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Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System vs Keurig K-Cafe: Which is Better?

NINJA HOT AND COLD BREWED SYSTEM VS KEURIG K-CAFE

Would you love being able to make your favorite coffee shop drinks right in your own kitchen?

Believe it or not, you can. You don’t even necessarily need to buy an espresso machine to do it.

Ninja and Keurig both make coffee makers that specialize in making drinks like cappuccinos. If you’re interested in adding these types of coffee makers to your home, the next step is figuring out which one you want.

As an example, we’ll be comparing the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System vs Keurig K-Cafe. 

In summary, this is what we’ll be going over:

  • What the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System and the Keurig K-Café have in common
  • What makes these coffee makers different from each other
  • Things to consider before you buy either one

Let’s jump right in.

Quick Summary

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Attribute

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System

Keurig K-Cafe

Image

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System, Auto-iQ Tea and Coffee Maker with 6 Brew Sizes, 50 fluid ounces, 5 Brew Styles, Frother, Coffee & Tea Baskets with Glass Carafe (CP301),Black

Keurig K-Cafe Single Serve K-Cup Coffee, Latte and Cappuccino Maker, Dark Charcoal

Coffee Grounds

Yes

Yes (with purchase of My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter)

K-Cups 

No

Yes

Milk Frothers

Yes

Yes

Drink Sizes

6

4 (plus shot size)

Carafe Brewing

Yes

No

Travel Mug Friendly

Yes

Yes

Ideal Uses

Home

Home

Pricing

Because of its Basket Recognition and cold brew capability, the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System is perfect for tea or cold brew lovers. This is a match for you if you love tea and cold brew, or you need to provide coffee for groups often.


With only a handful of simple buttons, the Keurig K-Café is as easy to use as they come. Grab this coffee maker if you want to be able to make lattes and cappuccinos with just a push of a button.

Similarities

Milk Frothers

Topping off your coffee with silky milk foam is part of what makes a great latte or cappuccino.

So then you’ll need some reliable method of creating milk foam to make these drinks yourself.

To make this possible from home, the K-Café and Hot and Cold Brewed System both come with milk frothers. The way they operate is a bit different, but the overall concept is the same.

On the K-Café, you just pour milk up to latte or cappuccino fill lines engraved on the inside of the frother. Then you push the latte or cappuccino button and let the Keurig handle the rest.

Comparatively, the frothing process is a bit more hands-on with the Ninja. You’ll need to add a little milk to a cup and hold it beneath the frother yourself while pressing the button on top.

On the whole, though, the end result is the same: delicious, smooth foam to pour on top of your drink.

Hot and Cold Milk Frothing

Just as you might want hot milk foam on top of a beverage, you might want cold foam to add to an iced drink.

This is easily achieved with the Keurig and the Ninja. Either one of them can froth cold or hot milk.

However, it’s important to note here that the way this is done varies between them. For the Keurig, you must press the cold button, and it will froth your milk without heating it.

On the other hand, the Ninja doesn’t heat your milk when it froths. If you don’t heat your milk beforehand manually, it will simply froth your milk cold for you.

Either way, you’ll get that twist of creaminess to add to a refreshing cold drink whenever you need it.

Ground Coffee Compatibility

Generally speaking, if you want the strongest coffee flavor, you need to use fresh coffee grounds.

Because of oxidation, ground coffee can quickly become stale and lose its potency. For this reason, experts will almost always recommend grinding your own coffee as close to the time you’re going to use it as possible.

Either the Keurig or the Ninja can support coffee grounds. This allows you to use any blend of coffee you like.

You can purchase pre-ground coffee to use, or you can buy whole coffee beans and grind them fresh right before brewing for the best results.

If you’re in the market for a coffee grinder, click here for Majesty Coffee’s selection of home grinders. 

Removable Water Tanks

With both the Keurig and Ninja, you need to pour water into the tanks manually when they run low.

Both coffee makers simplify this process with their removable water tanks. Rather than struggle to dump water in them where they sit or having to move the entire machine, you can just pull out the reservoir.

Because of this, you can comfortably move the water tank to wherever it’s convenient to add water.

Besides make refills painless, removable water tanks make cleaning quicker. You can just move them to your sink for a fast wash, then slide them back into the coffee maker.

Travel Mug Friendly

Want to take a drink with you wherever you go?

Then a travel mug is precisely what you need. Unfortunately, many coffee makers can’t fit travel mugs beneath them, leaving you to transfer drinks by hand to your travel mug.

That’s not the case with this Keurig or Ninja. Both can accommodate travel mugs, so your drinks can be mobile when you need them to be.

Differences

Number of Drink Sizes

The K-Café and Hot and Cold Brewed System both can brew cups of various sizes for you.

Here, the difference is the number of sizes each one offers.

The K-Café has 5 main sizes: 2 ounces (for shots), 6 ounces, 8 ounces, 10 ounces, and 12 ounces.

In contrast, the Hot and Cold Brewed System includes 6 different brewing sizes ranging from small cup to full carafe. Its largest size, the full carafe, is 10 servings of coffee.

This difference of one size may not be important to you in general, but it’s never a bad idea to have more options.

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System Fold-Away Frother

It’s undoubtedly lovely to have a frother at your disposal. But what if you need to make more room around your coffee maker?

With the Ninja, it’s simple – you can just fold the frother into the side of the machine. This will free up a little more space around the coffee maker or make it easier to pack up when you need to store it.

Conversely, the Keurig’s frother cannot be condensed. However, its frothing chamber can be removed for cleaning or transport.

Keurig K-Café K-cups

Do you have little or no experience brewing your own coffee?

That’s no problem for the K-Café. It’s compatible with Keurig’s famously easy K-cups.

So what are K-cups, and how do they work?

K-cups are pods that hold coffee, tea, or cocoa that has already been ground and measured for you. There are hundreds of flavors and types to choose from when it comes to K-cups, so chances are, you’ll have no problem finding your favorites.

Once you’ve chosen your K-cup, it’s as effortless as putting the pod in the K-Café, pressing a button, and waiting. You’ll have a tasty cup in minutes – no experience needed.

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System Basket Recognition

The Ninja’s Basket Recognition technology is perfect for fans of tea.

You’ll get two different baskets with the Hot and Cold Brewed System: a coffee basket and a tea basket. When you choose one or the other, the Ninja will be able to tell what kind of drink you’re making.

Then it will show you whatever brewing options are most appropriate for your drink, based on whether it’s tea or coffee.

No need to scroll through tons of settings. The Ninja will show you what to choose right away.

Keurig K-Café Smart Start

With many other coffee makers, you need to wait for them to heat up before you can start brewing.

The Keurig K-Café still needs to heat up, but rather than making you wait for the warm-up to complete first, the heat-up and brew steps are combined. This combination adds up to a streamlined drink-making routine.

Once you turn the K-Café on, you can place your pod or grounds in, choose your drink preferences, and let the Keurig go from there. It will warm itself up, then automatically begin brewing your beverage for you once it’s up to temperature.

Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System Carafe

Part of what gives the Ninja more flexibility when it comes to drink sizes is its carafe.

When you need more at once, the carafe will let you make 10- or 5-cup servings. Because of this, you can quickly serve several guests or set out a batch of coffee at the breakfast table.

On top of that, you’ll get the power of an intelligent warming plate system. You won’t need to hurry to finish a pot before it gets cold – the Ninja will keep it warm for you.

All you need to do is set the carafe on its warming plate. The Ninja will even self-adjust the warming plate’s temperature so that it doesn’t burn your pot of coffee.

Keurig K-Café Auto-Off

Have you ever hurried out the door, only to have to go back when you realized you left something on at home?

This is one problem you’ll never need to worry about with the K-Café. After two hours of idling, it will automatically turn itself off for you.

Not only does this protect it from the strain of running unnecessarily, but it guards you from an unexpected increase in your electricity bills.

Which one should you choose?

At the end of the day, you’re likely still asking yourself:

Which one should you choose?

The good thing about comparing the Keurig and the Ninja is that they both have enough different features that it’s not so hard to identify some specific applications they have.

For instance, the Ninja is perfect for fans of tea or cold brew coffee. Its Basket Recognition system and cold brew functions make these drinks a breeze to whip up.

But if you want a latte or cappuccino more often, the Keurig’s frother is a bit more user-friendly. All it takes to make milk foam is pouring milk in up to the lines in the chamber and pressing a button.

Limited space? The Ninja’s fold-away frother will be an attractive feature for you.

Likewise, you may prefer the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System if you need to serve groups of people frequently. Its carafe can hold up to 10 cups’ worth of coffee.

This is our suggestion:

Pick the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System if you’ll need to brew batches of coffee or cold brew. Similarly, it’s a solid choice if you want to make tea often.

However, the Keurig K-Café is ideal for making lattes and cappuccinos for yourself. Its milk frother is a dream to use, and you’ll get perfect foam every time.

Dig a little deeper into these great coffee makers here:

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