I no longer wanted to continue using pods and wanted to be able to use my own ground coffee. 

 

My husband and I drink coffee basically 2 ways and this is able to fulfill that function very well.  First, we sometimes drink hot coffee and this makes it much hotter than the Rivo does.  We like a strong, dark coffee then add cream and almond milk.  I do heat this creamer mixture so it doesn't cool off my coffee too much, but I did notice that it was steaming when I poured the coffee in my mug and the Rivo never did that.

Since we only drink one cup each I haven't used the coffee pot that comes with it so don't know how well the warmer plate would work.  It's too big for our purposes and I didn't like the room it took in my dishwasher so didn't want it in there every day.   I have been using a 4 cup glass Pyrex measuring cup (the kind with a pour spout and handle) on the stand that folds down to have the coffee drip into that.  Even my husband remarked that this coffee tastes better than what we have been drinking with the Rivo. 

 

Second, we drink iced coffee.  I like the features of this machine that gives you 4 different amounts of coffee volume and 4 different coffee strengths.  This really gives you many different options of volume/strength.  And of course the amount of coffee you use will affect the strength of the coffee also.  I like using the Specialty Brew function to make our coffee for iced coffee because it's strong enough that after I add our cream mixture (the same I use for hot coffee) and pour it over ice, it makes a great iced coffee drink.

 

So for our purposes this machine is really perfect. 

 

I wanted to ask you, and certainly hope I don't insult your intelligence, but since you mentioned that your coffee was bitter and mucky, did you run the 2 "Clean" cycles before using it for the first time?  I ask because I read somewhere that if that wasn't done your coffee could be bitter.    

Contributor
Posts: 59
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Hi sooneris, I'm glad it worked out for you.  Yes, I did do the cleaning function twice before using it.  I'm surprised that your coffee in the Ninja was hotter than your Keurig because with me, the Ninja was not as hot as my Keurig.  Maybe I receive a bad one.  I have never heated my milk for my coffee and I don't want to add another step to having my cup of coffee.  I'm not going to rule out the Ninja coffee bar.  Maybe in the future they will improve the temperature of the coffee.  I have read other reviews with the same complaints as mine.  Maybe their next generation of this coffee maker will be better.  I bought a Cuisinart drip coffee maker and I'm very pleased with it.  With all my discounts at Kohl's, I only paid $27 for it!!

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,967
Registered: ‎08-12-2010

Mistylady, I'm sorry the Ninja didn't work for you.  Maybe you did get a lemon.  The first Keurig Rivo I got leaked so they sent me a new one in which the foaming component stopped working during the first year so they sent a replacement for that. 

 

I know what you mean about another step in heating cream for your coffee.  I don't really like doing that either but like my coffee really hot.  I haven't actually tried NOT doing that with my Ninja, but since we use such strong coffee I probably use more cream to get it just right so I'm afraid it would bring the temp down too much if I didn't heat it.

 

I've used the frother that came with the Ninja a few times and that's fun to have the foam but probably not something I'll do every day.

 

I'm glad you like your new Cuisinart.  Kohl's has such wonderful deals and I'm so glad I got my Ninja there as I got a great price for it.  And it's nice to know that if it stops working I can easily return it there.

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,967
Registered: ‎08-12-2010

I am updating my review that I posted here on 11-22.  I'm still loving my Ninja Coffee Bar and enjoyed watching some of the shows of it as the TSV yesterday.  It gave me an idea that I tried today and was really pleased with the results.  As my husband and I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning, I was using the travel setting with rich brew for both of us.  After adding the milk we use it was the correct amount for 2 cups, but I heated the milk separately which was a step I would prefer not doing but necessary in order for the coffee to be hot enough.  Let me note that the coffee is VERY hot when it finishes being made, but due to the amount of milk we use it cooled it off more than I would like after adding the milk without being heated.

 

This morning I used the glass carafe instead of a smaller Pyrex cup I had been using.  I put the sweetener and milk I use (actually use a mixture of organic almond milk and organic whipping cream) in the carafe first then set it to half carafe on the rich brew setting.  This gave us several ounces more coffee than the previous setting I made it with the travel setting.  Using the half carafe and full carafe setting will turn the warming plate on.  Doing this I didn't heat my milk separately and yet it was plenty hot when we drank it.  When it finished brewing I simply stirred it with a long silicone spoon to mix the sweetener and milk into the coffee. 

 

Since doing this gave us a few more ounces than we had been drinking I just poured our mugs about half full.  I find that when I pour them full the coffee cools off more than I would like before I finish my cup.  When we finished that I poured the rest of the coffee in the carafe in our mugs and we had another mug that was a little more than half full.  This second cup was even hotter than the first (it had been sitting on the warming plate) so I was very happy about that. 

 

I'm very pleased doing it this way and wish I had thought about doing it this way before now so I could have saved myself the trouble of warming the milk separately. 

 

I hope all of those who purchased this machine will be as happy with theirs as I am with mine.