Jura Impressa J5 - One Hip Coffee Machine!

The latest bean to cup coffee machine from the Swiss company Jura has just arrived in our store and what a sleek looking coffee machine it is, a vision in White and Chrome.

Having brought out the C5 series to compete in the £500 - £600 price bracket, this machine appears to be attempting to fill the gap between the F90 (with its touch screen operation) and the top end Z5.

The machine is about 2 cm narrower than the Z5, however is the same depth. To accommodate this narrowing, the water tank has been reduced in size to decent 2.1 litres.

Machine operation is very simple, the fully automated cappuccino system found on the Z5 which I believe results in other buttons being made redundant has been abandoned in favour of making the coffee and milk separately. An auto-frothing device for the milk comes as standard as the traditional steam wand of earlier models is consigned to history. I'm not sure about this, but more about that later.

Let us get on with the important bit, making a cup of coffee!

The bean hopper is located as usual at the back of the machine, however a new device has now appeared entitled "Aroma protection". I hate to say it but as a coffee roaster I don't see how a plastic device with holes in it can stop flavour loss of coffee beans, maybe I missed something.

Ania felt that this device was impractical (there's a woman speaking!), and simply gets in the way without really doing anything (that's men for you!).

On the positive side the J5 has been fitted with a bean detector a feature from the Z5, which informs the user that they are low on beans.

If you choose to use pre-ground coffee, this hopper is located just in front of the grinder hopper. I say this because it took us a minute or two to find it. The manual isn't very clear, and because the lid is designed into the shape of the machine wasn't easy to spot. Once again Ania came to the rescue, it's probably Polish intuition!

The bit I do like is the programming of these machines. Jura have found a very simple system that allows a huge number of permutations. I have seen so many modern day coffee machines that need a manual to get you through the programming that in the end you give up. This is not the case with Jura. Once you understand the logic, and it is very logical you can change settings to your hearts content.

At last, the coffee. We chose to make an espresso and found that the water was running through the coffee very slowly. A simple adjustment to the grinder setting (a knob found on the top of the machine) soon saw the machine producing an excellent espresso.

I now move onto the milk. Now I'm sure this is a very British thing, and this is why I bemoan the loss of the traditional steam wand.

First of all I will say that creating steam is simple and straightforward and quick. Two button presses and you're ready.

The auto-frother is also very effective. This technology has come a long way in a very short time. By adjusting the settings on the auto-frother you can get either foam or steam milk (no bubbles).

The frothing bit I have no problems with and you get a terrific cappuccino, but the steamed milk for me is a problem. The problem is that the milk is drawn through the auto-frother so quickly that it barely has time to heat up the milk. Anyone with a smattering of Physics will know what I mean, the laws of thermodynamics.

The problem is that in the UK market, lattes are very popular a reflection of our appreciation of things American (I think that's a good thing!). Now a latte needs HOT! steamed milk, something the auto-frother is incapable of delivering no matter how much you fiddle around with it.

We were so concerned with this that we turned to the manual for help. Interestingly in the manual, they make no claim to delivering hot milk. They use the term "warm" milk. Very accurate, but why?

The simple solution surely is to supply an adaptor for the steam arm that allows you to steam milk to your hearts content. When you look in the neat little storage area on the top of the machine what do you find, an attachment for the steam arm that allows you to deliver more water! In the British market, we're all used to boiling a kettle for teas because we know of the limitations of a coffee machine (that's no disrespect to Jura, simply a fact in the UK market)

So please Jura, I know we're only an Island of 55 million people, but please can you put back our optional steam wand and get rid of the extending water spout, and we promise never complain again!

That's the only issue I have with this modern wonder of technology and I hope the message gets through to the boffins at Jura HQ.

Other than that we can't stop ourselves from stroking this machine everytime we go past, well the boys can't!