Last Updated on: Mar 29, 2021
The new Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System and older Ninja Coffee Bar are both coffee makers, but they are distinct in functionalities and features. The Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System makes tea and coffee. That’s right. Not only does it produce delicious lattes and cappuccinos, but this machine also makes a variety of different teas at the press of a button. That’s not to say the Ninja Coffee Bar isn’t as good. But, if you, your household, or any guests are tea lovers, they’re going to be super impressed with the Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System.
What We'll Cover
Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System Tea Options
Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System
A cool feature of the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System is that it offers five different options of tea brews, which include:
- Herbal
- Black
- Green tea
- White tea
- Oolong
For tea brewing, the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System comes with a separate tea-brewing basket that has a washable tea filter. Whether you want to make coffee or tea, all you need to do is change the basket. Additionally, there are different settings that you can choose, such as the heat. This kit is so well designed that whatever tea you decide to brew, the machine will automatically select the appropriate heat setting for that type of tea.
The Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System has been developed to make perfect cups of coffee and tea at the ideal heat setting. Here are the temperatures that the machine is set to brew at:
Coffee: 195 F
Cold brew: 95 F
Green tea: 165 F
White tea: 180 F
Oolong tea: 185 F
Black tea: 189 F
Herbal tea: 208 F
Cold Brewed Coffee and Tea
The new system also has an extra setting for cold brew tea and coffee.
Cold Brew Tea
If you love cold brew tea, you’ll want to upgrade the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System if you already own the Ninja Coffee bar, as it doesn’t have this feature.
Cold Brew Coffee
The Ninja Coffee Bar only brews hot coffee, but the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System are designed to make two types of cold coffee: cold brew coffee and hot brew coffee, which is poured over ice. Traditionally, cold brew coffee is refrigerated overnight, but the Ninja Hot and Cold System will make it in 10 minutes.
Types of Coffee Brew
Ninja Coffee Bar Auto-iQ Programmable Coffee Maker
Both machines have different coffee brew options, so you can choose the option of your choice. You have the following options: classic, rich, over-ice, and specialty. Additionally, the Ninja Coffee Bar has a cafe forte option. These different settings will affect the extraction rate, which will influence the flavor and strength of the coffee.
Classic Brew
The classic brew has a smoother, richer, and balanced flavor than the other settings. This will have a shorter brew time than the other settings. While this cup of coffee will contain more caffeine, it won’t taste as strong. When you brew a coffee on the classic setting, the pre-infusion process will start when you press the button. It will then pause to let the thermal extraction process begin. Then it will resume till the water has filtered through.
Rich Brew
The rich brew produces a slightly more concentrated coffee than the classic brew. It uses the same amount of coffee but is more concentrated, so it leaves more room for milk or cream.
Over Ice
Although the Hot and Cold Brewing System doesn’t make ice, it makes a coffee that is ideal for pouring over ice. The coffee produced on the over ice setting is brewed at a slightly lower temperature.
Specialty
The specialty setting is ideal for espresso and cappuccino style drinks, as the bloom time is longer during the thermal extraction process. This setting produces a sweeter, more bitter, and well-rounded flavored coffee.
Cafe Forte
This setting is not available on the Hot and Cold Brewing System and is only found on the Ninja Coffee Bar. This setting produces a slightly weaker option than the specialty option, which is the strongest coffee setting.
Features of the Ninja Hot-Cold Brew System and Ninja Coffee Bar
Size
In terms of size, the newer model now has a slightly smaller base, it’s about an inch smaller than the older model, so it’ll take up less surface area on your worktop. Height wise, there’s not much difference at all.
Cup Sizes
Both models have six cup size settings: Cup, XL cup, travel mug, XL multi-serve, half carafe, and full carafe.
Frother
The frother on both models is pretty much the same, although the frother sticks about an inch longer on the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew System than the Ninja Coffee Bar.
Other Features
1. Water Reservoir
Both models feature a transparent water reservoir so you can monitor how much water is in there. However, the reservoir on the Coffee Bar is at the front, whereas the Hot and Cold Brewing System has it on the side. The reservoir has a removable lid on both models and is marked with a minimum and maximum fill lines. The minimum line is enough water for a cup; the next line up is for a mug, then a line for a travel mug and a maximum fill line for a full carafe.
2. Drip Stop
Drip coffee makers usually run until the water is all gone, but both models have a drip-stop option to stop the coffee when you feel you’ve brewed enough. The Ninja Coffee Bar has a manual drip stop to stop the flow of coffee from the basket to the cup. This is operated by flipping left to right and back again. But the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewing System has a simple push-button. When you push the button, it automatically engages. When you push it again, it automatically disengages. When brewing coffee, the drip stop automatically stops.
3. Coffee Scoop
Both have a handy side coffee scoop, which attaches to the side of the machine so that you don’t have to worry about misplacing it. The scoop on the Ninja Hot and Cold Brew system lists different coffee measurements on one side of the spoon handle, and tea measurements on the other.
4. Carafe
Both the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewing System and the Ninja Coffee Bar come with a stainless steel thermal carafe with a screw-top lid, which is ideal for keeping your coffee warm once it’s brewed. The carafe is not dishwasher safe, so it needs to be washed with hot soapy water and rinsed in clear running water. The carafe holds 50 ounces of coffee.
5. Cord Storage
The coffee bar features a place to store your cord at the back of the machine, although this is not included in the new machine.
6. Appearance
The newer model has sleeker and more modern-looking design. It is a rectangular shape in glossy black with metal accents with a digital display, which looks stylish and modern. The digital clock on the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewing System has a really cool black background with white lights. Considering it’s so compact, it houses the various tools so that they are hidden from view when not in use.
5. Fold-Down Cup Rest
Both models feature the fold-down cup rest where you can place your coffee as it brews straight into the cup.
6. Automatic Basket Detection
A neat feature of the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewing System is that when you clip the basket into place, it automatically detects whether you have the tea or coffee basket. When you pop the tea filter into the machine, the display automatically lights up the tea options. When you replace it with a coffee basket, the display lights up the coffee options.
7. Thermal Flavor Extraction
Both the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewing System and Ninja Coffee Bar feature thermal extraction flavor technology. This technology controls the time of the coffee bloom, water temperature, and saturation level to produce a coffee that is just to your taste.
8. Cleaning
The newer model also has more comprehensive cleaning instructions printed on the lid of the reservoir. This is great news as a lot of people didn’t know how to clean their coffee bar.
If you’re not a big tea drinker, the coffee bar will fill all of your coffee needs, but if you love tea, you might want to upgrade the Ninja Hot & Cold Brew System.
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