If you didn't already know, people who love their espresso and coffee drinks really love their espresso and coffee drinks. Their allegiance to machine manufactures is equally as strong as well. Best sellers become that way because they fit a need and a want for a broad range of people. However, once in awhile, a machine comes along that many people wouldn't consider, but those that do take the step to purchase it fall in love and continue to buy them as each new model comes into our hands. No machine proves this more than the Saeco Royal line of machines.

13.2x15x17.7 (L x D x H) seems like a large machine, and it is. There is no getting around the fact that this machine is one of the bigger residential Super One Touches we carry. At 33lbs, it's not a lightweight, either. The size alone is one of the primary reasons that this machine is attractive to a very faithful group of consumers. While you can find many smaller machines with a fair bit of options, the Royal HD8930 is so chock full that it would be an engineering miracle to make it any smaller (here's to hoping for a smaller size in the next redesign). Like those that came before it, the Royal maintains capacities that put most machines to shame. The bean hopper can hold 12.4 oz (nearly a pound) of beans, while the water reservoir holds just over half a gallon.

The Royal HD8930 is the first of the Royals to feature a true one touch system, allowing it to dispense the milk and coffee portions of a drink during the same brew cycle. The last model had a separate Cappuccinatore and steam wand to produce the froth and steamed milk. Just insert the frothing cartridge into the front of the machine and hook up the included stainless steel vacuum sealed milk carafe, and let the machine do the work so you can easily enjoy a latte or cappuccino. The carafe holds a substantial .5l of milk, and keeps it cold for a few hours. It also has a built in hot water wand for tea, hot cocoa, or to make your favorite soup quickly and easily.

With adjustments available to the grinder, dosage, volume, temperature and milk options, there are literally hundreds of different ways to make a drink. Everyone will be able to find a configuration that makes their perfect cup of coffee. The dosage options range from 7g of coffee to 11g of coffee, so that your drink will be as light or rich as you would like. The buttons for each drink are easily programmed. Like many machines, simply hold down the drink button to put it in programming mode, let it brew, and when the desired amount has been dispensed, press the same button again to have the machine remember the setting. From then on out, every time that function is used, it will produce the same volume unless stopped manually, or reprogrammed.

The conical burr grinder makes quick and quiet work of fresh coffee beans, while being able to be adjusted to 7 different grind levels – sure to be able to accommodate whichever quality beans you choose to use. One of my favorite features of the new Royal is that it can be set to grind a serving of coffee as soon as the current drink is finished. That way, there is no waiting for when you press the button for the next drink.

Its ability to produce over 100 cups a day means that it can find a home in an office or light commercial application as well. The large reservoir, bean hopper and giant drip tray allow numerous people in an office to enjoy café quality drinks with only an occasional need to refill or drain. It is not NSF approved, so if the Royal HD8930 interests you for a small café or restaurant, make sure to check with your local authorities before purchasing.

There is no way to argue that the Seaco Royal machines have always been incredibly capable and reliable machines. People absolutely adore them. The Royal Super One Touch machine is no different. With features found in higher priced machines, legendary performance, and near limitless customization of drinks, the Royal HD8930 is hard to beat.

I like to compare the Saeco Intelia Focus espresso machine to Jaguars… Like the Jaguar, the Saeco Intelia Focus is beautiful, shiny and smart, as you can see in any of these pictures.  It also likes to keep itself clean (like the Jaguar).

The Intelia brews using a 15 bar pump and features a pre-brewing function (it pre infuses the coffee which means the coffee is wet prior to brewing to aid in extraction) to enhance the flavor of your favorite beverage whether it be latte, cappuccino, espresso or long espresso.  This machine has a hot water option which dispenses out of the wand for tea, hot chocolate or oatmeal!  The dispensing spouts on the brew head slide up or down from 2.5 through 4.5 inches.  The footprint is rather heroic at approximately 10”W, 13.5”H, and 17.5” D.  A grinder adjustment key & pre-ground coffee doser scoop, water hardness test strip, descaling solution, brew group lubricant and cleaning brush are all included in the box.

The coffee grounds drawer, water reservoir and drip tray are all located on the front face, they pull out for cleaning or refilling water. The grounds drawer holds about 10 pucks and the water reservoir holds 1.5 liters or just under 51 ounces. The right side of the machine opens up, which is where the brew group and residues drawer are found, they come right out and rinse off. The Intelia will need to be descaled regularly as all espresso machines should be. It's really a snap! Just push the Calc Clean button and the nice control panel will prompt you for all of the steps. The pannarello wand slides off and should be rinsed after each use.

The Saeco Intelia Focus is simply a wonderful espresso machine! It pre-brews, automatically cleans & descales, has an adjustable ceramic grinder and it is energy efficient. And, it sure does make drinks fast… Just like the Jaguar XKR-75!

I’d be lying if I said I’ve never taken the easy way out, and with brewing espresso it’s no exception. The unique thing about brewing espresso however is that nowadays there is a plethora of options for someone looking to avoid the effort that goes into traditional brewing. Certainly Single-Serve and Super-Automatic espresso machines may seem similar in that both will brew you a shot of espresso with the push of a button, but in most cases, that is one of a very few things the two categories have in common.

An even bigger issue is, just how much will you be paying for the coffee you’re drinking? For your convenience, I’ve put together a chart that answers that exact question.

As you can see, super-automatics excel in the cost/cup department and clearly produce the cheapest cup of coffee.

The most limiting factor for any single-serve owner is that their machine will only be able to utilize one method of brewing. Keurig machines can only brew with K-Cups, Nespresso machines only with Nespresso capsules, etc. While there is competition between the manufacturers of the machines, there is little competition with regards to the coffee. If you’re a Keurig owner and you’re unhappy with your coffee, it’s not like you can suddenly start buying Tassimo T-Discs for your machine instead, not without plunking down $100 or more into a new machine. When you’ve bought a single-serve machine you’ve dedicated yourself to using the coffee compatible with that particular brand.

With a super-automatic machine, oftentimes the only inhibiting factor in the coffee you can use is the fact that especially oily beans (Starbucks for example) sometimes create problems for the machines' internal components. Aside from that there’s really nothing preventing you from using whatever kind of coffee you like, whether it be whole bean or pre-ground. Additionally, super-automatic machines allow for adjustments to be made to factors such as grind fineness, coffee dosage, temperature, and pre-infusion granting a vastly larger degree of control over the coffee your machine produces and many can be programmed to your exact specifications. Single-serve machines offer very little control in this respect with the coffee being pre-measured and ground to a specific fineness. If your coffee is unsatisfactory, for the most part, all you can do is try a different variety and hope for the best.

With regards to customizability and control, another category where single-serve machines have a tendency to come up short against their super-automatic counterparts is milk frothing. Milk can be one of the touchiest factors when preparing a coffee based drink for yourself and fortunately, we live in a time when automatic milk frothing solutions are abundant.There are very, VERY, few super-automatic espresso machines in modern times that do not feature a means to froth or steam milk for lattes and cappuccinos and some super-automatics can do it with the push of a button. With that being said, certain brands of single-serve espresso machines sport milk frothing features of their own such as the FrancisFrancis! machines designed for use with Illy’s IperEspresso capsules, or select Nespresso machines. Often though, a single-serve owner will either have to buy a peripheral frothing device, or make due with the alternative frothing solution exclusive to single-serve machines, powdered milk.

There are several brands of single-serve espresso machines that make use of powdered milk as an alternative to frothing systems, Tassimo and the new Starbucks Verismo machines being two that come to mind. Say you prefer soy milk, or whole milk, well, looks like you’re out of luck. And I’ve never heard of powdered microfoam. Powdered milk is a solution, albeit an immensely limited one, requiring that you buy special packages that include the milk discs, which in turn means you get less coffee. For example, the standard Starbucks Verismo coffee pods come 12 per box for $11.95. The box the pairs coffee pods and milk pods gives you 8 of each for $12.95, when a person with a super-automatic with milk frothing could pick up a gallon of milk for about $3.50, make a great drink, and still have milk left over for the kids. Certainly the Verismo owner could buy milk too, but it’s not gonna froth itself is it? Well, looks like they’ll have to buy a peripheral milk frothing system, but wait, wasn’t this machine supposed to do it all? This of course raises the point that maybe you just need to pick the right one and you’ll be all set.

I’ve been on a 90’s rock kick lately, and Garbage has been in pretty (extremely) heavy rotation. Their James Bond theme “The World Is Not Enough” was on when I pulled into the parking lot this morning after stopping at the warehouse to pick up today’s new toy. The title line to the track is fitting for today, as I realized that the Espresso Machine industry is not unlike every other industry in that everyone is trying to outdo the latest and greatest. Whole Latte Loves resident n00bs (Mary-Ann and I) test gadget for today is the Jura-Capresso ENA Micro 9, the newest addition to their popular ENA line of compact Super Automatic machines.

Building off of the very popular ENA 9 machine, Jura has managed to cram all of the same features and great quality into an even smaller package (11% shorter than the ENA 9). It’s small enough to fit in the passenger seat of Bond’s classic Aston Martin! Weighing in at 20lbs and measuring roughly 9x12x17, the foot print is minimal especially considering what the machine is capable of. Also impressive is that despite the smaller size, the capacities remain the same compared to the ENA 9: a 37 oz rear mounted reservoir, 4.4 oz bean hopper, 10 puck capacity for spent grounds, and 5 inch clearance to fit all your favorite cups. The drip tray, despite looking very small, actually holds a substantial amount of liquids so that you will not have to drain it often.

Just like the ENA 9, the Micro heats up in around 30 seconds, and is able to brew a shot of Espresso in less than one minute – perfect for running out of the house first thing in the morning. It retains its predecessor’s classic design with the Chrome/Silver/Black color scheme, slanted front face, and adjustable brew head. The display is also the same: an easy to read, color coded, single line LED display. Just like all Jura’s as well, the Micro loves to keep itself clean, and will prompt you to rinse out the coffee and milk systems. The similarities start to fade at that point however.

The most noticeable change is the location of the hot water wand and how it is operated. Rather than cluttering up the front of the machine, the Micro integrates the hot water wand into the brew head, and employs a button on top of the machine over the knob on the ENA 9. Also on top are familiar one-touch buttons for different coffee drinks.

These include Cappuccino, Latte, Espresso and Long Coffee. The new click dial design makes navigating the menus even easier, and the selection button is located conveniently in the center of the dial. Lastly, there is the rinse button you press when the Micro prompts you that it needs to rinse either the coffee or milk systems.

Further back from the interface are the bypass doser and the grind settings. Pulled forward compared to the ENA 9, the Micro makes it even easier to use pre ground coffee using the included funnel, and a powder sensing system that begins the brew process as soon as the bypass doser cover is closed. There are 5 adjustments to the grind settings, which were enough for Mary –Ann and I to find a good place for two different kinds of beans that we had access to today.

Back further is the door for the bean hopper that holds almost a quarter pound of coffee, and has an optimal slant to ensure that the beans never get stuck, and that the machine has a consistent flow of beans to multi-level conical grinder. The grinding of the coffee can be a noisy operation, but the Micro 9 makes quick and quiet work out of the job. A silicone seal on the bean hopper cover ensures that the beans stay fresh, and the aroma of the coffee is the same from cup to cup.

Furthest back is the water reservoir, holding a respectable 37 oz of water for your brewing and hot water needs. It comes with a Clearyl Blue water filter which, according to Jura-Capresso eliminates the need to descale and helps to ensure the taste of your Espresso regardless of the quality of your tap water.

The Micro 9 comes with Jura Capresso’s Fine Foam frothing system, consistently giving you fantastic foam every time you brew a specialty milk drink. The included tube connects the brew head to either Jura’s Thermal Milk Container, or can extract milk right from the carton. the milk and coffee systems are kept separate to avoid cross contamination, and the machine is “Certified Hygienic”. Going further with the Micro 9’s penchant to clean, Jura-Capresso has numbered the parts that can be taken off to be cleaned in order to make reassembling it even easier.

If you are looking for a simple, one-touch Super-Automatic machine that can fit in your kitchen or nook without question, the redesigned and compacted internals in the Micro 9 make it a great contender for this constantly shrinking (in dimensions!) field of Espresso machines. It carries with it everything that people love about Jura (and people LOVE their Jura’s) in an attractive shell.

Is anyone else as excited about the newest James Bond movie, Skyfall, as I am? Because I’ve been craving a new movie more than I require my morning coffee fix.

Many people claim they can't get through the day without their morning coffee. Meanwhile, other members of the coffee culture can't do without their morning espressos, cappuccinos, or other specialty coffee beverages. Gauging by the astronomical number of Starbucks throughout this country (about 11,000), I'd consider that proof that a lot people prefer something a little fancier than a cup of drip to start their day off right. In response to this elevated demand for specialty coffee drinks, the development of high quality home espresso machines like the Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7 Super-Automatic Espresso Machine have also increased. The Z7 allows one to create coffee perfection at the touch of a single button. At a cheaper price than Starbucks. And, most importantly, in the comfort of your own kitchen.

I am one of millions of people who not only love their espresso but also live a fast-paced lifestyle too. For people like me, a one touch Super-Automatic Espresso Machine is the most sensible way to get your coffee fix fast. The Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7 is a home espresso machine that incorporates the features of a commercial machines with the compactness and style required for home use.

One of the features buyers appreciate most on the Jura Z7 are the 8 preset buttons which allow you to make the perfect cappuccino, latte, espresso, or etc...just by pressing a button.

You can also adjust the settings of each drink to accommodate your specific tastes i.e. a stronger dosage of coffee or a finer grind setting of your favorite beans, it is incredibly simple to do. The LED display walks you through each step with simple and clear directions. It will also alert you when it is time to clean the machine, refill your water reservoir or bean hopper, and when to empty your dredge drawer. Simple.

If you've ever tried to make your own specialty coffee drinks at home, you would know it can both take a fair amount of your precious time and it can be both challenging and time consuming. With the Z7 you simply cannot fail to make a perfect drink, with perfect froth, at the perfect temperature with great speed and with no waiting in line. The Jura Z7 is an espresso machine of the caliber that causes people to forget about their route to the nearest Starbucks and will save you money in the long run.

That speed particularly comes in handy when you are entertaining guests as well. With the Z7, you can be the perfect host, and assume the role of barista with confidence. You can make a variety of beverages to suite all tastes within mere minutes and the machine will take care of discarding the used coffee, allowing you to spend more time with your company.

If you want perfection, and variety of delicious coffee beverages with the convenience and speed of a super-automatic home espresso machine, then the Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7 may be exactly what the doctor ordered. Cheers!

Since joining Whole Latte Love I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with semi-automatic espresso machines while learning a great deal about brewing espresso. And my coffee journey has also taught me a bit about myself as well. At the end of the day, I really just want to push buttons. This week, my wish was granted as I was re-united with the simplicity of super-automatic espresso machines when I spent some quality time with the Gaggia Titanium.

Something that struck me right away that was notably different from all of the other super-automatic machines I've used is that the Titanium has a steam wand. The Jura-Capresso machines I operated previously used automatic milk frothing systems so I was surprised to find that the Titanium gives you the choice between manual or automatic milk frothing. It comes packaged with a Pannarello wand, a specialized steam wand which I'll discuss momentarily and a Cappuccinatore, which is an auto-frothing attachment, so it's really up to you how you want to froth your milk.

For the most part, my experiences with manual frothing have ended in disaster, but I've always wanted to give a Pannarello wand a try, so I did. Now, some people refer to the Pannarello wand as the “turbo frother,” and for good reason. All I really had to do was stick the wand into my pitcher and turn the steam on. Like any wand, it won't work if it's too close to the surface of the milk or the side of your pitcher, but other than that, it's pretty foolproof. If however, you'd like a bit more info on frothing with the Pannarello wand, Todd made a fantastic tutorial video which you can find here.

To be honest, I'd say that the Titanium is built for steaming and frothing milk with its set of dual thermal block boilers, one aluminum and one stainless steel and its robust 60oz water reservoir.

The buttons on the Titanium, aka, my favorite part of any super-automatic machine, are made of polished metal and labeled with icons. There are three programmable one-touch drink buttons, as well as buttons for the bypass doser and hot water.

In terms of niceties, the machine sports a number of features that I found to be very attractive. Cased in stainless steel, the Gaggia Titanium is equipped with an active cup warmer and rests on a turntable, making it easy to rotate as needed. It has a cool electric blue display and a float in the drip tray that tells you when it needs to be emptied. It also has an adjustable coffee spout to accommodate different cup heights.

When it comes to brewing, the Titanium uses a 15 bar vibration pump, which I found to be a bit noisier than the commercial rotary pumps of the Rocket Espresso machines I've used, but it brewed fast and the crema was excellent.

For me, the Titanium really had everything I could want in a machine. It was easy to use, like all super-automatic machines, but it was all of the extra features that elevated it above and beyond the norm. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to buy an ergonomic super-automatic espresso machine.

The One-Touch My-Milk-Isn’t-Hot-Enough Phone Call

I seem to get more calls from customers lately related to the temperature of the milk coming from their super-automatic one-touch espresso machines when making mixed coffee-milk drinks like cappuccinos and lattes. I hope to shed some light on this subject and give customers more knowledge to make good espresso machine purchasing decisions. One needs to know what to expect from the milk-frothing system on a super-automatic one-touch.

Many espresso and coffee-milk drink aficionados, me included, enjoy the convenience of using a super-automatic one-touch espresso machine to brew their favorite beverage. Typically the milk froth is of very good quality with plenty of micro-bubbles, but the temperature may not be as hot as the user desires. I do agree the froth often could be hotter. The counter point to the not-as-hot-as-I-want-it milk temperature is the ease and convenience of a one-touch machine.

Automatic frothing units are a modern marvel. They do exactly what they are designed to do, and produce good milk-froth in time with the programmed drink brewing cycle. Usually the condition of low milk temperature is related to how long the milk stays in contact with steam. Some other factors are the starting temperature of the milk, altitude above sea level, etc. but the major one is dwell time of the steam in the milk. This isn’t an issue for owner’s who have a manual steam wand and like to participate in the art of frothing and steaming, they can leave the milk in contact with the steam as long as they want.

I still think a super-automatic one-touch machine is an excellent buy. It makes it easy for anyone to enjoy the wonderfulness of brewing and enjoying specialty coffee drinks; however, for some who desire hotter-milk than the automatic cycle can produce this might not be the right machine.

Please contact us before making the leap. There are variations of super-automatic one-touch machines that might better meet your wants and needs. Some systems have both the auto-frothing unit and a separate manual steam-arm. Some make hotter froth but the quality of the froth isn’t the same as other but still good! Remember I am spoiled as part of my job, I get to play with all of these awesome machines and I think I and my co-workers have valuable information to help you make a good purchasing decision on a machine that will meet your expectations! Till next time!

Let’s face it, espresso machines require regular maintenance. This type of maintenance also requires time. If you recall, I previously posted a blog entitled “Time Is Money”. I may seem a little obsessive about the issue of time but as I have mentioned before, I do NOT particularly like to waste mine.

Cleaning my espresso machine feels like I am doing just that, wasting time. It really bothers me to think about it though I know it has to be done. I know there are others out there that share these sentiments and that is why, again, it is wiser to go with a one-touch super-automatic espresso machine rather than a semi-automatic.

It is just a matter of time for any espresso machine to require a proper cleaning and descaling. I’ll spare you the boring details as to why we need to do this exactly but it is certainly vital to the functionality and longevity of your machine.

The nice thing about super-automatic one-touch machines is not only do they alert you when it is time to clean, but they also do the cleaning for you. All you need to do is add your descaling cleaning agent accordingly, put a decent size container underneath the spouts and push the self cleaning button. Once it is finished with its 15-20 minute cleaning cycle, you simply refill your water reservoir and you are good to start brewing again.

Oh and as un-manly as it may seem to read instructions, you may want to consider reading the owner’s manual for cleaning your machine. Why? Because they are not all the same and you don’t want to miss an important step. This cleaning should ideally be done roughly every 2-3 months depending on how heavily you are using your machine.

I would much rather have a super-automatic one-touch machine that cleans itself rather than going through the whole back-flushing process required for a semi-auto or prosumer machine. Not to mention the ease of removing the brew group for a quick rinse, and sliding out the dredge drawer for a quick flip into the garbage, a rinse and snap back into the machine.

I find super automatics overall simplify your life by saving time and effort especially where cleaning is concerned. Semi-automatics are too hands-on even when cleaning…and don’t even get me started with the mess a grinder makes. Ugh! I am literally getting sick to my stomach just thinking of that whole mess.

I am not necessarily a clean freak but I definitely do like my kitchen to be tidy. Coffee grinds all over my counter tops is NOT tidy! Not only does the super-automatic one-touch machine aid in keeping my kitchen clean but it saves me time!

Jura-Capresso has impressed me every time I've taken one of their machines out of the box, and my experience was no different with the Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7 One-Touch-Super-Automatic Espresso Machine. Going back to basics, I was happy to see that the Z7 eschewed a full color display for the simplicity of eight one-touch buttons, one for every drink option the machine has to offer.

I prefer having all the selections available to me without any additional required navigation to make a selection like the Jura-Capresso Impressa J9.

I like the Impressa Z7's huge side mounted water tank, 2.8 liters to be precise, the largest capacity of any of the Jura-Capresso machines I've looked at yet. I loved that the Impressa Z7's water tank is made of classy looking black plastic and features a built-in sight glass that still lets me eyeball the water level. The large water capacity of course means less frequent fill-ups, and coupled with the eight one-touch pre-set drink buttons it’s easy for guests to use which makes it a great entertainment and party machine.

Another attractive design feature of the Z7 was the location of the bypass doser. The doser on the Impressa Z7 is located inside of the same compartment as the bean hopper, which I liked because it cut down on the number of doors on top of the machine. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed to find that there was no fitted slot for the ground coffee scoop that was included with the machine like there is on some Jura-Capresso machines.

When it comes to aesthetics, the Impressa Z7 sports a black plastic case with a silver plastic front panel. It's got a standard red text LED display; however, the screen is large enough to display pictures as well such as a coffee cup to indicate that the machine is ready to brew or water when it needs rinsing.

Programming is accomplished using a rotary dial located on top of the machine and you can change things like drink strength, energy saver functions, and the display language.

I was surprised to see that the Z7 boasts three sets of spouts instead of the usual two. There was a regular set of dual espresso spouts that could be used to brew two coffee drinks at once, the dual spouted Frothxpress cappuccino system for milk drinks, and a unique third spout for hot water. All of the spouts are height adjustable for a clearance of approximately 2.5” to 4” for the espresso and hot water spouts and 4” to 6” for the cappuccino spouts. I can also happily say that the Impressa Z7 is equipped with lights that illuminate your drinks while they brew, which was one of my favorite features of the Impressa J9. It looks really cool and makes the experience feel almost like a performance.

While I was brewing, I was able adjust the strength and volume of my drink by turning the Z7's rotary dial. I've found that the rotary dial is a standard fare for most Jura-Capresso machines, and with this being the third one I've looked at, I knew how to use it. The machine brewed quickly and quietly, all with just the push of a button.

As the last super-automatic machine I'll be looking at for a while, The Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7 was a good way to say goodbye to the one-touch convenience I've grown to love. Anyone looking for a reliable super-automatic machine with robust features need look no further than the Jura-Capresso Impressa Z7!

Working in a company like Whole Latte Love that encourages you to test the products it sells is a wonderful experience. Especially if you like using the products! Customers get great information and opinions from actual hands on testing, and I get to enjoy some of the finest coffee drinks anyone can make for free! I really like and crave coffee, so being able to try all kinds of brewing equipment is a wonderful perk.

One machine that has steadily gained my favor is the Super Automatic Gaggia Brera. I use it about 5 times a day. Several co-workers have blogged about its features and the technical aspects of its boiler, grinder adjustability, brew group, etc. I am not going to blast you with more of the same; however, I do want to make a few points about the usability and performance of the Brera.