Introduction
When you think about buying a coffee machine, you would easily come across the Jura as a renowned and trusted brand for decades. Not just has it earned its name due to the fine quality of machines and products over the years, but it has also earned a reputation for itself due to the constant innovation and research it puts into its products.
In doing do it has managed to earn several patents that, in its way, have revolutionized the coffee machine industry. Making an espresso has not changed in the last 100 years. But at Jura, they seem to have perfected the process in their machines. Let us understand their product.
About the machine
The Jura E8 is one of the top-line super-automated coffee machines, which has been made for extensive customization. Offering one-touch operation to deliver anything from flat whites to ristrettos and all in a machine that is sleek and beautiful in appearance. It has an excellent display that shows several programmable options. You can pre-program 3 different coffee drinks and 3 different milk-based drinks and then the hot water portion and the milk-based portion, making a total of 8 programmable options. It features the One Touch experience, where you can choose any of the options on the screen, and the machine will automatically make it for you.
You can use the dial on the machine’s front to control the amount of foam you need. Spouts are height adjustable and go up and down together, both on the centerpiece as well as the side-spouts used for the One Touch usage. The bean hopper will hold 12 ounces of coffee beans. Right beside is the adjustment dial for the grinding, which has 6 different options. To its side is the 2-liter water tank with Intelligent Water System, which has a filter built-in with a sensor. The sensor will detect when the water filter will need to be changed. It will pop-up that message on the front digital screen, thereby saving you some trouble.
For programming each of those drinks, you can program the volume, temperature, and milk depending on the drink you are making. When you get into the programming, you can program the number of beans that go into the drinks, from 5 grams to 16 grams, therefore more options than a lot of others. Below the machine is an easy to extract drip tray that can be easily taken apart for cleaning and replacement.
Now let’s delve further, take a closer look and understand each of its aspects.
Design
The machine comes in a black or chrome finish. The side of the machine sport a chrome dual-outlet espresso spout. You can control the machine using the display mounted on top of the machine and the 3 buttons on either side. Interestingly, Jura has not included a touch screen in a unit at this price point. Still, we feel it’s an excellent decision to prevent the touchscreen from being covered in fingerprints and smudges from the coffee, water, or milk.
There are dual-spouts on the front of the machine to dispense espresso. There are spots on the right side that dispense steamed and froth milk. Its product dimensions are 11W x 13.6H x 17.5D and are an average-sized machine that should fit most countertops and slide easily into tight spaces. The bean hopper can accommodate 10 ounces of beans and comes with a silicone seal to keep the beans fresh and not let any aromas loose.
Grinding & Brewing
The E8 ships with the fastest grinder, the A3 steel burr grinder in the Jura product line, which is twice as fast as its predecessor. In built-in grinder has 6 different grinding levels to customize the coffee as per your individual requirement. While 6 may definitely feel a little less for coffee lovers, this is a very big limitation and can be a deciding factor for most. So remember this important aspect when you compare different products and when you make the final decision.
If you already have or use coffee grounds, you can use the bypass mechanism that has already been built into the machine. E8 uses the “Intelligent Pre-Brew Aroma System,” or IPBAS system, to measure the amount of coffee used and dispense the right amount of water for it. This infusion is dose-independent, and the machine will do the job automatically without user intervention. This intelligent system swells up the coffee grounds and helps you get a more consistent espresso by reducing the channeling that usually occurs. The patented Pulse Extraction Technology ensures better extraction of all the contents and aromas even in low-volume coffee’s like espresso and ristrettos.
However, it leads to a longer brew time. PEP will increase the brew time while it works its way through the coffee grounds. Unfortunately, the machine only has a single thermoblock heating system. This means dual purposing can’t be done simultaneously. E.g., espresso brewing and steaming. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of this unit.
Cleaning & Maintenance
As expected with such an automated machine, there are a lot of delicate and intricate moving parts and assemblies all working in sync to give you the perfect blend of coffee. Such machines need a lot of timely care and also maintenance in the form of service. Fortunately, Jura engineers have worked this out for us, and the unit will run frequent rinse cycles to clean itself. These happen several times e.g., when you power on the unit, ten minutes after use, and after you power off the device.
These 3 cycles are enough to keep it clean on a daily basis. You can also wipe off the unit with a clean cloth to keep it dry and devoid of any dust. Extensive cleaning is only required every 180 cycles of usage. The machine will automatically remind you for running the cleaning cycle. All you have to do is empty the drip and grounds tray, insert the cleaning tablet into the pre-ground coffee opening, and let the machine go through its cleaning cycle in a few minutes.
The tablets are designed especially for Jura machines and will ensure the machine is cleaned thoroughly. The spent grounds only need cleaning once every 16 beverages or so.
Coffee Quality
The coffee quality is great, and the machine delivers a range of coffees quite quickly like e.g. espresso, flat white, latte, cappuccino, etc. If you are keen on a non-milk-based coffee version, you can press the brew button twice. The machine understands that you need a double and delivers accordingly. A push of a button will deliver froths and steam milk in addition to hot water.
A few unique features allow customers to customize several other aspects like milk quantity, shot volume, and temperature as well. The machine uses a small flexible silicone hose to collect milk from the external vessel and dispense it in your cup after frothing or steaming it. This is an easy process, and the dial on the front will help you control the amount of froth created. Overall an excellent system to automatically deliver froth. If you want to insulate, you can buy the Jura insulated carafes or any other insulated carafe brand to keep the milk cold. Or you can settle for the simple way of drawing the milk from a smaller vessel like a cup or a container.
Even customizing the machine is quite intuitive and easy. While detailed customization is available on the screen, you can browse through them and set them to your preferences.
Smart Features
This will be an interesting Smart Product to invest in for people who are excited about using technology in their daily lives. The machine supports wireless technology, for which you will have to invest in their Smart Connect wireless unit. This is just an added feature that does not affect the machine’s functionality, meaning the coffee will still be as good without it. But, if you want to control your unit from the other side of your house or to have a morning cup of coffee ready when you are still on the bed, it’s an excellent feature to have. The wireless technology works on Bluetooth 4.0 or later.
Value for money
Let’s agree that it is expensive, but it also offers a wide range of customization and product features. Also, a fully automated machine is always going to be more expensive. A milk boiler would have made a complete product as well as additional grinding levels. This would have made this product unique and complete in all respects.
In addition, even the Wireless adapter has to be purchased separately, which is another negative. There are quite a lot of innovative technologies, a lot of them developed by Jura. In the end, it ensures maximum extraction and a wonderful coffee every time.
For your ease of understanding, we have summed up the pros and cons of this machine and act as a ready reference.
PROS
- 6 grinder customizable settings
- Patented PEP – Pulse Extraction Process for optimal coffee extraction
- Programmable customization i.e. coffee strength, amount of water, water temperature
- Fine foam milk frothing and volume control dial
- Capable of making up to 15 products
- Automated rinsing, descaling, and cleaning mode
- Extracts the full flavor
- Automatic milk rinse
- Large easy to use LCD panel
- Pressure pump with a good 15 bar pressure
- Adjustable water hardness
- Wireless-ready
- The front filling water chamber
- Smart filter
CONS
- Quite expensive
- Grinder may sound loud to some
- Oily beans tend to clog the grinder
- Its size is quite large for small kitchen counters
- Bean chamber is top-loading which can be inaccessible
Summary
To sum up, this is an excellent piece of technology at your disposal for the price you pay. The variety of features and functionality will keep you involved for a long time. Also, the customizable options will keep a coffee lover happy for a long time too. Do not go for this machine if you do not plan to use milk-based coffee, or look for an automatic budget machine or a super-automatic machine with even more features.
Overall we are happy with this product and the way it performs. With an ability to take care of itself, it will keep running for years if you let it run its own regular service. As always, there will always be if’s and but’s in products as individual preferences will differ. The prime features we miss in this range are dual-heating mechanisms and ceramic grinders.
With that said, the Swiss build, the quality construction, the premium look and feel, the great customization option, and the excellent coffee is why we definitely recommend it to you. I hope the information shared has been useful.
