Jura J8 bean-to-cup coffee machine

Verdict

The J8 bean-to-cup coffee machine is every inch an investment – from its robust build quality to functions designed to keep it squeaky clean and running without issue.

It is the innovative features that set this machine apart from other high-end coffee makers: not just cup recognition, but a menu that changes depending on which spout it’s under, a syrup dispenser for sweetened milk, and a bean grinder with ‘sound design’. Whether they add up to its substantial price tag depends on how much you prize a flawless coffee alongside the possibility of multiple variations. 

Introduction

For some, coffee is coffee. For others, coffee is so much more than that: flavours, aromas, mouthfeel and intensity. Jura’s J8 bean-to-cup machine is one for this group of coffee drinkers.

At its heart, this is a precision brewing system that turns out everything from a barista-quality espresso to perfectly foamed milk, but it’s the bells and whistles that add to the appeal.

These include cup recognition, app control, a huge water tank, and warm milk foam on demand. Plus, there’s even a syrup attachment to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Design and features

• Cup sensor
• 31 drink options
• Large water tank

Even by bean-to-cup standards, the J8 is a big machine, weighing a hefty 10.2kg and measuring H34.8 x W31.8 x D44.6cm, meaning it takes up a large area of worktop.

Fortunately, other aspects are large too, including a 1.1m-long power cable, giving greater flexibility over where the machine can live, and a generous 1.9-litre water tank, which even has its own rotating handle.

Admittedly, some of this volume is lost once a water filter is added, but it’s still enough to make coffee all day long for a crowd.

The exterior is as stylish as you’d expect from Jura, with a metallic finish blended with glossy black plastic and chrome-effect flourishes. On top, there are two sections: one with a removable lid for beans and a chute at the back covered by a hinged lid for ground coffee.

The J8 can be controlled either by its 4.3-inch colour touchscreen or from the Jura app, allowing you to select one of the coffee, hot water or milk options.

Some of these can be adapted as they brew, increasing or decreasing milk or coffee dispensing times (to adjust the final volume), and saved if you always want your drink a certain way.

It is not clear if any of the removable parts are dishwasher safe: all that is advised is rinsing.

Performance

• Makes flawless espresso
• Consistent brewing
• More maintenance than similar machines

It’s only when you’re using the J8 that you’ll start to notice just how much thought has gone into its workings. It starts with the grinder – apparently with a sound design inspired by Formula One technology.

While you may not pick up on that exactly, it does have a different, shorter sound compared with others – a throatier purr rather than a high-pitched whine. The grind can be adjusted from mild to intense.

Much goes into the brewing as well, including an extraction designed to avoid bitter results and a technique called 3D: which means that water flows through the grounds at multiple levels to extract the aroma. Again, you won’t be aware of any of this behind-the-scenes stuff, but what you will notice is the quality of the coffee.

The machine on test consistently brewed faultless espresso with a thick, syrupy crema, and no hint of bitterness.

Hot water is dispensed through a separate spout to the coffee, so again, Americanos and lungos weren’t bitter, simply longer with a rich flavour. Interestingly, a few coffee pucks were almost touch dry when I emptied the grounds container, suggesting that the J8 is more efficient than some when extracting.

Its ‘coffee eye’ feature, which recognises when a cup is below the main spout can be useful. Pop a cup below it and you’ll be offered mostly black coffee drinks. Move it away and the selection on the screen changes to include hot milk, cappuccinos and lattes too. However, it’s not clever enough to recognise if a cup is slightly off position. I deliberately placed an espresso cup so it wasn’t central below the spouts and it carried on brewing from both.

The J8 excels at making milky drinks, though it can be more involved than some bean-to-cups. It uses a glass carafe for milk that can be stored in the fridge when not in use, which connects to the side of the milk spout.

There’s a tiny cover for the spout’s hole that’s almost guaranteed to be lost once removed, but the system is impressive. I used the J8 to make cappuccinos and lattes and each one emerged with smooth, silky milk foam at the perfect drinking temperature.

Adding the syrup attachment sweetens the foam, but involves detaching one spout to fit it, then remembering to select the ‘sweet milk foam’ option from the speciality menu. This then adds it to any of the milky drinks.

However, you can only select one option from the speciality menu at a time, and this is where the selection for ground coffee is located.

This means that you can have sweet milk or decaf ground, for example, but not both at the same time. The same applies to the other options located on this menu: extra shots and double drinks.

The other slight downside with milky drinks is the cleaning: where most bean-to-cups have a programme that cleans milk parts after each use, the J8 requires a bit more effort. It’ll rinse the milk dispensing spout after each use, but not the tube that connects the carafe to the machine. To clean this, which has to be done daily, you’ll need to run a six-minute programme using a container and specialist tablets.

What I did like is that the Jura app connected the first time – but it doesn’t appear to provide more drink options than the touchscreen.

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