I held off buying Ninja's Luxe Café coffee maker, but the new Pro model has just persuaded me
In a world of the best espresso machines, that's fortunately not too much to ask, and the model that stood out to me was the Ninja Luxe Café. But, there was one feature that put me off.
With the Ninja Luxe Café, I'd have to tamp the coffee puck by hand, which means I'd also inevitably end up spilling freshly ground coffee from the portafilter all over my kitchen countertops every single time. And that is less than ideal.
So imagine my absolute delight when I heard that Ninja just dropped a new espresso machine, the Ninja Luxe Café Pro. With the Pro, Ninja has added an in-built tamping mechanism, which means no mess.
And that's why I'm so happy that I waited to buy it.
The Ninja Luxe Café Pro may cost $150 more than the Premier Series, but there's plenty of reasons for this. There's an in-built tamping lever for espresso brews without the mess, an extra-thick froth setting and a hot water feature that'll make you tea, too. The brand are calling it "the ultimate guided experience that makes espresso uncomplicated."
Picking the Ninja Luxe Café original or Pro over an all-in-one bean-to-cup machine comes with lots of advantages. The main one for me is that you can take control over every element of your coffee and personalize it just the way you like it.
With Ninja's newest espresso machine, all the hard parts of this process are removed, meaning you'll get a lovely brew every time, without any mistakes. This is especially true when it comes to tamping.
The Ninja Luxe Café Pro has a new tamping mechanism that means you don't have to press down your grinds for your espresso by hand. Instead, pushing the in-built tamping arm down will ensure that there's an even compression of the grounds for puck perfection.
It's a simple lever that, when pulled down, will compress your coffee with no mess. Even more importantly, it'll make sure you're not over- or under-tamping pucks, resulting in too-strong or too-weak espresso.
Anything that'll save me having to clean my kitchen countertops more than I need to is a win. Especially if it's also going to give me the most excellent espresso alongside it.
The Ninja Luxe Café Pro also comes with a hot water dispenser. And if you love a nice cup of tea like me, then you'll find it to be a really great addition.
Being able to brew hot water on demand in your espresso machine makes it a great double-up instead of using your kettle, and another reason it's worth the extra money.
Simply press hot water and turn the center dial to adjust the temperature you want (low, medium and high).
Then, press start brew and the Pro will start dispensing hot water either to make a cup of tea or top up your espresso to make an Americano coffee. Perfect.
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