Jura E8 Review

Quick Answer: I would strongly recommend the Jura E8. It’s one of the best super-automatic espresso machines out there and (unlike most Juras) represents excellent value for money.

I spent a (very caffeinated) morning making all of Jura’s available drinks to put together this Jura E8 review.

As well as talking about how well the Jura E8 makes coffee, I’ll also look into:

• Whether Jura’s notoriously expensive espresso machines are worth the money.

• Whether you’re best off going for the Jura E8 or another Jura model.

Let’s get started.

Should I Buy the Jura E8 (Quick Verdict)?

I would strongly recommend the Jura E8 to anyone who wants a really good all-around super-automatic espresso machine to make milk-based drinks with.

The Jura E8 makes excellent milk-based coffee drinks and can make all the well-known coffee shop favorites at the touch of a button.

The only time I would not recommend the Jura E8 is if you are going to primarily be using the machine to make plain espresso and Americano.

The Jura E8 makes very good espresso by super-automatic standards (and about average espresso by general standards) but is overkill if you are only going to use it for black coffee drinks.

If you want a super-automatic espresso machine for black espresso drinks only then I’d recommend the Jura E4.

The Jura E4 has the same espresso brewing system as the Jura E8 and can also make espresso at the touch of a button. 

While it cannot steam milk it’s typically less than half the price of the E8, making it a much better value purchase for black coffee drinkers.

Overview of Jura E8

The Jura E8 is a superautomatic espresso machine. 

This means that all you need to do to make espresso is fill the machine with beans and water and press a couple of buttons

The Jura E8 will grind the beans, dose out the coffee, and pull the shot for you.

The E8 also has milk-frothing functionalities. The machine can both froth milk to two different textures allowing you to make a full range of coffee shop specialties including cappuccino and macchiato.

The table below shows the specifications and features of the Jura E8:

The machine does not have an in-built milk container (although Jura makes a milk container which you can buy separately). 

Instead, the machine comes with a rubber tube that attaches to its milk system. Just put the other end of the tube in your own milk container (or straight into the milk carton).

Jura E8 Pros

Makes the best espresso and steamed milk of any super-automatic machine.

It offers a lot of drink options, and you can customize all these options to your heart’s content with just a few button presses.

It’s really good value for money, especially compared to other Jura machines

Jura E8 Cons

You need to attach a separate container of milk to the machine and there is no elegant solution for this.

Its “no need to descale” claim is kind of a scam.

Jura E8 Key Features

Here are the most important features of the Jura E8, as well as my thoughts on how they are executed.

User Interface

The Jura E8 is operated by a full-colored LCD screen controlled by buttons.

The LCD screen is really well laid out and intuitive to use.

It allows you to do the following:

• Select a drink that you want
• Customize that drink’s size, strength, and temperature
• Adjust the machine’s default settings for drink size, strength, and temperature
• Activate the machine’s self-cleaning and descaling modes

I particularly like how the Jura E8 remembers your favorite drink types and will push them further to the front of its menu.

The only thing I dislike about the machines’ UI is its buttons.

They are thin, plasticky, and just not that nice to press. They are also very flat and don’t have any give when you press them which makes making fine adjustments (say when you are adjusting the size of your drink) not that easy.

You can get the Jura S8, which is basically the Jura E8 but with a touchscreen, however, this is about $1,000 more expensive than the E8. 

Milk Steaming System

The Jura E8 can make really good steamed milk by super-automatic espresso machine standards, however, its milk-steaming system is a bit unwieldy.

The Jura E8’s milk-steaming system sits to the right of the machine.

You have to attach it to a jug of milk with a rubber tube. You do not get a milk container with the machine.

This is a very inelegant system. You need to have a separate glass of milk sitting next to the machine if you want to make milk-based drinks.

I also don’t like how it connects with a rubber tube. This means that when you remove the rubber tube from the milk container you will get milk dribbling on your counter.

The rubber tube itself is quite narrow and hard to clean the milk residue out of.

Although the Jura E8’s milk system is not the most elegant, it steams milk really well.

Its thicker milk foam can stand toe to toe with anything a barista can make with a steam wand, and while it can’t create thin microfoam quite as well, it still does this better than any super-automatic espresso machine.

Espresso Brewing (Pulse Extraction Process)

The Jura E8’s espresso brewing system allows it to make better-tasting espresso than any other super-automatic machine.

This is largely due to Jura’s patented “Pulse Extraction Process”.

This sends water through your ground coffee in short bursts, rather than in one smooth flow.

A big problem with super automatic espresso machines is that because they cannot tamp your coffee, your brewing water runs through your coffee bed too quickly during brewing.

This creates a sour, under-extracted shot.

Jura’s Pulse Extraction Process slows down brewing, allowing Jura machines to make a better-balanced espresso than other super automatics.

Bear in mind that all Jura espresso machines use a Pulse Extraction Process so the Jura E8 does not make significantly better espresso than cheaper Jura coffee machines (or significantly worse espresso than more expensive Juras).

Menu and Customisations

The table below shows the following drink presets that the Jura E8 allows you to make. Serving sizes are based on the machine’s default settings and can be customized:

In addition to this, the Jura E8 can also be programmed to dispense the following:

• Hot water 
• Plain foamed milk

When the machine is in expert mode you can adjust each coffee in the following ways:

• Coffee dose can be adjusted through the strength setting (eight settings per drink type)

• Temperature can be adjusted through the temperature setting (two settings per drink type)

• Coffee serving size can be adjusted by the milliliter (maximum and minimum vary by drink type)

• Milk serving size can be adjusted by the second of milk dispensing time (maximum and minimum may vary by drink type).

This gives you A LOT of control over how you make your coffee.

I think that the Jura E8 has a very good menu, although I think that it’s quite strange that they don’t offer a latte (a latte macchiato is very similar to a latte anyway)

More expensive Jura machines try to justify their price tag by including coffee types that super automatic espresso machines are not designed to do.

These include things like large pots of coffee, iced coffee, and cold brew.

The Jura E8 has all the coffee types that you’d want to make with a super-automatic, without any filler to inflate its price tag.

Claris Water Filter (No Descaling)

The Jura E8’s water tank takes Jura’s own Claris water filters.

Jura claims that if you use these water filters then you don’t need to descale the machine.

That would be great…except for the fact that Claris water filters are typically 14x the price of a descaling tab, and you need to change the filters as regularly as you would otherwise have to descale (every 3 months).

It’s far more cost-effective to just descale the machine, even if it takes a bit more effort.

You generally want to avoid using any espresso machine without a water filter, and since the Jura E8 is only compatible with the Clarys water filter, this does add to the machine’s overall operating cost.

Still…not having to descale is nice.

Grinder

The Jura E8 uses a burr grinder with 6 settings.

While this doesn’t seem like a lot of settings, bear in mind that because super-automatic machines cannot tamp your coffee, there is only a small range of grind sizes you can actually use with it.

Six grind settings are therefore more than enough for the machine and should allow it to brew well with lots of different types of beans.

The bean hopper lid is tinted to not let light in and seals to the hopper to not let smells out. 

This means you can leave your beans in the hopper without them degrading.

Smart Connect App Compatibility

You can buy Jura’s smart connect transmitter, plug it into the machine and operate the machine with your phone via Bluetooth.

I’d personally never use this feature. You still have to be present to attach your milk and put your cup in its drip tray, so I just don’t see the point of phone operation (especially when the machine’s UI is so good).

It’s not like you could actually use the machine remotely.

Now that we have gone through the Jura E8’s basic features, I am going to assess it across the following criteria:

• Quality of espresso
• Quality of milk-based drinks
• Functionalities 
• Ease of use and cleaning 
• Design and build quality 
• Value for money

Quality of Espresso

The Jura E8 can make better espresso than any super-automatic machine (save for other Jura machines which match it). Its espresso is still not as good as a high-quality portafilter-led espresso machine, however.

The Jura E8 makes better-tasting espresso than any non-Jura espresso machine thanks to its pulse extraction process.

Barista and coffee YouTuber James Hoffman confirmed this in his comparison of the best super-automatic espresso machines. You can see a video of him assessing the Jura Z10 (which uses the same espresso brewing system as the E8) below (watch from 11:50 – 14:35).

In my testing of the Jura E8, I found that the machine brews a single espresso in 19 seconds and with a 1:2.5 brewing ratio.

This is slightly fast and explains why the machines are a little bit bland compared to ones made from a high-quality portafilter-led espresso machine.

Still, you can’t get a better espresso machine from a super-automatic than you can with the Jura E8.

Quality of Espresso Rating: 8/10

Quality of Milk Based Drinks

The Jura E8 can make excellent milk-based drinks, especially if you like thicker milk foam.

The Jura E8 can steam milk better than any other superautomatic espresso machine (tied with other Jura machines).

This was also confirmed by James Hoffmann in his super-automatic espresso machine comparison,

I agree. I absolutely adore the machine’s cappuccinos.

The machine cannot make super silky microfoam, but in fairness, this is a struggle to get right even with a steam wand.

However, if you like thicker foam then you will absolutely love the Jura E8.

Quality of Milk-Based Drinks Rating: 9/10

Functionalities

The Jura E8 can do everything that you would ever want from a super-automatic espresso machine. I also like how it does not have too many extraneous functionalities that could overinflate its price tag.

The Jura E8 can make all the well-known specialty espresso drinks and allow you to customize every aspect of these drinks.

Maybe one functionality the machine could have is allowing you to save user profiles, however, since the machine autosaves your last customization of each menu item for next time I don’t think that this is a big miss.

I really like how the machine stays in its lane rather than having menu items that it is not designed to make.

“Upgrades” of the E8 like the Jura Z10 and the Jura GIGA 6 can make non-espresso drinks like filter coffee and iced coffee.

Super-automatic machines by their very nature cannot make these types of coffee well.

Jura has added them to the machine purely to justify larger and larger price tags.

In my opinion, the Jura E8 has the perfect amount of functionalities to give you everything you want without inflating its price tag.

Functionalities Rating: 10/10

Ease of Use and Cleaning

The Jura E8 is easy to use once you get used to it. Its menu would really benefit if it named each menu item. It’s very easy to keep clean and in working order.

Getting Started

The E8 is really easy to get started from out of the box. 

I was able to go from unboxing the machine to being able to make a coffee with it in about ten minutes.

The only area where I had a slight challenge getting the machine started was plugging it in. 

The machine’s plug socket is at the very bottom of the back of the machine. You cannot see its socket unless you crouch down so your eye line is level with the bottom of the machine (see images below).

Unfortunately, the machine’s instruction manual does not make it clear where this socket is and it took me about a minute to find it.

Other than that, setting up the machine was really easy. All you have to do is attach its water tank, do a water hardness test (a testing strip comes with the machine), and then run a water cycle through the machine to flush out its lines.

Once you have done that, you are ready to make your first coffee.

Ease of Making Coffees

You make a coffee with the Jura E8 by selecting one of the coffees on your LCD screen.

As soon as you have selected your coffee, the machine will start grinding your beans and getting your brew ready.

While the beans are grinding and the coffee is brewing, you can then select your grind strength, brew temperature, and coffee and milk serving sizes.

I have two small issues with the way that this works. They are:

Menu Options Are Badly Signposted

Firstly, the coffee types that you select are only represented by images. It’s not that obvious what each image represents, so until you’ve learned which coffee is which, it’s not that easy to know what coffee you are selecting.

The machine only tells you the name of the coffee that you have chosen once it starts brewing. You cannot just go back and change it quickly. 

I had to learn which coffee is which by their order on the menu before I was confident in making the right selection. The machine is not very beginner friendly in this regard.

The Machine Does Not Give You Enough Time To Make Your Customisations

Since the Jura E8 only gives you options for coffee customizations while it is brewing, you do not have much time to make these selections.

This might make the machine hard to use by beginners who are not expecting to make a rushed decision, and by people with limited mobility in their hands.

These are very small issues. Once you get used to what each menu item means, and the machine’s workflow then it’s really quick and easy to make a coffee with.

Changing the Jura E8’s Default Settings (“Expert Mode”)

The Jura E8 has a mode called “expert mode” which allows you to adjust the default customizations for each coffee.

This is a nice touch, however, there are cheaper superautomatic machines that allow you to have multiple profiles, each with its own default coffee presents.

This would be a nice addition to the Jura E8, especially if it were being used by a large family or office.

Ease of Cleaning 

The basic cleaning and maintenance of the Jura E8 are super easy, with almost all of it being automated. I do think that the “no descaling” gimmick is a bit of a money-making wheeze, however.

Messiness of the Machine

The machine does not make much of a mess when you use it.

All ground coffee is kept inside the machine and is dumped in an internal container. This container comes out with the drip tray when you detach it from the bottom of the machine.

The drip tray is quite shallow, although it has a big lip meaning that you can easily carry it to your sink without much chance of spilling liquid from it.

I make on average one coffee a day from my Jura E8 and have to empty the drip tray about three times a month.

The only part of the Jura E8 that can make a mess is the rubber tube that connects your milk container to the machine. This can dribble a bit when you remove it from its milk container.

The E8 cleans out the inside of this tube during its rinse cycles.

Internal Cleaning of the Machine

The machine has a couple of automated cleaning modes that are available at the press of a button.

The first of these is a very basic clean that will just flush out the milk, coffee, and hot water lines with water. You should do this after every coffee that you make.

The second of these is a deeper clean which will flush out all the pipes in the machine for twenty minutes with a cleaning solution. The machine comes with two tablets that you dissolve in water in the machine’s water tank to create this cleaning solution.

You should do this deeper clean about once every three months.

Descaling

The Jura E8 uses Claris filters. If you use these filters then the machines do not need to be descaled.

As great as this sounds, this system essentially swaps out the faff of descaling for a bit of an additional financial cost to you. 

The Claris filters cost $25 each and need to be changed every 2-3 months. 

This is more expensive than the descaling solution, which typically costs $2 per descaling tablet (descaling should also happen every 2-3 months).

Is it worth spending an extra $100 per year to avoid having to descale your machine?

Ease of Use and Cleaning Rating: 8/10

Design and Build Quality

The Jura E8 is reliably built and rarely succumbs to technical issues. I do not like how you cannot remove the machine’s brew group and open up its grinder however as this can make advanced troubleshooting unnecessarily difficult.

Quality of Grinder

The Jura E8 uses a stainless steel conical burr grinder.

This is a decent quality grinder, but the best quality grinders are made out of ceramic rather than stainless steel. Stainless steel grinders get very hot when grinding and this heat can burn away some of the desirable flavor compounds in the coffee beans

The espresso that the Jura E8 makes gets better as the grinder settings get finer. 

This makes me think that the machine might be able to make even better espresso if its grinder could grind more finely than its finest setting.

Control Panel

The Jura E8 has an LCD screen with plastic buttons on either side of it to control it.

The buttons work perfectly well but are very cheap looking and feeling. They do not illuminate and when you first use the machine it is not at all obvious that they are buttons.

There is no give when you press them, meaning that it is hard to feel when you have actually pressed the button or when you have merely touched it.

Internal Build Quality

The Jura E8’s internal build quality is high, with the machine rarely succumbing to technical problems.

The machine works quickly and quietly and can make many coffees in a row. This is a further testament to its high internal build quality.

Ease of Troubleshooting the Jura E8

With superautomatic espresso machines, most technical difficulties arise because the machine’s group head is blocked or requires lubrication.

With some super-automatic espresso machines (the Philips range for example) you can easily open up the side of the machine and remove the group head to clean and lubricate it.

The Jura E8 cannot be opened up to allow you to do this.

This means that if there were an issue caused by a blocked or stiff group head, you would likely have to get a technician in to sort it for you.

I have not had such a problem, and there are not many reports of people having this problem with the Jura E8 online. 

However it is a common issue among superautomatic machines, so almost certainly arises at least occasionally with the E8.

It’s annoying to be left helpless if this problem arises.

Design and Build Quality Rating: 8/10

Value for Money

The Jura E8 is excellent value for money despite its large price tag.

Even though the Jura E8 typically costs over $2,200, I still think that it’s excellent value for money.

Jura is the only super-automatic espresso machine brand that can create drinks that come close to a high-quality portafilter-driven espresso machine.

The Jura E8 is, in my opinion, the best value-for-money Jura machine for people who drink milk-based drinks.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the E8 creates the full range of espresso drinks but doesn’t try to make non-espresso drinks (unlike more expensive Jura machines).

This means that its price tag is not inflated by features that it does not execute well.

Value for Money Rating: 9/10

Product Alternatives: Jura E4, Jura ENA 8, and Jura S8

I’d recommend the Jura E4 over Jura E8 if you are only going to use the machine to make black espresso drinks. 

I often see people ask online if they should get the Jura E8 or Jura S8, so I’m going to give my thoughts on how these two similar Jura coffee machines compare as well.

Jura E4 – Best for Black Espresso Drinkers

The Jura E4 allows you to make excellent espresso with one button touch and costs about half as much as the Jura E8.

The Jura E4 is a much more stripped-back machine than the E8.

It doesn’t have a milk frother or an LCD screen. Instead, it can only brew single and double espresso and has three strength settings which can be selected using buttons on the front of the machine (where the screen would be on the Jura E8.

The Jura E4 has the same espresso brewing mechanism as the Jura E8, including the Pulse Extraction Process.

This means that it creates better-tasting espresso than any non-Jura super-automatic machine.

The Jura E4 is about half the price of the E8 and is the cheapest currently available Jura machine (excluding refurbished machines).

This makes it an excellent choice for people who just want a machine to make espresso and Americano.

Jura S8 (Should I Buy the Jura E8 or S8?)

The Jura S8 is basically just the Jura E8 with a touchscreen…oh and with an extra $1,000 added to its price tag.

Don’t get me wrong, the Jura S8’s touch screen is excellent quality and makes the machine nicer to use than the E8 with its cheap, plasticky buttons.

But I don’t think the Jura S8 is $1,000 better than the Jura E8. I don’t even think it’s close to it.

The Jura E8’s user interface is still really good. Jura has fixed a problem that they never really had by upgrading the E8 to the S8.

You can find out more about my thoughts on these two machines in my comparison of the Jura E8 vs S8.

Final Thoughts

I’d strongly recommend the Jura E8. 

It’s an excellent espresso machine, plain and simple.

Sure, it’s expensive, but it justifies its price tag and far outperforms most similarly priced machines.

You can find out more about how the Jura E8 stacks up against other Jura machines in my roundup of the best Jura machines.