I do not identify as a coffee snob. I can recognize when coffee is really good, picking up on subtle flavors and all that jazz, but all in all, I'm pretty easy to please as long as I'm not drinking watered-down garbage. That being said, I do love me some coffee, and I drink it every single day. Sometimes (most times) multiple cups.
Because I'm somewhat casual about the coffee I drink, though, I wasn't convinced that the Spinn coffee maker was made for someone like me. But after testing it out, I can confidently say that I was mostly wrong.
So, let's take the Spinn for a spin, shall we?
A brew-tiful piece of hardware
Spinn is by far the most unique coffee machine I've ever used. First off, it has a built-in burr grinder, so you can store whole beans in the hopper and get fresh grounds for every single cup you make. Big W right there. What's really interesting about it, though, is how it makes your cup of joe. After it grinds the beans down, the machine uses centrifugal force (up to 5,000rpm) to push the coffee through a filter, kind of like a juicer. It then dispenses the finished product into your chosen receptacle, serving up a quality cup of caffeinated goodness in just a few minutes. And that final product is great. Each time I made a beverage with the Spinn, it produced something that was flavorful and an absolute joy to drink.
The machine itself is big. At least for my small-ish apartment, it was. It stuck out like a sore thumb in my kitchen, but once I got it to fit (albeit awkwardly), the rest of the setup process was refreshingly simple — all I needed to do was fill up the water reservoir, and dump my coffee beans into the hopper on top. From there, I was ready to taste my first cup of coffee.
I knew one of the bigger selling points of the Spinn was its integrated smartphone app, but I opted to make my first few cups using the machine's manual controls first just to feel things out. The onboard touch buttons allow you to choose from three different cup sizes or four different custom profiles that you can create within the Spinn app. Here, you'll also find various indicator lights that'll let you know when you need to clean the residue container, add in more beans, fill the water reservoir, or reposition the drip tray, which makes daily maintenance a breeze (you can also get these alerts as in-app notifications). I made my first few cups using just these options, and got impressive results every time — I felt like I was drinking coffee from my local cafe, which is more than I can say for the Hamilton Beach coffee maker I'm used to working with (I still love that thing, though).
There's plenty to love about the Spinn besides the coffee it makes. For one, it runs surprisingly quietly. I expected the built-in grinder to sound like a lawn mower, but it was more like a low hum that was honestly comforting rather than disturbing. I was also impressed with how easy it was to dispose of the spent grounds after I was done making my morning coffee — they come out totally dry instead of the wet mess you may be used to with other machines, which cuts down on the possibility for mold to form and opens up the opportunity for you to use the old grounds for composting. The zero-waste setup was nice to see in a market that has been overtaken by non-recyclable coffee pods. I also enjoyed the versatility of the drip tray, which can be raised for smaller cups or taken out completely to fill a thermos or carafe.
It's not perfect, though. There were some aspects of the machine that really put a damper on my experience with it. Most bothersome to me was the fact that changing beans is a chore. Let's say you've completely filled up the hopper with one roast, but later in the week you're in the mood for a different one — you're going to have to dig all of those beans out to put in the new ones, and it can take what feels like an eternity. If there was a way to remove the hopper and dump the beans back into their pouch, this wouldn't have been an issue. But you can't do that, so consider this your warning to deposit small amounts of beans at a time if you foresee yourself changing tastes on a regular basis.
Another downside is that dark roasts aren't compatible with the machine, and as a big dark roast fan, this was a disappointment. The reason for this is that dark roasts tend to secrete more oils than lighter roasts do during the grinding process, and this really gums up the works for the Spinn. For such an expensive product, users shouldn't have to make compromises on the kind of coffee they want to drink.
I'd be remiss not to highlight the milk frother that you can add to your Spinn setup for $50 when purchased as a bundle or $99 when purchased separately. It doesn't net you the same end product that you'd get with a steam wand, but it's way easier to use and did the trick for me when I was craving a latte or wanted a little extra foam on top of my cappuccino. I just wish it had some sort of communication with the machine and app, but if you like coffee drinks with frothed milk and have some extra cash on-hand, I think it's worth picking one up. (Though, you could certainly opt for a cheaper frother from a different brand.)
Your own digital barista
While you can make coffee easily enough using Spinn's onboard controls, the machine really shines when you use it in tandem with the Spinn mobile app.
When I opened it up for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of coffee recipes that I could try out, from regular espresso drinks to cold brew to lattes and cappuccinos (as long as you have the milk frother). There are more than two dozen in total, and new ones get added every once in a while. When you're ready to make a cup, you simply need to choose a recipe, select the size, and let it rip. Without fail, every time I chose a recipe, the Spinn would respond quickly and brew my beverage of choice without any troubleshooting errors or bugs. It felt downright futuristic. The cold brew option is also cool, but it needs to be poured over ice to actually make it cold, as the Spinn isn't able to refrigerate the drink before it dispenses. Even though it isn't technically a true cold brew — traditionally, it needs to be steeped for 24 hours to be considered as such — the machine still yields delicious results for a quick cold coffee.
The added layer of convenience the app brings to the table is also worth noting. I can't tell you how many times I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I could simply pick up my phone and start brewing my coffee without having to get out of bed yet. (That's provided I remembered to put a mug on the drip tray the night before, of course, which only slightly sours that added convenience.)
The app has more features than just coffee recipes, though. It also includes a dedicated marketplace where you can purchase coffee beans from local roasters, as well as a personalized quiz to help you find your perfect coffee match. Beans that you buy from the marketplace also include roaster-provided drink settings that you can use by scanning the bag itself, which will slightly modify any recipe you pick to their specifications so you can get their version of the perfect cup.
I found myself wishing that more budget brands were available within the Spinn marketplace, though. Even though it's great to support smaller roasters, it's not always the most affordable option. Budget beans are useable with the machine, but you’ll have to adjust recipes manually instead of getting them through the scanner, which feels like a missed opportunity. Could you imagine receiving custom settings for your favorite Dunkin' blend? I can, and I wish it were reality. Other than that, I think the app is a true feat, and will only get better as they add more to it in the future.
But who's it for?
The Spinn can cost up to $1,199 depending on if you get it bundled with accessories or not, and that's going to make it inaccessible to a lot of people. That's a shame, in my opinion, because this machine is pretty special. It just becomes really hard to justify the price to someone who doesn't have that type of disposable income when there are much cheaper options out there — ones that can also make incredibly good-tasting cups of coffee.
But, there is undoubtedly a niche audience for Spinn. It's not for people who like to make a whole pot of joe that they can use throughout the day. It's more for people who want to be able to switch recipes on the fly, or for those who live with multiple coffee drinkers with differing preferences. It's also for people who have $1,000 to spend on a damn coffee machine.
But if you can swing the price tag and you want a convenient way to make a versatile array of fresh-ground coffee recipes with relative ease, I can definitely recommend picking up a Spinn. It allows for lots of experimentation, and I doubt you'll ever be upset with the brew you end up getting out of it.
And hey, if you're someone who used to spend a small fortune every year buying single cups of coffee from your local shop in the morning, maybe you'll break even one day by switching over to this thing.
