Here is our review of the Jura E8 vs S8.
In this comparison review, I will be discussing which is the best espresso machine between the Jura E8 and Jura S8.
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 are both impressive super automatic espresso machines. But the Jura E8 and S8 do have key differences, from a variety of specialty drinks to the Jura S8’s sleek touchscreen and the Jura E8’s advanced pre-infusion technology.
But before we get started…
About Jura Coffee Machines
Jura coffee machines have been the pioneer of espresso machines in the world of coffee enthusiasts. Jura is known for its precision engineering, innovative technology, and dedication to delivering exceptional quality coffee drinks.
Founded in 1931 in Switzerland, Jura has consistently set benchmarks in the industry, crafting cutting-edge coffee machines that combine convenience with the artistry of brewing.
So when it comes to both the Jura E8 and Jura S8, you will not be disappointed by either of these espresso machines.
Jura E8 vs S8: At a Glance
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 are both impressive espresso machines. However, some features are better on one while some are better on the other.
To sum things up, the Jura E8 is the winner of the two. If it were to be the old Jura E8 vs the current Jura S8 then these two would be almost on par but the E8 line has really outdone itself.
Although the Jura E8 is the overall winner, perhaps you might prefer the Jura S8. So it’s important to look at both these machine’s pros and cons to determine which machine is best suited for you:
Jura E8 Overview
The Jura E8 is an exceptional espresso machine that comes with Jura’s newest and smartest features. There were a few things that could be improved from the old Jura E8 and the new model has improved these features above and beyond.
Jura E8 Pros
Brews up to 16 specialty drinks: The Jura E8 has an impressive range of specialty drinks it can make from espressos to herbal teas. This is a big upside if you love to try different beverages all the time.
Dishwasher safe parts: Unlike the Jura S8, the Jura E8 has removable parts that can go into the dishwasher. This makes deep cleaning the parts, including the milk tube and drip tray, easier.
Larger dispensing capacity: The Jura E8 has a 2 cup dispensing capacity which is one cup larger than the Jura S8‘s capacity. This is convenient if you want to brew 2 cups at once or 2 espresso shots per cup.
Jura E8 makes slightly better espresso than Jura S8: This is due to the fact that the Jura E8 can pull better flavor extraction as it always brews at a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The Jura S8 is still a premium machine as it brews around this temperature too, however, its temperature is not as accurate as the Jura E8.
Jura E8 Cons
Does not have a touch screen: The one thing I love about the Jura S8 is its 4.3-inch sensitive touch screen. Unfortunately, the Jura E8 still has its digital display that needs to be operated by buttons.
Jura S8 Overview
The Jura S8 has always been considered to be the ‘luxurious’ model of the Jura E8. With its intuitive 4.3-inch screen and sleek styled design, there’s no doubt that this machine is one of the best looking machines that Jura manufactures.
Jura S8 Pros
Smooth sensitive touch screen: The Jura S8 comes with an intuitive digital display which makes it a little easier to customize or program your coffee beverages. I find that using a touch screen instead of buttons is a little quicker to operate which is great.
Active bean monitoring: What I find odd about the Jura E8 is that it does not have this feature. This function is a simple nifty feature that indicates when your bean hopper needs to be refilled.
Save, copy, and paste recipes: With the Jura S8, you can create your very own recipes. Once you created your customized beverage, you can copy and paste it as a new drink, and make some adjustments to it.
Jura S8 Cons
More expensive than the Jura E8: The one downside to the Jura S8 is that it’s more expensive than the Jura E8 even though the Jura E8 has some features that the Jura S8 lacks. It’s important to go through the feature comparison to make sure you make the right buying decision.
Jura S8 does not have an Intelligent pre heating system: The function of the intelligent pre heating system is to allow for dispensing hot water from the moment of brewing. Unfortunately, the Jura S8 does not include this feature, which only the Jura E8 includes.
Jura E8 vs Jura S8: Features Compared
Here are features that are included when it comes to the Jura E8 and Jura S8. I will list each feature and do a comparison between these machines:
Jura E8 and Jura S8: Aroma G3 Grinder
The Aroma G3 Grinder guarantees a finely ground coffee texture, perfectly aligning with both the Jura E8 and Jura S8, to produce cafe-styled brewing quality. The Aroma G3 Grinder preserves the aromatic richness of your beans and enhances the coffee’s notes and flavor profiles.
The grinder is arguably the most important feature in an espresso machine that will determine the quality of your coffee. Jura does a fantastic job at grinding uniform coffee with the Aroma G3 Grinder.
Both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 have a six-level Aroma G3 grinder which is nearly twice as fast as your usual conventional grinder.
Jura E8 vs Jura S8: Brewing System
Jura coffee makers, especially the Jura E8 and Jura S8 models, are renowned for their premium pricing, but justified by their advanced features.
These advanced features, such as I.P.B.A.S (Intelligent Pre-Brew Aroma System) and the Pulse Extraction Process technology, set Jura apart from other coffee brands.
I.P.B.A.S, a crucial component in both the Jura E8 and Jura S8, allows for pre-infusion to precisely gauge the required coffee amount and deliver an optimal quantity of hot water. This process results in enhanced extraction, resulting in a fuller and richer flavor profile.
The Pulse Extraction Process disperses short bursts of hot water to further refine the brewing process, contributing to an overall superior extraction.
Despite the premium price tag, investing in either the Jura E8 or Jura S8 ensures that you will have amazing brewing quality.
Jura E8 and Jura S8: Water Reservoir
When it comes to the water reservoir, both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 have a water tank capacity of 64 ounces. They both have integrated rinsing, cleaning, and descaling programs.
This makes it very simple to deep clean your coffee machine. These Jura machines offer rinsing in 3 different temperature settings. Moreover, both use smart water system technology.
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 both come with Intelligent Water System technology that detects water filters placed inside the water reservoir.
Jura Specialty Coffee Drinks
There are very minor differences when it comes to specialty drinks between the Jura E8 and Jura S8. The Jura E8 coffee machine has up to 17 specialty coffee drinks whilst the Jura S8 has up to 15 specialty coffee drinks.
The main difference between these two machines is that the Jura S8 does not include Doppio and Cafe Barista options. However, the Jura E8 does not have an option to brew a normal Latte.
Here is a table comparison of beverages between the Jura E8 and Jura S8:
Jura E8 | Jura S8 |
---|---|
Espresso | Espresso |
Double Espresso | Double Espresso |
Coffee | Coffee |
Double coffee | Double coffee |
Cappuccino | Cappuccino |
Cappuccino with an extra shot | Ristretto |
Cafe Barista | Latte |
Americano | Macchiato |
Espresso doppio | Latte macchiato |
Macchiato | Flat white |
Latte Macchiato | Milk foam |
Latte Macchiato with an extra shot | Hot milk |
Cortado | Hot water |
Flat White | Hot water for green tea |
Flat White with an extra shot | |
Milk foam | |
Hot water |
Jura S8 and S8: Special Features
Special features include intelligent pre heating system, 3D brewing technology, pulse extraction process, smart mode, and wifi connections:
The Jura E8 has some new advanced features including smart mode which rearranges the order of your beverages depending on how frequently you brew that specific beverage. It also comes with 3D brewing technology that creates a multi-layered flow of water that gets distributed evenly throughout the ground coffee.
The Jura S8 on the other hand unfortunately does not come with these advanced features. But it does have active bean monitoring that the Jura E8 doesn’t have which is convenient knowing when you need to refill your bean hopper.
Here is a table of all the advanced features that either the Jura E8 or Jura S8 has:
Feature | Jura E8 | Jura S8 |
---|---|---|
Intelligent Preheating | ✔ | ⎻ |
3D Brewing Technology | ✔ | ⎻ |
Active Bean Monitoring | ⎻ | ✔ |
Smart Mode | ✔ | ⎻ |
Jura Cockpit Maintenance Status | ✔ | ⎻ |
WIFI Connection To Home Network | ✔ | ⎻ |
Smart Connect Transmitter | ⎻ | ✔ |
Jura E8 vs Jura S8: Digital Display
Both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 have impressive digital displays but they are not the same.
The Jura E8 has a 2.8 inch color display that requires you to use buttons and a rotary dial interface. It’s easy to operate but I do prefer the Jura S8’s 4.3 inch sensitive touch screen. The touchscreen makes it easier to program and customize your beverages.
However, Jura does make it simple to use from both these machines, giving you step-by-step instructions throughout the brewing process. You are also able to customize beverages before or during the brewing process taking place.
Jura E8 and Jura S8: Programmability
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 come with a range of programmable options. Programmability allows you to customize your beverages or program the way your machine operates.
The Jura E8 has up to 16 programmable beverages whereas the Jura S8 only has up to 15 programmable beverages. Both the Jura E8 and the Jura S8 have the same level of programmability, however, the Jura S8 allows you to save, copy, and personalize your beverages.
Here is a list of programmable features that the Jura E8 and Jura S8 have:
Feature | Jura E8 | Jura S8 |
---|---|---|
Compatible with J.O.E® | ✔ | ✔ |
Save, Copy, & Personalize Beverages | ⎻ | ✔ |
Programmable Water Dosage | ✔ | ✔ |
Adjustable Coffee Strength (Levels) | 10 | 10 |
Programmable Milk Dosage | ✔ | ✔ |
Programmable Brewing Temperature | 3 | 3 |
Programmable Water Temperature | 3 | 3 |
Intelligent Pre Heating on Jura E8
Intelligent pre heating is one of Jura’s more revolutionary technologies. Its function is to allow the machine to stay at a consistent temperature to ensure consistent and accurate brewing extraction.
Jura made sure to include this technology in the Jura E8 which contributes to why the Jura E8 is famously known for its amazing brewing quality. Unfortunately, the Jura S8 does not include this feature. This means you might find the temperature of your drinks to vary at times.
Jura E8 and S8: Milk Frother
In terms of Jura’s milk frother, there is no other automatic espresso machine that produces the best milk froth. However, there is a difference in function when it comes to cleaning the milk system for the Jura E8 and Jura S8.
Both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 have the HP3/CX3 milk system and have an interchangeable milk spout. The only feature that the Jura E8 has that the Jura S8 doesn’t is an automatic one-touch milk cleaning system.
This is a very convenient feature when you forget about cleaning as you do not want dried-up milk in your machine.
Consider Purchasing a Jura Milk Container
Regardless of whether you decide to buy a Jura E8 or Jura S8, buying a Jura container can be quite handy when you want to keep your milk cold.
Owning an automatic espresso machine is convenient, however, having to keep your milk container in the fridge or pouring the right amount of milk for your milk based drinks can be painful.
Jura E8 and Jura S8: Build Quality
In terms of design, I will discuss the dimensions, build quality, overall look, and how easy it is to operate the Jura E8 and Jura S8.
The new Jura E8‘s design is almost identical to the previous Jura E8. It finally comes in 3 different colors including chrome silver, piano black, and white.
The Jura S8 has a silver chrome finish which gives it that premium machine look, but unfortunately so does the Jura E8. This makes the Jura E8 espresso machine the overall winner in terms of design.
Both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 are coffee machines built of high-quality plastic. You will, unfortunately, miss out on that stainless steel build that the De’Longhi espresso machines have.
In terms of these machines’ ease of use, both the Jura E8 and Jura S8 are fairly simple to use. But the Jura S8 does take first place in this aspect with its 4.3-inch digital display which the Jura E8 does not have.
Here is a table that will best compare the Jura E8 and Jura S8’s sizes, and dimensions:
Feature | Jura E8 | Jura S8 |
---|---|---|
Weight (lbs) | 21 | 22 |
Width (inches) | 11 | 11 |
Height (inches) | 13.8 | 13.7 |
Depth (inches) | 17.6 | 17.5 |
Cleaning and Maintenance
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 are fairly simple to clean and maintain. They both come with Jura’s integrated rinsing, cleaning, and descaling program, which provides a step-by-step guide to cleaning the Jura machine.
These machines include Jura’s cleaning tablets which allow for a deep clean and should be used after 200 drinks have been brewed.
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 also have fixed brew groups which isn’t ideal as it can cause ground coffee to gather in and around the brew groups. Fixed brew groups can also alter the espresso flavor but the Jura’s integrated cleaning program will ensure there isn’t leftover ground coffee.
However, the one feature that puts the Jura E8 coffee machine ahead of the competition is its automatic one-touch milk cleaning system. I think this is a great feature of an automatic coffee machine as you should clean your milk spout on a daily basis.
Sadly, the Jura S8 does not have an automatic milk frother cleaning function, which means you will be required to rinse the milk frother after use.
Jura App
The Jura E8 and Jura S8 are both compatible with the JURA app that can be accessed from any mobile device. The app offers user programming options and makes it simple and quick.
Jura E8 and S8: Pricing and Value
In terms of pricing, the Jura E8 and Jura S8 come with a premium price tag. However, an espresso machine that brews high quality coffee comes with a range of specialty drinks and has a dedicated cleaning system, it’s worth the cost.
The Jura E8 is around $500 less expensive than the Jura S8.
Although the Jura S8 is an S-line machine that is ‘more luxurious’ than the E-line, is it really worth $500 more?
Both these machines have minor differences when it comes to programmability and specialty drinks. But what sets the Jura E8 apart is its active bean monitoring (which notifies you when to refill your bean hopper) and intelligent pre heating system (which allows for consistent temperature for better and more consistent brewing extraction).
However, the Jura S8 does come with a large touchscreen display, whilst the Jura E8‘s display is a little smaller and isn’t a touchscreen.
Best Coffee Beans To Try
While you are still deciding on which Jura coffee machine you should buy, here are 2 recommended coffee beans that you should try with the Jura E8 or Jura S8.
Kicking Horse Coffee (Dark Roast, Whole Bean)
- Origin: A fusion of beans sourced from Indonesia and the rich soils of South America, this coffee present a harmonious blend that embodies the best of both regions.
- Flavor Profile: This dark roast has a bold and complex flavor profile. You should experience a symphony of smoky combined with the sweetness of vanilla and dark chocolate.
- Tasting Notes: This coffee has notes of chocolate malt and molasses, subtly accented by hints of liquorice, which elevate the overall flavor profile.
- Perfect for: Whether you’re a coffee enthusiast seeking a robust, full-bodied experience or someone looking for rich, deep cup to savor, the Kicking Horse Dark Roast, Whole Bean, is a great recommendation for your Jura E8 and S8.
Illy Blend Coffee Intenso (Dark Roast, Whole Bean)
- Flavor Profile: Illy Coffee Intenso Dark Roast delivers an intense and robust flavor profile, offering a full-bodied experience with notes of deep cocoa.
- Tasting Notes: These beans have a bold flavor profile for those seeking a rich and powerful coffee experience. This robust roast is complemented by warm hints of cocoa and subtle notes of dried fruit.
- Perfect for: What makes this coffee great is that they are simple yet rich in flavor and is perfect for anyone who does not want floral or sweet flavors. Consider this coffee to be liked by most people when you want to impress friends with the Jura E8 or Jura S8.
When using these beans with your Jura, it’s recommended to ensure they are fresh and properly stored to preserve their flavors.
Experimenting with different grind settings and brewing methods on your machine can also help extract the best flavors from these beans to match your taste preferences.
Note: You can you also choose to use pre ground coffee for your Jura E8 and Jura S8 as they are both capable of brewing pre ground coffee.
Jura E8 vs Jura S8: The Winner
There is no doubt that the Jura E8 is the winner when deciding between the Jura E8 vs S8. With the Jura E8’s automatic milk frothing and cleaning system, active bean monitoring, and intelligent pre heating system, it’s uncomparable for its value.
In my opinion, the features that the Jura E8 has will provide you with higher quality beverages and also make it easier to maintain in the long term.
However, if you are a fan of the Jura S line and like the idea of a large touchscreen display then the the Jura S8 is definitely for you. Even though the Jura E8 has some new technology, the Jura S8 is still a highly recommended espresso machine in the coffee industry.
If you enjoyed our review of the Jura E8 vs Jura S8, check out our comparison review on the Jura E6 vs Jura E8.
If these products are unavailable on Amazon then have a look at 1st In Coffee.