A month ago, after my Keurig shit the bed, I replaced it with a Ninja.  When Hertz was the biggest car rental company, Avis advertised that, “We’re number 2, so we try harder.”  Maybe Keurig had been slacking. 

The Ninja is a good setup.  I am not a coffee snob, but figure the Ninja has enough brewing options that anyone should be able to dial it in.

My Keurig used to sputter and squeal to dispense the coffee.  It seemed to say:

That may be why my Keurigs scaled up and died.  The Ninja sounds more confident.  Maybe it will last longer.

I am not a pod person.  K-cups are for people too lazy to worry about the expense or the environment. Keurigs are optimized for the K-cup, but reusable filters are available.  The Ninja comes with a bigger, better reusable filter, that fits in a removable brew tank.  A measuring scoop is provided, and clips to the side at the blue arrow.  Fixture is provided to accommodate K-cups, and it is stored in a little hatch by the red arrow.

TBH, I use K-cups when I’m camping.  It’s easier.  And the flavored K-cups are appealing.  It’s thoughtful that the Ninja has storage for which ever one you aren’t using.

The reusable filter is big.  It holds 8 ounces, rather than the 2 or 3 ounce Keurig reusable filters.  I put in the same amount of coffee.  Being bigger means it’s easier to clean.  It sits in the removable brew tank.  It seems like the brew tank lets the hot water steep in the coffee for a little while before dispensing to the cup, rather than just dripping through.

I like that everything is self-contained on the Ninja.  It takes up about the same amount of counter space, but is taller than the Keurig.

The side-mounted milk frother is a feature that appealed to me.  Fruit with frothered cream so much better than regular fruit.  The battery-powered frothers do a marginal job whipping cream.  I hoped that a side-mounted version would be more powerful.

It is.  At a guess, the Ninja’s frother has triple the power of the battery version.    The battery powered frother can be used at an angle, so the Ninja is only about twice as good. 

If the Ninja lasts longer than the Keurig, then it’s a much better machine.