As far as making your own coffee goes, some like the simplicity of an instant coffee from a jar and some like to use multiple machines and devices to produce a coffee from beans. Well, what about the simplicity of instant coffee while having one machine take your choice of coffee beans and grind, tamp and press out your favourite coffee, with or without milk, frothed or just heated to produce anything from an espresso to a latte from the push of a touchscreen on one machine or… smartphone? Meet the Jura S8.
The Jura S8 is an all-in-one coffee machine that has one container for coffee beans, one for water and another unit for milk. Once they’re all loaded and you’re connected to power you’ll need a cup under the spout and a finger to swipe and select your coffee of choice.
The setup of the machine is very simple, you’ll put a filter in the water tank, you’ll run the machine through a good amount of water (prepare a big cup for this!), pour your beans into the top and get ready for your first coffee.
As with all Jura machines we’ve tested the machine will want to rinse once you turn the machine on. The problem with this is that if all you wanted was an espresso you’ll need to have the cup away from the machine because it will first dispel water before producing your coffee. And once you have your coffee it will rinse again. This is being done to ensure your coffee is clean and perfect but we found it quite annoying if you ended up with the original rinse into the cup you wanted to use for your coffee.
We loved how easy it was to make a cappuccino or latte, the milk and coffee comes into the cup in perfect precision and you’ll never make an easier milk based coffee. For espresso lovers though we can’t recommend the all-in-one coffee machines from Jura or other brands, the short blacks just end up too loose and watery in the cup and for something so small, it needs to be silky and smooth.
The Jura S8 is compatible with the Smart Connect system which is a small bluetooth device that connects to the service port. This simple connector enables you to start your coffee process from your smartphone. So at a dinner party you could be sitting at the table and allow your guests to use the app like a menu and select their beverage of choice. It’s a fun party trick but unlikely something you’ll use everyday.
The Jura S8 is a serious powerhouse, it produces fantastic milk based coffee in the simplest way, it is idiot proof and almost like the iPhone of coffee machines. We are left disappointed with the espresso capabilities but that would be our only complaint. It looks beautiful in the kitchen and if you love good coffee with ease then this could be the one for you.
The Jura S8 retails for $2,650 and the Smart Connect retails for $99.90