Ninja - Coffee Bar Thermal Carafe System (CF097)

A cheap basic Mr. Coffee drip. If you want to spend more I love my Ninja 12 cup machine. It blooms the coffee and makes great coffee.

I have a Black and Decker coffee maker with an insulated carafe that I’ve had for at least 10 years. Works like a champ. I also have a first generation Ninja Coffee maker with an insulated carafe that lasted about 5 years before the filter basket tore (I have suspicions that my mother in law’s aggressive cleaning methods did it in). I can’t find a new basket that fits, the newer models use a basket that’s shaped slightly different, totally a bummer because otherwise I think it would last forever.

Honestly? Something like a Cuisinart or Breville or Ninja is just fine for her. A Moccamaster or an Aiden are absurd, terrible recommendations for someone who doesn't care that much about coffee, lol. That's like buying a Pappy Van Winkle for someone who only drinks Bud Light, or a Traeger for a vegetarian. If they aren't into coffee, they're not gonna care about "SCA certified" or any of that quality stuff. In fact, they probably care more about how it looks, how fast it brews coffee, and maybe some of the other bells and whistles attached like a programmable timer. Don't spend money on something that's purely built for quality coffee; spend on the features instead.

Tell that to my Ninja coffee maker. First the tank started to leak when you removed to fill with water. The clock timer failed next. Finally the whole thing started to leak. I just got a Moccamaster on 1/2 price sale, and I do think it makes a better cup of coffee faster than my Ninja.

Have one of these too…5 years and going strong.

Ninja Coffee Bar. I have had mine for 5 years and love it. The frothing wand is a joke, but it's great as a drip coffee machine that has lots of size options. 

I’ve been using the same ninja coffee maker for 8 years. I liked it so much it put me on to a lot of other ninja products.

Do you need a whole pot? Nespresso is like 100 bucks and the vertuo ones make espresso and coffee. Strong good cups too. Otherwise, a ninja drip coffee maker was good to me for awhile. I see the pour over and French press recommendations, both a pain in the ass for a minimally and maybe no different cup than a machine drip. If you like the process and the routine then absolutely go for pour over or French press. Otherwise all drip and pour over coffee is pretty similar assuming you have good grounds and don’t have the cheapest shittiest coffee maker. Diminishing returns are insane when it comes to coffee. Someone somewhere will tell you how his $30 espresso was magical when it’s still just coffee.

The fails I’ve had have been despite routine maintenance. The ninja I loved, but the buttons stopped responding unless I left it unplugged for a couple hours before using it again. We’re on our second Braun, the first replaced under warranty after it started leaking from somewhere internally. We got a cheap Mr coffee while we waited for the replacement, but more often than not it ended up with grounds in the coffee. Use less, too weak. Before we switched back to a pot, our Keurig chugged along for years, rarely requesting maintenance. 😂

Loved my Mr. coffee! Lasts forever and still going strong we just upgraded to a Ninja and I love that too!