Ninja Luxe Café Premier review: Delicious coffee – with time and effort

Best Prices Today: Ninja Luxe Café Premier

The Ninja Luxe Café Premier will make very high quality coffee – that’s not in doubt. But you should read this review to find out if you’re willing to go through the steps required to make that happen, each time.

We’ve also reviewed the slightly more expensive Ninja Luxe Café Pro, which has more coffee and foam options, a hot water spout, a tamping system, illumination and a redesigned milk wand. If you’re considering the Premier, you should also take a look at the Pro, as it’s regularly on offer and you might get more features for the same price. If neither machine is quite right for you, see our round-up of the best coffee machines we’ve tested for our top recommendations.

When I first opened the box containing the Ninja Luxe Café Premier, I felt a little overwhelmed. In addition to the coffee machine itself, there were a whole bunch of metal gadgets and four different manuals. One of these – in a variety of languages – is a whopping 350 pages long! The machine also has four stickers on it, two of which have QR codes.

When I scan the QR code on the sticker that says “Start here. Scan here to get started” and begin watching an introductory video, I find that I’m not any less overwhelmed.

Lots of prep

The first thing I’m asked to do is to measure the hardness of my tap water. Using a measuring stick and a glass of water, I get three out of five purple squares on the stick and set this value on the coffee machine.

Then there are further preparations in the form of installing a water filter and rinsing the machine before it’s finally time to brew the first cup of coffee.

Or so I thought. But of course, that’s not all! First, the machine has to be calibrated and the correct grind size for the beans has to be set. But three test rounds later, I’m ready for my first cup at last.

The many steps to make coffee each time

Unlike an automatic coffee machine where you just press a button or two to get the coffee of your choice, the Luxe Café Premier is not fully automatic. Instead, you’ll still have to do some work yourself to get your cup of espresso.

The first thing to do is choose a filter basket, depending on which drink you want (single, double or luxe – meaning a long drink, like an Americano). The next step is to grind the beans into the basket. There’s a recommended grind size based on your beans and previous brews, but you’ll need to select the size to be used.

Then it’s time to tamp down the ground coffee, which you also do manually with an accompanying tamper.

Finally, fix the filter with the tamped coffee into the machine, select the type of coffee (espresso, classic, and so on), choose strength and quantity, and press the start button.

If you want something like a latte or cappuccino, even more manual work is required, as you’ll need to use the inbuilt milk frother.

Your reward is an excellent espresso

So, have you now got your ultimate cup of coffee? Well, not quite yet, unfortunately.

Despite the calibration and “Barista Assist technology”, which is designed to optimise grind size, the coffee will probably not be exactly how you want it at first.

For me, it took a lot of experimenting with grind size, strength/quantity and brewing temperature before the taste was optimal. And when I switched to a different type of coffee bean, I had to start all over again.

On the other hand, the reward for all the work was great. The cup of espresso I was finally able to enjoy was very, very good.

Price and availability

The Ninja Luxe Café Premier had a launch price of £549.99 but it’s regularly on sale and you might be able to get it for less. At time time of writing, it’s available from Ninja Kitchen at full price, but for £449 from Currys, £404 from John Lewis and £404.98 from Amazon. It’s worth shopping around to see which retailer has the best prices when you come to buy but the sale price represents good value for the quality you get.

If you find yourself paying full price, take a look at our review of the Ninja Luxe Café Pro, which has more features. You might be able to buy it for the same as the Premier’s RRP. You can also see how it stacks up against our top recommendations in our round-up of the best coffee machines we’ve tested.

Should you buy the Ninja Luxe Café Premier?

The Ninja Luxe Café Premier is definitely not a coffee machine for everyone. In the same way that you need to take your ice cream making pretty seriously to get the most of the Ninja Swirl by Creami, this is a machine for those who take their coffee brewing reasonably seriously and are prepared to invest both time and energy in achieving the perfect flavour.

Specifications

Product: Ninja Luxe Café Premier
Tested: February 2026
Manufacturer: Ninja
Product type: Semi-automatic espresso machine
Coffee types: Espresso (single/double), quad, americano, cold-pressed, classic coffee, rich, over ice, cold brew
Milk frother: Yes
Hot water: Yes
Pressure: 15 bar
Water tank: 2 litres
Coffee container: 250 g
Dimensions (W x H x D): 33.6 x 37.2 x 34.4 cm
Weight: 11.7 kg
Colour: Silver

Best Prices Today: Ninja Luxe Café Premier