Are you new to the world of specialty coffee? Do you want a machine that can make specialty coffee drinks with the push of a button, without needing to learn how to be a barista?
If you want to know if the Jura A9 is a good coffee machine for people who live alone or are the only coffee drinker in their home, then read our detailed Jura A9 review.
While it is a strong machine, we do not believe it is great because it is only designed for a small portion of the specialty coffee market. If you fit the mold that the machine was designed for, you’re going to love it!
We will tell you about all the features of this model and what it cannot do, so that you can make a decision about whether or not to buy it.
Form Factor, Footprint and Aesthetic
At first glance, the Jura A9 Automatic coffee machine is unassuming. The design is simple and elegant. This text is saying that the thing has clean lines, so it is not ugly, but it is designed to not stand out.
The second thing you will notice is how small the phone is. This machine is on the larger end of the compact spectrum, measuring 9.4” x 17.5” x 12.7” and weighing 23 pounds.
Even if you don’t have a lot of counter space, you can still find a place for this unit. The speaker is saying that the item is not only easy to put in the desired location, but also easy to move if necessary.
Reservoir Size
We think this is a very important part of our Jura Impressa A9 review and it is very important to us. We love coffee and drink it all the time. In our book, having a large water tank is ideal.
The Jura A9 isn’t designed for us. We were looking for something more substantial than the back-mounted, top-loading water tank that only held 37 ounces.
We felt that Jura missed a real opportunity by not making the machine more compact with a significantly bigger reservoir.
Using Water Filters
The reservoir is designed to be able to use a water filter, but it is not necessary. The filter reduces the amount of descaling that needs to be done to the machine. Having said that, there are two big disadvantages.
First, there’s the matter of cost. If you use a water filter, it will cost you an extra $25 a month, which will add up over time.
Second, there are simply other ways to accomplish the same goal that don’t cost a lot of extra money. If you use distilled water or water from a filtered source in your home, you won’t have to spend money each month on water.
It is a personal preference in the end. This means that there is no one answer that is better than all the others when it comes to choosing a water filter.
The Boiler System
Although this wasn’t a deal breaker for us, it will be for a large part of the specialty coffee market.
This coffee machine has a single aluminum boiler, lined with stainless steel, which helps it function well. That’s not bad, and since it features Thermoblock technology.
The machine heats up quickly, so you don’t have to wait long for it to switch from steaming milk to making coffee. But that’s not what kills this feature for us.
The biggest problem is that you can’t control the temperature of the boiler. This coffee is not hot, and there is nothing you can do about it.
You can make your coffee less likely to be cold by pre-warming your cup with water in the microwave.
having to spend more than a thousand dollars on a fancy machine is a pretty big inconvenience for something that should be as simple as making a cup of coffee.
Not everyone will have an issue with the default temperature setting. This espresso maker’s temperature is hotter than most others. But it’s not going to be the right choice for everyone, and it’s something you should consider before deciding whether or not to buy it.
Telescoping Coffee Spigot
This feature has two telescoping coffee spouts that can be adjusted to fit cups up to 5.5” in height.
Some machines can accommodate taller cups, up to 6 inches, but this machine is still a good option.
Design – 3.5/5
The Jura A9 is a small device that packs a lot of technology. This machine is only 9.4 inches narrow, 12.7 inches high, and 17.5 inches deep, which makes it compact for a super-automatic espresso machine.
The front of the device is polished to a high sheen, while the sides are made of brushed aluminum. You pick up a refurbished model and you might find an A9 with glass sides.
Instead of using buttons, the Jura A9 uses a touchscreen placed in a curious location. The screen on the machine is located at the top and faces upwards, which may be difficult to see for shorter people.
In addition, in a time when touch screens are everywhere, this one is almost ridiculously unresponsive. The Jura E8 is more expensive than other models because it has hard buttons along the periphery of its TFT-LCD screen, rather than a touchscreen.
The home screen on this device allows users to “pin” four drinks for convenience. You can avoid having to search through many pages of options by doing this.
Brewing System – 4/5
This machine is small and can hold a lot. The bean hopper can hold 4.4 ounces of beans and the water reservoir can hold 37 ounces.
If you are only going to use the machine for one or two people, then it is not a problem. But, if you are going to buy the machine for an office or house full of coffee drinkers, you should expect to have to refill the bean and water tank a lot.
The spent grounds container can hold 9 servings of coffee, which means you’ll be emptying it often. Despite its small size, the A9 still has all the features that make it a Jura, including the characteristic innovation of the brand as well as the hardware of larger Jura units.
The Jura A9 is a machine that grinds beans into coffee and includes a built-in steel conical burr grinder. The grinder is Jura’s Aroma G3, which is the same as the one found in the excellent Jura E8. This high-quality grinder offers consistent, evenly-sized grounds and can be set to grind coffee beans to your desired fineness.
Ceramic grinders are not always necessarily better than steel ones as many people might think. The difference between the two types is not as big as people usually perceive it to be. Although steel grinders don’t last as long as other types of grinders, they’re still able to produce great results.
Once exposed to hot water, the coffee grounds soak up the water and expand, releasing the CO2 gas that was trapped inside the beans. This results in a more even and thorough extraction of the coffee’s flavor. This pre-infusion system does not simply produce hot water, it produces hot water of different qualities based on the amount of coffee you are brewing.
Coffee Quality And Versatility – 4/5
The A9 may not be able to be customized to the same extent as the Jura Giga 5 and Z6, but it is still a great brewer.
This machine can make all kinds of espresso based drinks like cappuccinos, lattes, and doppios. The machine is not only able to make coffee beverages, but also dispense hot water and frothed milk.
Users can program each beverage’s volume and strength setting. Interestingly, there is no temperature control in the programming – a feature found both in the higher end E8 and the cheaper ENA Micro 90.
The strength selector on the A9’s interface is frustrating. After you select your drink, you only have a few seconds to change the strength of your drink.
Other Jura models give you more time to make your selection by allowing you to select the strength of your beverage first.
In other words, once you’re familiar with the machine and its settings, you shouldn’t have any problems.
The A9 has a limited capacity for both the hopper and the reservoir, which also limits its capacity for brewing. The A9 can brew a maximum of 10 grams of coffee at one time.
The Jura A9 has a feature that allows you to brew two of the same coffee drink.
The new Jura coffee machine will grind and brew your selection twice, which is a marked improvement over Jura’s older models that simply doubled the amount of coffee and water used in one brew cycle.
A double shot portafilter usually holds 18-25 grams of coffee. The A9 comes with 2 10 gram portafilters, which is more than enough for most people.
With two espresso spouts, you can brew coffee for two people at the same time by just setting a cup under each spout. If you’re making milk-based drinks, you’ll have to make them one at a time, since the frothing only happens one cup at a time.
Cleaning And Maintenance – 4/5
Jura consistently produces machines with excellent automated cleaning and maintenance cycles. The A9 is very low maintenance and takes care of itself with automatic rinse cycles, cleaning cycles, and descaling that is based on your water hardness.
The Jura A9 has a plastic calendar that sits atop the filter in the water tank so you can keep track of when it needs to be replaced.
We expected the Jura A9 to have automatic alerts to remind the user to change the filter, but it does not.
We recommend that you disassemble and clean the milk frothing assembly regularly, even though it has an automatic rinse cycle.
Many users have said that they don’t get consistent results with their milk frothers if they don’t clean them thoroughly. This is an easy task that won’t take up too much of your time. Just be sure to take good care of your frother and you shouldn’t have any issues.
Value For Money – 4/5
The Jura A9 is a smaller, more compact version of a super automatic espresso machine that still offers most of the same features and functions. The Jura is less expensive than some of the other larger coffee machines, but the price difference is not as big as we would like it to be.
If the Jura A9 included all the features of the more expensive E8 model, it would be an incredible deal.
The A9 is not adjustable for milk froth, does not have alerts for filter changes, temperature control, and has a touch screen that is not up to par.
Even though it has these problems, the A9 is still a great machine. It would be an even better value proposition if some of these concerns were addressed.
A Few Words About Espresso
We need to before talking about the A9’s pump say a few words about how making espresso differs from making drip-brew coffee. If you are not already aware, you should skip to the next section. If you’re new to this world, read on!
You most likely enjoyed a cup of drip-brew coffee this morning. The coffee was moved from the grounds chamber to the pot below by gravity.
Espresso machines use pressure instead of gravity, and pressure is measured in bars. One bar is equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.
The A9 coffee machine has a pump that generates 15 bars of pressure, which is the minimum amount of pressure needed to make a great espresso.
If you turn your machine on, it will be able to make a great espresso shot each time.
Pros and Cons of the Jura Impressa A9
We liked many things about the Jura A9 Impressa, but there were also several things that we didn’t like.
We liked the simplicity and convenience of the product. You can now easily make a world-class specialty coffee drink and replicate the coffee shop experience at home.
There were some design decisions that we didn’t agree with. The biggest of these were:
The water tank and bean hopper on this coffee machine are much too small, there’s no way to adjust the brewing temperature, there are far too few grind settings, and you only have limited control over the quantity and quality of the milk froth.
Are these deal breakers?
Some people might think that this espresso machine is the best option, but you should carefully consider what you want from the machine before making your purchase.