After 7 years or so of using a bulletproof Starbucks Barista which produced great espresso and copious microfoam, I bought this machine for my wife for Christmas (although she swears it was yet another gift to myself). The build quality and ease of use is great. The espresso is very good (but not up to the standards of a well pulled shot off a semi-auto). Nevertheless, the lack of any mess and pushbutton convenience outweighs any complaints about the quality of the shot don''t get me wrong, it pulls a very nice shot. What it doesnt do well is create the beautiful microfoam an experienced user can get using a traditional steam wand. All of these super-autos have that annoying steam-assist wand which is supposed to require no skill to create foam. Unfortunately all it does it create these large crappy bubbles and very little foam. To make matters worse, the side steam holes get clogged very easily and then the result is NO FOAM. I called wholelattelove and Capresso looking for a solution and they each had no clue either (a) how to solve the problem, or (b) why in the world I didnt like the crappy large soap bubble excuse for microfoam. Well for $8 I found a Krups metal steam tip off the net (go to culinaryparts.com for a $1.99 steam tip plus $6 shipping) and screwed it on to the end of the metal wand after having discarded the useless steaming aid sleeve and old plastic tip, and VOILA! -awesome foam made in half the time I could do the same thing with my old Starbucks Barista. These machines all have a Thermoblock for steaming unlike the traditional boiler on a better semi-auto. Nevertheless it is enough and the foam is first rate as I said. The only other thing to be aware of is that these machines cant use my beloved Peats coffee beans too oily and they get stuck in the hopperso I am still searching for a good dark roast which is not too oily. But for now after a month of use, I am happy with the espresso and the foam and delighted to make my morning cap with a minimum of effort. The F7 in particular is a great machine as against the other Juras. It is more programmible than the E* and much simpler to use (and smaller footprint) than the pricier units. I almost bought the F9 but there is just too much to think about on that machine and the bright chrome is a bit too shiny and pretentious. The F7 is the perfect mix of functionality and understated good looks. It is also the newest technology from Jura so it has some small touches that the F9 doesnt have, such as a 120 second steam timer versus the 60 second timer on the F9.Update to the above review:
After many more months of use I am loving the Jura F7, and I found the beans to use: Blue Bottle Coffee Hayes Valley Espresso. Not too oily but very flavorful. Perfect for this machine. Better than Peats, and definitely fresher. I am not going to list their website here cause I dont want to look like a shill for them. But you can find them, I am confident. They will mail out to you for no additional cost.
By the way, the review above that says the F7 is a shinier version of the E8 is incorrect. The basic mechanism may be the same, but the programming functions and other nice features are significantly different. If you''re already spending this much coin, the F7 is a better deal than the E8. Just my humble opinion.
The machine seemed formidable at first (I find any thing with manuals to be intimidating), but after reading the manual and trying out the F7 a few times I got it right. I have since perfected the art of frothing and steaming. It comes with a video, though I did not watch it.
CONS: has a fairly large foot print....needs a lot of counter space.
Flavored coffee beans cannot be used in the grinder....something to do with the oils. Because of this I have switched from hazelnut coffee to unflavored coffee, and frankly, the coffee is so good that I don''t miss the flavored kind.
The accessories such as the water filter and the cleaning tablets are not easily available.....I have to order them directly from Capresso, or from Williams and Sonoma.
Finally, although this is a somewhat expensive machine ($1400), we have recovered half the cost of the machine over the past 3 months by not going to specialty coffee stores and spending $3 for each cup.
Hope you find this review helpful.
KS
Buy Jura-Capresso 13185 Impressa F7 Espresso Machine Now
My wife LOVES coffee...I like coffee...she works ..I work...we have three kids...I would try to stay in bed longer than her to keep from having to make the coffee in the morning.. For Christmas I bought an Impressa F7 ..I was only prepared to spend about $1000 on a coffee machine at Williams-Sonoma...but the machine I could get for that really lacked some basic features...there were more expensive machines...but the F7 seemed to have most of what I wanted ...I got up Christmas morning to set up the machine, which was relatively easy...(although after 7 or 8 cups of "tweeking" the machine, my heart was pounding up in my throat and when the kids came down to see what Santa had left them I sent them back upstairs for making too much noise)...The coffee was REALLY good...it took a while to learn how to adjust the machine to get what we each liked, but now we love the machine...although there are occassional issues such as a luke warm cup now and then and the frother is marginal...it has made our life in the morning a very pleasant experience...it really doesn''t require much upkeep ....wouldn''t give it up now...Read Best Reviews of Jura-Capresso 13185 Impressa F7 Espresso Machine Here
Length:: 7:10 MinsGreat tasting coffee & espresso, but for nearly $1k I shouldn''t have to burn myself and spend nearly 15-20 minutes cleaning up a mess caused by an unacceptable & fundamental flaw in engineering.
Since the second day we owned this product the steam wand has flown off at random temperatures; as low as 100 deg. F and as high as 160 deg. F. I''ve tried adjusting how low and high I have the steam wand inserted in the milk. I''ve even de-calcified the machine and tried again. Nothing helps the situation.
I called the company technical support and they suggested a new steam valve. We waited over a week for it to show up only to find out they sent us the wrong one! We told them our model number; they even referenced the manual with us on the phone.
I called technical support a second time and the guy affirmed they''ve had a few people call with this same issue. The worst I''ve seen was a written review on Costco.com for this product where the guy owned it for 5 months before this started happening to him. Can you imagine being stuck with this problem after 5 months of owning it?
Pay specific attention to 4:20 into the video. Avoid this company at all costs! Virtually all of their machines employ the same type of steam wand.
Many people have reported having to send their units in MULTIPLE times for VERY EXPENSIVE repairs many times costing $180 or more. I spend that much on maintenance for my vehicle! But after spending nearly $1,000 on this machine there''s no way in heck I should have to spend another cent! This thing should JUST WORK and for MANY MANY MANY years without flaws... certainly NOT one that can potentially scald the heck out of me with HOT MILK.
Watch the video to see just how awful it is (specifically 4:20 into the video).
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I am not a coffee shop expert so my expectations may be different than yours. My needs were the following when considering buying this machine:1. Consistant coffee shop taste and quality.
2. Easy to use
3. Easy clean up
4. An intelligent machine
5. Well built
This machine is really cool. It makes the whole coffee making process so simple. The results are fabulous. Everything comes out nice and hot. The machine is very intelligent with a lot of cool little features in place to make your life easier. The frother works great. Setup was a breeze. I got it on amazon.com for $853.00 brand new from a marketplace seller. A great deal it was!
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