KitchenAid - Automatic Espresso Machine KF7 inox

KitchenAid KF7

Two of you make coffee in the morning and nobody queues: the KF7 prepares two milk drinks at once, straight from the milk container included in the box. The 3.5 inch colour touchscreen holds over 20 preset recipes, from espresso to flat white.

This is the middle of KitchenAid's full-size line. The metal body, Thermocoil heating and Quiet Mark certification are the same as in the KF6 and KF8; the KF7 adds a larger screen and an easier way with milk.

Who the KF7 is for

This machine solves a few very specific situations:

• two coffees often happen at once: dual milk delivery makes two cappuccinos in a single cycle rather than one after the other
• you mostly drink milk-based coffee: the milk container comes in the box, goes into the fridge and comes out ready to work
• you want to choose a drink, not navigate a menu: the touchscreen shows the recipes straight away
• four people at home take their coffee differently: each one saves a profile and returns to it with one tap

Over 20 drinks and three strength levels

Espresso, macchiato, americano, latte and more recipes wait on the screen. You can adjust any of them and save the result to your profile:

• one or two espresso shots in the drink
• coffee strength across three levels, meaning how much ground coffee goes into a serving
• body, which is how full and rounded the coffee feels in the mouth
• drink temperature
• coffee and milk volumes
• the order in which milk and coffee reach the cup

You start from a preset and change only what does not suit you. If your espresso comes out thin, you raise the strength by one level and that is it.

Three steps to a cup

1. Fill the hopper. It holds 270 g and lifts out in one move, with a twist and a pull. Switching to a different coffee takes seconds.

2. Pick a drink or your profile. The recipes sit on the touchscreen, with no digging through submenus.

3. Take your coffee. The machine grinds, doses and brews on its own, then clears the grinder before the next serving.

Two milk drinks in one cycle

The KESMC milk container and hose are included. The machine heats and froths exactly as much milk as the chosen drink needs, and dual milk delivery lets you put two cups under the spout at the same time.

In practice it halves a morning for two: both cappuccinos come out of one cycle instead of one after the other. Rinse the container and the hose afterwards, because dried milk changes the taste of the next coffee.

Fresh grounds in every cup

The KF7 grinds right before brewing, because ground coffee loses its aroma within minutes. The grinder runs steel burrs and doses each drink by itself, so there is nothing to weigh.

Want to try different beans? Twist and lift the hopper, swap what is inside and you are done. Automatic cleaning clears the grinder between drinks, so after a change of coffee the first cup tastes of the new bag rather than the end of the last one.

Cleaning you do not have to remember

The machine keeps the calendar and prompts you on screen when a cleaning cycle or descaling is due. Your part looks like this:

• After every milk drink: rinse the KESMC container and the hose.
• Weekly: empty and rinse the water tank, wash the drip tray and the grounds container.
• When the machine asks: a KESCT8 tablet through the brew unit, a new KESWF water filter and the descaling programme. The brew unit lifts out and rinses under the tap.
• What not to do: never put anything but whole coffee beans in the grinder. Sugar-coated or flavoured beans can gum up the burrs.

Four terms worth knowing

Quiet Mark is an independent certification linked to the British Noise Abatement Society, awarded after laboratory testing to the quietest 10 to 20 per cent of products in a given category. It comes without a decibel figure, because the same number sounds different from room to room, and how loud something feels depends on the character of the sound as much as its level.

The brew unit is the heart of the machine: ground coffee lands there and hot water passes through it. In the KF7 it comes out without tools, which makes cleaning easier and extends the machine's life.

Descaling removes the deposit hard water leaves behind. A scaled-up machine brews cooler and slower. The KF7 has a built-in programme and reminds you when to run it.

Thermocoil heats water as it flows instead of warming a whole boiler. In practice you do not wait for the machine to warm up, and the temperature holds steady through the brew.

KF6, KF7 or KF8

All three sit on the same base: a 26 cm wide body, a 2.2 litre tank, Thermocoil heating and Quiet Mark certification. The KF7 sits in the middle, and it is the first in the line to make two milk drinks at once.

The KF7 makes sense when two milk drinks are a regular event and you want the milk container in the box, but you do not need a plant-based milk mode or six profiles. If you drink alone and mostly black, the KF6 gives you the same grinder and the same brewing for less.

Technical specification

Frequently asked questions

In the box

• KESMC milk container
• Milk hose
• Scoop / filter mounting aid
• KESWF water filter
• KESCT8 cleaning tablets for the brew unit