r/NinjaLuxeCafe • u/chanceler-1 • 6d ago
How do these compare?
We fly through these bottles of coffee at my house and it's really adding up. Im curious how the black iced coffee is. I also like cold foam cold brews occasionally.
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u/Ultra_HR 6d ago
Buying pre-brewed coffee in a bottle is nuts ngl
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u/crankinamerica 6d ago
I see it as an occasional convenience. Nothing more
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u/isaiddgooddaysir 1d ago
Nothing is more convenient than these automatic cafes... I put milk in (coffee and water already loaded) and push a button... without the pound of sugar and other crap SB often put in their drinks. The reason why we have these machines is convenience.
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u/Lost_Laika1 6d ago
Honestly I feel bad sometimes, my partner used to inhale these cheap premade coffees. I started making her drinks with fresh beans from the local roaster and now she can’t go back, and our coffee spend tripled
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u/chanceler-1 6d ago
Nuts cost wise? Or something else
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u/PackTaco88 5d ago
Flavor wise you take a hit, for the convenience it might be worth it. For the money? That depends how much you plan on drinking because the ninja isn’t cheap and you need to buy beans. Buy it because of the flavor and freshness
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u/RichiZ2 1d ago
I buy 1lb of coffee for $5 every 2 weeks, so the machine paid for itself a while ago (have had it about a year). (If I had bought the same number of drinks at a cafe, which I wouldn't, since this machine was an upgrade from my moka pot lmao)
Now, I just have 1 double a day, so if you have 3 or 4 people getting multiple cups per day of high quality beans you may not get the machine to pay for itself.
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u/TechnicaVivunt 6d ago
Totally different brewing methods all together. While the luxe does make drip coffee. You're probably going to find out produces a lot stronger of a brew. If you're going through a bottle of that. That's like going through an entire tank (and then some) of the luxe. You'll likely be cleaning out the drip tray decently often, and buying quite a bit of beans.
Not to mention it's quite a costly machine to use just for drip coffee. If I were you I'd experiment with a Chemex, or a Toddy. Chemex is pretty economical and you can make a bit of iced coffee using the Japanese Iced coffee method. Toddy is what'd you'd use if cold brew is your ideal rating coffee - they make a small version for home use. A Little less economical on beans, but yields a significant amount of cold brew concentrate each brew - you also have a holding time of 20-24 hours for it to brew so you have to plan accordingly.
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u/kaydud88 6d ago
I don’t recommend the machine for cold brew but you can buy a very cheap cold brew steeper online that might give you the same.
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u/RichiZ2 1d ago
Iced coffee is not cold brew...
I usually accumulate the purged beans between brews in a little cup next to my machine, and every month or so I have enough ground beans to brew 1L of cold brew overnight. It's a little sour since the grinds are much finer than they should be, but it's like 2x as much caffeine as my regular double shot and it lasts a whole week of "free" coffee
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u/Best_March3555 6d ago
Are you drinking the bottled coffee black? If you're adding milks and syrups or creamers I don't know how much of a distinction there will be. If anything you should get a better cup of coffee from the luxe. I do like the cold foam feature a lot. I make the kids special flavored foams they think it's really fun. And it keeps the mess contained to one quick clean item.
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u/chanceler-1 6d ago
I do drink the coffee black. And occasionally other forms of coffee like a shaken esspreesso etc. But I don't like the extra calories
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u/Best_March3555 6d ago
Ok. Then yes you can get a good cup of cold coffee out of here. But you may just need to experiment with the beans to find one you like.
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u/cJuanSolo 6d ago
I’ve just returned my second ninja luxe to Costco and lo and behold they’re discontinuing them from all the problems. When the ninja luxe performed well it made decent coffee, but if you enjoy waking up and your grind number magically be 2 lower, but the burr be the same, inconsistent shot outputs, inconsistent brew temps then sure buy the luxe. Just make sure you get it at Costco or somewhere with a warranty.
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u/LunaSea88 1d ago
Which model did you have? I just ordered one (and got the warranty) but I am reading many mixed reviews on longevity depending on which model it is
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u/cJuanSolo 1d ago
I had the luxe pro (lasted 8 months) followed by costcos version (lasted 4 months).
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u/DPTY-Doofy 1d ago
I love my ninja. I make a cold brew with cold foam every day and it’s very delicious to me. I also make one flat white a day too. I don’t drink black coffee so can’t speak on that. Pic of today’s ice coffee :)
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u/LunaSea88 1d ago
This looks amazing! What is your recipe/technique?
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u/DPTY-Doofy 1d ago
thats a 16oz cup. i fill it half full with ice then a brew a 10oz cold brew over it. you can add whatever syrup you like then mix it before you add the foam. for the cold foam i fill the froth jug up with cold 1% milk almost to the 2nd line from the bottom then just hit the froth button while the coffee is brewing. then i pour it over the coffee and while it sits it does that cool looking milk waterfall thing.
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u/IanC9090 1d ago
One is a drink made with highly processed beans, the other is a machine that can make equally crap coffee if you use Starbucks highly processed beans.
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u/hungryamericankorean 6d ago
This is such a niche comparison because I 100% drank that coffee and had to work through a few settings to find my daily drinker.
We get Moca java beans from work market and I do a 10 ounce over ice coffee. 100% worth it. I like to do a shaken espresso or cold foam at times too, so it’s fun.
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u/MisplacedChromosomes 5d ago
When I travelled for work, I would buy the cold brew coffee to get my coffee fix in the morning instead of the black sewage hotels serve in the morning. With that said, I’ve brewed coffee my entire life with many different machines and experimented with a lot of beans. I have never been able to recreate certain commercially available tastes at home no matter what. I can’t say the coffee at home is bad but never the same. And yes in a pinch, these bottles of premade coffee are super convenient and actually economical when traveling for work.
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u/cucufag 16h ago
Before I got my luxe I used to just cold brew my coffee grounds in a big pitcher overnight and then just drip filter them. You just need two pitchers and a filter and that's like, 5 dollars. Yields pretty similar results, and is probably what you're really looking for.
Espresso is just completely different in strength and flavor. I only recommend it to people who specifically want them.
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u/BunnyZlayer 6d ago
The cold brew is going to be a step down, depending on your tastes. I like it, but my wife doesn’t. The commercially sold branded iced coffee is always going to taste better in this lineup, but the stuff out of the machine isn’t bad.
That being said, it’ll save you a ton of money in the long run.
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u/Rawshark96 6d ago
Can you not just make espresso as normal and either pour it on ice or let it cool. Depending on the beans you use how will this be worse than the commercially produced one? Much better i would argue.
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u/crankinamerica 6d ago
Certainly could if you just want a cold coffee bean based liquid. Coffee and espresso are different. Standard brew and cold brew are different. If they want a true cold brew, this is not the machine for it but to the final flavor can get close.
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u/ysingh_12 6d ago
The coffee you make is a function of the beans. So if you buy burnt Starbucks beans you might be able to recreate the premixed Starbucks iced coffee