Ninja CM401 Specialty Coffee Maker Review: An Engineer's Perspective

The Ninja CM401, or better known as the Specialty 10-cup coffee maker can be found everywhere - at Costco, Amazon, Walmart, you name it! Since our family friends own this machine, and my mom as well, I thought I might as well review it. It does include some cool mechanical features and nice ergonomics, but how's the taste? Do the 19 holes of the shower head really produce a good cup, or is there something else holding this machine back? let's find out.
-- Products used/recommended in this video --
(these are affiliate links that help fund videos like this, at no extra cost to you)
► Ninja CM401:
🇺🇸 amzn.to/47DNZXw
🇨🇦 amzn.to/3uId4Cj
Alternatively:
► Sage/Breville Drip Coffee Machines (buy from Sage/Breville directly):
🇺🇸 breville.oie8.net/Drip_US
🇩🇪 breville.oie8.net/Drip_DE
🇬🇧 breville.oie8.net/Drip_UK
🇨🇦 breville.oie8.net/Drip_CA
🇦🇺 breville.oie8.net/Drip_AU
🇫🇷 breville.oie8.net/Drip_FR
🇪🇸 breville.oie8.net/Drip_ES
► Breville/Sage Grinders (buy from Sage/Breville directly):
🇺🇸 breville.oie8.net/US_Grinders
🇩🇪 breville.oie8.net/DE_Grinders
🇬🇧 breville.oie8.net/UK_Grinders
🇨🇦 breville.oie8.net/CA_Grinders
🇦🇺 breville.oie8.net/AU_Grinders
🇫🇷 breville.oie8.net/FR_Grinders
🇪🇸breville.oie8.net/ES_Grinders
► My Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/tomscoffe...
► Grinder Kit: kit.co/tomscoffeecorner/grind...
Machine source: private purchase
Release day:
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
----------------------------
*DISCLOSURE: The above Kit.co and Amazon links lead to Amazon, and since I am an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
#TomsCoffeeCorner #Espresso #HomeBarista

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Just a fun little video for April fools day. The Hi-ya! is an Uncle Rogers reference, btw, who I think is hilarious. :)

[@Captain_Hindsight]

Why does this comment have a 3 months ago tag, but the vid is posted today?

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

@@Captain_Hindsight I prepared it ahead of time.

[@Captain_Hindsight]

@@TomsCoffeeCorner time travel confirmed

[@jtvrm1]

Ahah, great opening @TomsCoffeeCorner. I happen to have the CM405, the one with the insulated carafe and no base plate heater, and the coffee tastes great, no plasticky taste so guess you got a lemon indeed. My guess would be either the water circuit tubing or the water pump are the root cause of the taste. I do love these machine are programmed to do a bloom step before the actual brew run, that really helps improve the quality of the brews. Keep up the great work.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Hi there - i’m glad you liked the intro, and thank you for sharing your experience with this type of machine! Cheers!

[@luisbastidas1898]

Thanks for sharing! As a Barista i don't really like these kind of machines but it's cool to know how they work.

[@drevro]

are you saying that taste wise or?

[@terrapinflyer273]

What's your preferred method or device?

[@luisbastidas1898]

@@drevro Mostly taste wise, you can't really control variables such as a water temp, flow rates and things like that

[@luisbastidas1898]

@@terrapinflyer273 I love the Hario V60, it's such a nice brewer! You can adjust almost everything If i was looking for something to do all the work for me I'll be looking at the new Fellow Aiden, but that it's going to be on the expensive side of things

[@seeno1]

What about a coffee maker for lesbians that like a strong cup of joe

[@stradnyc]

I have a Nija pizza oven style air fryer in very neat design and user friendly, just like your coffee machine. Btw，nice Nija kicks and spiffy hairdo.

[@robotortoise]

It was fun to see you review this coffeemaker for an April First video. I actually have the CP307 machine, a newer model than you have that i bought a few years ago, and I actually quite like it. I bought it a few years ago to replace my Keriug (which I was not fond of the taste of, and admittedly just wanted it because it seemed neat). I loved how the Ninja could make a carafe of coffee or a cup - no other consumer coffee maker at the time had that kind of feature, ESPECIALLY with using fresh ground coffee instead of pre-made pods, and I appreciated how the machine would pull whatever quantity of water you wanted automatically. Nowadays there are other machines that can make a cup of coffee or a carafe, but it was definitely one of the first of its kind. Also - I have never had a plasticy taste, so maybe you need to descale it, or clean the water tank vigorously or something.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Glad to hear that you're satisfied with your Ninja. Maybe I'll have to descale it and see if it loses that plastic aroma. Cheers!

[@robotortoise]

@@TomsCoffeeCorner You're welcome! Thank you for the video!

[@dexcoon]

My mother in law has one of these on her counter, but I've never used it myself. I didn't even know it had that little milk frother, that's kinda neat. It kinda seems like they're going after that Moccamaster style a little bit.

[@Marysart]

Had to replay that intro 😁😂. Being from Holland, I think almost no one has the space in their kitchen for this one. It would take up half my counter space and I would have to start charging it rent if it wanted to stay with me. If ever a toy version where to come out though...I like it's design!

[@joelcleare]

I have an old version of that coffee maker. Almost 10 years old and still working.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Wow, very nice longevity! Do you descale?

[@mherald]

I have an older model that I've used for many years and never had a plastic taste in my coffee. I thought it made a decent cup. However, I recently upgraded to. Delonghi Dinamica Plus, thanks to one of your videos. 😊

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Thanks for sharing! Dinamica is a lot better. Cheers!

[@terrapinflyer273]

Holy sh**. That's a $1500 machine!

[@stevefulgione4231]

I used to have one of these Tom. For drip coffee it was not bad. I made all kinds of drink and they were fairly good. I enjoyed the time I used it. That was about 2 years. Then I found espresso. Need I say more? 😁

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Nope, that says it all. You entered the rabbit hole.

[@zykoncito]

A trick I have to remove the plastic taste from my bicycle bottles is to add a little vinegar or lemon juice and baking soda and then hot water. After that, beat them well And then I just rinse them with clean water to remove the rest. Perhaps doing a complete process with that liquid through the pipes will remove that plastic taste from the machine.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Thanks for the tip! I might have to try that when I get the machine again. Cheers!

[@stacywilliams8801]

Did you run the clean cycle before you used it for the first time? If I remember correctly, you're supposed to clean it first (11 oz white vinegar and then fill to the max line with water), and then run 2 more clean cycles with just water to flush out the vinegar. This should remove any chemical residue and taste.

[@cjsloki9717]

Too bad you got a lemon. I had to return my stainless steel french press: it has a strong metallic taste. It's weird that sometimes strong flavors seem to be in these brewing devices. Thanks for the video and the bloopers.

[@terrapinflyer273]

I have a coffee grinder I got as a gift, but never used on account of opening the machine you get a very strong metallic smell. I can tell it's cheap metal too by the scent. But, also a cheap off-brand device.

[@JoEpunkt]

Is the scale that you use in this video good? Is this the Mii Nano scale, did you buy it on amazon?

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Yes, it's the MiiCoffee, and I got it off Amazon. Amazing value for the low price. I like its small form factor, too.

[@nicholasbrown4324]

Hello Tom, I was wondering if there is a big difference between an espresso extracted by Breville Barista express with an espresso extracted by Profitec pro 500 pid if both extracted properly?

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

I think there will be, yes. It's not just the PID (Breville also has a kind of PID), but rather boiler vs thermocoil machine. I tend to prefer espresso out of boiler machines, but that's just me. You'll probably also pair the Profitec with a better grinder than what comes with the BBE, so that would be another advantage. But of course the BBE would be a lot cheaper. Cheers!

[@nicholasbrown4324]

thank you very much for fast response. I am a fan@@TomsCoffeeCorner

[@zack20012]

Can you please do a video on the Mokona Bialetti

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Oh wow, I never knew this existed. Maybe someday...

[@johne7100]

Nifty machine - I'd almost be tempted if I didn't already have a B2C and an espresso machine taking up counter space. It'd be good, though, for turning out a bowl of fresh coffee to dunk a length of buttered baguette into of a morning. The B2C isn't that good at turning out crappy French coffee. I do miss the melted butter floating on top, though. 😏

[@BaciuConstantin1993]

Hello , off topic what distribution coffee 51 mm do you recomand ?

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

I like WDT myself. Less work than shaking...

[@Thetache]

Tasting plastic in everything sounds a bit like being slowly poisoned to me. I always love watching how complicated these machines are while drinking my coffee from a Hario switch with its one manually operated moving part.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

The plastic taste was really quite strong on this model. I just wanted to give an honest review. It’s too bad, because they sell so many of these machines.

[@7531monkey]

The switch has plastic, nice try.

[@SunriseLAW]

The Ninja CM401 was created for the American market. "CM" stands for "ChemicalMagic ™"and comes with a replaceable ChemicalCartridge™. Page 5 of the owner's manual specifies that the machine is shipped with the standard CM-Plastic ™ cartridge and that other "flavors" are available.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Oh boy that's interesting...never heard of such a thing. Cheers!

[@SunriseLAW]

@@TomsCoffeeCorner Yeah, that is because I made it up for April 1, one of America's most-loved holidays. Here is a serious question I think many wonder about: what good is a cup-warmer if the machine is shut-off after each use? Seems that concept better applies to machines that are left on all day. I read that in Europe they require 30 minute shutoffs (or something like that) in consumer machines, is that actually true?

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

@@SunriseLAWIt’s like 15-20 minutes actually, at least that’s what I’ve seen. ECP is 10 minutes, Barista Express I think is 15 minutes. Kind of annoying 😅

[@SunriseLAW]

@@TomsCoffeeCorner So the warming tray on a prosumer machine is basically useless for warming cups. Even more stupid would be RAILS to contain the cups on the useless warming tray :( 😵

[@mudonsunday]

Just to add, it’s SCAA certified.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Oh wow, that's pretty nifty. Thanks for letting us know. I see it's in good company with the Technivorm and Breville Precision Brewer.

[@espacesX]

A Ninja with a plastic Ninja sword, I guess... . Candidates for Test/Review: * WILFA Svart Precision WSP-2A * Melitta Aromaboy

[@SerfonteinL]

Not really my cuppa.... espresso... Thanks Tom

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

No worries! Since my mom had this, and it was brand new, I was still curious to review it.

[@Paddzr]

It might not be your machine, others might just not be as sensitive to "plastic" flavour as you are. Especially if they're not used to good quality coffee.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

I’m not sure. I wouldn’t consider myself to be sensitive to plastic taste. I think maybe my model could’ve been a lemon in that regard. I know that a lot of people are super satisfied with these.

[@MrWilli2006]

Deaboniert wegen Videos exklusiv für Kanalmitglieder.

[@TomsCoffeeCorner]

Hi there, I understand your comment. But please note that those videos will be published for everybody. Members get early access.