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Comment on Sell Capresso 7520-2PK CLARIS Water Care Cartridge, 2 Pack (fits models C1000 C3000 F9 S7 S8 S9) Price Drop by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:18:12 +0000

Don't buy for refurbished machine, July 20, 2011

C. Schwiderski (Washington State) -

This review is from: Capresso 7520-2PK CLARIS Water Care Cartridge, 2 Pack (fits models C1000 C3000 F9 S7 S8 S9) (Kitchen)

If you purchase a refurbished machine, check with Jura Capresso before buying water filters. If the water tank is replaced when the machine is refurbished, which ours was, this will probably not fit. Our refurbished F9 uses a 67879 filter.

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Comment on Promotion Jura-Capresso ENA5 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Coffee Cherry Red Price Drop by rnddude

rnddude — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:23:04 +0000

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Read before you buy..., July 27, 2010

rnddude -

This review is from: Jura-Capresso ENA5 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Centers (Kitchen)

This machine is at the bottom of the price range for Jura Superautomatics, and as such there are some compromises compared to their $3000+ machines, as you would expect. This is my second Super Automatic machine, the first, a Gagggia Titanium failed after 6 weeks, hence the Jura. I have owned the Jura for about 6 months, it gets multiple daily use, and has been a great machine.

The minusus: smallish bean hopper and water reservoir, requiring more constant filling. The instruction manual could be improved, needs a good index so that you know where to look for specifics instead of having to scroll thru all of the pages.

The plusses: the rotary dial system, once you learn it, it is great! You can pre-program your usual coffee settings (size, strength, temp) but can override the coffee cup size while brewing (very nice).
Smaller overall size, a definate plus for me. Water reservoir is easy to remove and replace. Machine has LOTS of feedback on the lcd screen....such as: water low, beans low, empty grounds container, tray not fully inserted, time to clean, time to descale, etc.

On Caveat....you must be rigorous about cleaning the steam wand EVERY time you use it to prevent dried, caked milk from causing the wand to blow off as experienced by several reviewers. Keep it clean and there is no problem here. Also, get some coffee cleaning wipes and learn how to remove the tray and get your hand up inside and clean the bottom of the ground press part of the brewunit about once a week. This was told to me by a Jura technician, and indeed you do get a lot of grounds debris out of this area.

The most important thing of all: this machine makes coffee as good as my daughters top of the line Jura, which is to say...excellent!

I give this machine 4 stars, not 5, not because I find any faults, but the fifth star for me requires it to be working as well, without problems, for several years, and that remains to be seen.

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Comment on Promotion Jura-Capresso ENA5 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Coffee Cherry Red Price Drop by Chris P

Chris P — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:09:30 +0000

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

Very Good Machine, April 8, 2010

Chris P (Des Plaines, IL) -

This review is from: Jura-Capresso ENA5 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Ristretto Black (Kitchen)

Have had the machine for about 3 weeks now and so far the machine is doing great. Got it refurbished for $599 through JL Hufford (recommended company). To get a $1200 machine (brand new) for $600 (pre-brewed) is a great deal and can't even tell it is previously used.

Very good machine and has several of the bells and whistles that more expensive machines have. Jura Capresso is a very reliable brand and I am very happy with the performance of the machine. Some areas for improvement, but they are very tolerable in the overall scheme of things. Sorry for the long review but wanted to make it as helpful as possible. It took me a lot of research to finally land on this machine.

What I like:
- Easy to use.
- Makes great pressure brewed coffee and good espresso. Espresso won't be as good as a manual machine but still quite good if you use the right settings and quality beans. This is the same for all super automatics.
- Has some basic programmability to remember default settings for 1 cup.
- Several ways to customize drinks (water output, grinder fineness, amount of coffee for strong, normal or mild).
- FrothXpress system is good if making multiple drinks and looks nicer as the default wand on the machine. Although, I prefer the Dual Frother Plus (traditional wand) for making one cup (more control over temp, froth, etc). TIP: make sure to rinse out the Dual Frother Plus and the FrothXpress after EVERY use. Otherwise, milk will cake up and can cause a steam explosion. Poor reviews based on this from others is user error, not the machine.
- Auto self rinsing cycle (when turned on and off) and easy to read indicators for filling water, emptying grounds, fill beans, cleaning, etc.
- Relatively quiet operation
- 1 or 2 spout dispenser
- Bypass doser
- Tall cup height
- Custom Auto off timer (1 hour, 2 hour, etc) to save energy. Zero energy pull when off.
- Slim and nice design, quality construction. But still as deep as other machines.

Areas for improvement (tolerable drawbacks):
- The temperature of drinks is somewhat inconsistent. Second drink always seems hotter, even after doing the right warm up steps. TIP: Make sure to pre warm the cups with hot water dispenser, this helps a lot.
- FrothXpress system does not heat the milk quite as good as the normal wand. TIP: If using the FrothXpress, you can do the steam only feature afterwards to heat the frothed/steamed milk a little more.
- No cup warmer. Need to use hot water dispenser. Using the hot water will actually make the cups hotter than a warming tray anyway, but it's just an extra step.
- Need to adjust cup size during processing and can't before brewing (if different than the programmed amount).
- Small water tank (37 oz). Even for a 2 person home and a few shots per day, you will refill often. Not a big deal really. But heavy users may want to take note.
- No Auto On feature for the mornings, no clock and no usage stats. Auto on would be great, but only takes a minute to warm up.
- Water filters are expensive ($20, recommended every 2 months). I'd only use if you have hard water or you absolutely feel the need to have filtered water or you don't ever want to descale. Cheaper to descale every few months. Although, with the filter you never have to descale (supposedly).
- I wish the steam wand had more range of motion.

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Comment on More Discount De’Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker In Stock by OhioGardener

OhioGardener — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:38:38 +0000

320 of 321 people found the following review helpful:

Process of elimination, January 1, 2008

OhioGardener (Ohio) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)

First, a couple of disclaimers:
1. This is the first pump-driven espresso machine that we have owned.

2. We generally drink cafe Americano, which is an espresso with a little added hot water (or cold water with an iced Americano). We make an occasional cappuccino and have thus used the steam wand, but not extensively.

After doing a cost/benefit analysis in regards to our current cafe Americano habit (~10 per week), we realized that there would be some justification to buying a home unit. We first considered the Breville ESP8XL Cafe Roma Stainless Espresso Maker, but reviewers consistently lamented the unit's tendency to clog the filter, necessitating time-consuming cleaning. Also, not being completely sure that we would actually use the espresso maker, we balked at the $250 price tag.

We also considered moving up to one of the superautomatico machines that grind, tamp, brew and dispose of the grinds, but we worried about the reliability of technology that had only recently hit the consumer-grade appliances. After reading zillions of reviews, we realized that every mid-priced machine had some glaring flaw and, in the end, we decided to buy an inexpensive pump-driven unit and wait for the technology to catch up before investing a huge chunk of change in an espresso machine. Moving our investigation to low-end espresso makers, we were impressed by the reviews of the DeLonghi EC155 and purchased it from Amazon.

I put off writing a review in order to make sure that the DeLonghi was going to last until we had at least broken even on it. We received it in mid-July and since then it has produced about 200 double shots flawlessly. By my reckoning, that's about $400 worth of Americanos at the local cafe. Even considering the price of the coffee, we have more than broken even. So, here's our pros and cons:

PROs
- Price--we paid $91.28.
- Crema Production--this unit consistently produces a thick layer of delicious crema.
- Powerful Stream Wand--Easily froths milk.
- Mechanicals--After six months of nearly daily use this mighty-mite works as well as it did the day it arrived.
- Easy Cleanup--Filter cleans easily.

CONs
- Ergonomics--As other reviewers have noted, there could be a little more room between the area where the cup sits and the output nozzle. Also the steam wand could be longer.
- Features--No cup warmer. Not a big deal to us, especially considering the price of the EC155, but it will put off some buyers.

SOME THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED
- Using a coffee especially made for espresso, such as Lavazza, produces a much better espresso. Lavazza has the added benefit of allowing you to go for hours without blinking.
- Preheating the unit for 15 minutes and warming the cups in the microwave improves the results and experience.

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Comment on More Discount De’Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker In Stock by Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:37:41 +0000

717 of 722 people found the following review helpful:

Great espresso, incredible price!, April 23, 2007

Jennifer Smith (Santa Barbara, CA United States) -

This review is from: De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)

I love espresso, and this little baby makes a great cup. Here are a few points that might be useful for you to know:

Good points:
*It doesn't take up too much room on the counter and looks nice with it's silver metal accents.
*The water reservoir is a good size, you can make about 8-10 shots before you need to refill it, which is very easy to do, and there is a clear section behind the basket which shows the water level.
*Fast heat-up time (only about a minute), good frothing wand, no wait time between frothing and brewing (though you do have to wait a little between brewing and frothing).

Be warned:
*Frothing wand is only 3 1/4 inches from the counter top. Not a big deal, I just went and bought a frothing cup that is about that height.
*Distance from grounds basket to tray is only 2 1/2 inches, I usually use a small espresso cup.
*Built-in tamper sucks, buy a good metal one.
*You don't end up with a nice dry puck, the grounds basket is a watery soup after your espresso is made, so I dump it down the disposal.
*You will end up drinking more espresso than you mean to, it's that good!

Seriously, I chose this machine after a lot of online researching, and decided on this one based on its outstanding reviews and great price. What led me to it were the reviews of another DeLonghi, the EC140B, which is an older and less attractive model, but had reviews from people who had owned theirs for 6 and 10 years! I'm hoping that this one will have the same longevity.

-----> UPDATE: I've now had this machine for 8 months and it started running very slow. I'd been using only distilled water, so I knew it wasn't a calcification issue, so I looked into it and it turns out machines like this one (no backflushing) need to be cleaned every month or so to remove built up grounds that work their way inside the machine. So I ran some cleaner through it and all this nasty brownish liquid came out, and now it runs great again! So remember people, take good care of your things and they will take good care of you. A lesson I am still learning...
- and to answer a question commented on this review, my tamper is 2 inches in diameter.

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Comment on Low Price Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker Online by Happy Catholic Mom "HCM"

Happy Catholic Mom "HCM" — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:32:15 +0000

321 of 333 people found the following review helpful:

So very much to love about this coffee maker, August 3, 2004

Happy Catholic Mom "HCM" (Friendswood, TX) -

This review is from: Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker (Kitchen)

We purchased this machine last month, after much research, to replace a 6 year-old Cuisinart basic model. We were looking for a well-made thermal carafe machine at a reasonable price. We found it!

We can't find enough good things to say about it! Of course it is very stylish looking and it fits nicely on our counter under our standard size cabinets. Yes, you have to move it out to fill the water chamber and basket, but big deal! I can do that!

It is extermely easy to program with just enough controls to make sense.

It makes good hot coffee that stays nice and hot for a good while. While it may not keep it scorching hot like a model with a hot plate, which also continues to cook and burn your coffee, it is definitely hot enough! We made some coffee one morning and didn't finish it. We purposely left it in the pot while we were gone and upon returning home at 5 pm, the coffee was still amazingly warm. It was not hot enough to want to drink it, but we were amazed at the heat it had retained.

We think this model is extermely easy to clean and doesn't have lots of parts that look as though they might break. Not only does the basket where you place your filter and grounds come out, but so does the container which holds the basket. It lifts up and you can rinse it out. The slots that hold this container also have holes in the bottom so junk doesn't collect. The lid on the carafe works easily and the secondary lid is nice too.

We also think this machine makes the coffee extremely quickly!

We have seen absolutely no leakage problems or overflow troubles. And for sure this model can use the standard #4 cone filters. I called the maker before purchasing it to make sure. It sticks up a hair over the edge of the basket, but it has made no difference and has caused no problems.

Overall, this is a great buy so far! We went back and forth on which model to buy and finally decided on this one. We love it!

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Comment on Low Price Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker Online by Timothy B. Duggan "tbduggan"

Timothy B. Duggan "tbduggan" — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:37:15 +0000

300 of 310 people found the following review helpful:

Quality Control Problems, March 1, 2005

Timothy B. Duggan "tbduggan" (Concord, MA USA) -

This review is from: Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker (Kitchen)

I really wanted this machine to work - nice design, good features, good price.

The first one I got had the little carafe cap broken. Not a big deal, I emailed the company and they promised to send me another one. About a week later, the unit simply stopped brewing. I called the support line for troubleshooting and they told me to send the unit back for replacement.

I sent it back and Amazon shipped another one out promptly. Everything was fine the first day, but when I picked up the carafe the next day, the bottom came right off in my hand exposing the innards of the seal mechanism for the thermos. The spot welds all along the rim hadn't taken and the carafe literally came apart in my hands.

Again I called the company asking if this was normal. Again they told me to return it and "give them one more chance". So I tried to - like I say, I really wanted this machine to work.

Unfortunately the response I got from Amazon was:

"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread
than we originally thought, we are not able to send another
replacement."

Probably just as well, after going through 2 units in under 2 weeks, the chances of the third one lasting anywhere near as long as I'd want it to are about nil.

So you can roll the dice and perhaps get yourself a good one - I did it twice and unfortunately got 2 lemons in a row.

Buyer beware.

(I never did get the replacement cap from the first one. When I called about that, the rep I spoke to told me that they get so many calls that it's impossible for them to follow up on each one to make sure it was resolved. I can see why they're overwhelmed with support calls and it's even more disturbing that customer service lets things slip through the cracks like this...)

(about a month later)
I replaced this with a Braun KF600... the choice is obvious having had both machines: the Braun is simply a better designed and better constructed machine for about the same price. Save yourself the hassle and buy it instead. It takes up less counter space, has a gold cone filter instead of the ill-fitting #4 paper filters, there's no twist cap on the carafe to fight with...
To be fair, it doesn't have a timer. Not a big deal for me.

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Comment on Low Price Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker Online by Doug Cadmus "Coffee Aficionado"

Doug Cadmus "Coffee Aficionado" — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:10:26 +0000

979 of 1,004 people found the following review helpful:

Among the best auto-drip brewers. See tips, below..., April 30, 2005

Doug Cadmus "Coffee Aficionado" (Waterbury, Vermont) -

This review is from: Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker (Kitchen)

I've spent several weeks week getting to know the Zojirushi Fresh Brew... and for the most part, I'm quite pleased. It has some foibles [which I'll get to in a moment] but on the whole it's a very capable coffee brewer. More, it's one of the very few home models I know that can brew 8 cups of just-roasted coffee at a proper 2 tablespoons per cup ratio without fuss, and - this is important! - maintain proper brewing temperatures throughout the entire brew cycle.

The details...

Zoji has been making vacuum pots and the like for nearly 100 years, and they've been making an assortment of rice-cookers, tea brewers and hot water dispensers for decades. While this is, I believe, their first home coffee brewer, they've got more than a little experience in kitchen electrics. They've put that experience to good use.

If you've ever brewed up a thermos full of coffee using a big Melitta filter cone then this setup will look pretty familiar. For all intents and purposes, the Fresh Brew simply adds an automated hot water delivery system to the mix... with a few improvements.

Improvement number one: not only does this system brew into an all-stainless thermal carafe [no hot plate here, thankyouverymuch] but it also insulates the brew basket. What good is it, after all, to heat up all that water if it's just going to get cold while you're brewing? This is huge! This is important! This is... well, I'm excited about it, okay?

Improvement number two: the Fresh Brew features an accurate gauge of water volume. When it reads that you've got 8 cups of water in the brewer's reservoir, it means it. Mind you, we're talking 6 oz. cups of water -- that's the way the coffee world measures a cup [unless you're Bodum and then it's 4 oz.].

Improvement number three: the Fresh Brew is patient. The biggest pain about the manual pour-over method is that you've got to wait to add more water, especially if the coffee is really fresh. Fresh coffee blooms with its charge of CO2! Faced with a full basket of coffee that was literally fresh from the roaster the Zoji didn't overflow, nor did it heave grounds into the water dispensing shower-head. More, the grounds were thoroughly saturated; no dry spots.

So where's the foibles?

Like a great many autodrip brewers the feeder tube that comes from the Zoji's heating element to the shower-head takes a straight path right through the water reservoir. For most brewers this is a game-over situation... the heating element simply can't overcome the heat exchange that occurs en route to the brew-head. On the Zoji, the heating element *does* get hot enough... provided that the water you've placed in the reservoir is not *too* cold.

Example A: In the office using the "unchilled" spigot on the water cooler, I draw off 48 ounces of water for the reservoir and brew a pot. Throughout the brew cycle water temperatures in the brew basket range between 195 and 200 degrees F. The result is a lovely pot of Ethiopian Yrgacheffe that is sweet, floral and lemony.

Example B: At home I draw off 48 ounces of water from the water filter in-line with the refridgerator. The temperature of the water in the reservoir is about 40 degrees F. and the resulting temperature in the brew basket never tops 185 degrees F. The result is an icky pot of the very same Yrgacheffe that is bitter, murky and flat.

The moral: mind your initial water temperature and you'll do just fine.

All in all, the Zojirushi Fresh Brew is capable of making 8 cups of coffee that's on a par with manual pourover methods. Better, really, as it insulates the brew-basket to better maintain water temperatures.

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Comment on Deals for Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Brewer With Thermo Carafe – Technivorm 9587 Best Price by Rich Wagner

Rich Wagner — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:07:53 +0000

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Incredible coffee, marred by very poor build quality, May 23, 2010

Rich Wagner (Princeton, MA United States) -

This review is from: Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Brewer With Thermo Carafe - Technivorm 9587

We've had our Techniform for just over 2 years. While the coffee it makes is unmatched, it simply has had too many build problems to justify its premium price. Over a year ago, it began to develop a small leak in the piping inside, so if you put water in the reservoir, it will slowly leak out unless you brew right away. It was out of warranty, so we could get no assistance. Second, the coffee maker began blowing a fuse on one side of our kitchen, so we had to move it to another end with a dedicated breaker. Third, the thermos has just started to wear out, so coffee now only stays hot about 45 min compared to over 2 hours when we first bought it. Finally, the toggle switch to turn off the brewing to the thermos is quite annoying and often gets accidentally pressed down. So, while the Techniform generates awesome and consistent heated water, its shoddy build quality is sadly forcing me to turn elsewhere now.

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Comment on Low Price Jura-Capresso 13423 Impressa S9 One Touch Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Center, Platinum Best Buy by sbrown33

sbrown33 — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:53:16 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Best home espresso machine out there, August 1, 2010

sbrown33 (CA) -

This review is from: Jura-Capresso 13423 Impressa S9 One Touch Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Center, Platinum (Kitchen)

I have been using a Jura product for well over 10 years. I started with the Capresso 3000 and then moved on to the Jura Impressa S9.

This makes the best coffee and espresso drinks by far. I like my lattes better than Starbucks. You can make regular lattes, skinny lattes, soy lattes and any kind you can think of with the Torani syrups.

You can also make coffee fresh one cup at a time so that it is always fresh and has not been sitting in a heated pot.

My friends always love coming to my house so I can make them a latte just the way they want it.

It is very easy to use and their customer service is outstanding. They always answer the phone and will walk you through any issues. Over the 10 years, I think I had 2 repair with the machine, but they immediately, sent me a return label and either fixed the issue or replaced it, even when it was out of warranty.

I very enthusiastically recommend the Jura S9 enough especially if you love to have a daily latte.

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