Verdict
While its price is n’t for the light - hearted , KitchenAid ’s KF8 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine delivers something different from other bean - to - cup coffee machines . Named profile , each with saved swallow combining , auto ground coffee credit , and the ability to froth non - dairy milk are a level of functionality that few can offer . Switching between drink is n’t always an entirely smooth process – for example , there ’s only one container supplied , so for other milks , you have to come out the tube directly in a cartonful – but overall , the KF8 is the closest to providing coffee workshop versatility that we ’ve found .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
As burnt umber habits have change in cafes , it was inevitable that at - home base bean - to - cupful machines would call for to catch up .
KitchenAid ’s KF8 in full Automatic Espresso Machine is equipped to be as pliable as they come : not just with a hopper that can be ejected to swap out dome for different tone and an intuitive ground java slide , but also the ability to froth plant - establish milks .
This mean that you could whip up an oat milk decaf latte as easily as a stock cappuccino , and there ’s no penury to bug out out for your speciality pet .
Design and Features
As you ’d expect from KitchenAid , the KF8 is silklike : curved corners blend with a metal - clad exterior and a option of matt colour ( admit dark , white and bass dark-green Juniper ) .
Unsurprisingly , it ’s also cogent at more than 12 kg . Yet while it ’s fairly deep on the worktop at almost 47 cm , the coffee machine pull off to squeeze in a generous 2.2 - cubic decimeter water tank with a carry handle ( although if you add a filter , capacity is reduce slimly ) .
A foresightful 114.3 curium cable television bring home the bacon muckle of options as to where it can live in your kitchen , while a pair of wheel underneath at the back reserve you to move it around more easily on a worktop .
On top , there ’s a 270 thousand ground ball for coffee attic , which can be lifted out to empty , refill or exchange the variety of attic . That ’s a useful trick , although you do call for to witness somewhere to store the beans you ’ve removed .
TheDe’Longhi Rivelia , with its multiple hoppers is neater to alter , while theMelitta Caffeo Barista TS Smarthas a rip hopper that can take two different character of beans at once .
There ’s also a chute for ground coffee tree , which , when the lid is raised , automatically register that you ’re switch to it and will go around the grinder .
However , the 12.7 cm / 5 - inch color touch screen makes using the machine effortless . you may swipe and tap your direction through the drunkenness , toggle each countersink in terms of beverage volume , coffee temperature and effectiveness , and Milk River type ( dairy farm or plant - based ) , and preserve your favourite to a named profile .
Milk River is frothed or warmed using a link up 790ml container via a hosepipe , or you may belt down the hosepipe directly into a bottle or carton . Afterwards , there ’s either a quick cleanup mode for the milk tube , or a deeper cycle . However , the drip mould tray , grounds container and milk container palpebra are not dishwasher good , so there ’s still some handwashing involved to keep it pristine .
Performance
If you ’ve own a bean - to - cup political machine , you ’ll probably be familiar with the luxuriously - pitched whine of a burr grinder . This noise is something that the KF8 has largely done away with .
Its conic untainted - steel burr grinder make water a stochasticity cognate to a fluent birr sound , which on a bleary - eyed morning is more welcome . There are a host of other Ping and dings , such as when it ’s finished brewing , but these can be switched off or made quieter , mean that you do n’t have to stir up the whole household up when you fancy a late - night latte .
It ’s clear that much thinking has go into the usableness of the motorcar : even without a manual , it ’s easy to navigate the touchscreen .
There are just four release surround it that are equally obvious to someone new to using it : one selects the profiles , another the deglutition menu , and the others are start and stop over . Plus , there ’s a forcible on / off button , with a understudy that can be set from 8 minute to 8 60 minutes ( default is 30 minutes ) – for those who do n’t require to wait for their burnt umber .
I can see why this might amount in ready to hand – the KF8 is n’t the fast when heat up from scratch , and can take up to 40 seconds to get ready . On modal , I find it took around 30 seconds after the first heating plant - up of the day . Brewing in general can take a little longer than some bonce - to - loving cup machines although its fully automatic all - in - one abilities for making Milk River - based drinks means you may choose your drink and take the air away .
Drinks flow from a single dispenser , which illume up at the top , but cleverly , underneath as well , so the cup is illuminated . The dispenser raises up to 13.7 cm , so a short travel cup can be tucked below . Milk River and coffee flow from separate double spouts within this , while live water is dispensed from a individual freestanding spout , entail that there ’s no mingling of liquids .
This preservation of taste extends to essay out different noggin : not only is it simple-minded to polish off and empty the ground ball , there ’s a purge function so any stay coffee wo n’t amalgamate with a new raft . I also like that bring up the lid of the ground coffee chute prompted the machine to spot that I was using ground .
As you ’d expect from a machine this expensive , the KF8 brew first-class , immaculate coffee that ’s systematically good . When make espresso or coffee , it always bring about a noticeable crema with an soak aroma , and was respectable at bringing out the different flavour notes of beans without bitterness .
The same was true when making cappuccino coffee : each time the milk was swimmingly form bubbles with no mess . Clean - up was as simple as running a fast rinsing program for the thermionic tube , and the container of milk detach to be lay in in the fridge . There is , however , a deeper milk cleaning computer program that has to be bear out less frequently , so there ’s more maintenance than some machine .
Perhaps the only niggle I found is that it ’s not potential to save two unlike specs of drinkable to one profile . For representative , if you delight plant - based milk from time to sentence , but usually have dairy in your latte , you ’ll need to create a second visibility for yourself or brew the caffe latte from the primary menu and toggle the milk option . Given that one of the tip of conflict of the KF8 is its ability to froth plant - based milk , you ’d also hope for a 2nd container , but there ’s only one .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The KF8 froths non - dairy milks and an ever - vary array of coffee tree beans .
Even though you ’ll save on frothy flora - based milk drunkenness , it ’ll take significant time to make your money back .
Final Thoughts
The KF8 is beautifully designed , simple to use and delivers great burnt umber . And while you ’d require that from KitchenAid , what these understand to is a bonce - to - cup machine that ’s genuinely pleasurable to use .
It ’s quieter than many , all the functions are easy to find ( rather than being buried five menus down ) , and it allow for enough versatility without feeling overwhelming : you may brew the same drinkable every day , dead reduplicate , or toggle options to create more than 40 dissimilar combination .
The only sticking point is the monetary value : it ’s an investment funds . For a similar amount of touchscreen versatility and individualised profiles , theDe’Longhi Riveliais far more low-priced . You could also reckon theJura E6for heavy coffee that ’s more custody - on .
Trusted Score
How we test
Unlike other sites , we examine every coffee machine we review thoroughly over an extended period of time . We use industry received tests to compare feature of speech decent . We ’ll always state you what we find . We never , ever , live with money to review a production .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
Yes , there ’s a chute for pre - ground coffee and car recognition .
Milk River is frothed automatically using a detachable carafe and dispensed from a pair of milk spoutsKitchenAid KF8 to the full Automatic Espresso Machine .
