Ninja AutoBarista Pro Review

Design and Features

• Compact
• Swappable hoppers
• Wide variety of drinks

Although a bean-to-cup machine, the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK is refreshingly compact, and it doesn’t take up much space on a counter. I was expecting this coffee machine to be a similar size to the Ninja Luxe Cafe Pro Series ES701UK, but it’s actually closer in size to the Ninja Luxe Café Mini Plus. In a world where a lot of us are short on counter space, I’m all for compact appliances.

It’s a nice-looking coffee machine, too. It’s perhaps a little plasticky at the top, but the rest is metal, and this machine looks like a premium choice.

As soon as I unboxed it, I noticed some differences that make the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK stand out from the competition, including two numbered 340g bean hoppers.

Interchangeable, the hoppers let you switch beans at will, whether that’s because you want regular and decaffeinated coffee, or you’ve got guest beans and you’re saving the good stuff for yourself.

Interchangeable hoppers aren’t something new, and I first saw this on the De’Longhi Rivelia. The difference is that with the Rivelia, you’d end up with enough beans left in the grinder to make one more drink. So, you either need to swap hoppers and make a drink with the remaining beans, or waste them. It takes a bit of planning to get the beans you want at any one time.

With the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK, there are no leftover beans in the grinder, so you can swap as and when you like.

You can use only two hoppers with the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK, whereas the Rivelia lets you buy as many as you want. Realistically, two is enough, plus the AutoBarista Pro knows which hopper is attached, which is needed for some of the features.

Setting the coffee machine up is easy. There’s a water strip in the box, so you can test your water and set the right level on the coffee machine, so it knows when to prompt you to descale.

A 2.4L water tank sits on the side, handily marked with the ‘min’, ‘max’ and ‘descale’ fill levels. 

Once plugged in and connected, the machine needs to run through a rinse cycle to get ready, but then there’s one more step: getting the grind right. Grind size changes based on the beans and style of drink that you want to make (fine for espresso, courser for drip coffee, for example). And, the grind needs adjusting for each type of bean.

To get things right, the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK has grind IQ, which precisely adjusts the grind and uses the built-in scales to dose the correct amount of coffee.

When adding a new set of beans, the coffee machine needs to pour a few shots so that it can calibrate itself. That might seem like a waste of coffee, but with a manual machine it’s far easier to go through way more coffee trying to get everything right, and this process pays dividends later, even if it’s quite a slow job.

As the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK knows which hopper is installed, it knows how to adjust the grind when you swap beans. So, regardless of which hopper you have installed, the grind and pour should be about right.

There’s a huge range of drinks that this coffee machine can make, including Espresso, Lungo, Americano, Cold-Pressed, Cold-Brew and Over Ice.

It’s possible to adjust drink strength and, for many, the volume of liquid to pour. Favourites can be saved for quick recall later.

An adjustable cup holder is available, so you can add anything from an espresso cup to a tall latte glass. And, there’s space for two if you want to double up on drink capacity.

For milk drinks, there’s a jug provided, which has a frother in the bottom for dealing with cold milk. Hot milk is made with the steam wand, with frothing handled automatically, though you can choose a froth level and pick between dairy and plant-based milks.

Pick one of the milk drink options, such as Flat White or Latte, and there’s a choice of coffee volume, and the milk system is set to the right settings for that drink. Milk does need to be free-poured, which I quite like. 

With fully automatic bean-to-cup machines with milk, you have to set the mug size you want. Given most of us have varying cup sizes, it often means that you end up with a cup that’s either part empty or overflowing. Free-pouring means that you can just top up with milk to the required level and you’re ready to go.

After frothing, the steam wand purges into the drip dray, and it will just need a wipe down with a damp cloth.

Used coffee pucks are dropped into the bin, which pulls out with the drip tray. Both will need regular emptying and washing out with a bit of soapy water to keep them in tip-top condition. 

You’ll be prompted when the machine needs cleaning or descaling, and the simple instructions make this job easy to do.

From the side, the brew unit slides out, making that easy to clean and keep fresh.

Coffee quality

• Excellent espresso
• Drip-coffee adds variety
• Cold-brew clearly different to iced coffee

I started by making an espresso, using my freshly roasted Peruvian Fair Trade beans. As the grind IQ system had been properly calibrated, the shot of espresso was near-perfect: a thick, reddish-brown crema that lasted for a few minutes, all delivered at 66°C, which is spot on.

Taste was excellent, too. This is a rich, dark shot of espresso that’s pretty much as good as I could pour from a manual machine.

I made an Americano, which resulted in a shot of espresso with hot water, leaving a touch of crema and a slightly milder taste.

I was impressed with the Drip Coffee option. Ideal for certain styles of beans (I like it with Jamaican Blue Mountain, medium-roasted to preserve those origin flavours), it’s a mellower, less intense cup of coffee. Is it quite as good as coffee through a proper drip machine? Not quite, but close enough, and it’s nice to have the flexibility.

Similarly, cold brew coffee properly made is better. There’s no bitterness and the drink is very strong; from the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK, the Cold-Brew is a little more bitter, but the slow pour method means it’s nicer than coffee over ice.

Given that cold brew takes a day or more to make, having it on tap for a hot day is a nice extra.

Milk frothing

• Excellent steaming
• Requires careful dosing of milk for the best results

I made a flat white, but started with a little too much milk in the jug. This was frothed up nicely, with progress monitored from the top.

While the texture of the milk was very good, it made getting a nice pour quite hard, and I wasn’t pleased with my drink.

I started again, but added just the right amount of milk to get a full mug. This time, the tightly packed microfoam was spot-on, and the drink pretty much as good as you can get from a fully manual machine.

I also tried the plant-based milk option with oat milk. This was hugely impressive. In fact, looking at the drink you’d be hard pushed to see that this wasn’t dairy milk. Given how tricky it can be to properly froth plant milks, the Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Espresso Machine AE1052UK does an excellent job.

Should you buy it?