KitchenAid is one A brand that has had a place in the kitchen of every home of mine, even growing up. when i bought my own kitchenaid stand mixer For the first time since college, my apartment finally felt like a place where an adult lived. My affection for that stand mixer can’t be overstated, so naturally my ears perked up when KitchenAid announced it was revamping its espresso machine lineup.
There are three new fully automatic espresso machines: the KF8, KF7, and KF6. Then there’s the KitchenAid semi-automatic espresso machine, as well as a 2-in-1 with a built-in burr grinder. I love a good fully automatic espresso machine for its convenience and ease, but there’s also a part of me that craves the ritual of making your own espresso at home. The first of these machines to arrive at my door was semi-automatic, so here we are. Keep an eye out for my review of Automatics soon.
Consider Counter Footprint
I’m a lifelong apartment dweller, and one of the many lessons I’ve learned from moving around apartments throughout my life is the value of counter space. When I first placed the KitchenAid Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine on my counter, I couldn’t help but smile.
This is a fully featured espresso machine with a built-in burr grinder, And It fits into the area previously occupied by my rice cooker – a strip of counter too narrow for other practical uses. This machine is narrow, about 13 inches wide and 15 inches long. It fits comfortably, with room to spare, under my somewhat low-hanging kitchen cabinets.
Photograph: Jana Gray
Because of the tight space in my kitchen, it’s sometimes hard to reach the water tank on the back of the espresso machines I test. Typically, I have to either struggle to remove the tank and get it to the faucet, or resign myself to filling it by carrying cup after cup from my sink to the machine. The KitchenAid Semi Automatic overcomes that small obstacle easily due to the wheels on the bottom. I can simply pull the machine away from the wall, tip it to the side, and remove the water tank completely.
I was initially concerned that the machine would be too slippery with wheels, making it difficult to tighten the portafilter into place without the whole thing slipping all the time. Thankfully, the wheels are smooth but they require a little muscle to move – a good thing. To twist the portafilter into place, you’ll still have to hold it with one hand, but you usually have to do that with smaller espresso machines.
The wheels also make cleaning the bottom and back of the machine very easy. I’m currently testing another espresso machine on my other countertop, and it’s so heavy that it’s a major pain to carry it around to clean out any stray grounds or ultrafine coffee dust that has accumulated on the back of the machine. Given my chronic back problems, this is a literal pain.
whisper quietly
This KitchenAid machine features certification cool mark, which means it’s been tested to make sure it’s as quiet as possible (there’s a cute little Q sticker on the front of the machine). I was skeptical because even a quiet mill can be quite loud. I was wrong. This semi-automatic may be the quietest espresso machine I’ve ever tested.
Grinding the beans produces only a slight mechanical whirring sound. It’s so quiet that you can carry on a conversation while it grinds – a test every other grinder that has come into my kitchen has failed, even the quietest grinders. The grinder is also remarkably consistent. This produces grounds fine enough for espresso and coarse enough for other brewing methods. I think it can completely replace a countertop coffee grinder, no matter what other kind of coffee you like to make.
