Technivorm vs Ninja

[abail]

Good morning everyone,

New to the forum and not so new to the warm deliciousness we call coffee. We currently have a Ninja Coffee Bar and use a local grocery store chain coffee. It's already ground and not what I would consider "cheap coffee". We usually brew a full pot at a time using 5-6 tablespoons of coffee on the "rich brew" setting and we like the finished product. We stumbled onto the SCAA website and saw their list of recommended brewers and have read a lot of wonderful reviews about the Technivorm Mochamaster. While I agree that the Ninja brand is just a marketing name and the actual coffee maker is mass produced along with several other coffee makers with the same internals and different housing, I have to ask will the coffee taste any different from the Technivorm? I was hoping to find someone who has used both to give their opinion on the differences.

I will have to say regardless if we make a purchase before or after the Ninja dies our next coffee brewer will be the Technivorm.

Thank you for any input.

Andy

 

[ensoluna]

Technivorm is made in Netherland and Ninja is Made in China.

That is one of the biggest reason for TV being much expensive. Labor cost in Netherland must be at least 5 times more expensive than China. And probably they are being "hand-made", not machine-made in "assembly-line" like most of China factory case.
I know this kind of product line very well because I am working with an Electronic factory in ZhongShan, China (one of 3 jobs that I have, ha ha ha) and also used to work in USA electronic company for past 25 years.

However, I am not so sure whether ALL THE COMPONENTS are also made in Netherland. A lot of cases, they import components from China or any other countries and "Assemble" in Netherland and call it "Made in Netherland". (of course, certain % of components must be made in Netherland to be called "Made in Netherland" for entire product. I do not know exactly how many % on this case)

Secondly, TV is famous for delivering hot water (195F to 205F) from the beginning and continue the same temp until it is finished. This is extremely important because a lot of "normal" drip coffee brewers deliver much lower temp (150F to 160F) at the beginning and slowly it gets to ideal temp and brewing time is much longer than TV model.
Technivorm can finish brewing the coffee within 6 min into thermal carafe which keep it warm for many hours. thermal carafe is way better than normal glass container because longer you leave the glass on top of the hot surface, worse the coffee will taste.

Third, there is a feature that you can shut the filter basket off to Bloom the coffee (like the pour over) and after a min of blooming, then you can release the switch to let the coffee go thru into carafe.

I believe that Technivorm will last you many years. It is made better than Ninja and specially, it will emulate "pour over"method as closely as a drip coffee machine can.

hopefully this helps.

 

[MillCityRoasters]

Technivorm will very likely produce a better cup for a couple of reasons.

The first, as Esoluna noted, is temperature. The Technivorm brews hotter and faster than most machines. I get 6 4 oz cups in 3 minutes every morning. The second is turbulence. When the heating elements are clean, the TV jets water into the grounds providing better extraction. If you are using hard water, you'll notice this slowly decrease as the copper heating elements become covered with scale and then dramatically increase after you descale them. The TV also mixes coffee slightly better by channeling the flow underneath the surface of the decanter. It's a small thing, but discernable in the cup. Lastly, the Technivorm is terrifically easy to clean. This is huge. Rancid oil build up has probably ruined more coffee than coffee bean borer. At home, I rinse and dry the decanter and basket in about 30 seconds every morning. At work, we use a 1.8 liter brewer and all of the parts go into the dishwasher every night.

Get a Baratza grinder, whole bean coffee, and a Technivorm and your coffee life will probably be greatly improved.

 

[kevreh]

I know this is an old thread, but found it during a search. I posted the review below on Amazon. Bottom line while the Moccamaster is nice to look at I wasn't impressed. Maybe someone has a counterpoint or thoughts.

Review:
Looking to replace our 4 year old Ninja coffee bar, I decided to try the Moccamaster KBGV Select. Not impressed. The parts are plastic and flimsy, you would think they came from a $50 coffee maker. The heating coil is supposed to be top quality though. The temperature of the coffee coming out is in the 195-205 range so thats good.

Did a blind taste test with my wife and we couldn't tell the difference between the old Ninja and new Moccamaster. We actually both guessed that the coffee we liked better was from the new Moccamaster but it was from the Ninja. There might be some confirmation bias with what were used to, but regardless the Moccamaster wasn't really better.

I like the looks of the Moccamaster, I just think manufacturer is coasting. They need to upgrade the plastic parts. Maybe these were ok 30 years ago, but there's better plastics that are a little more substantial and look better. Similarily, the glass carafe is thin and only a matter of time before its broken.

One other nit picky thing, when you put the glass carafe back in it grates on the hot plate, not smooth at all. Its almost like the glass and metal really don't work well together. OTOH my Ninja is smooth as silk when you put it back on the hotplate.

The Moccamaster makes coffee well with the temperature, brew time, and wand. But these days other companies are catching up to these key benchmarks.

I will either keep the Ninja cp301 we bought to compare to the Moccamaster or maybe try the Breville BDC450 or 650.

 

[RickStrong]

Interesting timing RE the new interest in this thread. I'm a long-time coffee fiend, and I've experienced several electric and manual methods of making coffee. Among my past and present friends are Melitta pour-over, Mr. Coffee and Capresso electric machines, Chemex, Bialetti, AeroPress, and others. I had always wondered about Technivorm, since it seemed to have such a good reputation, and a few weeks ago I noticed they were on sale. So I went ahead and bought a KBGT, with the thermal carafe.

My first impression was ambiguous; I'm a nut when it comes to construction values, and while the main body and the carafe seem solid, I was not at all impressed with the remaining collection of plastic parts. However, after putting it together and becoming friends with it, I have to say it consistently makes the best drip coffee I've had from an electric machine. The water temperature and management of the water flow are superb, and the carafe works quite well.

TV makes and sells a collection of replacement parts that will keep their brewers in business more or less indefinitely; they make parts for machines that are no longer in production. After the 5 year warranty is done they will still repair their machines for a nominal $59.00 fee. Tough to beat that with any other coffee maker.

 

[kevreh]

I’ve thought about getting the model you have with the stainless carafe. Doing so means avoiding the delicate glass and (cheap plastic) carafe.

it’s encouraging you think highly of it, guess it makes it worth not having some bells and whistles on ones like the ninja’s and breville’s.

 

[topher]

I love my ottomatic.

Ottomatic 2 0 Coffeemaker

www.chemexcoffeemaker.com

 

[RickStrong]

I’ve thought about getting the model you have with the stainless carafe. Doing so means avoiding the delicate glass and (cheap plastic) carafe.

it’s encouraging you think highly of it, guess it makes it worth not having some bells and whistles on ones like the ninja’s and breville’s.

RE glass vs. stainless/thermal, I think it's a tradeoff, and I've often considered it whenever looking at coffee makers. In one TV review I read, the glass TV pot scored well consistently against the stainless one in a blindfold test, and this makes sense to me since glass is less reactive than any sort of steel. The differences seem to be minor, though, and the stainless carafe seems to have some logistical advantages. I have to admit that the construction of the main body of the TV with the glass pot looks better to me, since it extends under the pot and provides a heater, while mine has a strange, thin plastic plate that goes under the thermal carafe for I-don't-know-what reason, and "attaches" to the main body with a small tab that fits in a slot on the main body. Annoyingly, it detaches if you raise the body 1/4" or more.

OTOH I've broken a few glass coffee pots and I REALLY don't want to go through that again if I can help it, not that it happens THAT often. Also, I like being able to carry my coffee about the apartment and keep it hot while I work, so I'm pretty happy with the model I have despite some misgivings.

 

[Musicphan]

I love SS... no more broken pots / keeps the coffee hotter. Win-win in my book.

 

[kevreh]

I love my ottomatic.

Ottomatic 2 0 Coffeemaker

www.chemexcoffeemaker.com

That thing is sexy, little pricy though.

 

[kevreh]

To close the loop on what I said above, having used the Ninja cp301 for a few days I have to say I still like it more than the TV (except in one area, looks....the TV just looks more minimal and less bulky). However, I'm probably going to return it and get the one with the stainless steel carafe. Even after a half hour of heating the glass carafe version slightly burns (or maybe cooks is the better term) coffee. Temp of coffee coming out is about 195-197, and it has a Rich mode that lets the coffee bloom for half a minute or so. Everything fits together smooth and works nicely.

But yes, not going to win over TV folks. Maybe after a while if I kept the TV I would overlook my criticisms of it.