Jura E8 review: The Premium Super Automatic Coffee Machine Of 2024?

If you love drinking espresso as much as I do, you crave for it more than times than you can be bothered to make it. By this (late) stage of coffee addiction, it’s time to consider investing in an espresso machine.

A super-automatic espresso machine is best-suited for those who enjoy the brew more than the ritual of making it. This article takes a closer look at one of these brewers in our Jura E8 review.

Jura E8 Espresso Machine Review 2024

The E8 is an example of a bean-to-cup machine. With the push of a button, you automate the grinding of the whole beans, extract flavor, and create milk-based foam (for milk-based drinks).

Super automatic espresso machines usually have programmability limitations, becoming a slave to the coffee maker’s built-in definitions of espresso based drinks.

That’s not the case with this pick.

The E8 espresso machine is highly programmable. From grind size, brew strength, shot size, milk amount all the way to foam thickness, you get to choose exactly what you put in your cup of coffee.

One way to look at it is as if you put your favorite barista specialties in one espresso machine. Users only have good things to say about it, so who is the Jura most suitable for?

If you enjoy drinking more than making, this choice could be for you. Also, if you want your routine to be no more complex than pushing a button every time you crave a cup of coffee, this would work perfectly for you.

Lastly, if you have coffee quirks that require barista specialties but without the work, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better match for you in this price range of espresso makers.

Jura E8 Automatic Brewing Standards

What I find most impressive about the Jura E8 is how it brews. Whether a shot or a latte, it does it well. In parallel, the machine lets you customize both your black coffee and milk-based drinks.

Let’s start with the Intelligent water system. Because the E8 espresso machine is all about ease of use, the water filtration system weeds out unneeded compounds from your water. 

With an RFID operated intelligent system, your filter communicates with your espresso machine, letting you know when it’s time to replace it. This also means that you will need to descale at a fraction of the frequency you would need to with other espresso makers.

The shot quality from the E8 can be explained by outlining how it uses a unique process when grinding whole beans on demand. The brand calls it P.E.P (pulse extraction process) technology. 

During extraction, hot water pushes through the freshly (or pre) ground coffee in short timed intervals. In doing so, you avoid over-extraction, which can be a real possibility in many automatic espresso machines. Often an unfortunate circumstance of brewing fine grind sizes at high temperatures.

Not with P.E.P though, you can expect a premium and pure extraction process which ensures you can enjoy tasty shots at a press of a button.

The Jura espresso machine also comes with a rubber-sealed, top-loading hopper. Funneling the beans into the built-in Aroma G3 burr grinder with 6 grind levels. 

Again, grinding on demand is the best practice when it comes to coffee. For decaf drinkers, or if your coffee comes pre-ground, there is also a powder chute where you add your grounds for direct use.

Lastly, the milk side of things. The E8 utilizes a pick-up tubing system that fits into most milk carton openings. You can also buy a separate Jura Coffee milk chiller or a milk jug attached to Jura machines. 

With the E8, the milk frother makes barista-level foam. The fine foam frother is also adjustable depending on how you like your flat white. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that coffee drinkers will surely enjoy the milk frother on this coffee machine. It’s a fantastic milk system!

Jura Coffee Machine Build Quality

The Jura comes in a minimalist looking exterior. 

It’s available in piano black and chrome variants. I prefer Piano Black, personally. Nonetheless, when it comes to the Jura coffee machine, its value is in the interior build!

But on the outside, you’ll notice the Jura has a height-adjustable spout connected to the height-adjustable milk spout. Watching them move, you get the feeling that they’re well-built. It also helps that there haven’t been any complaints about these parts of the Jura.

This also goes with the milk steam knob and all other parts like the dregs drawer, bean hopper, and water reservoir. What good is an intelligent system for water without a sturdy body anyhow?

You can see the result of the Jura pure extraction process when you examine the coffee pucks in the dregs drawer. They crumble pretty evenly and consistently, meaning no particular area of your puck was over-extracted.

What you don’t see is the ceramic burr Aroma G3 grinder that is also built to last. Be sure to use beans that aren’t under roasted or overly-oily, and you can expect it to stand the test of time.

While the build quality isn’t everything, it hints at how well the coffee machine was designed. With a good design comes a fair expectation of its output capability. For automatic espresso machine users, execution is automated, so quality is everything!

The Pulse Extraction Process

Fully automatic coffee machines are chosen for how easy it is to brew with them. With one touch, your whole beans go through a burr grinder. This type of grinder grinds more evenly, which helps with creating cafe caliber specialty coffees.

First, yes, it comes with ceramic burrs. This material is better for heat dispersal. The less heat you generate while grinding coffee beans, the fewer chances there are for over-extraction. This often means fewer bitter shots.

The grinder’s top loading bean hopper is rubber-lined, helping it seal-in the freshness of your coffee. You preserve the aromas up until you grind per specialty coffee-caliber espresso craving.

Next in line for discussion is the control panel. Through this screen, you control the entire machine. Also through this screen, the machine communicates with you.

You have the option (highly recommended) of installing an intelligent water filter that manipulates water hardness for you. It makes your brew water good for coffee, and your super-automatic espresso machine. 

The filter of the Jura will inform you via the display if your Jura E8 espresso maker’s filter needs changing and the water pump filter does all the work! That’s the definition of super-automatic.

The last thing to discuss on how the Jura E8 brews is, of course, the type of drinks this automatic coffee machine makes.

What coffee recipes does the pulse extraction technology offer? 3 types of espresso (ristretto, espresso, and lungo) and 3 types of black coffee that showcase the Jura E8’s pure extraction process: long black (or americano) and brewed coffee. And of course, 3 milky beverages: flat white, cappuccino, and lattes.

The best milk drink that shows off the pure extraction ability of this automatic coffee machine? The flat white. It pulls a shot first, and releases silky milk after with only a thin layer of foam.

What’s the kicker? 

You can enjoy these recipes as is, but if you have personal preferences they’re all highly programmable. Down to the grind size, size of the shot, coffee strength, foam thickness, and amount of milk in your drink. Even the height of the spouts is adjustable.

The E8 coffee machine is essentially having a barista answer to your every back and call when it comes to your caffeine requirements.

Jura Milk Frothing

Jura machines are known for espresso quality. One underappreciated aspect of these reliable espresso coffee machines is their milk quality and the durability of the fine foam frother.

The milk system on the Jura E8 is basically a pick-up tube system with a fine foam frother dial to ensure you make the much enjoyed barista specialties. The dial allows you to manipulate the thickness of the fine foam in your milk-based espresso drinks.

The Jura E8 coffee machine delivers perfect microfoam at a press of a button via its automatic pump. It’s one of the best features of this super automatic espresso machine. Watching the consistent, silky milk foam cascade down into your cup is so satisfying.

As a specialty coffee barista, I can definitely say that this is one of the automatic coffee machine features that are worth paying for. Milk froth is one of the hardest aspects of espresso based-drinks to master, and yet it has a huge effect on the quality of your cup of coffee. No cup of foam is the same!

All in all, if you enjoy single touch milk based coffees the Jura E8 automatic brewer is likely a worthwhile investment for your household.

Ease of Use

As implied earlier, this coffee machine from Jura is easy to use. The E8 is built with easy to wipe down piano black panels, single touch rinsing and cleaning, and highly accessible parts.

You can long press certain recipe buttons to save your personal preferences. You can manually adjust the height of the coffee and milk spouts to accommodate your cups. And lastly, you can install a water filter that gives you decent brewing quality for a good cup of coffee, without the need to descale as much. All these features are a touch of a button away.

As someone who handles and maintains many different types of coffee machines, I clearly see the value that the Jura E8 brings to the table.

Cleaning

If it hasn’t been referenced enough in this review, the Jura E8 is easy to clean. With the touch of a button, you can purge hot water through your lines.

You will need to refer to the user’s manual for more specific instructions. What sets this Jura model apart though, is how it has features that directly affect maintenance.

But when the time comes for deep cleaning, all you need to do is insert a cleaning tablet into the pre ground coffee drawer at the top of the espresso machine. You will just need to follow the instructions laid out by the machine itself and voila your Jura is almost as good as new!

Having a hose instead of a milk container gives you one less part to rinse out. An easy to access dregs drawer, drip tray, and water reservoir also help simplify cleaning the E8. Even the hopper of the Aroma G3 grinder is easy to wipe down.

These are small features and details that all coffee drinkers will surely appreciate when they experience brewing daily with the Jura E8.

Other Features

The Jura E8 keeps the devil in the details. The 280g coffee beans hopper capacity fits with the 1.9L water tank capacity.

You can program on/off times of your machine, and even sync it with your phone. So you can manipulate brew strength, and recipe values all from your fingertips.

My personal favorite is being able to save preferences by holding down select buttons on this single cup machine. As a professional barista, I want something I can trust to make coffee on days I’m too tired to brew your own cup. I’d trust this Jura machine to make my cup during those days off.

Is This Automatic Espresso Machine Worth the Money?

In my opinion, if this pick fits your current budget, then yes. The Jura E8 is absolutely worth the money.

You can adjust your dose (or amount of ground coffee brewed) to up to 16g per shot to manipulate coffee strength. You can program the amount and temperature of your milk and shots to exactly how you like them. Even the pause in between coffee and milk the Jura E8 allows you to specify.

It’s armed with simple features that almost all coffee drinkers can appreciate. While being built well, easy to operate, and nicely designed. For these reasons it gets my vote of confidence for home and tiny shop use.

The Jura E8 Isn’t For You If…

What are the downsides to the Jura E8 coffee machine?

For starters, if you like the process of pulling shots (of coffee in general) the Jura E8 isn’t for you. It will make things too easy. Instead check out our semi automatic coffee machine review.

Also, if you take your cup of joe black, you underutilized some of the best features of the E8. This particular Jura coffee maker specializes in creamy, silky milk. If you don’t put that in your coffee regularly, there are better choices for you out there for less money.

Lastly, the Jura E8 wouldn’t be a good pick for you if it’s out of your budget. The only time I recommend customers to stretch budgets a bit for performance is if it’s for high volume use. If you’re purchasing a home brewer, look for specs that you like, that are sensibly within your budget.

The Final Verdict

All in all, I am impressed with the performance of this machine from Jura.

I like the minimalist design, the build quality, and the accessibility of different parts on the outside. On the inside, I like how quality is reflected in the type of coffee drinks that the Jura E8 produces. Even the high degree of programmability is impressive for an automatic machine.

You will seldomly see harmony between baristas (who love to make coffee) and automatic machines but in this instance, the Jura E8 passes with flying colors.

Hopefully our Jura E8 review has helped you decide if this pick is for you. Enjoy and keep brewing!