Ninja Luxe Café Premier espresso machine review: Luxurious

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Ninja has had a wild run of incredible products over the past year. Its iconic Creami ice cream maker was a viral sensation, the Slushi is an ideal party companion, and the Combi 14-in-1 multi cooker makes cooking for a family easy and convenient.

So from the moment it was announced at IFA in 2024, I was keen to check out the brand’s first foray into the coffee machine world, the Luxe Café Premier.

As you would expect from a brand that seems to focus on making otherwise complex cooking processes easy, the Luxe Café does a good job at making it easy to brew a nice coffee.

But in many ways, this suffers from first-generation syndrome. It’s a bit bulky, can be difficult to clean, and while it simplifies the coffee-making process, in some ways that remove some control for experienced home baristas.

What makes the Ninja Luxe Café Premier stand out?

Ninja’s approach to kitchen appliances largely leans on finding a unique way to simplify or differentiate itself from the competition. The Luxe Café isn’t a fully manual espresso machine, but nor is it an automatic machine like the De’Longhi Rivelia.

Instead, Ninja has opted to design a manual espresso machine that automates part of the process, through what it calls “Barista Assist Technology”, and a dual froth system that takes the guesswork out of milk frothing.

In itself, that’s probably enough to stand apart from the other manual espresso machines on the market. But Ninja went a little further, making the Luxe Café a 3-in-1 machine that not only brews espresso, but also cold brew and filter coffee.

The result is a machine that has at least 15 different drink presets, a hands-free frothing system, a built-in grinder and scales to make it easy for even the most novice of home baristas to pull a beautiful cup of coffee.

Combining all those features does have some drawbacks. First off is the size – this is a bulky unit. Not only that, but you need to position it somewhere you can access it from three sides, which can be a bit of a challenge.

The second is that while the Luxe Café makes brewing coffee easy, the cleaning part of the process is made more awkward than it should be thanks to the unit’s design. But I’ll get into that a bit later.

Ninja Luxe Café Premier specs

Design and build quality

The Ninja Luxe Café is a premium coffee machine. It comes in a range of finishes, and while I tested the stainless-steel finish, the Midnight Black, Gunmetal and Cyberspace (it’s a deep blue) all look refined and elegant.

It’s a hefty unit, though. At 32.9 × 34 × 37 cm and weighing 11. Kg, this is not a machine for compact kitchens in small apartments. It’s a statement for people who not only like their coffee, but also like to drink their coffee in various ways.

While the Luxe Café is bulky, it is still well-designed. On the left side, there are dedicated spots to house the tamper and the funnel attachment for ensuring the coffee grinds go where they need to go. There’s also the dial to adjust the grind size of your beans.

On the right-hand side, a door opens to reveal storage for the different portafilter basket sizes, as well as the cleaning brush and cleaning disc. The water tank is located at the back of the machine, but if you want to remove it to fill it up, you’ll need to grab it from the right side of the machine as well.

The Luxe Café comes with three baskets for the portafilter. A single shot, a double shot and the larger “Luxe” basket. Because the Luxe has an integrated scale, it means it can intelligently guide you on the coffee making process based on which basket size you have in the portafilter. It also means you’ll get the perfect amount of coffee every time.

The built-in grinder sits on the top left of the machine, complete with a cover to keep your beans fresh.

On the right, the milk frothing jug has a dedicated space to sit with the wand arm. Inside the jug is a whisk attachment, which helps to automate the frothing process. Using the control panel, you can easily select four different froth settings (steamed milk, microfilm, thick froth and cold foam) for both dairy and plant-based milk.

The front panel has a simple display that gives you everything you need to know about your next brew. It’s split between the three parts of the brewing process for simplicity, with the left side controlling the grind, the middle selecting the brew and the right side controlling the milk.

Brewing performance

Design aside, the most important question with any coffee machine is whether the coffee is any good. And the answer here is a clear yes.

My typical coffee is a latte or a flat white. I’m not particularly fussy, like some coffee drinkers, but I typically like a double shot of espresso without too much foam.

The Luxe Café does all the hard work for me here. With the double shot basket installed, it recommends the grind size, grinds the right amount of coffee based on weight, and brews it, with a really nice Crema.

The milk is frothed with a single button press, and comes together just how I like it. I can’t pour to create coffee art to save myself, but the taste has been great.

What I will flag, though, is that while brewing an espresso and frothing milk is simple, it doesn’t give you a lot of minute control. If you wanted to froth the milk a bit hotter, for example, that’s not easily accomplished.

But one of the Luxe Café’s advantages over other espresso machines is that it can do more than just espresso. It can also make more general filtered coffee, as well as cold-press espresso and cold brew.

The milk frother can also manage a cold foam, frothing the milk without making it hot, so you can create all kinds of fancy iced coffee drinks.

Once again, simplicity is essential here, and the Ninja machine takes all the complicated parts out of switching coffee types.

The only flag is that you need to select your coffee – or more precisely, the coffee basket – before you start making the coffee. If you usually make a double-shot espresso and load that up with coffee grinds before realising you want a cold brew, you are out of luck.

Ease of use

The control panel on the Luxe Café does look a little overwhelming at first glance, but in practice, it’s easy enough to control.

The hardest part is getting used to the things you need to control before you get started making a different cup of coffee from your usual drink.

If you make the same flat white every day, then you have nothing to worry about. But if you are in favour of switching it up between a short black and a bold brew, then there are things you need to change before each new cup of coffee.

The first is the size of the grind. Fortunately, Ninja Barista Assist technology displays a recommended grind size before every brew, and it’s usually pretty spot on. Occasionally, it does suggest changing the size even though you haven’t changed anything else, but you don’t have to adjust the grind.

When switching between drinks, you also need to consider the size of the cup or glass you’re using, particularly for cold brew or filtered coffee drinks. On more than one occasion, I tried making a “Classic” filtered coffee without adjusting the cup size, and it overflowed into the drip tray.

Which is a pretty good place to segue this review to cleaning.

Cleaning coffee machines is never fun. The very nature of ground coffee means it’s always a pain to clean. But I particularly disliked washing the drip tray of the Luxe Café.

There is a smaller, central tray that can be easily removed and cleaned, but the main water catchment area is really awkwardly shaped. It splits into three parts – the stainless-steel cover, the plastic “internal” cover, and the catchment area itself.

All three are an awkward shape, kind of like a backwards “S”, with the side that wraps around the milk frother being really narrow. It was too narrow to wash with a scrubbing brush, and with difficult plastic shapes to wash with a cloth.

The worst part is that it just seems so unnecessary for the drip tray to be in this shape.

Verdict

At the launch of the Ninja Combi last year, someone from Ninja said that the Luxe Café had to be updated to better meet the demanding expectations of Australian coffee drinkers.

It’s clear the additional work paid off. Ninja’s first espresso machine in Australia is a powerfully versatile kitchen appliance, giving effortless creation of a massive range of coffees, including cold brew and classic filtered coffee.

Its simple approach to getting the right dose for every coffee works really well, and the automated milk frothing helps you get the perfect milk-based drink every time.

But it’s a hefty unit, and may be too large for a smaller kitchen area. And regardless of how good the coffee is, the drip tray is awkward to clean.

If you have the space and are prepared to put in the hard work to keep things clean, then the Luxe Café Premier is a solid choice.

Buy the Ninja Luxe Café Premier if you:

• Enjoy various coffee types, not just a single espresso-based drink
• Aren’t too fussy about controlling everything for your coffee
• Have plenty of bench space

Skip the Ninja Luxe Café Premier if you:

• Hate cleaning awkwardly shaped components
• Have a smaller kitchen
• Are looking for a more affordable option.

🛒 Where to buy Ninja

Available from these trusted retailers:

BTTR is independent, but we may earn money when you purchase through links on our site. This helps us cover costs and continue providing honest reviews. Find out why you should trust us.

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