You might be familiar with Ninja already. They’re a company known for their blenders, mixers and juicers, and they’ve built up a good reputation for their high-quality products that work… well, like ninjas.

They’ve recently stepped up their efforts to buy pure Kona coffee brands, and the results are as excellent as you’d expect. The Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is everything that we could want in a home coffee station. It’s gotten to the point where we don’t even visit coffee shops anymore.

If you’re hoping to cut the cord with your own Starbucks, here’s a review of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar that might open your eyes like it opened ours.

The Good

With a dazzling array of features, functions, options, controls and adjustments, the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar offers a customized cup of coffee whenever and however you’d like.

The first thing that you’ll notice about the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is the sheer amount of stuff that comes with it. When you open the box, here’s what you’ll pull out:

• Ninja Kona Coffee Bar unit
• 8 oz hot and cold tumbler
• Milk frother
• 40-recipe cookbook
• Permanent filter
• Coffee scoop
• Glass carafe with warming plate
• Instruction manual

That’s a lot of supplies, and each has a place and purpose when brewing a good cup of coffee. Let’s break them down.

Performance

The Ninja Kona Coffee Bar can be used to create everything from hot dripped coffee to iced latte drinks. The key to its versatility is its control panel. Partly digital and partly comprised of old-school buttons and dials, it will let you brew whatever you’re in the mood to brew.

Do you like standard black coffee without any surprises? Or do you prefer a deeper, richer flavor to really wake you up after a long night? Choose “classic” or “rich” mode.

Are you a fan of iced coffee beverages? Do you hate when the ice melts and leaves your drink watered down to complete tastelessness? Choose the “over-ice” brew that will deliberately strengthen your coffee’s concentration to accommodate melting ice in the future.

Do you enjoy making your own cappuccinos and café au laits? Choose “specialty” mode to brew hot and cold beverages just like your local coffeehouse. Who needs Starbucks when you have a ninja at your disposal?

Size

The Ninja Kona Coffee Bar measures 10.8 x 10.5 x 14.9 inches and weighs 8.2 pounds. That’s pretty standard for a brewing unit, but keep in mind that its many accessories will also need counter space. It isn’t just a coffee maker; it’s an entire coffee bar. You’ll need room to spread everything out.

In terms of cup size, the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar can make both single-serve cups and large, office-satisfying pots. You can prepare small mugs to be consumed with the morning paper or large thermoses to take with you during your commute.

Speaking of thermoses, the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar does accommodate them in its brewing station. You can choose between four different brew sizes for your drink:

– Cup (9.5 ounces)

– Travel mug (14 ounces)

– Half carafe (19 ounces)

– Full carafe (38 ounces)

Again, the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is all about convenience, so just about everything is adjustable. You’ll be in control of your own caffeine experience.

Features

Our favorite feature of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is its Auto-iQ One-Touch Intelligence function.

It’s a mouthful, but it basically means that you only need “one touch” to get your coffee going. The machine will automatically calibrate the necessary temperature and water saturation for your chosen drink. You won’t have to worry about messing up some small detail of your brew and ruining the entire carafe.

You might also like the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar’s Thermal Flavor Extraction technology, a delicately-calibrated blending system that will whip your drink into shape while also pulling out the full flavor potential of your grinds.

There are other features to enjoy about the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar, too. For example, there’s a “drip stop” button for when you need to pause your brewing without making a mess. There’s an auto-off feature that will shut down the machine after two hours of inactivity.

You can even set the timer and hit the “delay brew” button to prepare your coffee at a predetermined time. Make it fire up while you’re still in bed; remind it to brew a fresh cup every hour while you’re plowing through work forms. Its clock can be adjusted down to the minute and with both AM and PM times.

Oh, and don’t forget the milk frother! You can add a lovely layer of crema to your coffee beverage by using the frother to aerate your two percent. It’ll taste just like a barista did it, but you’ll get to have all of the frothy fun yourself.

Personally, we love playing with the frother just as much as using it.

The Bad

A few drawbacks keep the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar from being a perfect machine.

The Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is a great coffee maker; there’s no doubt about that. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the potential downsides of making it your main source of java.

Potential Bitterness

The big flaw of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar is its tendency to overbrew its drinks. As confirmed by independent tests, its internal temperatures can get up to 208°F. That’s slightly too high for the optimal cup of coffee. You’ll need to beware the bitterness or just use less of the machine’s “rich” brewing modes.

Aesthetic

The design of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar leaves a lot to be desired. Though it tries to replicate the sleek, chrome appearance of high-end coffee makers, the truth is that it’s made of plastic. Most components are black, so it’s not immediately noticeable as a cheap-looking instrument, but you won’t be able to fool anyone who actually uses it.

Counter-Hogging

Another potential issue is the amount of counter space that the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar requires. Between its brew stations, milk frothers, water tanks and plastic carafes, you’ll have a lot of pieces to arrange. Throw in the recipe book and instruction manual, and you’ll need drawer space as well.

We’ve already talked about the measurements of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar, so we won’t belabor the point. It’s just something to think about if your kitchen is already crammed with appliances.

All in all, the cons of the Ninja Kona Coffee Bar don’t outweigh the pros, but you should still be aware of these things if you’re trying to make a smart purchase decision.