KitchenAid KF4 Fully Automatic Coffee Machine with Iced Coffee Function – Porcelain white

The KitchenAid KF4 is a bean-to-cup coffee machine that brews hot and over ice, on a body just 19.5 cm wide, 7.7 inches, with a Quiet Mark certified grinder. It grinds, doses, brews and textures the milk on its own, with 24 one-touch recipes and four named profiles.

Two things separate this one. It has a proper over-ice mode that brews cooler and rebalances the extraction for a cold cup, rather than pouring hot coffee over melting ice. And it is narrow and quiet enough to live in a condo kitchen and be used at six in the morning. Everything else is the usual bean-to-cup bargain: beans in the hopper, milk in the container, tap and walk away.

Highlights

• Over-ice mode for iced coffee and iced espresso, brewing cooler so cold drinks taste balanced rather than bitter and watery
• 24 one-touch recipes across espresso, cappuccino, latte, flat white, iced coffee and iced latte, with true double shots
• 19.5 cm wide, 7.7 inches, narrow enough to fit where most bean-to-cup machines will not
• QuietGrind, Quiet Mark certified, so the grinder is noticeably quieter than most first thing in the morning
• IntelliGrind reads the bean and roast and adjusts grind and dose to match, so you are not recalibrating every time you change bag
• Ground coffee bypass chute, so one decaf in the evening does not mean emptying the hopper
• Automatic milk system with a BPA-free container on a single hose, adjustable milk volume, and one of the simplest cleaning routines in this class
• Four named profiles on a 3.5 inch colour touchscreen, with strength and temperature adjustable per drink

Who it's for

• Iced coffee drinkers who want it made properly rather than improvised over ice cubes
• Condos, apartments and open-plan kitchens, where the width and the noise both matter
• Anyone coming off pods who wants fresh-ground coffee and milk drinks for the same effort

Two things to be clear about. The over-ice setting is not cold brew. It brews at the lowest temperature the machine runs, around 60 degrees Celsius, so the ice goes in the cup first and the drink chills as it pours. Cleaner tasting than hot coffee poured over ice, and a couple of minutes instead of an overnight steep, but a different thing from cold brew. And this is a fully automatic machine: no portafilter, no tamping, and the milk is textured for you. That is why most people buy it, but if making the coffee yourself is the appeal, we will show you the machines that are.

Living with it

Day to day, say yes when it prompts the milk rinse, and empty the grounds container and drip tray. The milk container lifts off its hose and goes straight in the fridge, about as easy as milk handling gets on a machine like this.

Then periodically, the touchscreen tells you when a deep milk clean or a descale is due and walks you through it. Two cleaning tablets and a water filter are in the box. Fit the filter and set your water hardness on day one and descaling stays rare.

FAQs

• How does the iced coffee actually work, and is it cold brew?
  It is not cold brew. The machine brews at the lowest temperature it runs, around 60 degrees Celsius, and rebalances the extraction so the coffee stays clean as it cools rather than turning bitter. Ice goes in the cup first and the drink chills on the way down. It covers iced coffee and iced espresso, which is what iced lattes and americanos are built from.
• Do I need to know anything about making espresso?
  No. It grinds, doses, brews and textures the milk on its own. You choose the drink on the touchscreen and it does the rest: no portafilter, no tamping, no steam wand technique.
• Is it quiet enough for an apartment?
  Quieter than most. QuietGrind is Quiet Mark certified, an independent noise certification rather than a marketing phrase, and at 19.5 cm or 7.7 inches wide it takes far less counter than a typical bean-to-cup machine.
• Can I make one decaf without emptying the hopper?
  Yes. There is a ground coffee bypass chute, so you can drop in a scoop of decaf for one drink and leave your usual beans where they are.
• Do I have to keep adjusting the grinder when I change beans?
  No. IntelliGrind detects the bean type and roast and adjusts grind and dose to match, which is the part people usually find fiddly.
• Can it remember how different people take their coffee?
  Yes, four profiles, and you can name them. Each holds its own drinks at its own strength, temperature and milk volume.
• What is the warranty, and who fixes it if something goes wrong?
  KitchenAid covers the KF4 with a 2 year limited warranty, an extended 3 year limited parts warranty on the grinder, and a 10 year parts and service availability commitment. Coffee Warehouse is a KitchenAid warranty and service centre, so if it needs work it is handled by the people who sold it to you. Call us at 1-888-742-1777.

Specifications

• Type: Fully automatic bean-to-cup coffee machine
• Drinks: 24 one-touch recipes, hot and over ice, with true double shot
• Iced coffee: Dedicated over-ice mode, brewed at around 60 degrees Celsius, iced coffee and iced espresso
• Display: 3.5 inch colour touchscreen
• User profiles: 4, nameable
• Grinder: Steel conical burr, IntelliGrind, QuietGrind, Quiet Mark certified
• Bean hopper: 250 g, plus a ground coffee bypass chute
• Milk system: Automatic, BPA-free container with hose and lid, adjustable milk volume
• Adjustments: Coffee strength, brew temperature, milk volume
• Water tank: 1.8 L, around 16 espresso shots per fill
• Dimensions (W × D × H): 19.5 × 47.5 × 36 cm, or 7.7 × 18.7 × 14.2 in
• Weight: 9 kg, 22.3 lb
• Warranty: 2 year limited, 3 year limited on grinder parts, 10 year parts and service availability
• In the box: 1.8 L water tank, BPA-free milk container with hose and lid, water filter, 2 cleaning tablets, coffee spoon

Why buy from Coffee Warehouse?

• We are a KitchenAid warranty and service centre, so warranty work and repairs are done by us, not couriered off to someone you have never spoken to
• Two Ontario showrooms, Markham and Richmond Hill, where we will pull you an iced drink and let you hear the grinder yourself, plus live virtual demos if you are not nearby
• Help getting it set up, from water hardness to bean choice, so it tastes at home the way it did here
• Free shipping and financing available
• Toll-free support at 1-888-742-1777, before you buy and long after