This espresso maker has been a huge hit with our family. I’m not a coffee snob per se, but I do know that for great espresso you need fresh beans, a quality grind, super-hot water, and optimal pressure. This machine does all those things to create an outstanding cup of coffee, rivaling the taste and freshness of any coffee shop cappuccino or latte. And it’s markedly better than what you’d get out of a capsule-based espresso machine. The freshness of the beans is a huge factor in this – this is where the “semi-automatic” aspect comes in. The machine does an outstanding job at removing the work associated with grinding, and the hopper holds plenty of beans so you’re not constantly replenishing it. Just put the portafilter in the holder, select your grind, dial in your amount, and press the button. We’ve found that the finer grind (with the lever pegged to the right) produces the best results, but you have a huge range to select from to fine-tune according to your taste. For the rest of the process, you have to select your temperature and cup size (single or double pull), but the machine does the rest for you. And it heats up pretty quickly.Granted, do not be misled by the “automatic” portion of the title. There is still plenty of manual labor required, and it’s a pretty steep learning curve. It took us the better part of a week of experimenting to get to consistent and outstanding results. So don’t be dismayed if your first cup isn’t great! Things like how full the portafilter is, how fine the grind is, how hard you tamp, etc. all contribute to the quality of the pull and getting good crema out of the machine. Once you get past that, the user interface is intuitive, the adjustments are easy, and you can iterate until you find the perfect settings for your individual palate. The buttons and dials provide enough room for customization while not being overly complex.The machine comes with everything you need, including double and single filters and a milk frother. The milk frothing also works very well – it’s maneuverable, easy to manipulate with a nice rubberized handle, and heats up very quickly to a piping hot temp. The water reservoir in back is easy to get to and holds a lot. Also, the spill catcher is deeper than you think – it even has a little floating “full” indicator to let you know when it needs to be dumped!Aesthetically, it’s gorgeous. We got the white version, which looks outstanding when set up against white cabinets. But it still has several stainless steel elements that fit in pretty well with other kitchen appliances and décor. We had to move it from our white cabinet kitchen to another room with oak cabinets and it still looks great.As far as negatives, there are a few things to note. It does take up a good amount of space, so pay attention to the dimensions before you buy. It’s a little bigger than your standard coffee maker. Also, I do wish it had a function to swap beans out easily. You pretty much have to grind whatever you have in there or pull most of it out with a spoon or something. Also, it does tend to get messy. To get the right amount of coffee you usually spill a bit during the grinding and tamping process. And to keep the machine functioning smoothly, the frothing wand needs to be cleaned every time you use it (typically this can be done with a quick wipe from a wet rag). Aside from those, the only other drawback is the learning curve.Despite those few flaws, this espresso machine is head and shoulders above other in-home solutions that I’ve had in the past. If you can devote a bit of time to learning it and have a bit of flex in your budget, in my opinion, it’s well worth it.

Price point for the semiautomatic espresso machine is fair for this reputable brand of kitchen appliance.Notable observations for us:We were able to achieve consistent and repeatable GREAT flavour and full bodied shots using Williams brand Espresso beans in the hopper.Love the idea of interchangable beam bins!!The waste water tray fills very fast as the machine will rinse and relieve internal water paths when changing modes.We do program our "#1 and #2 shot sizes which is easy to do and reset with this KitchenAid.The steamer is awesome with very hot strong steam with little water accompanying the tream.The hot water only mode dispenses #1 and #2 volumes for tea or pre-heating a mug.The extra filter cups are stored in the base behind the waste water tray. Pulling out the water tray also pulls out the filter cup and cleaning tool storage tray.The Grinder works well and has a good viewing angle to see and learn quickly how to achieve a desirable volume and grind. I caught my wife grinding 4-doses to use in a drip machine.Mess from over grinding is caught on the waste water tray, which is easily wiped and cleaned. Since the try is shallow, it fills quickly, this mess.is cleaned more frequently too.Which is my only complaint: with great coffee comes greater mess.

TLDR: A great professional-quality machine that'll make life easier. This machine will pay for itself after about 4 months of daily lattes for one person, or just 2 months for two, and that's not even counting the time saved going to the coffee shop.Full review:When we ordered this, I was unfamiliar with KitchenAid making Espresso machines, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. We have a barista in our household who took interest immediately when we unpacked it. Working daily with a professional machine, she was impressed with the hardware. The build quality is excellent, the grinder is almost silent yet fast, far faster than our standalone model. I disassembled the grinder to see what cleaning will be like and we were all impressed with the latches and handles along the way that made everything so easy. Later on, we found that it doesn't tend to jam up with beans like our old one, but easy access is always a good thing. It comes with one- and two-shot brew baskets, a solid portafilter that sits upright on the counter for tamping (no station necessary), a decent weighted tamper identical to the professional one she uses at work, a large, filtered water container, a very large drain pan with a full indicator (a red flag pops up right where you'd set the coffee cup, ensuring you can't miss it--the cup won't sit flat if it's up), an excellent steamer, and a bean hopper that holds about a pound of espresso beans. Also supplied was a small steam pitcher, good for a small espresso. We already have a 20-ounce version of it, but the small pitcher is handy for prep work for some cold espresso drinks we make from time-to-time.All this, and it only eats about 16 inches of horizontal counter space, something we don't have a lot of. It's like someone had seen our kitchen and said "make it this size." Initial setup was easy, with the Quick Start manual offering illustrated tutorials. I washed out the water basin, installed the filter, and filled it up with water from the fridge filter.It took almost the entire pound of beans to fill the hopper. If you unlatch the hopper, it closes a door underneath so beans won't fall out the bottom. All the mechanics are very simple and visible, so you can easily see if there's something off. The machine itself will tell you as well, blinking if you forget to fully lock the hopper back into place. Usually, you won't need to take it out to fill it, and with a whole pound in there, you don't have to do it often.Adjusting the grind size was straightforward, and we tweaked it until it looked right based on prior experience. The machine grinds straight into the portafilter. The amount of the grind was overabundant at the recommended setting, shutting off when it was heaped up about half an inch above the portafilter's top. Stopping the grind manually is also an easy option if someone turns the knob up and you didn't notice. We reduced the quantity of the grind to around 5 clicks from the minimum setting to get the proper amount of tamp-able grounds. is no need for a funnel, though if you're a little clumsy, you may want to put a towel under the area in front of the machine where you tamp. The steam wand is excellent, quiet and fast, and even though it uses a single hole for output, it produces excellent and abundant microfilm easily.All in all, this took our morning routine for making a latte from about 15 minutes on the old machine to about 4 minutes on the new one, the excessive cleanup and prep for the old one being what took the extra time. The espressos this one produces are so smooth and consistent. Definitely an excellent value for the money. We also like the tea spout that produces perfectly hot water for tea on demand, MUCH faster and consistently hotter than the microwave. If you already have a little machine like we did, this one will make your morning's easier and you won't know how you did without it.

 

Pro's:Amazingly quietGreat GrinderGreat steam wandGood Quality portafilterBean hopper is removableEasy to cleanGood tasting shotsGood amount of accessoriesCons:A lot of water fills up the trayIncluded tamper is uncomfortable to useSingle wall basket's with included tamper makes it hard to get in pressure range no matter how fine the grind is.Puck is near impossible to remove when using double wall basketsOverall:I was going to write a long review pointing out everything that is good and bad about the machine but most people don't read long reviews. So I'm going to keep it simple. This machine is better than it's two most popular competitors at the price point. I've used both breville and de'longhi machines quite a bit (more so the de'longhi) and I was shocked at how much better the KitchenAid was comparatively. It's significantly quieter, grinds better (I no longer have to use a separate grinder even though I still do here, and there), pours a better and more consistent shot and what stood out the most to me, was the steam wand. Even though it's a flat 1 hole wand, it is very consistent. I can get good froth every single time whereas with the de'longhi, for example, was hit or miss and seemed to better some days and bad others. The steam wand is flat which is an interesting design choice as it's definitely easier to put micro bubbles in with rounded ones. My favourite feature above all is that the bean hopper is swappable. Meaning I can have a bunch of beans on the go at the same time and depending what I'm feeling, I can just switch it out. It's very intuitive. You do have to buy separate hoppers but it's worth it. Definitely recommend this espresso machine over the others.

I'm thoroughly impressed by this espresso machine! I'll highlight some pros and cons below, but if you're looking for your first semi-automatic espresso machine and have little experience using them, this is a great one to consider. It's easy to operate, and comes with everything you need to get started making cafe-quality espresso in minutes!Pros:- Quiet grinder (compared to my old Breville Barista Express, this one is much more quiet!)- Easy to adjust grind size and amount for dosing (if this is your first semi-automatic espresso machine, be patient. It takes a few times to find your perfect extraction)- Comes with all 4 basket types (single, double shot in both single- and double-wall)- Milk frother makes beautiful micro-foam- Adjust water temperature! You can choose how hot to make your espresso (this blew my mind!)- Bean hopper is easy to install and refill.- Water tank holds a lot (2.5L), so you're not having to refill as often.- Comes with a 2-year warranty- It's gorgeous! It looks so lovely on our kitchen counter.Cons:- Doesn't come with descaling or cleaning tablets

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