Ninja Coffee Bar Single Serve Review (CF112)

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ninja coffee bar single serve review

The Ninja CF112 Single Serve coffee bar is full of amazing features to make a delicious cup of coffee. To make the correct decision and clear all the second thoughts, scroll down and read the in-depth review of the Ninja Coffee Bar Single Serve .

It is designed to make coffee for 1 or 2 people and is for those who want a special coffee, but prefer not to work too hard for it.

The Ninja coffee bar brings to your home the exquisite taste of a cafe-level coffee. It is also light on your pocket. If you are looking for a coffee maker which can make a variety of coffee without much hassle, you should definitely consider buying this Ninja Coffee Bar.

Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)
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Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)
  • Pod-free single serve with the Ninja XL hot & cold Multi-Serve tumbler
  • Built-in frother to brew, froth and drink-all in your favorite mug
  • Custom brews: classic, rich, or over ice; or signature brews: specialty and Cafe forte
  • Custom brew sizes: cup, XL cup, Travel mug and XL Multi-Serve
  • Advanced thermal flavor extraction technology and Auto-iQ one-touch Intelligence

Last update on 2023-05-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Pros and Cons of the Ninja Coffee Bar CF112

This Ninja Coffee Bar has been designed especially for beginners and aims at providing a barista-level coffee with minimum effort. Even those who have no idea about measurements can use this Ninja coffee bar.

It allows you to choose the type of coffee, quantity, and the coffee grounds. It then automatically puts in the right quantity of water in the brew.

If you want a more advanced espresso machine, check this article

PROS

  • Highly Affordable
  • Simple and Easy to use
  • Pod-free
  • Useful Double-sided scoop attached to the machine
  • Pre-heating feature to save power
  • Easy to clean and maintain
  • Sleek and Stylish in looks
  • Comes with a 1-year limited warranty
  • Includes an instructive user manual

CONS

  • Slow heat up
  • Does not have an automatic shut-off feature
  • Has a quite small water reservoir

Ninja Single Serve Coffee Bar Key Features

Pod-Free Coffee Bar

Generally, single serve coffee makers use coffee pods or K-cups, but the Ninja coffee makers are an exception. Using coffee grounds instead of pods has 2 major advantages.

Since the Ninja CF112 Single Serve is pod-free, it gives you the option of choosing the type of coffee grounds. The type of coffee grounds used plays a huge role in determining the taste of your coffee. Thus the coffee maker gives you a greater degree of control over your coffee.

Apart from this, using coffee grounds is more environment-friendly. K-cups are generally non-biodegradable. Even though a few manufacturers claim that the pods can be recycled, the process consumes a lot of time and thus is not adopted often.

ninja coffee bar single serve review

5 Brew Methods Available

The Ninja CF112 Single Serve Coffee Bar has 5 brewing options- 3 custom brews and 2 signature brews. This gives a lot of flexibility and choice to the user compared to other coffee makers. All you have to do is select the brewing option from the control panel and choose from single cup to full carafe and hot and cold.

pouring milk on coffee
  • Classic Brew- This is the most basic kind of brew, which gives the coffee a smooth and balanced flavor.
  • Rich Brew- The rich brew is richer than the classic brew but weaker than espresso. This brew option is ideal if you want a more creamy coffee with more milk.
  • Over Ice Brew- This brew option allows you to prepare hot coffee over ice, which locks the rich flavor in a smooth iced coffee to refresh you on a hot summer day.
  • Specialty Brew- The Specialty brew option is ideal for espresso-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos. It has a strong flavor and works well if you want to make a blended and iced coffee drink.
  • Cafe Forte- This brew option is for those who want a rich flavor which does justice to the coffee grounds used. This tastes best when you drink it black, that is, without any milk or sweeteners.

4 Size Options to Choose from

Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)

The Ninja Coffee bar comes with 4 size options for the brew, which can be adjusted through a dial on the control panel from single serve to full carafe. These are:

  • Cup- You should use a 12 oz cup for this size, and the brew volumes for the classic, rich, over ice (coffee only) and over ice (filled with ice) brew types are 9.5 oz, 8.7 oz, 3.8 oz and 9.5 oz respectively.
  • XL Cup- You should use a 14 oz cup for this brew size. The volumes of the classic, rich, over ice (coffee only) and over ice (filled with ice) brew types are 11.5 oz, 10.3 oz, 4.6 oz and 11.5 oz respectively.
  • Travel Mug- You should use a 16 oz travel mug for this size. The volumes of the over ice (filled with ice), over ice (coffee only), rich and classic brew types are 14 oz, 5.9 oz, 13.2 oz and 14 oz respectively.
  • XL Multi-Serve- You should use a 20 oz travel mug for this brew size. The volumes of the over ice (filled with ice), over ice (coffee only), rich and classic brew types are 18 oz, 7.3 oz, 16 oz and 18 oz respectively.

The volumes of the specialty brew and the cafe forte are 4 oz and 8 oz respectively, regardless of the size selected.

Built-in Milk Frother

The Ninja Single Serve Coffee bar comes with a built-in milk frother that can be used for both hot and cold milk. This allows you to enjoy a perfectly textured coffee and is useful in making large foam.

Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)

This makes your drink a little less watery and gives it a proper shape and texture, and goes well with the Specialty brew.

To froth the milk properly, you need to fill about one-third of a cup with milk (microwaved for 40 to 60 seconds if you want it to be hot). Then you should swing the arm of the frother towards the front and immerse the whisk into the cup. Make it such that it is lying just below the milk surface.

You should then press and hold the button on the frother for around 30 to 45 seconds. After you are done, you can easily wash the frother either by hand or in the dishwasher.

Auto IQ Technology

This Ninja coffee bar has a one-touch intelligence system. This means it knows the ideal quantity of water that should be used for each hot and cold brew type and size. 

It automatically draws the correct quantity of water from the water tank, which is attached to the coffee machine.

This makes the operation of this Ninja coffee bar a whole lot easier, thus making it perfect for beginners. This feature ensures that the brew is neither too dry nor too watery, even if you are unwilling to measure the quantity of water yourself.

Permanent Filter

The Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker is equipped with a permanent, washable, reusable filter. It retains the natural flavor of the coffee grounds, and extracts the oils from the smallest coffee grounds to provide a rich flavor to the brew. 

Like other coffee makers of the same category, you can also use paper filters in case the permanent filter breaks somehow, or you prefer paper filters. However, experts advise that using the permanent filter will lead to a tastier coffee, as it extracts the perfect amount of natural oils and flavor from the coffee grounds.

cup of coffee

Thermal Flavor Extraction

The Ninja Single Serve Coffee bar has a Thermal Flavor Extraction Technology. That means this Ninja coffee bar tries to extract the maximum flavor from the coffee grounds, maintaining the richness of the coffee, without allowing the bitterness to seep in.

While the Auto IQ Technology uses the precise quantity of water, this Flavor Extraction Technology ensures perfect pre-infusion and temperature. It saturates the coffee correctly to make a richly-flavored coffee.

Ninja Coffee Bar Review

Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)

About the Brand

The brand Ninja belongs to the company Sharkninja. It is a leading manufacturer and trader in housewares. The company has two brands: Shark, a brand for upright vacuums, and Ninja for kitchen appliances like coffee makers and blenders.

The company aims at providing maximum customer satisfaction by manufacturing coffee makers which try to accommodate all the needs of the consumer at an affordable and reasonable price. At the same time, it ensures that the quality of the product is not compromised to bring down the price.

Build Quality

The Ninja Coffee Maker is made of high-quality plastic. It is quite bulky as it weighs around 12 pounds. This makes it difficult to move this Ninja coffee bar around from one place to another. Also, if you want to buy the Ninja coffee bar, you will need a good amount of counter space.

This Ninja coffee bar is equipped with a removable water tank with a flip-top lid which makes refilling and cleaning easier. It comes with a double-sided scoop for measuring the coffee and a built-in milk frother. The arm can be detached for frothing and cleaning.

Easy to Use

In this review the Ninja Coffee Bar appears to be simple and easy to use, as almost every operation is automatic. This coffee maker has clearly labeled buttons for every operation. Like several other coffee makers, it also comes with an instructive user manual, which makes the machine suitable for beginners and professionals alike.

Ninja Single-Serve, Pod-Free Coffee Maker Bar with Hot and Iced Coffee, Auto-iQ, Built-In Milk Frother, 5 Brew Styles, and Water Reservoir (CF112)

First of all, you need to fill the water reservoir through the flip-top lid. Then you have to put ground coffee in the brew basket. After this, you need to select the type of brew (classic, rich, ice over, specialty, or cafe forte) and the brew size (cup, XL cup, travel mug, XL multi-serve).

The Auto IQ technology automatically decides the amount of water that should be used for the brew according to the brew type and size selected. The Ninja coffee bar also has a double-sided measuring scoop for measuring the coffee grounds.

Frothing the milk is also easy, if you want to try professional drinks. In short, the Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker has been designed in such a manner that even beginners can use it to make a professional-level coffee.

Easy to Clean

Though all the parts of the Ninja coffee bar are not dishwasher safe, it is easy to clean it with a little soap and water. The machine has an indicator to show when it needs to be cleaned and descaled completely.

After every brew, you should wait for the Ninja coffee bar to cool down, and then clean the brew basket with soap and water. If you use the permanent filter, you should wash it. If you are using the paper filters, you can easily discard them. 

The frother can be washed in a dishwasher and should be washed properly after every use to prevent clogging. The permanent filter, removable filter holder and the water reservoir are dishwasher safe.

The other parts of the Ninja coffee bar should be cleaned with soap, water and a warm cloth. You should clean the machine thoroughly once a week, or whenever the “clean” light indicator flashes. This can be done easily by using the “clean” button.

The detailed instructions on cleaning and descaling the coffee machine can be found in the user manual.

Who is the Ninja Coffee Bar for?

The Ninja CF112 Single Cup Pod-free coffee maker has been designed for those who are looking for a simple, easy to use and maintain automatic coffee bar. It is a good choice for beginners, thanks to the clearly labeled buttons, instructive user manual, and easily understandable operations.

However, it is not appropriate for large families, or family gatherings and parties. It is ideal for daily use by a couple or someone who lives alone. Also, it does not have a grinder, so either you should buy a coffee grinder or purchase pre-ground coffee.

Wrap Up

To conclude our Ninja Coffee Bar  review, we have noted it has a number of unique and amazing features of this Ninja coffee bar like drip stop, cleaning indicator, pre-heating and milk frother which makes it versatile and offers an ocean of choices to the user.

There are expectedly some minor drawbacks and defects like not having a coffee grinder, small water reservoir, and some complaints about defects in the cleaning indicator.

However, despite these defects, the coffee maker has been loved and recommended by customers, as they do not have much effect on the coffee making process.

Hopefully, this review could enlighten you about the details of this Ninja coffee bar, and you now know whether it is the right choice for you.