Jura-Capresso 13548 Impressa J6 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Piano Black

Due to the high price I checked many reviews on many sites and most brands had specific problems or limitations. The Jura was consistently rated highly with few problems. When spending $1500+ I didn't want a machine that was going to break down after a few months. I have now had this machine for about 6 months and have had no problems except a minor one explained below.

First the good

Very easy set up. I was up and going in about 30 minutes after opening the box and making sure all the parts and pieces were included.

The machine is pretty idiot proof. It tells you when to add water, when to add coffee beans, when to run the cleaning cycle, when to decalcify, and when to dispose the used grounds. The burr grinder is fairly quiet and has run without clogging. You do have to be careful not to use beans that are too oily but if they are all you have to do is let them sit for about 5 hours before using. The water capacity is very adequate at 70 oz. The bean hopper holds about 1/4 lb of beans so you don't have to keep adding. There is no way to empty beans to add a different type, however there is a place for ground beans if someone want a different type. I like that you can change the height of the two nozzles for different height mugs and being able to separate the nozzles for brewing two cups at the same time. Cleaning is a snap. Just slide out the empty grounds tray, rinse and replace.

I like that you customize each button on the face of the machine (see below) and you can easily override how much coffee or water you use for a single use without losing the programmed amount.

Finally customer service, something important for such an expensive machine. When I registered the machine on line (and you have to do this in 2 weeks to get the warranty) I mistyped the serial number. The next day I got an email informing me of my error. Nice. Also, my mother got one of these for my father and one of the nozzles was not working properly. He called them up and they told him what to do. The nozzle was blocked and just needed to be wiped clean. My parents have well water that they bi-pass to some of their faucets. The machine comes with one water test strip to test for water hardness. When he called he asked them to send a few more and they did. Not that big a deal for them, but they did it.

Next the okay

The six buttons on the face of the machine for water, steam, 1 or 2 cups of espresso and 1 or 2 cups of coffee, are very easy. Not so easy is using the buttons on the top of the machine. These buttons work like folders on a computer and it is easy to forget where you are. These buttons are used to "customize" what comes out (heat, strength, amount per cup, language, auto on and off).

Every time you turn the machine on you need to rinse the nozzles (push a button and it runs about 1 oz of hot water through the nozzles), this is okay but you have to do it even if you just used hot water the last time. The full cleaning cycle is based on the number of rinses so if you use the machine for hot water you will end up using the cleaning cycle more than necessary. The machine also automatically rinses when it goes into sleep mode so I put a shot glass under the nozzles after use. Not a big deal, if I forget the water goes into a collection tray.

Finally the bad

There are two ways to make steam and froth. Without going into details, one of these is an attachment that doesn't stay on very well due to the high pressure of the steam. When it comes off steam sprays all over until you push the steam button again. This happened to me a few times and while it did not burn me, it is quite a surprise. I just do it the other way

Overall a positive experience and I would recommend to family and friend.

Update on April 10th, 2012.

Unit still works well and customer support is excellent. I recently had a problem with the decalcify procedure. Emailed customer support on a Saturday and received a return email on Monday to call customer support. Called and the representative walked me through the fix (I was using too much water, you have to use the amount specified in the instructions). My father had a minor problem last week and when he called he had a solution in a matter or minutes.

This machine replaced a Spidem Divina. Although the Divina made good coffee, it was very temperamental and required numerous calls for on the phone repair. Finally, we just gave up. The Jura was twice the price and well worth it. We have not had one problem and love the coffee. I whole heartedly recommend this machine, you won't be sorry. We purchased from a brick and mortar Sur La Table store. They said if there is ever any problem, just return and they would replace if they were unable to diagnose the problem. But, as I said, not one issue.

Buy Jura-Capresso 13548 Impressa J6 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Piano Black Now

We have gone through 3 grind-and-brew style coffee makers in the last 3 years. They all stopped functioning or started leaking.

Extensive research and $400 off the sticker price led me to the Jura Impressa J6.

Less than ten minutes out of the box, we were enjoying the finest cup of coffee produced in our house. In the two weeks since that first cup, we are marveling at how spectacularly better a cup of coffee is when properly brewed.

I had always thought if you kept your beans vacuum sealed up to the point of grinding, you were going to get the best cup of joe possible. Well, you can banish that thought forever. The J6 grinds the beans then tamps them right before brewing, and the flavor extraction is far beyond that of mortal brewers.

Two design features make this the perfect purchase. 1] You can fill both the water tank and the bean receptacle without having to move the machine from under the cabinets! All the other brewers were top-loaders. I had to pull the them out from under the cabinet, eyeball the water level, then push them back under the cabinet. The J6 has a detachable water tank on the side that lifts about a half-inch and easily separates from the main body. Once filled, the tank's clever disappearing handle makes it a snap to replace. A full tank lasts two or three days for us. 2] The start/stop and program buttons are super-simple to use. One session with the owners manual and you will be customizing your coffee, latte and cappuccino's to perfection.

Obviously I cannot address reliability issues. We have a whole-house water treatment system, and specific drinking water spigots at our kitchen sinks. I'm hoping these will contribute to the J6's longevity. If it lasts five years, it will have cost me about the same as annually buying the most expensive Grind N Brew unit.

Read Best Reviews of Jura-Capresso 13548 Impressa J6 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Piano Black Here

I've had this machine for about a week, and bought it at my local Sur le Table store. This was my first automatic machine and I am still totally freaked out at how expensive they are. That being said, the machine makes amazing coffee. It's also really cool to make tea and hot soup with the hot water feature. The machine works well overall (knock on wood) and I expect to keep getting amazing coffee for years to come.

UPDATE:

I've now had the machine for two years and it is still going strong. Be sure to use the cleaning tablets regularly. I also have been using the filter (buying more at Sur Le Table and sometimes on Amazon). No issues, works great. Except for the fact I put the wand in the garbage disposal once, oops...

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I am only writing this "review" to help those that are new to the at-home espresso arena. I recently purchased an automatic espresso machine and I didn't realize how many accessories that I'd need and it took me an extra couple weeks to realize what I needed , what was out there, and to get it ordered. I thought I'd offer these tips to those in the market for an automatic machine in hope that you can have everything you need when the machine arrives. In hopes to help as many others as possible if you can click that this review "was helpful" at the bottom before getting lost in the links that would be great so others can benefit too. Thanks!

In order of importance...

Milk Froth Pitcher my first week I spent rummaging through the cabinets trying to come up with something deep enough to keep the milk from overflowing but small enough to fit under the steam wand. This might be the only thing that will work. Again, most highly reviewed and has worked perfectly for me.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MR6I9I/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000MR6I9I&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

Milk Thermometer you really will have no idea when to stop frothing the milk without one of these. You will most likely make it too hot or too cold. Trust me... get a thermometer. This one has very high reviews and works great.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016C4SWW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0016C4SWW&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

Espresso Cups a normal cup will not fit underneath most espresso dispensers. You can't use a standard shot glass because it overflows. These 2 oz cups are the highest reviewed on amazon and they are very pleasant to hold.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041EIFUI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0041EIFUI&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

Espresso Spoons a regular teaspoon works okay but only if you aren't using small espresso cups. If you are planning on using the small 2oz cups then definitely buy these spoons to stir it as a regular spoon won't fit. Again, there are a lot out there but these are highly rated and are high quality stainless steel.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECQQX8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001ECQQX8&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

Espresso Knock/Stein this is the tub that you pound the espresso bean holder from the machine into to get the used grinds out. This item is less necessary if you have your garbage in a place you can easily bang on. However, this gadget does prevent a mess which will happen if you use the garbage can method. Also, if your espresso machine is fully automatic and disposes of the grinds internally then you won't need it either.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016J7YQM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0016J7YQM&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

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