Ninja DualBrew vs DualBrew Pro – Which One Do You Buy

Dual (or two-way) coffee makers are popular picks for anyone who wants to enjoy their coffee in two ways: ground coffee or single-serve pods.

We’ve looked into dual coffee makers from many popular brands, most famously Hamilton Beach and Keurig. And now, Ninja has joined the party with their DualBrew coffee maker.

What’s The Difference?

	DualBrew Pro	DualBrew
Touch Screen	YES	NO
Hot Water Dispenser	YES	NO
Carafe Material	GLASS	GLASS
Repositionable Reservoir	YES	NO
Milk Frother	YES	NO
Specialty Brew	YES	NO
Brew Styles	4	3
Cup Sizes (Grounds)	9	9
Cup Sizes (Pods)	4	4

The Pro version of the DualBrew offers several upgrades

• You get a touchscreen display which helps you control your coffee settings more intuitively.
• You get a dedicated hot water dispenser with temperature settings. You can select from hot or boiling water. The fact that the hot water spout is separated from the coffee spout, it ensures that your hot water never has coffee residue in it.
• The integrated milk frother is not the best, but it’s a great option to have. It works like a handheld frother, so it only whisks and froths the milk, it does not heat it.
• Since there is a milk frother, there’s an option to make lattes and cappuccino, which is why the DualPro Brew has an additional brew style called Specialty, which makes concentrated coffee for your latte.

Features of Ninja DualBrew System

The DualBrew coffee system gives you a wide variety of brew sizes and strength to meet your every mood, using either your favorite coffee ground or K-Cup.

Brew sizes vary based on your brew method. Using the single-serve K-Cup pod option, you can brew sizes 6, 8, 10 and 12 oz. But if you’re using coffee grounds, the brew sizes are even more variable: Small Cup, Cup, XL Cup, Travel Mug, XL Travel Mug, ¼ Carafe, ½ Carafe, ¾ Carafe, or Full Carafe.

When it comes to Brew Styles – which is another word for coffee strength, you can select between classic, rich or over ice, which brews even stronger so your coffee doesn’t taste watered down when the ice melts.

On the control panel of the DualBrew machine, you’ll notice that it also has a timer for auto start and a keep warm option to keep your coffee warm on the hot plate for up to 4 hours.

What’s Inside the Box:

The coffee maker – 12-cup glass carafe – paper filter kit – K-Cup pod adapter – coffee scoop.

Where else to Buy Ninja DualBrew:

Target – Ninja Kitchen

Features of DualBrew Pro

With the Pro version of the DualBrew, you get all of (features of the non-Pro version) and a few extras:

• Four Brew Styles: Classic, rich, over ice and Specialty, this brew styles makes a coffee concentrate that resembles a shot of espresso that allows you to create delicious milk based coffee drinks. Learn all about Ninja’s Brew styles here.

• Milk Frother: To make those delicious cappuccinos and lattes, you’ll need a frother. The DualBrew Pro has a built-in frother, the whisk type, so it will not heat the milk like a steam wand does, it only creates froth.

• Hot Water on Demand: DualBrew Pro has a separate spout to dispense hot water on demand. You can select from hot or boil water temperatures.

• Repositionable water reservoir allows you to change where the reservoir sits, either on the side or back of the coffee maker.

Are There Any Reusable Filter Pods for the Ninja DualBrew?

I’ve received this question via email. The simple answer is it’s not needed. The DualBrew can brew single cups using ground coffee, making the need for a reusable filter pod redundant.

I would not advise you to try Keurig’s reusable filter pods, they won’t work as the punching needle on the DualBrew is different than Keurig’s. In fact, DualBrew has three needles instead of one. So It’s different from Keurig’s single needle machines and MultiStream machines which have five needles.

Ninja DualBrew Model Comparisons

DualBrew CFP301 vs CFP300 vs CFP201 vs CFP305

Turns out, Ninja is making a whole lot of DualBrews! They come in several models with slight changes, so here’s what you need to know.

	CFP301 PRO	CFP300 PRO	CFP 305 PRO	CFP201 (DualBrew)
Touch Screen	YES	YES	YES	NO
Hot Water Dispenser	YES	YES	YES	NO
Carafe Material	GLASS	GLASS	STAINLESS STEEL	GLASS
Repositionable Reservoir	YES	YES	YES	NO
Milk Frother	YES	YES	YES	NO
Specialty Brew	YES	YES	YES	NO

So as you can see, the CFP301, 300 and 305 are all variations of the PRO model, while the CFP201 refers to the DualBrew model.

DualBrew Pro vs. Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker

Ninja’s Specialty Coffee Maker was a released before the DualBrew. While it came before the DualBrew, it is still sold and available from Ninja or other vendors, so at the time of writing, it is not a discontinued model.

Basically, the Specialty coffee maker was designed the same thing the DualBrew Pro can do. It has a built-in frother and the Specialty Brew option to make specialty coffee drinks. But there are still some differences. Here they are compared side by side:

	DualBrew Pro	Specialty Coffee Maker
Brew Styles	4 (Classic – Rich, Over Ice, Specialty)	4 (Classic – Rich, Over Ice, Specialty)
Brew Sizes	9 (Small Cup, Cup, XL Cup, Travel Mug, XL Travel Mug, ¼ Carafe, ½ Carafe, ¾ Carafe, or Full Carafe)	6  (Cup, XL Cup, Travel Mug, Multi-Serve Travel Mug, Half Carafe & Full Carafe)
K-Cup Pod	YES – 6,8, 10, 12 oz	NO
Touch Screen	YES	NO
Repositionable Reservoir	YES	NO
Reservoir Capacity	60 oz	40 oz
Hot Water System	YES	NO

One of the biggest differences in these two models is that the DualBrew Pro is a dual coffee maker that can brew both ground coffee and K-Cup pods. While the Specialty coffee maker is a no-pod system, it can brew single cups, but does not use any pods.

The DualBrew Pro also features three additional cup sizes and a hot water dispenser.

Is It worth it to buy an older model (Specialty Coffee Maker) or should you go for the DualBrew Pro?

It depends on what you need. If you don’t need the K-Cup pods brewing option and happy with brewing ground coffee only, the Specialty coffee maker is a solid choice. But I would also consider its price. If it is sold at a small price difference to what the DualBrew is sold for, then definitely go for the DualBrew Pro. But if the older model is heavily discounted, then why not.

Frequently Asked Questions