Gadgets - Jura-Capresso Impressa E8
I start my day with a couple of shots of espresso. In the past I used a standard consumer class manual espresso maker. This meant I needed to grind the beans, pack the grounds, add water, then wait a several minutes for the machine to brew a shot. When just waking up, this was a bit much (I’m not a morning person). After reading up on espresso makers, I picked up a reconditioned super-automatic espresso maker, the Jura-Capresso Impressa E8. Because it was reconditioned, it was less than half the regular retail price of about $1,200. As a factory reconditioned unit, it came with the full warranty of a new unit. Factory reconditioned typical indicates the unit was returned immediately after purchase because of some problem or because the buyer was not happy with their purchase. The factory fixes any problems and repackages like a new unit but sells it for far below the regular price.
Functionally, I have not had a single problem - it works perfectly every time. I am beyond pleased with the results. When the unit is first turned on, it takes about one minute to heat the water and “flush” the system. Once it is warmed up, a push of a button delivers a shot of espresso in under 30 seconds. That 30 seconds includes the time to grind the beans. You load it up with a quantity of the coffee beans of your choice and a supply of water. When either the water or the bean supply runs low, a digital display lets you know. It also tells you when you need to empty the bin containing used coffee grounds.
The quality of the espresso is dependent upon the beans you use. The online store I purchased it from included a pound of beans they call “Automatika”, which wasn’t bad, but not great. I tried a variety of coffee beans available locally, from Starbucks, the supermarket, etc. Not one of the choices was worth the money. I finally got my hands on some Jamaican Blue Mountain espresso roast. This was perfect espresso! Smooth as silk. Not a trace of bitterness. My ex would love it. It cost slightly more than store-bought beans, $50 for three pounds, and is well worth the slightly higher price. Unfortunately, the price recently went up to $70 for three pounds. I hope that’s just a seasonal price increase, otherwise I may have to find a replacement bean supply.
The espresso maker will also froth milk if your preference is a latte or mocha, but since it only has a single boiler, you can make espresso or froth milk, you can’t do both at the same time. Higher end models include double boilers and would be a better choice if you prefer milk based drinks. Alternately, you can purchase a separate milk frother, though I have no experience with these.
This espresso maker has loads of features and includes a DVD to show you how things work. You can adjust the grinder for fineness of the grounds. It has a replaceable water filter to make sure the espresso isn’t tainted by low quality water and to protect the internals (especially important if you have hard water). The shot size is adjustable from 1 oz to 4 oz in half ounce increments. I have mine set to 2 oz, the size of my espresso cups. Once set, you never need to mess with it again unless you wish to change the shot size. It can make two shots at once with a single button push, with the quantity of coffee grounds adjusted appropriately. There’s a bypass chute so you can pour preground coffee in and skip the beans completely - handy if you want to make a shot of decaf for a guest. After two hours of non-use, it turns itself off.
I love this espresso maker. I typically use it twice in the morning and sometimes I have a shot in the evening. On weekends, I drink way more espresso than I should because it’s so damn easy and tastes so good. It’s been in constant use for almost a year and works like a champ. If/when it does finally break down, I won’t hesitate to buy a new one.
Addendum: One minor problem, not a big deal. The beans tend to not feed perfectly, so I have to push them around in the hopper all the time. That’s not hard since the hopper opening is right on top and I just need to flip the top open and poke at the beans a little bit to fix things. The engineering fix is to make the hopper steeper, but that would require the unit to be a bit taller, and it’s about as tall as you want it to fit conveniently on the counter and under the cabinets.
