Clever isn’t usually the first adjective that comes to mind when you think of a coffee machine, but that’s exactly what the De’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic is, packed with features to make your home barista experience completely seamless.
I got to try out this seriously kitted out coffee machine at the Ideal Home Test Center to explore its vast drinks menu and see if it was worthy of joining the ranks of the best. Bean-to-cup coffee machines out there. Here’s how I got on.
In short
This machine’s price tag takes it beyond what you might consider an investment-level purchase and more wishlist territory. At over £1000, it’s a seriously expensive device.
What you get for that exorbitant amount is a very impressive machine. Highlights include De’Longhi’s integrated BeanAdapt technology, which runs an automatic calibration program to get the best from your chosen beans, as well as an interface that responds to your daily coffee preferences by prioritizing your favorite beverages at specific times of the day.
There’s a lot to love for black coffee lovers or latte obsessives. The drinks menu is packed with all kinds of drinks of varying lengths and strengths as well as milkshakes like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It makes deliciously silky milk for cappuccinos and cafe lattes that are as good as you’ll find in expensive coffee shops. A separate milk carafe for cold milk frothing will also be excellent for warmer months.
Product specs
(Image credit: De’Longhi)
- Coffee machine type: Automatic bean-to-cup
- Parameters: 26.2 cm (width), 40.7 cm (height), 46.3 cm (depth)
- Coffee Options: 38 pre-set recipes (ice and hot)
- Water tank capacity: 2.2L
- pressure: 19 bars
- weight: 12.6 kg
- Colorway: Stainless steel finish
- RRP: £1,549
Who tested this coffee machine?
Molly Cleary
I have the lucky job of reviewing kitchen appliances and cookware for Ideal Home which means I get to enjoy many of D’Longhi Primadonna’s lovely coffees when I try them out in our test centre. My everyday machine is a Sage Barista Express Impress but as a latte lover, I was sold on how easy it is to replicate coffee-shop style drinks with Primadonna Aromatic. And I was completely blown away by the interactive touch screen that picks up your coffee habits.
Getting started and first impressions
There is no learning curve with the machine, as the process is made so painlessly easy for you. Once you’ve unboxed it and set it up, all you need to do is follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate its settings.
You will waste a small amount of beans and go through at least 4 espressos in the process of tweaking the machine’s settings but this only needs to be done once and is well worth it.
Getting to grips with BeanAdapt technology is the most important step for me. Usually with an espresso machine you will need to turn the dial to get the grind size of your beans just right. With Primadonna, the in-built software takes this manual step out of your hands and the process begins by creating a profile for the coffee beans you pop into the hopper.
(Image credit: Future)
From here, you answer various questions on the machine’s touchscreen on bean type and roast level which the program then uses to adjust various settings, including grind size and brewing temperature.
This is not where the feedback ends. Once your coffee is made, the machine will ask you for your opinion on how it was dispensed and how it tasted. If you answer this, the machine will go further to make the necessary changes to make the coffee more suitable next time. You can run this program as many times as you like to get your perfect brew.
For first impressions, there’s no getting around it: this machine is big and bulky. But with its gleaming stainless steel exterior and large, sleek touch screen, it’s still stylishly done. One of the things I really like about this machine is that the water tank slides out from the front, so if you put it under a cupboard you don’t have to fumble with it every time you need to refill. All of them are pre-programmed, which is great for everyday use.
What is it like to use?
Unless you’re a black coffee drinker, one thing you’ll want to know about in terms of usage is how to choose drinks and frothed milk. For me, this is the best element of the machine.
The touchscreen is a real joy to use. It displays the machine’s menu in full color, with attractive pictures and visualizations of the steps you need to take.
It divides the types of drinks into two categories: iced and hot. You can then browse your options by swiping on the screen.
(Image credit: Future)
There are over 38 preset drinks on offer. And if you like something hot, you’ll find it on the cold menu too, which can lead to lots of fun drink experiments. I imagine it’s a lot of fun to show off to guests too.
Once you’ve chosen your drink (let’s say a cappuccino) you can further customize it by changing the intensity, size and temperature of your drink. If you’ve chosen milk-based beverages, the next thing you’ll need to do is attach your milk carafe to the front of the machine. A game changing feature with Primadonna Aromatic is the two milk carafes – one for iced drinks and one for hot.
Two milk carafes of D’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic.
(Image credit: Future)
Each carafe has a dial that enables you to set your drink as suggested by the machine. For a cappuccino, for example, you’ll want to set the dial to level 3 for maximum froth. It’s a seamless system that allows for a wide range of different froths for different drinks and the mixing of steam, air and milk inside the carafe works so beautifully. It’s just as good for plant milk as it is for regular milk—and that’s no mean feat.
how is the coffee
I started off easy with my tests, opting for a hot cappuccino. I had already had a good run with black coffee when I was tweaking espressos as part of the BeanAdapt tech and was keen to find out how the milk frothing went with this machine.
(Image credit: Future)
To make a cappuccino you need to take a black milk carafe and plug it into the front of the machine. De’Longhi recommends keeping the carafe with the milk in the fridge so they are always ready to go at the right temperature.
Cappuccino after settling down.
(Image credit: Future)
Espresso milk is dispensed from spouts attached to the main body of the machine after frothing. The resulting drink had such a pleasing appearance with so many layers and tasted divine. The frothing with this machine and similar D’Longhi is so impressive.
Next I tried an iced café latte, which meant swapping the carafe for milk and turning the dial that sat on top. I also filled a double-walled glass with ice, which is what you’ll need to do to get the most out of all cold drinks.
(Image credit: Future)
Espresso with iced latte is first dispensed through cold milk foam. Hot coffee hitting the ice melts some of it, which is why it’s important to have a full glass. By adding second milk to this drink, the classic layered look usually reserved for coffee shop drinks is easily achieved.
(Image credit: Future)
Next I moved on to trying out the cold brew function, which works quite differently from an iced coffee latte. While the latter delivers hot espresso over ice, the cold brew setting uses room temperature water and low pressure. This means that it takes a little longer for your coffee to brew (a few minutes as opposed to a few seconds) and it also gives it a different flavor profile that is less acidic than regular coffee.
(Image credit: Future)
Trying cold brew with this machine is a seamless experience and takes less than 3 minutes from start to finish to replicate a process that normally takes 24 hours (steeping coffee grounds in cold water). It has a less intense flavor than coffee and is more suitable for sipping throughout the day in hot weather and this machine does a good job of that.
Cleaning
Extensive cleaning can turn people away from bean-to-cup machines in a big way. But with Primadonna, the process is made as easy as possible (which adds up given the price tag).
Exceptional cleaning features include the ease of refreshing the milk carafe after you’ve used it (you just turn the dial to ‘clean’ before putting it back in the fridge) as well as reminders to empty the empty grounds tray (which easily pulls out from the front).
Even big jobs, like descaling, are prompted by the touch screen, complete with in-depth instructions. The machine also self-rinses for you to do it separately.
How does it compare to similar models?
One of the best coffee machines we’ve tried here at Ideal Home is the D’Longhi Rivelia, rated five stars by our expert home economist. Review. You can find it on sale for under £600 and it also boasts many of the things I love about this machine including BeanAdpat tech and hands-free milk frothing. It also has two interchangeable bean hoppers so you can enjoy a decaf coffee in the afternoon. If you’re on a tighter budget, it’s an easy choice.
Should you buy D’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic?
If you are looking for the best automatic coffee machine and budget is no object, what are you waiting for? This machine is incredibly well designed and the enjoyment you will get from using it, as well as the capacity of the drinks will blow you away. It is very capable.
If you’re saving up for a De’Longhi or similar, while this machine may be out of your budget, the same brand offers exceptional quality at a much lower price – check out the Revelia as your first port of call.
