Ninja Luxe Cafe Premier Espresso Machine Review

Introducing the Ninja Luxe Cafe Espresso Machine

Let us review the highly anticipated Ninja Luxe Cafe home espresso machine. Everyone is curious what this $499 home espresso machine can do, and how it compares to the competition from Breville and Delonghi. Ninja is known for making easy to use home kitchen appliances with some advanced features, and at lower prices than many competitors.

The brand new Luxe Cafe does not disappoint. Straight away I can say it makes real espresso. It uses standard, non-pressurized baskets. None of that pressurized faux crema stuff. And it comes with a proper portafilter and a nicely designed palm tamper that’s spring loaded. It claims to have temperature and pressure monitoring, and the results is an actual, real espresso.

I was honestly pretty flabbergasted at the result this $499 machine is able to provide. So far, it’s doing much better than the first release of the Delonghi La Specialita, which did not come with a grinder ideal for espresso. Check out the Ninja below.

Design and HMI

The Luxe Cafe is a pretty cool looking machine, as one would expect from the tech giant, Shark/Ninja. It is formed nearly like a cube, and you’re immediately met with the large black and stainless steel HMI interface, broken up into 3 sections:

1. Grind – this shows your current grind setting and the recommended setting, for the selected drink.
2. Brew Type – here you can choose between espresso, quad espresso, cold pressed espresso, coffee, over ice, and cold brew. I mainly use the espresso and coffee options.
3. Froth – here is where you can choose your froth amount (low, medium and high), as well as the milk type. You can also froth milk without heating it up, which is the last option.

Below this section are the buttons and selector switches. Starting left to right, you have the following button array:

1. Start Grind – this doses the amount of grinds needed for your drink. For espresso, I’ve been getting consistently 17.5 grams.
2. Brew Temp – this allows you to change the brew temp between low, medium and high. I am liking the low setting for my dark roast robusta beans, but if you are using a lighter roast, I’d suggest medium or high temp.
3. Power button – use this to cancel a brew if you need to. The machine also powers off and on very quickly.
4. Drink selector – use this rotary and push knob to select between different espresso and coffee types.
5. Size Button – choose between 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 ounce coffee drinks.
6. Milk type – use this button to choose between dairy or plant based milk drinks, to alter the amount of air added to the milk.
7. Froth Selector – use this to choose between low, medium, high froth levels, or also cold froth, and press inwards to start.
8. Purge – press this button to initiate the steam wand purge function, pumping clean water through the wand to clean it out after steaming.

Features

The Ninja Luxe Cafe has some really cool features, my favorite of which is an included scale, that measures out each dose! Another excellent inclusion is an automatic frother that includes a spinner inside, ensuring that the milk will froth up properly.

What I really like also is the cute little cubby hole to store accessories, and the insertion points for the tamper and funnel, simply because these are fun to use.

Specifications

Here are the specs of the machine:

• 13 x 13 x 15 inches (width x depth x height)
• 1600 Watt thermoblock
• 25 click stainless steel grinder with weight based dosing
• 26 pounds in dry weight
• 37 ounce water tank
• Immediate start up time
• Temperature and brew pressure control
• 1 year warranty in the USA
• Made in China

What does the Luxe Cafe come with?

Thankfully, the Luxe Cafe finally comes with just about everything you need to get started on your espresso journey. All that is really lacking is a knock box. The machine comes with the following:

• 18 gram proprietary Ninja unpressurized filter basket (espresso)
• Large Luxe proprietary Ninja unpressurized filter basket (coffee)
• 450 gram or 1 pound metal portafilter
• large milk pitcher with spinner
• 53mm tamper
• 53mm funnel
• Descaler, cleaning tablets, water hardness
• Directions

When is the Ninja Luxe Cafe coming to Germany and the UK?

One of the most common questions I get is, “when is the Luxe Cafe coming to Germany?” “When is the Ninja Luxe cafe coming to the UK?”

Thankfully, the wait won’t be much longer. It has been speculated that the Ninja Luxe Cafe will be released in the UK and mainland Europe in October of 2024. It should even be released with a hot water spout, and single basket, making it even better than the release in the USA.

In fact, it even looks like the Ninja Luxe Cafe will be delivered to Germany in 3 options:

1. ES501 – Luxe Cafe without cold options
2. ES601 – Luxe Cafe with hot and cold coffee and milk, single, double and quad baskets, and even a hot water spout! It’s supposed to also do americano drinks.
3. ES701 – Luxe Cafe as in the ES601 but with an integrated tamper lever!

To read more, just follow the link below to Ninja’s german website.

The Grinder

The grinder is a 40mm stainless steel, 5 bladed conical grinder, very reminiscent of those found in the Barista Express type machines. It does its job well for a small conical, the main gripe about these types of grinders being sometimes a lack of consistency. In this setting however, I think it’s really well suited for its purpose.

This grinder has 25 adjustment settings, and I find I am generally on 5-7 for espresso, and 23-25 for coffee brews. Luckily for new users, the machine suggests a grind, based on the brew method. Very convenient.

Do you have to use the Grinder?

So many people have been asking if you HAVE to use the grinder, in order to pull a shot.

NO, you don’t!

You can use pre-ground espresso, or espresso from another grinder, and pull a shot. In fact, the machine is so smart, that it does not adjust its “Barista Assist” grind size recommendation, since it knows that you didn’t use the grinder for that shot. Very clever.

The Steam Wand

The steam wand on the Luxe Cafe is designed for auto milk steaming, and in combination with the included spinner in the milk carafe, it works well. It heats the milk up very hot (up to 65 degrees C), and it is able to texture the milk well too, whether thin for a flat white, or thicker for a traditional cappuccino. Something to keep in mind is, the included milk pitcher is quite large, and is not ideal for pouring latte art. For that, I’d suggest a pitcher like this.

Cheat code for Manual Steaming!

At first, I was quite disappointed that manual milk steaming was apparently not possible. I tried everything intuitive to me, to try getting it to steam. Then, I looked in the directions, duh!

To steam manually, pull the steam wand out, select the lowest froth level, hold the START FROTH button in for 3 seconds, and then you can steam manually! I have gotten some excellent, silky milk using this method, and it’s better than the auto milk steaming in my opinion.

What about a solenoid, pre-infusion, PID and flow control?

Upon starting the machine, and also during various operations, one can hear solenoid valve(s) firing. That tells me that there is a 3 way solenoid to release pressure off the puck after extraction – a very nice feature for a machine of this price range. This is also the reason for the included brew group cleaning tablets, and back flushing disk.

The machine also claims to “constantly monitor brew pressure and temperature” so I am strongly assuming that there is temperature management like a PID. I am not sure how they monitor the brew pressure, but it does seem to be regulated well. So far, I have not had a stalled shot, or a shot that sprays all over, either.

So how does the Luxe Cafe perform for Espresso?

I am very much liking the espresso that the Luxe Cafe is delivering. It has given me nice intense shots with good body, and generally with a nice balance. I believe this is due to a very soft pre-infusion, as well as a pretty good included basket, along with the temperature and pressure monitoring. Getting a shot with loads of crema is no problem for this machine!

Looking inside the Ninja Luxe Cafe

Inside the Luxe Cafe sits a thermoblock, right on top of the brew group. This is good news, as the brew group will get heated along with the thermoblock, over time.

The machine itself does look a bit cramped inside, and not easily serviceable until more parts are removed. I just removed the top here, and loosened the display.

The water connections are done with either rubber hoses for the low pressure run-offs with metal spring clips, or with braided hoses and single use clamps for the high pressure lines.

As for grounding, I found the following to be grounded:

• Thermoblock
• Outer metal fascia of the machine and grinder
• Backplate of the machine

Ninja Luxe Cafe vs Breville Barista Express and Touch Impress?

I do think that Ninja aimed squarely to compete with the Breville Barista Express, and that at a lower price point. Compared to the Barista Express, this includes a grind by weight dosing system, as well as the option to make coffees and cold brews. So, this machine is very versatile!

If I am comparing the espresso quality, I think that the Ninja and Breville Barista models are very similar. They can both make espresso with good body, and pull out the chocolatey and sweet notes out of the beans, with proper puck prep. That being said, the Ninja is actually easier to work with, as I’ve never choked it, nor had espresso spraying all over. The suggestion system in the Ninja Luxe Cafe works really well!

Regarding milk steaming, I also find that the auto milk steaming works better on the Ninja than the Barista Touch Impress, but the manual milk steaming is quite similar between the two. The Touch Impress does have a nicer steam wand however, in that it is a non-burn type, and easier to wipe off.

All in all, I think the Luxe Cafe is a very nice option, especially for the price. I’d say the machines are neck and neck for me, if they’d be the same price. But if you want brewed coffee and cold brew, the Ninja is pretty much a no brainer.

Pros and Cons of the Luxe Cafe

This is a pretty great espresso machine, at least so far. I think we will have to wait some months and years, to see how the longevity is. But the machine itself and its function, is great.

Verdict

I honestly think that Ninja hit a home run with the Luxe Cafe, primarily for what the machine offers at the low price of $499. It’s quiet in operation, delivers real espresso, it’s fun to use, and it can make espresso, brew coffee and cold brew. For me, a no-brainer recommendation.

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