Ninja 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Brewer, 2 Brew Styles, Adjustable Warm Plate, 60oz Water Reservoir, Delay Brew - Black/Stainless Steel

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.

I've used a Cuisinart coffee maker for over 20 years, probably longer, way back to when Braun was the brand to have. My last one was the 14 cup version and it lasted 8 1/2 years before electrical death. Rather than buying another Cuisinart, I decided to try one of these Ninjas. This then is a story of the differences and how I learned to use a new machine. First, I realize the old machine was... old. That said, the new Ninja sure makes better coffee, there's clarity, excitement and layers that the old one simply had forgotten. My father taught me pour-over in 1967, with a white ceramic Melita holder over a coffee pot. He taught me the formula "1 tablespoon per cup, plus 1 for the pot" which has never let me down. My mom sent me Starbucks beans way back when they were just a local Seattle store. (She also turned me onto Amazon.) OK on to the comparison. The Ninja involves 100% more work to get started than the Cuisinart. You have to power up the machine AND hit the Brew button. With Cuisinart you just mash in that one button and you're good. With it you only have one lid to flip to get to the filter and water tank. Ninja has separate lids, and only one flips, the other lifts off. I prefer to fill the pot from the filtered water spigot, and use the pot to fill the tank. That's actually the way to do the Cuisinart. But Ninja's tank is removable, see through, and has the cup lines, and you're supposed to take it off and fill it. But I don't want to as think the gasket at the bottom that seals the thing is a point of failure that needs to be left alone. The pot doesn't have cup markers, but I find after the first time (when I also didn't know I had to hit both power and brew) I find I can eyeball it very accurately nonetheless. It pours out faster and more smoothly than the Cuisinart ever did. And doesn't drip. The lid is over engineered as you have to twist it in place rather than just snapping it on. And yanking it from under the filter one needs to be more considerate - out horizontally first rather than just snatching it up diagonally. But I have to say the new pot feels nicer than the old. The filter bit. Interestingly the filter crease goes side to side rather than front to back. Another surprise, but this setup is much nicer and aesthetically pleasing, one can just wrap ones fingers and plunge them, inside the paper cone, into the cavity of the filter holder. The old one needed a pivot of the arm and wrist or a two handed tuck of the filter. The Cuisinart slides on the counter while the Ninja has non-slip feet and I have to lift it to put it back under the cabinet after filling it. They are about equally noisy. The Cuisinart beeps much louder. You can turn off the beep though. Neither clock holds the time in a power out. I have used the timed brew twice in the last 67 years, but both machines will do that. What else? What was 'between 8 and 9 cups' on the Cuisinart is 'around 7 cups' on the Ninja, that is, those amounts comfortably fill 4 mugs with a little bit left over. Interestingly, though the volume of water is about the same, the cups marks work well with the 1 per cup + 1 for the pot formula, and the Ninja works with 8 spoons where the Cuisinart (at the end of its life) needed between 9 and 10. Oh, I use a '2 spoon' big scoop instead of those 1 spoon things that come with machines and sometimes with cans of coffee. Much more efficient and easy to keep count. You know how hard it is to count to 4, much less 8! So, the Ninja coffee is better, though I don't know if it would be better than with a brand new Cuisinart. How long the thing will last, we'll see. Overall I'm pleased.

. 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

This machine was a lot of drama. Pros: makes great coffee. The bold setting gives you a brew that is similar to doing a pour over. So we loved that. Having a separate water reservoir that you can remove and fill is really nice. Cons: the pot itself leaks horribly when pouring. The first time we used it we lost about half the pot. Contacted customer support and they sent a replacement but the replacement has the same issue, but not as severe. After reading a few more reviews on here and on reddit it seems to be a prevalent issue that ninja refuses to fix or stand behind. Because I like the machine itself I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement pot and they aren’t easy to find. Overall it’s pretty disappointing to pay a higher cost for what I believed to be a good quality product and have issues with not one but two of them straight out of the box.

Bought in Sept of 2023. Great coffee maker until it died today. Wish it would have lasted longer. Reservoir kept the water where it should and easy to fill. Also wish the keep warm feature was longer, only 2 hours at a time. Had to reset often.

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.)

We currently own several Ninja products and have always been impressed with their quality and functionality. When I saw this Ninja coffee maker I naturally assumed it was another fine Ninja product. Well, Ninja’s design engineers did NOT hit a home run with this coffee maker. In fact this product has several strikes against it. Strike 1: The carafe has no water amount markings on it. Strike 2: The carafe has a “twist off” top which means it takes two hands to open the top and add water. Strike 3: The carafe has a vertical 3-inch tube coming down from the top, called a “coffee straw”, that makes it difficult to put the top back on and serves no real purpose. Strike 4: The water tank is supposed to be removable for filling with water, but several reviewers said it starts leaking after two or three month’s usage, so I never tried it. Strike 5: The footprint of this thing is way too large for a 12-cup coffee maker. Strike 6: It is SLOW to start making coffee. You can add the water, start the coffee making, and then take your time adding the filter and the coffee. The hot water won’t be coming for another minute or two. Strike 7: It makes average tasting coffee. So, with seven strikes against it, I am calling this Ninja coffee maker OUT. I’m throwing it in the trash and buying another brand of coffee maker.

The part(s) of the coffee maker involved in brewing the coffee are great. It's energy efficient, easy to fill, easy to understand, and makes GREAT tasting coffee. So...why the 2 star review? Because of the carafe that holds that great coffee. When you go to pour it into your mug, it leaks like a sieve. Other reviewers have mentioned it. Others have contacted the manufacturer, waited inordinate amounts of time to get a replacement, only to have that leak as well. If you examine the area where the plastic parts meet the glass, the problem is obvious: There is no seal to stop the hot coffee from getting between them, so it just follows the curve of the glass and drips out. Other carafes solve this problem by curving the glass to form a lip and/or using a seal. But not this one. My solution was to get a tube of food safe 100% silicone RTV and seal the gap all the way around. After 24 hours of curing time, I now have a carafe that doesn't drip hot liquid all over the place when pouring. But I shouldn't have to do this...and neither should you or any other customer. Especially when it is a KNOWN defect as evidenced by reviews here and elsewhere on the Internet.