Automatic machines · review
The best espresso an automatic machine makes, from a company that will not let you clean the part that brews it. Extraordinary in the cup, uncomfortable as a ten-year purchase — and you should know both before spending this much.
Where we land on it The finest cup in the category, bought at the cost of ever opening the machine.
There is a version of this review that simply says the E8 makes the best coffee any automatic machine makes, and stops. In the cup that is close to true, particularly for anything short and black. Pulse Extraction — water delivered in pulses rather than one continuous push — lengthens the time water spends in the puck without lengthening the drink, and on a ristretto the difference in body is not subtle. Add a genuinely stable brew temperature and a grinder well above the mass-market standard, and you get espresso that other automatics do not reach.
The rest of the review is about the brew unit, and it matters more than the coffee.
JURA seals it. You cannot take it out, rinse it, or look at it. Cleaning happens by pushing a tablet through the machine, and for several years that is entirely adequate. What it is not is inspectable. When a De’Longhi starts extracting oddly, you pull the unit out and find the answer in ten seconds. When a JURA does, you book a service. On a $400 machine that is an annoyance; on this one it is a recurring risk against a much larger sum.
The consumables follow the same logic. The machine is built around JURA’s own filters and tablets and will nag you towards them indefinitely. That is a real running cost, and it belongs in the purchase decision rather than being discovered afterwards.
So: buy it if you drink short black coffee every day, if the cup is what you are paying for, and if a workshop bill in year seven is an acceptable outcome. If what you actually make is three flat whites a morning, the Philips 5500 gets you most of the way for half the money and lets you clean the part that matters.
On the /go link for this one: we have verified ASINs on Amazon US and UK only. On the German, French, Italian and Spanish stores this model is listed inconsistently across variants, so rather than send you to a dead product page we send you to a search on your own store. It is a worse link and an honest one.
| Extraction | P.E.P. pulse extraction |
|---|---|
| Burr type | Professional conical |
| Brew unit | Sealed — not removable |
| Drinks | 17 |
| Water tank | 1.9 L |
| Milk | Fine-foam frother, tube-fed |
It is real and it is narrow. Instead of one continuous push, the pump delivers water in pulses, which lengthens contact time without lengthening the shot. On a ristretto or a short espresso that measurably improves body. On a lungo or anything with milk in it, you will not find the difference.
Because coffee oils accumulate in the group whether you can reach it or not. A removable unit is rinsed under the faucet in ten seconds. A sealed one is cleaned by pushing a tablet through it, which works well for years and then does not — and at that point the repair is a workshop job costing a meaningful fraction of the machine.
The machine is designed around them and will keep telling you so. Third-party equivalents exist and generally work, but you are arguing with the appliance every time. Budget for the genuine consumables, because they are part of the real price.
7.6/ 10
The finest cup in the category, bought at the cost of ever opening the machine.
A reference exists on these Amazon stores: United Kingdom, United States. Listed is not the same as in stock — availability changes daily.
Details checked on October 30, 2026.
Someone who drinks short black coffee daily, values the cup over the repair bill, and will pay for it.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for coffee equipment and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
13-step steel burr · manual or LatteCrema wand
The machine most people should start with. The grinder is ordinary and the coffee is good rather than great — but the brew unit pops out in two seconds, and that single design decision is why these are still running after eight years.
Best for: Someone moving off capsules who wants fresh coffee without a hobby attached.
12-step ceramic burr · 20 drinks · 2-part milk system
LatteGo is the only automatic milk system we do not resent cleaning: two parts, no tubes, both dishwasher-safe. Combined with ceramic burrs that will outlast the machine, it makes this the sensible middle of the super-automatic market.
Best for: A household where two or three people each drink something different, with milk.
Fully automatic, 20 preset drinks, 3 brewing technologies, LatteCrema hot and cool, cold brew under 3 min
Twenty preset hot and iced drinks from three brewing technologies, with dishwasher-safe milk carafes and cold brew in under three minutes.
Best for: A household that wants twenty drinks at the press of a button and never wants to handle ground coffee
≈ $800
