Review: Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System

Why choose Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System over others?

As I tested, explored and used this machine for this CP301 review, I wanted to understand whether, and, if so, how Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System was superior to other drip coffee makers and single serve brewers.

This machine offers a lot of flexibility in an easy and convenient manner. Though it is not an espresso machine, I was successful in making a plethora of drinks such as cappuccino, regular coffee, tea, and iced beverages.

What I personally like about this coffee and tea maker is that it can brew a whole carafe at once, which saves me a lot of time when I have guests. Additionally, if I need some coffee or tea to take out with me, I can easily fill my mug using the 14 oz. travel mug option. This machine can be perfect for families and for people who like to entertain guests at their home on a regular basis.

Here are some distinct features of Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System:

• Choice between a glass carafe (CP301) – OWLY RECOMMENDATION, and a thermal carafe (CP307)
• Customizable brewing process (strength, blooming time)
• Possible to brew a wide variety of tea and coffee beverages: hot and cold (cold brew, hot over ice)
• Robust functionality that allows users to brew phenomenal coffee into a carafe or a mug
• Very easy and convenient coffee brewing
• Modern and versatile exterior appearance

Who is Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System perfect for?

As I was testing the product for this glass CP301 review and thermal CP307 review, I really wanted to understand who would most likely fall in love with this product.

I feel that Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System can be a compelling choice for those who are looking for:

✓ Flexible and customizable coffee brewing

✓ Ability to control the brewing process (e.g. strength, blooming time)

✓ Ability to program the machine to start brewing 24 hours in advance

✓ Cold brew and brew over ice

✓ Possibility to brew larger amounts of tea/coffee (get-togethers with family and friends)

✓ Milk frothing to add to coffee and/or tea

✓ Ability to experiment with different coffee and tea drinks

✓ Families and individuals who value a strong brand and high quality

Who is Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System NOT perfect for?

Just like with other coffee maker reviews, I would love to remain honest in this CP301 Duo review. I think that there are a couple of examples where Ninja CP301 and Ninja CP307 might not be perfect choices:

✗ Espresso lovers who want very deep and rich espresso flavor – this is not an espresso machine, and it will not yield espresso-like beverage

✗ A machine that allows a user to feel like a professional barista

✗ K-cup, coffee pod or coffee cup compatibility

✗ Quick brewing (but thus sacrificing quality of coffee)

✗ Plastic-free appliance

✗ Low budget

CP301 and CP307 Hot and Cold Brewed System Review and Evaluation 🕵️

→ Appearance

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System is a drip coffee maker with a twist. It brews both tea and coffee, and it can even froth milk!

The body of this machine has a clean, sleek design. I can choose between two models of this machine: the one that comes with a thermal carafe and the one that comes with a glass carafe. Both carafes have a capacity of 50 oz. And, for a variety of reasons, which I will explain in this CP301 review, I enjoy the glass version much better.

Regardless of whether the machine comes with a glass or thermal carafe, the machine has an easy-to-use control panel with only a few buttons (on, tea selection, delay brew, stay warm and drip stop), a select/start dial (to select and choose my desired beverage style), a drink size selection dial, and a digital clock.

What you will see in our Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System review is that the machine comes with a 50z removable water reservoir. It is conveniently located at the back of the machine. I was able to easily remove it simply by pulling it out and sliding back into place and can be easily pulled out and slid back into place.

→ Features and technical specs

Voltage: Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System is made for 120V, and can be used in Canada and the US only.

Basket size: This machine doesn’t have a portafilter. Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System is a drip brewer type of machine that uses permanent filters (one for coffee and one for tea).

The filters sit in the middle of the two filter holders:

• Orange label filter holder with a coffee bean symbol reserved for coffee, and
• Green label filter holder with a tea leaf symbol reserved for tea.

The machine automatically recognizes what I want to brew (coffee or tea) by the type of filter holder I am using, and chooses its settings accordingly.

I never used fine ground coffee in the coffee filter, as it may have clogged. The manufacturer recommends using medium ground coffee with this machine.

Beverage size: Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System can brew somewhere between 4 oz and 50 oz of coffee or tea, depending on the settings I am using. Basically, I have 6 different beverage sizes that I can choose from:

• A cup (9 1/2 oz),
• An XL cup (11 1/2 oz),
• A travel mug (14 oz),
• An XL multi serve (18 oz),
• A half carafe (32 oz), and
• A full carafe (50 oz).

I also have 5 different brew styles that I can choose from (Classic, Rich, Over ice, Cold brew and Specialty). When I select the Specialty option, I get 4 oz of coffee or tea, which is the smallest beverage size this machine can brew.

Weight: Though CP301 Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed system is fairly robust, I was surprised how lightweight this machine was. It weighed about 11 pounds, and made this machine quite light and easy to handle. Again, this is not an AmazonBasics coffee maker, but it was a joy to use it.

Unit size: Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System is 9 1/2 inches deep, 11 inches wide, and 15 inches tall, so it is medium size. Though a bit wider than some other machines, I felt that this was very reasonable considering all its technical perks and features. I found it quite easy to find a proper spot for CP301 Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System in my own kitchen.

Water reservoir: The machine comes with a large 50oz removable water reservoir. I was able to easily remove it simply by pulling it up. Putting it back was equally easy: all I had to do was slide it down into its place.

The reservoir was made with transparent plastic. There was a scale on the side, which allowed me to quickly see how much water was in the reservoir, and how much more water was needed.

Carafe: The machine comes in two versions. With a glass carafe (CP301) and with a thermal carafe (CP307). A glass carafe version comes with an intelligent warming plate. It comes on only when I brew a full or half carafe of tea or coffee choosing either the Classic or the Rich style functions. I can program how long I want the warming plate to stay on (the maximum is 4 hours).Otherwise, the machine turns off automatically after 1 hour of inactivity.

I personally prefer the glass carafe version. Not only is it about $50 cheaper, but I feel like glass carafe better maintains heat. Further, unlike a thermal carafe, a glass carafe does not leach any subtly metallic flavors into coffee. Just a personal preference.

Additional perks: Unlike regular drip coffee makers, Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System comes with an unparalleled feature set. I was really impressed with what the machine could accomplish. The features made coffee and tea brewing easier, faster and more convenient.

Among some of the most important features, I feel like to highlight the following in our Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System review:

✓ Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System allowed me to enjoy coffee and tea, brewed in 3 different ways: hot, hot over ice, and cold over ice. First, I was able to enjoy hot beverages brewed at about 190 F degrees, which is on par with the perfect brewing temperature (195 – 205 F degrees). Second, I was able to enjoy cold beverages brewed as hot over ice, also known as over ice brew. With this, I was brewing a beverage at 190 F degrees over ice. Third, the machine allowed me to brew at an accelerated lower temperature of 110 F degrees, also known as cold brew. Whenever I selected the last option, the brewing process was a little longer. It allowed coffee grounds or tea leaves to soak up properly, extracting proper flavors. Though my favorite is a cold brew, brewed at a lower temperature for longer, both cold options ensured a rich taste.

✓ Auto-IQ Intelligence feature allowed me to choose size strength and style of my beverage. Further, the machine automatically detected whether I wanted to brew tea or coffee, based on the filters I used. Green (with a leaf) was for tea, while orange (with a bean) was for coffee.

✓ Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System came with full programmability. I was able to program this machine to begin brewing 24 hours in advance of my desired brewing time. This was awesome to set before going to sleep. In the morning, I was waking up to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Further, the machine had an auto-off, which turns off the machine after about an hour of inactivity.

✓ Drip Stop button: the machine knew when the brewing had been completed. It caused the drip to stop automatically. However, if I want to stop dripping manually, I was able to do that with the Drip Stop button.

✓ Hot and cold milk frother: Though the milk frother did not heat up the milk, it successfully frothed both cold and hot milk. If I wanted to froth warm milk, I had to heat it up myself prior to frothing. The milk frother can be folded away and stored on the side of the machine, and it is easy to clean and maintain.

There are a couple of other more standardized, yet still amazing features that this machine comes with.

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System (CP301) also came with a recipe book filled with 40 recipes for some amazing coffee and tea beverages. I don’t want to spoil a surprise for you in this CP301 review, but my favorite was ginger peach white tea punch.

Further, I received a double sided measuring scoop with measurements for perfect dosage. This scoop took the guesswork out of measuring. Coffee measurements are on top, and tea measurements are on the bottom. The measurements contain icons representing the brew sizes, and numbers representing the number of scoops recommended for each brew size.

Just like Breville Nespresso Creatista Plus and Breville Nespresso Creatista, Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System (CP301) was equipped with a fold-away platform for smaller cups. While the space between the plate and a filter can accommodate a mug with the height of about 8 inches, the fold-away platform allowed me to use cups of 5 3/4 inches, or smaller. I had to remember to always ensure my cup had enough capacity for coffee or tea I was brewing!

→ Performance

Brewing time: Overall, I was quite satisfied with how quickly Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed system delivered my beverages.

The brewing time largely depended on the type of drink I wanted to brew. While a cup of hot coffee (or tea) took about 1-1.5 minutes, a full carafe could easily take about 10 minutes. Brewing a cold brew took about 10 minutes as well, and this was expected: with lower temperatures, more time is needed to extract flavors from coffee or tea.

Flavor: I was amazed with what Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System delivered. The machine adjust the “blooming” time according to the style of coffee or tea I wanted to brew.

There were 5 different brew styles I could choose from:

• Classic (produces classic coffee or tea quality),
• Rich (coffee and tea that is a bit stronger than the classic),
• Over Ice (brews coffee or tea over ice at a temperature of 205 degrees Fahrenheit),
• Cold Brew (brews coffee and tea over ice at a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit), and
• Specialty (brews half a cup of concentrated coffee or tea).

Each of those styles yielded unique yet rich flavor. I had fallen in love with tea and coffee again!

As a word of caution: I never used fine ground coffee in the coffee filter, as it may have clogged. The manufacturer recommends using medium ground coffee with this machine.

The machine comes with settings for 5 types of tea. Depending on the type of tea I am using, I can choose among Herbal, Black, Oolong, White and Green.

Temperature: As I was preparing this CP301 review, I also tested the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System for brewing temperature. In my multiple tests, the machine reached between 190 – 195 F degrees at brewing, which is in the ballpark of the perfect brewing temperature 195 – 205 F degrees. The machine did a good job!

Milk Frother: The machine came with a milk frother that I was able to fold and store away on the side of the machine. It did not take up much space, if any at all. The frother could not heat the milk, but it frothed both cold and hot milk.

Noise levels: I did not notice any unremarkable noises or sounds coming out of the CP301 Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System. The machine was noisy only in the beginning, as the brewing cycle started. However, the noise levels decreased after a few seconds of brewing.

Cleaning: I was really happy with the ease and convenience of cleaning. The filters can be emptied and cleaned with running water after every use. Most of the parts of this machine are top rack dishwasher safe, except for the thermal carafe, which can only be washed by hand. The machine does not have a drip tray, which means that the machine needs to be wiped after each use (due to potential drippings).

The Clean light came on as soon as the machine needed descaling.

Customer-reported technical issues

Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System comes with a 1 year limited warranty, provided the machine is sold by an authorized retailer.

During my tests for a couple of months, I have not experienced any remarkable issues with the machine. It performed as expected from start to finish.

It appears that the vast majority of users are also happy with the machine and its functions. The negative reports are few and far in between. If there were any, they had to do with the following:

• Machine stopped pulling water from the tank
• Machine could not stop dripping even after the brewing cycle was over
• Coffee was weak

→ Health and safety

I was just a bit disappointed with Ninja’s CP301. Ninja officially claims that CP301 and CP307 are BPA-free. However, the machine has a lot of plastic parts.

The BPA-free status is helpful to know, but it typically does not guarantee that there are no other potentially dangerous substitutes used in the production process.

Reports show that many manufacturers replace BPA with other types of plastic. These types include but are not limited to BHPF (fluorene-9-bisphenol), TPP (triphenyl phosphate), and bisphenol S (BPS). The exact health effects of the BPA substitutes, such as BHPF, TPP and BPS, are unknown at this point.

I was not able to find much detailed information on what kind of materials or chemicals are used, so I am not able to verify. I will be reaching out to Ninja so I can include it in the CP301 review.

→ Price to value: is CP301 or CP307 worth the money?

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System typically sells for about $$$ for the glass carafe version (CP301), and about $$$$ for the thermal carafe version (CP307).

Given the feature set, functionality and performance, I feel that the price is really reasonable, especially the glass carafe version. The machine is much more complex than Keurig, Cuisinart or Braun, which are in a similar price point.

Should I buy Ninja CP301 or CP307? Owly’s verdict! 🔨

I feel like Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System can be a great choice for tea and coffee lovers. The machine comes with a milk frother, which can yield a nice milk foam for any coffee beverage.

Though this is not an espresso machine (and perhaps not a right fit for espresso lovers), I really enjoyed how diverse and flavorful beverages brewed in this coffee maker were.

The machine allowed me some flexibility in terms of tea/coffee recipe experimentation. Not only was I able to drink hot and cold, but there was a variety of settings to choose from, to yield a cup of tea or coffee that I enjoy day after day, year after year.

What do you think about Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System? What was your experience with CP301 or CP307? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, under this CP307 and CP301 Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System review!