Description
The CFP100 Series is the DualBrew without the extras. It brews from ground coffee or from pods, in nine ground sizes and four pod sizes, up to a 12 cup carafe, and it brews for ice as a distinct mode rather than as an instruction to add cubes afterward. What it does not have is the fold away frother and the separate hot water system that the CFP301 DualBrew Pro adds.
What it is and where it fits
The listing gives the size as 11.03 inches deep by 9.9 inches wide by 15.22 inches high and the weight as 8.8 pounds, with a 60 ounce removable reservoir. Fifteen inches of height with a lid and a reservoir that open upward means the wall cabinet gap needs measuring rather than eyeballing.
One caution about the identity of this listing: the model number field says CFP100 Series, which is a family rather than a single machine. Series listings usually cover several configurations with different accessories, so the exact contents of a given box are worth confirming. The included components field on this record says carafe, filter, carafe and scoop, listing the carafe twice, which does not help.
Living with it day to day
The two format design is the reason to buy this. A household where one person wants a pot on Sunday and another wants a single pod on Tuesday is served by one appliance instead of two, and neither format is a compromise: nine ground sizes covers a cup through a full carafe, and four pod sizes covers the usual single serve range.
The iced mode is the other genuine feature. Brewing over ice normally produces a watery drink because a normal strength brew is immediately diluted, and a machine that brews stronger for the purpose fixes that. It is not cold brewing, which is a slow steep producing a different drink entirely and is what the machines in the cold brew coffee makers section do. This is hot coffee brewed to survive melting ice, available in a couple of minutes rather than overnight.
Thermal Flavor Extraction is Ninja’s name for its temperature and saturation control. No brew temperature figure is published anywhere on the listing, so it is a description of intent rather than a specification to compare.
Cleanup covers the brew basket, the pod holder, the carafe, the drip tray and the reservoir. That is more than a single format machine asks for and it is the honest cost of the flexibility. Noise is not published.
Controls and connected features
Buttons and a panel with programmable settings held in the machine. There is no app, no Wi Fi, no Bluetooth and no account anywhere on this listing, so every mode and size is chosen on the machine and nothing depends on a phone or a service.
The trade for thirteen brew options on a button panel is a learning curve. The manual gets read once, and a household member who only wants one mug will find more buttons than they need. Against that, nothing here expires: the modes will still be there in ten years and there is no account to close.
Running cost and upkeep
Voltage is recorded as 120, correct for a North American machine, and this is a corded countertop appliance with no water line, no drain, no gas and no venting. No wattage or amperage is published, and a machine that brews 12 cups is not a small load, so the rating plate is worth reading before it shares a circuit.
Running cost depends on which format gets used. Ground coffee is the cheap path and the machine’s native format. Pods are convenient and cost several times more per cup. Because both are built in, nobody is pushed onto the expensive option, which is the strongest practical argument for a dual format machine over anything in the single serve brewers range.
The filter type is recorded as paper filter, so papers are the recurring consumable on the grounds side unless a reusable basket is included in a particular configuration of this series. Descaling is the other recurring job, on an interval set by local water hardness, and the 60 ounce reservoir should be emptied and rinsed periodically rather than topped up indefinitely. First availability is given as November 7, 2023.
Two fields on this record are wrong. The recommended uses field says traveling, which does not describe an 8.8 pound machine with a 60 ounce tank and a glass carafe. The specific uses field says iced coffee, which is one mode rather than the purpose of the machine.
Highlights
- Brews from ground coffee or pods with nine ground sizes and four pod sizes, up to a 12 cup carafe.
- Dedicated iced brewing that accounts for melting ice rather than producing a watery drink.
- 60 ounce removable reservoir for filling at the sink.
- Programmable settings held in the machine with no app, account or connectivity.
- One appliance covering a household with two different coffee habits.
- Correct 120V record on the listing.
Things To Consider
- The model field says CFP100 Series rather than a specific model, so box contents vary by configuration.
- The included components field lists the carafe twice and may not be complete.
- No brew temperature figure is published to support the extraction claims.
- Fifteen inches tall with a lid and reservoir that open upward.
- More parts to wash than a single format machine.
- The listing recommends traveling for an 8.8 pound machine with a glass carafe.
Who it is not for
Anyone who wants milk drinks needs the frother, which means stepping up to the DualBrew Pro or across to a pump machine. Anyone who only drinks one kind of coffee is buying two systems and using one. Anyone with low wall cabinets should measure before ordering. And anyone whose real interest is iced coffee specifically, rather than a machine that can also make it, should compare this against the Keurig K-Iced for a single cup or the KitchenAid cold brew maker for a genuinely cold brewed batch.
