Luxe™ Café Premier Series (ES601)

I love my Cafe Luxe. It does everything good enough, and I'm pretty snobby about coffee. Espresso is good, drip coffee is good, iced coffee and cold brew are good. Everything turns out nicely and it's all in one relatively compact package. It's not unusual for me to make 4 totally different coffee drinks a day on it, between me, my wife, and like a neighbor stopping by.

I bought a ninja luxe only thinking of the espresso. But it makes excellent filtered? drip? coffee too. We retired our old coffee maker and now use it for everything. The coffee setting gets you a maximum of around 700 ml but is excellent and also makes small cups. Ground and brewed in no time. Awesome machine.

I have a Ninja machine that makes both espresso and drip coffee, and has a steamer built in to froth milk. It makes such good drinks that it’s taken the enjoyment out of cafe coffee. “We have fancy lattes at home!” But it was not cheap ($500+?). I chose it because that brand sells parts - if it does break, I won’t have to buy a whole new machine

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.

My Ninja died on me. First it leaked so I could take the tank off to fill it, then the LED clock died so I couldn't use the timer function, then finally the whole thing started to leak. Moccamaster is the way!

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. 😂

My mother has a ninja. I've used it, it makes a decent cup of coffee. She drinks a cup or two a day, sometimes using locally roasted beans and sometimes whatever is on sale at the grocery store. Every time she comes to visit me she comments on what great coffee my moccamaster makes and how it's better than what her ninja makes. Would upgrading be worth it to her? No, not really. I love coffee and I've gotten deeper into it as a hobby over the last few years. I upgraded my grinder, I started roasting my own beans, etc. Drinking coffee is one of the highlights of my day. To me, dropping $$$ on a coffee machine was worth it. I've been really happy with my moccamaster - I've found it makes a consistent, delicious cup of coffee using a wide range of beans. At the end of the day, it's a silly expensive drip coffee machine. Whether or not it's worth it is a matter of perspective.

If you’re going to experiment with different beans/roasts from different roasters then get a conical burr grinder (Baratza encore) and a Moccamaster. Take good care of them and they will last you a long time. If you’re just going to buy ground coffee from a typical grocery store then I wouldn’t bother w it and just get a Ninja. I’m not a snob about it (i still drink Dunkin every day) but the Moccamaster is easy to use and clean and it really does brew in such a way that it brings out the different notes in different coffees. It made me look forward to trying out different roasters because I knew I would get a correct brew w the machine and I look forward yo trying new roasts. If you do get the Moccamaster get the thermal carafe if you plan on enjoying coffee over the course of a day. It keeps it warm a long time; I initially had the glass carafe and even though it had a heating plate it would shut off automatically and the coffee cooled down quickly. Just a note, my favorite roaster (George Howell) recently said he preferred the Ratio Six over the Moccamaster because it distributes the water more evenly. I gave it a shot and while I think it makes an excellent cup equal to the Moccamaster I find that it’s just not as well designed overall and has more parts to clean and the way the filter slots in between the spout and carafe is annoying to me. Best of luck whatever you do. There are so many great roasts out there waiting for you to try.