Let me first state that I have only had this for two days and that this is my first espresso machine. I say this so readers will understand that this quick "review" is to point out a couple of details that may be overlooked when researching this machine, not as an indication of the quality of drink produced.I began doing research on home espresso machines several years ago after drinking coffee prepared by my dad on his Jura Cappresso E8. It was a revelation to drink such good quality coffee outside of a coffee shop. At the time my wife didn''t care for coffee so it was only me drinking a single cup in the morning with breakfast so I was put off by the high prices and ended up buying a grind and brew automatic drip coffee maker by Cuisinart. I bought it "open box" at a kitchen store for a hundred bucks and I was pleased enough with it. Fast forward a few years and now my wife enjoys cappuccinos and lattes and drinks coffee with me daily, albeit with a lot of cream and sweetener. She also stops at the local coffee bar for a flavored cappuccino with some regularity. So I started looking into a quality espresso machine for the home again.
I spent a lot of time educating myself on the various makers, such as Jura, DeLonghi, Gaggia, Saeco, etc. I knew that I wanted to get a superautomatic as we aren''t purists, nor do we have the time usually to pull our own shots, froth our own milk, etc. At the end of the day, it came down to the various Jura Onetouch models, the Gaggia Accademia Espresso Machine, and the DeLonghi ESAM5500M Perfecta Digital Super-Automatic Espresso Machine, Metallic Blue. My research led me to have a little less confidence in the DeLonghi''s reliability, although I liked their milking system. The Gaggia was just too much for me to spend on my first machine (or last for that matter more than likely). My dad has never had the first problem with his Jura and it''s more than 5 years old and likely has not had much maintenance or cleaning I suspect so I feel it will hold up to the reasonably light use we will give a machine. The Jura-Capresso 13422 Impressa C9 One Touch Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Center, Black and Jura-Capresso 13423 Impressa S9 One Touch Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Center, Platinum are older models, larger and more expensive than the ENA series. So due to the features, the quality, and the fact that it was the least expensive, I decided to purchase this machine.
Now, to the machine. The first thing I should point out is that it is a unique design for Jura. The other one touch machines work differently, which I didn''t realize when I made my decision. The key point to this is that THERE IS NO EXTERNAL FROTHER. If you want to froth milk manually you can''t do it. And it is not equipped with their Connect System either, which would allow you to change out the external wand with a frothing wand. The wand on the ENA9 is only a hot water spout. I would have preferred to have the option for manual frothing, both for experience and as a backup. The other nice thing about manual frothers as they are easier to clean. I mention this in case you, like me, didn''t notice the lack of a frothing steam wand. The internal frother does microfroth, which is a pleasure. You can purchase a Capresso frothPRO for less than steam wand would cost if you really want to froth manually (but it''s a different method of frothing.
This machine is really designed to optimize the one touch functionality. It works best when you set your preferences and store them. The preferences you can store are water volume (up to 12 oz), strength of espresso, duration of milk froth and temperature. You set these for espresso, cappuccino and coffee individually. If you want more or less of any of these parameters I think you have to go in and change the preferences. I may be wrong about this as I''m still getting my preferences set but I haven''t found a way of pulling a one off variety yet. Honestly, I pretty much want the same thing every time anyway so it''s not that much of an issue.
The one touch feature is nice. All you have to do is put the sialastic hose into your milk source, slip your cup under the nozzle and push the cappuccino button on top of the machine. A few minutes later, depending on your chosen froth duration, there is your cappuccino. Of course don''t bother with the milk for coffee or espresso.
There have been criticisms of the ENA series regarding the small capacity of the water tank and bean hopper. One of the compromises of having a smaller machine on your counter is that the capacities are smaller. My dad loves his large capacity water tank because he can drink coffee all day without refilling it. I personally like to have fresh water and beans so having to fill them up frequently doesn''t bother me in the least, but as I stated, we are not high volume drinkers either.
The last point I would make is that there is a fair amount of maintenance with this machine, IF YOU USE MILK. I don''t think it is unique to this machine but is typical of the superautomatics in general. My dad only drinks espresso or coffee which is probably why he can get by without cleaning his often. You are supposed to rinse or preferably clean the cappuccino portion after each brewing session. It is very simple to do but may get to be a pain on a daily basis. You just run the machine through it''s cappuccino cleaning cycle, using water or Jura''s proprietary cappuccino cleaning liquid Jura-Capresso 63801 Auto Cappuccino Concentrate, 250 ml and manually rinse the frothing tube and a few rubber pieces inside. It''s a small hassle but likely necessary as milk will cake on the internals and I''m sure halt the function of the frother if neglected like any other milk frother. Another reason for an external frothing option. Using filtered water, or the in tank Jura filter will cut down if not eliminate the need to descale the machine supposedly.
The ENA series boasts an energy efficient option of auto shut down, the timing of which you can customize. So, if you like to save energy, the machine will automatically turn off after a set period of time. This would not be an attractive feature if you are like my dad and enjoy walking up to the machine any time of day and pulling a cup of coffee. You would have to turn it on each time. It doesn''t take long to heat up again but it does prompt you to rinse on each start up. You don''t have to use the auto shut off but it''s there if you want.
All in all I believe this will be an excellent purchase. I got what I wanted but wish it had an optional external frother like the C9 and S9. The frothXpress system added to an ENA5 might be a little cheaper and a little more versatile but not as convenient and the frothing may not be as high quality. I hope this has helped you in your research of this high quality machine.
So I did a bit of research online before settling on this one and boy am I happy with it.
Not much to add to SpeadDeacon''s excellent review except that this machine is made mainly for use with whole Coffee Beans, with a light, medium and strong roast settings for the grinder.
Yes, it has a second opening on top for fine grounded coffee but only if you''re having black coffee. It seems Cappuccino and Macchiato only use coffee from the grinder source on top of the device.
As for the froth, it has to be seen to be believed. Its truly amazing, feather light and fine.
Cleaning is also fully automatic. It monitors what drinks you''ve been having and periodically (or on shutdown) applies the corresponding self cleaning mode.
Or it can be done manually with one-click. For example, any time milk frothing is used, just replace milk source with water and press C-clean. It cleans both the sialastic hose and rinses the milk nozzle.
The only gripe I have is that the water tank is a bit small (4-6 drinks depending on your settings for each drink) and the sialastic hose is attached to a black plastic thingy that plugs into the device (which is responsible for the fine froth) and it would have been nice if a spare plug was included just in case.
Overall a great, durable all-in-one-touch machine for home-use that''s well worth the price.
You can search for nTrk_7bd60s on YouTube for a demo.
Update: well I''ve happily had it for a year now and it still works just like it did on the first day. No regrets what so ever.Well, this is my second Super-Automatic machine and my first was the Delonghi ESAM3500. From owning these machines I noticed the following. Super-Automatic machines are a great convenience for making cappuccinos a simple process. Just put your cup under the spout, push a button, and one minute later you will have your drink. There is a downside that you must be aware of with this big purchase and that is the cappuccinos does not come out as hot as those served at Starbucks/McDonalds. This is a common complaint, check out the reviews for the ESAM3500. The reason for this is due to the automation of the steam/frothed milk not heating the milk to the correct serving temperature (150F). The ENA 9 steam/frothed milk comes out at 125F and the ESAM3500 is at 124F (with the milk starting at 40F and water at 72F). These temperatures lead to what many reviews describe as a warm, not hot, cappuccinos that require a trip to the microwave or the cappuccino will get cold on the way to work. To get an idea of the serving temperature of cappuccinos (espresso & milk), I measured the temperature of the drink from Starbucks and McDonalds and the temperature ranged from 142 to 150 F. The cappuccino from the ENA 9 is around 130F, while the ESAM3500 is 127F using room temperature water (72F). If I put cold filtered water from the refrigerator(42F) into the machine, the temperature of the cappuccino drops to 125F for the ENA and 118F for the ESAM3500. The reason the ENA 9 produces a slightly hotter drink is due to it''s 1450-Watt Thermoblock heating system vs the 1150-Watts in the ESAM3500. This makes the ENA 9 more tolerant to the water temperature you use. To give some credit to the machine, the espresso from the ENA 9 is around 169F and the ESAM3500 is 165F.
If you can overlook the temperature issue, ENA 9 is a great machine and makes delicious cappuccino with it''s thick frothed milk. Below are some pro/cons of the machine.
Pros
1. One touch button for cappuccinos / latte (just keep the bean and water container filled)
2. Wow, the foam on this machine is amazing compared to the ESAM3500. It is thick and micro foam like.
3. Programming the machine is straight forward and easy to do. You use the rotary dial to traverse through the menu and pushing the dial inwards for selection. You won''t need the manual after you read it once. The ESAM3500 requires the manual to be around to figure which buttons to hold down to program the machine.
4. Customizing your drinks is a step above the ESAM3500. For example with cappuccino, the amount of milk foam is selectable (3 to 120 seconds), the gap time between the output of the milk and espresso to allow the foam and hot milk separate (0 to 60 seconds), the coffee strength (mild, normal, or strong), amount of water (0.5 oz to 8.0 oz), and temperature (normal, high).
Cons
1. Warm cappuccino, just like the ESAM3500
2. The water and bean container is small. The ENA 9 holds 37 ounces of water vs. the 60 ounces on the ESAM3500. The ENA 9 is not meant to be used with large groups. It also has a glitch that it will requests the grounds to be dump after 3 beverages even though there is space available in the grounds tray.
3. Can''t output foam/steam milk by itself, the ESAM3500 has this capability
4. No cup warmer like the ESAM3500.
5. Both ENA9 and ESAM3500 have a max cup height of 5 inches, which means most travel coffee mugs will not fit under the spout.
6. The water container is located in the back and must be lifted up. This means that the ENA 9 requires around 22 inches of height clearance
Suggestions:
* Get the Bean vacuum canister to keep your beans fresh. Exceptional Designs Bean Vac Coffee Canister (ED150)
* Starbucks sells their coffee syrup for $10 (just asked the barista). "Cinnamon Dolce" is my favorite.
Read Best Reviews of Jura ENA 9 One Touch Here
I have a Rancilio Silvia, which I have been using every day for the last 8 years. Silvia produces a good espresso, but the steaming ability is quite weak. It is difficult, noisy, time consuming and requires clean up. I don''t do milk in my drinks, but my wife really wanted that option, so we agreed to buy a super automatic with one-touch capability. We looked at a range of machines, running from the the Jura Ena 9 to the Saeco Xelsis.We finally picked the Ena 9 on the basis of the small footprint, plus it is a Jura (excellent reliability), and the ease of use. We don''t need super-programmability, nor fancy touch screens or anything like that.
My major concerns were two fold: (i) the quality of the espresso relative to the Silvia, and (ii) the problems of cleaning out the milk frother.
I ordered through Amazon, and the machine arrived on time and in perfect condition (as is always the case with Amazon). After using the machine for three weeks, here is my bottom line assessment of the machine:
1. If you don''t need programmability, this machine is great.
2. The quality of espresso with the actual espresso button is not particularly great, even when you modify the strength of brew and the amount of water. But if you press the Aroma Boost button twice (double espresso), I find this produces a very good quality espresso. The intensity of the brew is not as great as the Silvia, but overall it is very good. So no complaints here.
3. Cleaning: it turns out not to be as much of a hassle as I thought. I hand-rinse the milk components out every night which takes around 2 minutes. The machine also routinely self-cleans, which keeps the machine squeaky clean. I use the milk frother cleaning liquid to run it through the machine once a week, even though Jura recommends this be done once a day if you used milk on that day. I find this to be overkill, and one way that Jura can make money on cleaning products. If you clean out the components properly every night, you have nothing to worry about.
4. The convenience of the machine is just fantastic. I make an espresso or two every 90 minutes or so, and I can''t tell you how easy it is. It is a major step-up from my Silvia. I now have no intention of using Silvia unless the Ena breaks down sometime in the future.
5. The one-touch frothing is superb. The foam is just fabulous thick and luxurious. I don''t drink milk, but just playing around with that foam makes me want to put some into my drinks. My wife loves it, and even makes her own drinks in the mornings it''s that easy to use.
6. The down sides are the following:
the coffee bean hopper is a little small. You end up filling it once or twice a day, which is a pain.
the water reservoir is also way too small. I have to fill this at least three times per day. I am seriously thinking of constructing a tank above the machine which will auto-fill the built in reservoir.
The spent coffee grounds fall into a small container inside the machine which is also way too small. You need to empty the grounds after every 3-4 drinks. But sometimes, depending on how the spent puck falls into the container, the machine thinks the grounds container is full after just two drinks and will require that you empty it. This, for me, is the biggest hassle. Having to empty the grounds every 2-3 drinks is silly. And there is nothing you can do to fix this you just have to live with it.
You''ll notice that all of my complaints are related to the size of the machine the small footprint seems to cut on these conveniences, which I had not really considered.
Bottom line: I am absolutely happy with the machine. If I were to do it again, I *might* look at a larger machine, but the quality of the autofoaming is so good, and the price is fantastic, so I would definitely give this machine another chance. The time it saves me every day, plus the constant availability of top-quality espresso is most definitely worth the paltry $1500 this machine costs.
UPDATE: one year later, and I am still super happy with this machine. I have had no problems with it at all. The cleaning is easy, the coffee is good, and so no problems. I find that I use the auto-froth far less than I thought I would, so if I were to do it again I would get a machine without this function. But it''s nice to have when people are overthey always coo when it does it''s own frothing.
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The following are comments I wrote my cousin when she asked about my experience with a Jura (Ena 9 which was purchased from a non-Amazon retailer about 17 months ago.) Here goes...So as for the espresso machine (Ena 9), I do apologize for doing that to you guys. It was a mean dirty rotten thing brandishing the sparkly appliance and forcing tasty espresso drinks on you... ;) That having been said, I believe we are both still glad to have it. It makes making good coffee so very simple. There are however some things that would be good to know before investing a small fortune in a coffee maker.
So THE most important thing you would need to know about a Jura (at least the 2 models I''ve been exposed to) is that there is a super secret manual cleaning process (and by that, I mean you use a paper towel to dislodge/wipe some coffee grounds) that is not documented at all in the manual. It is easy to do and I only do it about once every other week, but both I and a friend that has a Jura (prior Ena) were perturbed when after a month the machine seemed to have no pressure whatsoever. A quick call to Jura (which seems to have rather good service) cleared the matter up and prepared me for the biweekly manual hand/paper towel cleaning technique. They really should document the method because I believe it needs to be pretty much necessary/standard practice.
With respect to changing the beans, (that could be your deal breaker... my cousin''s concern was her drinking decaf and her husband drinking regular) I''m not exactly sure how to accomplish that. We pretty much dump the new beans on top of the old ones.
I did once try to get the beans out of the holding basket... I was somewhat successful using a vacuum, however I gave up trying to get the beans that had fallen (and there were still a few down there) past the guard which apparently was put there to prevent people like me sticking their hands down into the grinding mechanism. I''ve never been bold enough to turn the whole thing upside down as I''m sure there''s some kind of internal water holding tank which might make a mess.
There is however a bypass that allows you to put ground coffee in without having to bother changing the beans. It works pretty handily (although we use it somewhat infrequently), however according to the instructions, you must not put too many grounds in there or supposedly it could damage the machine. That being said, if I was using it regularly, I would probably have to pre grind (which obviously causes you to lose the "fresh ground" appeal of such a device) and pre measure the coffee for quick use... That whole process is somewhat more messy than most would like because the grinding and measuring means you''re inevitably getting grounds all over the place (especially if they''re still statically charged). You do however still get the benefit of having the grounds dumped into the easy to empty bin rather than having to dispose of or thoroughly clean filter/baskets.
Another thing that can be annoying... especially if you''re a clean freak... the used ground bin and the waste water catch/reservoir can get ugly looking (especially the reservoir underneath that tends to be a mixture of water and coffee grounds/mud. Whenever we first got the machine, I couldn''t take seeing it with all the wastewater/mud. Now it rarely gets emptied until its almost full and when it does it most often only receives the most cursory rinse... I believe we''ve pretty much decided the parts inside that catch the leftovers are destined to be messy... that''s why they are hidden away inside... You can clean em till they sparkle, but when you make your next cup, they''ll only be covered in coffee grounds/mud again.
So a couple other things I will mention for full disclosure... Although there appears to be a way to change the grind settings, we pretty much have to leave it on the largest grind... presumably according to Jura this is because the beans we use are oily and cause the machine to not work very well... We tend to make a "cup" of coffee rather than shots of espresso (a sin most coffee snobs will surely scoff at.. but hey this is a review for a fully auto machine after all.. a snob should not be reading such things)... we want plenty of water coming through. If you were making a shot, supposedly you''d only want about an ounce of water in about 12-18 seconds. If it is a double you''d want 2 ounces. We max the thing out... I think its only about 8 ounces.. That''s not a huge cup of coffee. If I was making a shot, presumably I''d put the grind to a smaller setting which (according to the instructions) must also be done while grinding is taking place or else it could potentially damage the machine (although i''m pretty sure I''ve changed that setting when it was not grinding and so far my machine seems to be fine.) Also for those that prefer a "cup" of coffee, the water reservoir is pretty much just the right size for the initial rinse, 2 people to have a cup in the morning and the pre-shut down rinse. The next morning you will have to refill the reservoir (probably a good practice anyway)... All that is to say that if you''re doing some entertaining and making large cups of coffee... you''re either refilling the reservoir several times or you''re running out in the middle of a cup (which can also be annoying.)
Next... if you''re trying to take your coffee with... it is somewhat difficult to find a mobile cup that fits under the spout (they are all usually too tall). I found one that is small (so I''ll make a smaller cup a bit stronger). My wife holds her travel mug tilted under the spout. Most mugs you use around the house won''t have that problem.
I''d probably speak more about the frother on our Jura except we don''t use it very often. It works very well, but we''re lazy and even though frothed milk is really nice, non-frothed half and half is pretty dern good also! There is also a bit of cleaning that is necessary when you''re putting milk through the machine (which is as mentioned... more work when what you really want is to walk away, sit and enjoy your coffee).
The manual also mentions using a water-filter to avoid having to periodically clean the machine due to build up from hard water (which as you might have guessed if you''ve noticed the trend... has the potential to damage the machine.... I have no idea how paranoid the product manual author was or how real these problems might be.) We started out using a Jura filter... eventually we ran into what I believe was a faulty filter which prevented the machine from taking in any water... and ever since have just filtered the water using the filter on our tap rather than the ones that sit in the water reservoir. The Jura filters aren''t free... the cleaning tablets necessary to clean up after a couple months of hard water use are far less expensive and the machine tells you when to do it (as it does for most other cleaning processes with the exception of the undocumented manual paper towel method) and what to do....
So after reading all of the ways you can permanently damage your brand new overpriced coffee filter, I should more than have made up for having tempted you with such a sparkly and tasty-beverage making device. On the other hand, if you''ve read all of this and I have not deterred you, I expect you may be pleased with a Jura. They make great coffee very easy. And this rather extensive essay does document most everything of importance regarding how to use it and what to expect.
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