The Ninja 12-Cup Programmable Brewer won the title of “Best Value Coffee Maker” in my extensive, month-long coffee maker testing process. Ahead, learn why I’d quickly recommend this stellar device to anyone in the market for a new coffee machine at a great price.
I spent over a month testing ten of the most popular drip coffee machines on the market, and I’d suggest the Ninja 12-Cup Programmable Brewer to anyone on a budget. While it didn’t ultimately beat out my “Best Overall” pick, the more-expensive OXO Brew 9-Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker, it’s still an excellent machine—and all for a price of about $80. I wasn’t entirely surprised: SharkNinja produces some of the most high-powered and affordable products out there for the kitchen and home (take its cult-favorite vacuums and blenders, for instance). In my testing, I found that the CE251 offers a great value, numerous handy features and pretty delicious-tasting coffee.
I’d suggest the Ninja 12-Cup Programmable Brewer to anyone on a budget. It's a reliable, easy-to-use ... [+]
This machine’s setup was simple: Its carafe comes with a “Flavor Straw” that ensures a well-circulated java and its shower head-style brewer operated much like some of the more expensive machines I tested. Read on for more on why I think this is a superior, multifunctional coffee companion for anyone looking to save a few dollars.
SharkNinja CE251 Programmable Coffee Maker Features
Super-Simple Setup
Setup for the machine was a breeze, requiring a quick wash of the included parts and accessories (brew bed, reusable filter, carafe and water reservoir), then a water-only brew cycle. These were also the only parts that required any kind of “assembly.” The CE251 is not SCA certified (the total brew time for a full carafe is a fairly lengthy 15 minutes, which almost doubles the SCA’s mandated maximum of eight minutes; according to the manufacturer, this is due to a pre-infusion cycle that takes place before the coffee actually brews). It also doesn’t come with a thermal carafe, relying on a glass model with a heating element at the bottom of the machine. All this said, the CE251 has a number of premium and convenience features that lead to a quality cup.
Premium-Level Performance
For starters, the shower head-style brewer dispenses water in the same fashion and at similar temperatures as a much more-expensive machine, and results in a smooth-tasting product—for reference, I clocked the water temperature at about 195 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the brewing process. It’s also got a conical brew bed that can accommodate a reusable gold-tone filter or a #4 paper filter, like many higher-end machines. The glass carafe, too, comes with a “Flavor Straw” that protrudes from the lid and ensures that the coffee circulates nicely in the carafe. This means that each mug poured has a similar flavor and extraction level, whether it’s the first or the last in the pot.
Endless Customization Options
The front of the machine also comes with a number of functions to customize your experience: You can brew the coffee with a “classic” or “rich” strength, or make a small batch of 2 to 4 cups (again, like the OXO, the latter function adjusts the water flow appropriately to produce the best flavor possible even at a smaller yield). I found that the flavor didn’t vary too hugely between the “rich” and “classic” modes; they were near the same between the full carafe and smaller-size batch. The brew delay button allows users to program the coffee up to 24 hours in advance, and while I prepared my machine right before going to bed, to my palate, the flavor of the beans didn’t suffer significantly from being pre-ground eight-odd hours earlier. Last, the machine’s “keep-warm” feature, which reportedly keeps the coffee hot in the carafe for up to four hours and can be programmed to work for a custom time frame between one and four hours, luckily didn’t burn the coffee at all, even several hours in—but it also didn’t keep it as hot as some of the other machines I used, bringing the coffee’s temperature down to about 159 degrees Fahrenheit after a couple of hours.
Other Convenience Features
From a convenience standpoint, this machine definitely punches above its weight. For people who prefer not to weigh their coffee grounds when brewing, the machine comes with a measuring scoop that handily attaches to a hook on the coffee maker’s body. (Like with OXO, Ninja’s recommendation is to measure one scoop per cup of coffee you’ll brew.) The CE251 also has a pause feature that lets users grab a cup during the (rather lengthy) brewing process; this worked moderately well in my tests, but still allowed a few drips to escape from the brew bed and singe on the bottom heating plate. When it’s time to clean the machine, its parts—including the carafe, brew bed and a removable water reservoir—are all safe to place in the top rack of your dishwasher. For heavier-duty jobs, the coffee maker has a “Clean” function for descaling; I’m not fully sure how this differs from running a water-and descaling-agent-only cycle through the machine, but long-term testing will help me suss this out.
The Downsides
As with all appliances, the CE251 is not without its limitations. The glass carafe and heating element setup that only works moderately well is, of course, one of them, and the slowness of the machine is another. Additionally, this coffee maker is constructed from quite a bit of plastic, which, according to Travis Bell of Black Acres Roastery, can lend a funny or low-quality flavor to your coffee over time. The removable water reservoir in particular is something I’m going to keep a special eye on during longer-term testing, as reviewers of the product have suggested that it loses its seal over time and causes water to leak everywhere during the brew cycle.
How Does The SharkNinja CE251 Programmable Coffee Maker Compare?
In my testing, I found that the Ninja CE251 Programmable Coffee Maker is an excellent value for money, delivering near-premium–level coffee and a bevy of handy convenience features for a price tag of about $80. That said, if your budget is a little higher, you can’t go wrong with the OXO Brew 9-Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker, which took the top spot in my testing and produced a stellar cup. On the other hand, if versatility is primarily what you’re after, you can’t go wrong with the Breville Precision Brewer Thermal Coffee Maker, which has customization options for brew time, brew temperature and batch size, as well as built-in settings to make cold brew and iced coffee. And if you simply want a superior cup of coffee from a machine you’ll be proud to display on your countertop, the Ratio Six is your best bet.
How I Tested The Best Coffee Makers
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the world’s foremost coffee trade organization, has very detailed guidelines on what makes for a stellar cup brewed at home. I consulted a number of their standards as the basis for my testing, particularly in the areas I could objectively evaluate, including brew time, water temperature consistency, and extraction level. I also judged things like machine design, setup and ease of cleaning. I brewed each machine four times, with an eye towards different criteria in each round of testing. In my first round, I tried to determine ease of machine use and brew time; in the second, to gauge brew temperature and extraction level during brewing (color and flavor); third, to make a half batch and record consistency with the full carafe; fourth, to test any additional features on the machine, like brew delay/scheduling and any special attachments.
I used Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s Holler Mountain whole beans for all my tests: It’s a medium-roast blend with notes of caramel, chocolate and some citrus that are robust enough to come through in many brewing methods (including drip). To ensure a consistent grind across the board, I employed the help of the Baratza Encore burr grinder, set at a level of 18, to produce the medium texture recommended for a drip machine; I also used a simple digital kitchen scale to measure the correct amount of coffee to brew a full carafe, per the SCA’s recommended “Golden Cup Ratio” of 16 parts water to one part medium-grind coffee. Last, I used a simple Brita filter to treat the water I used, as well as paper filters (Melitta #4 cone filters or standard-size basket filters, depending on what the machine called for), regardless of whether the machine came with a reusable gold tone one.
My Expertise
I’ve been an editor for about a decade, and have worked in the food and drink editorial space for half of that time, covering the best recipes and kitchen equipment on the market. I oversaw the launch of the drinks vertical at Food52 during my time as Content Director there, and hand-selected contributors to cover beverages of all types, including coffee and tea. For this story, I added to my personal knowledge and experience by speaking to several leading figures in the coffee industry: Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply in Brooklyn, New York; Travis Bell, founder of Black Acres Roastery in Baltimore, Maryland; and Patrick Cotter of Seattle Coffee Gear, a premier specialty coffee equipment retailer. I consulted the three of them to learn about what factors lead to the best coffee brewing possible, which features consumers should prioritize (or skip) in purchasing a drip coffee maker and how to optimize one’s home coffee setup for a better daily cup.
