Spinn Coffee Maker Review: Finally It’s Available In 2022!

The problem with most coffee lovers is that we love pretty much ALL coffee.

Espresso. Drip. Cold brews. A Mexican mocha with a kick of cayenne (just me?). It’s all too delicious to pass up.

But the only way to get all of that in one place is to go out. Or is it?

Meet Spinn. The Spinn Coffee Maker is luxurious, beautiful (seriously), and convenient in one coffee machine.

But is this futuristic-looking, app-optimized coffee machine worth it? I’ll give you my hard-researched facts and let you decide.

Spinn Coffee Maker Review Overview

This innovative coffee maker is your one-stop-shop if fresh coffee at home with little to no effort is your greatest dream.

The Good — Overview

There are a lot more pros than the ones I just listed above.

First of all, a Spinn coffee machine makes truly great coffee.

Espresso, drip, pour overs, cold brew — the Spinn coffee maker makes almost any coffee style. And it will brew and pour liquid gold straight into your cup. This is due to the patented centrifugal force spinner this machine uses for making coffee.

You may have to add ingredients like chocolate, honey, or sugar in yourself, but with the assistance of the app you can get recipes for any basic coffee drink — and specialty coffee drinks, too.

There is also a separate milk frother you can order if you’re a fan of lattes, cappuccinos, and the like.

The water tank on a Spinn machine can hold about 40 ounces, brewing up to 8 small glasses of drip or around 25 espressos.

This machine also uses their NANO water filter to make coffee with filtered water. 

You can also upgrade the NANO water filter to an Intenza filter which does an even better job filtering out chlorine and heavy metals, softening water for a better taste.

Spinn coffee makers come with their own app which lets you start brewing from your desk (or your bed). You can even set a timer to have your coffee ready when your alarm goes off.

With Spinn’s coffee subscribing service, the Spinn app also offers “roast recognition software” which will tell you about your coffee, match you with coffee roasters and delicious coffees you may like, and order coffee through Spinn’s coffee subscription business. 

The Spinn app will also give you advice on brew temperature, grind size, and best recipes for the roast you’re using.

But if you don’t want the app, you can still operate it manually.

Finally, Spinn is a rare coffee brewer that’s both convenient and low-waste. Unlike pod machines — which either create waste or take more effort to stay waste-free — Spinn just asks you to dump your beans in.

Yeah, Spinn will grind coffee beans in a conical burr grinder before brewing them. Now, that’s fresh.

The Bad

Having a Spinn coffee machine is almost like having a coffee shop in the kitchen — and that’s gonna cost more than your typical coffee maker. You have to pay extra for high-quality coffee, but you will get a delightful drink out of it.

Fans of darker, oilier roasts will also want to be careful. Spinn says using these beans may “lead to issues in the long-run.” 

While you can technically use your own coffee beans, you will want to watch how often you opt for dark and oily roasts.

Although the Spinn coffee maker cuts way down on the kitchen appliances you need to make a variety of good coffee, it arguably needs one extra appliance: a milk frother. This isn’t a machine with a built-in steam wand.

Note: You have to use whole coffee beans with a Spinn coffee machine, no ground coffee in this one. Most coffee retailers offer both, so this shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, your cup of coffee will be that much fresher.

Recommended For

A coffee lover who wants a different coffee drink every day without the hassle of owning and operating multiple machines and brewing systems.

If you just spend the money at a cafe daily instead, Spinn is probably comparable, or cheaper.

Specialty roast junkies might also appreciate the added convenience of Spinn’s optional auto-order feature, coffee subscriptions, and playground-like app for roast-optimized coffee making.

Centrifuge Infusion

The Spinn coffee maker comes with a patented centrifugal force spinner.

In English, this G force infusion spinner uses centrifugal force (tl;dr a force that makes spinning objects want to stay far from the center where the spinning action originates), or G force, to make a perfect cup of coffee.

Based on how fast the coffee grounds are spun (and the grind size) coffee is extracted to have different flavors and strength. So fine grounds and high speeds will make a drink that mimics espresso. 

(For you fellow nerds, that high speed creates greater pressure, which creates that espresso-like extraction.)

Brew Types

The Spinn machine produces almost any broad coffee style, especially if you have a milk wand to go with it.

Although coffee is made in a special way with that G force spinner, Spinn makers can make a sort of espresso, drip, pour-over, French press, and cold brew coffees.

With an espresso base you can use the Spinn to make espresso-based drinks like Americanos, lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, etc. You can make cafe-au-lait with drip. And the Spinn app includes recipes for other favorites like an affogato or con panna.

Between the app and the unique brewing process, you can make more coffee types with this coffee maker than you can with probably any other out there.

App To Brewer Connectivity

Spinn’s app is unique..

Sure, a few other coffee makers these days are digitally paired. Alexa can operate a few coffee machines and more and more coffee machines can be programmed in more sophisticated ways.

But Spinn does a lot with its app.

The app is your best friend when exploring your next brew option and trying new recipes — especially if you don’t know anything about making coffee that isn’t drip.

It’s also an easy way to navigate Spinn’s coffee subscription business, pairing you with roasts to fit your taste and preferred brewing method. (And it will tell you how to make the most out of each roast you try.)

You can set it up to auto-order your next roast, too.

Oh, you can also use the app to tell your Spinn coffee maker to hurry up and make your espresso already or program it to have your French press ready tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to make the coffee come to you yet. At least your cup will be full by the time you drag yourself to the kitchen.

A Note About Spinn Marketplace Coffee

Spinn really encourages you to order their coffee from the Spinn marketplace.

Their explanation for this is that their coffees are already produced to work beautifully in your coffee maker. They argue your coffee won’t come out as well if you use other coffees.

Despite what Spinn says, there’s no reason you can’t make delicious coffees out of other beans. However, you may want to learn how to pair roasts with their ideal brewing methods. 

You also will likely need to use roasts with stronger flavors or in stronger amounts — for some reason, non-Spinn marketplace coffees tend to extract a bit weaker.

With some finagling, many users find using their own coffee is more than adequate. As long as you’re careful to avoid using oily roasts often (more on this below), using other coffee shouldn’t be an issue. 

But if the commercializing bugs you, know that it will likely bug you every time the app prompts you to order coffee.

What Are People Saying?

Specs aside, what’s a Spinn coffee maker really like? 

No coffee maker is truly universal, but this one is quite popular. In all, people seem satisfied with their Spinn. It’s versatile, easy to use, and makes fresh, enjoyable coffee.

But there are inevitably factors that appeal more to some than others. Here are some other specifics users noted:

Taste/Cup

Users seem to agree that this machine produces frothy results. Even a drip coffee might come out with a little extra texture.

Spinn’s coffee leans toward the bitter side, too. Opting for lighter, fruitier roasts would probably diminish this if you’re not a fan of bitter brews.

Timing

Extraction times run longer than average for espresso shots (around 2 minutes) and short for brews like drip (3-5 minutes). 

Longer shot times may explain the somewhat bitter flavor. Higher pressure (the centrifugal force used to make the coffee could create that high pressure) can also lead to slightly more bitter coffee.

Specialization

A Spinn machine doesn’t come with a lot of specialization for coffee lovers who like to pretend they’re preparing for a barista competition.

You can choose the amount of coffee you use and make, and of course, you can choose the type of drink you get.

If you know very little about coffee, however, and don’t actually want to know the technical details, this coffee maker is great! You can learn to make a variety of drinks with just one coffee machine.

Grounds

When your coffee is finished brewing, you can dump out your coffee grounds almost immediately. Somehow, they’re usually dry!

Lasting?

Overall, the Spinn machine seems to hold up a few years in. It’s designed to last at least five, though how well it’s taken care of, how often it’s cleaned, and individual model quirks can affect that.

Because the Spinn is so “smart,” when things get off, they can get off in obnoxious ways. A full water tank may try to tell you it’s still empty, you may get logged off the app, etc.

Despite this, most users seem satisfied and many report receiving replacement parts or models when things go seriously wrong (which doesn’t seem to be too often).

This coffee maker is still fairly new, so the jury’s out on how long the machine will last, but overall, it’s promising.

The Spinn Coffee Maker Isn’t For You If…

Love Dark, Oily Roasts

A Spinn can grind its own beans from a variety of roasts, but this coffee maker doesn’t do well with really oily coffees.

It’s probably okay to use a darker, oilier roast once in a while but long-term it sets your Spinn up for trouble. The oil probably builds up with time and diminishes the effectiveness of the grind and perhaps alters the flavor of the extraction.

Some users find cleaning the grinding gears (burrs) more often does the trick, but know that this could be aging your machine.

So if you live by dark roasts, which tend to be oily, this is a bummer, since you may have to choose between your coffee, and your coffee maker.

Want More Control

A Spinn machine lets you adjust the type of coffee made, the total brewed volume, and the amount of coffee you use. It doesn’t let you adjust brew temperature, fine-tune aspects of grind size, or other features.

If you want fresh coffee that tastes great with all the convenience — and none of the effort — this mostly automated process is awesome.

But if you actually love experimenting with the brewing process and geek out over every half-degree temperature difference, if you measure your grounds down to the micron, this takes away a lot of your control.

Are On A Budget

This machine makes a great cup of coffee, but it’s not the only way to get a delightful drink.

Having multiple coffee-making equipment is pricey and a lot to deal with, but it would probably be cheaper or the same price to buy a drip machine, French press, espresso machine, Aeropress, milk wand, etc. than it is to buy a Spinn machine.

Unless you’re trying to kick a daily Starbucks habit, this machine is not a money saver.

Still, a Spinn coffee maker is worth it if you just want to enjoy coffee at home without sticking to just one or two drink types.

The Final Verdict

The bottom line: A Spinn coffee maker is a unique and impressive most-in-one machine.

It’s a solid choice for quality coffee at maximum convenience. It’s surprisingly versatile and great for those who love coffee, but don’t know all the technicalities or even how to make a latte (yet!).

For more experienced coffee lovers, this machine is still convenient and a great way to keep it easy, and delicious, at home.