Review: DeLonghi Primadonna Aromatic

The new DeLonghi Primadonna Aromatic is a worthy top model. The Maestosa may cost more, but it’s geared more towards the office than the home, whereas the Primadonna is for those who want every conceivable feature in one fully automatic espresso machine at home.

It can deliver both hot and cold espresso and milk foam, has app control, Bean Adapt (which helps to adjust the machine to the beans) and a wealth of user profiles and customisation options for the built-in recipes. All features we’ve come to expect from DeLonghi’s larger models. However, the Primadonna offers a larger screen, bean hopper and water tank than the cheaper models.

Familiar user experience

Everything is recognisable on the (for a DeLonghi) large 5″ touchscreen. 35 recipes, both hot and cold, are presented in a long row in the familiar interface. You can easily click on a recipe and change the amount of coffee, milk and strength before brewing. It’s neither intimidating nor overwhelming, but not as geeky as other machines, such as the Siemens EQ.9. This is no bad thing, as fully automatic machines are all about ease of use and getting maximum flavour for minimum effort.

You can quickly sort between hot and cold recipes using the shortcut buttons next to the screen. There’s also an automatic function that lets you customise recipes according to the time of day. So if you drink espresso in the morning but a cappuccino before bed, they will be presented in the desired order at the desired time.

Of course, the top model has Wi-Fi and an accompanying app. I’ve used the DeLonghi coffee app with previous machines with good results, although an app is mostly a gimmick (when do you really need to switch on and brew coffee remotely?). It’s mainly helpful if you want to make a lot of changes to your recipes. It’s just faster on mobile.

Bean Adapt technology is a personal DeLonghi favourite, making it a little easier to adjust your machine to your beans through taste and questions from the machine. However, the Primadonna has one rather annoying feature: you can’t change the grinder setting until you’ve brewed three recipes in a row with the same settings. A very, very frustrating problem if you frequently change beans and need to make major changes to the grinder.

Coffee quality

The coffee quality of the Primadonna Aromatic is on par with the DeLonghi Eletta Explore, and it’s hard to expect much better flavour from a fully automatic machine until you reach the top level of the Jura Z10. One of the ‘downsides’ of DeLonghi’s more expensive machines is that the cheaper models make such great tasting espresso that it’s rarely justifiable to invest more money if you’re only chasing great coffee flavour. Especially when the smaller machines, such as Rivelia, have many of the same features as Bean Adapt.

That doesn’t change the fact that the Primadonna Aromatic brews a great espresso. Even tested with two light roasted beans (Bitches Brew from Riccos and Aga from Coffee Collective), the flavour was balanced, sweet, with reasonable intensity and a pleasant acidity. A cappuccino takes about 1 minute and 36 seconds, which is quite standard. And the cold recipes in particular have been a luxurious addition to my morning coffee in the summer heat.

Milk

The milk system in the Primadonna is exactly the same as in the DeLonghi Eletta Explore, where there are two milk jugs: one for hot foam and one for cold. They can’t be used in combination, so if you switch between cappuccino and iced latte, you have to keep both jugs in the fridge, which is a bit annoying.

Also, both pots have the frustrating feature that the lid doesn’t snap on, which means you risk spilling milk all over the place if you lift them at the top. The amount of froth is controlled from a small wheel at the top and works very intuitively. The screen tells you what the correct setting for the milk jug is, but it’s entirely up to you whether you want to listen to it.

The milk quality is good, without being quite on par with good cafés. Fully automatic machines always have problems with the correct ‘latte texture’, and Primadonna is no exception. A cappuccino, on the other hand, comes with a generous layer of milk foam.

Conclusion

DeLonghi Primadonna Aromatic is a machine with all the features you would expect from a DeLonghi. The option for cold recipes with cold milk foam is particularly successful. However, you get almost the same features in the cheaper Eletta Explore, which looks like a better buy from here. Of course, the Primadonna has a nicer design, a larger bean hopper, water tank and display, but it doesn’t make much difference in everyday life.