Gaggia Cadorna Prestige vs JURA E8

If you're on the hunt for a great new coffee and espresso machine for your home, there's a good chance you've noticed the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige or the JURA E8. Both are excellent machines in their own right, but you've probably guessed that, and the only thing that matters now is which one to bring home. To make things easy, here's a quick comparison of the two machines so you have a better idea of how they stack up against each other.

Drink Options

For me, the range of drink options is one of the first things to consider when choosing the right machine. What use is an automatic espresso machine if it doesn't make your favorite coffee drinks, right?

Here are the specialties each machine can produce.

Gaggia Cadorna Prestige

• Ristretto(x2)
• Espresso(x2)
• Espresso Lungo(x2)
• Coffee(x2)
• Americano
• Cappuccino
• Cappuccino XL
• Cafe au Lait
• Cafe Cortado
• Latte Macchiato
• Flat White
• Frothed Milk
• Hot Water

Total Drinks: 14

JURA E8

• Ristretto(x2)
• Espresso(x2)
• Espresso Doppio
• Coffee(x2)
• Macchiato
• Special Coffee(x2)
• Cappuccino
• Latte Macchiato
• Flat White
• Portion of Milk
• Hot Water
• Hot Water for Green Tea

Total Drinks: 12

Here, the Cadorna Prestige really pulls ahead. It has more options to choose from in total, but a more diverse selection as well. The two machines share options for ristretto, espresso, coffee, cappuccino, latte macchiato, and Flat White, but the Cadorna Prestige also brings Americanos, Cafe au Lait, and Cafe Cortados to the table. The only big loss here is the E8's option for Hot Water for Green Tea, which offers less hot water for brewing green tea so as not to scald the leaves. If you're not a big tea drinker, the Cadorna Prestige is the more powerful option for sure.

Also, in terms of flavor control, the Cadorna Prestige pulls ahead with 10 grind settings versus the E8's 6. Additionally, if you expect to find yourself making two drinks at once, the Cadorna will grind and brew twice to ensure full flavored results in each cup. The E8 does not have this feature.

Features

Here, "Features" describe any extra bells and whistles that aren't immediately obvious at a glance. These are little nuances and innovations that help you make better drinks or makes it easier to use the machine.

To start, programmability and customization. The Cadorna Prestige and E8 offer the same per-drink programming, including drink strength, temperature, and volume. However, because the JURA E8 has a larger brew group, it does offer more strength settings and a larger maximum dose. To compare, the Cadorna Prestige has a coffee dose range of 6.5 g - 11.5 g where the E8 has a range of 5 g - 16 g.

On the outside, both machines share similar color TFT displays. Because of this, both the Cadorna Prestige and E8 have screens that are very easy to read and navigate.

Where the Cadorna Prestige starts to shine is at the cup level. The Cadorna Prestige has taller spouts, which means you can use considerably larger cups. This is critical, especially if you love coffees or Americanos and you don't want to switch to smaller cups. To compare, the Cadorna Prestige has a maximum cup height of 6.1" where the E8 has a maximum cup height of 4.4". Additionally, the Cadorna Prestige features a fully removable and self-contained auto-frothing carafe. Both machines can make milk drinks of course, but you need a separate container when using the E8 to do so. This requires a suitable container for milk, or a JURA Cool Control if you're willing to make the expense.

Size and Appearance

Let's get right to it; the Cadorna Prestige is slimmer and the E8 is shorter. To compare, the Cadorna Prestige is 10.2" wide and 15" tall where the E8 is 11" wide and 13.6" tall. These measurements are in no way indicative of performance, but they're important to consider when finding the right space in the home for your new espresso machine.

Both machines have cases or housing made of ABS plastic, a commonly used material for super automatic espresso machines. Reservoir size is nearly identical on both machines (60 oz on the Cadorna Prestige, 63.6 oz on the E8), and just as well for the bean hopper size (10.58 oz on the Cadorna Prestige, 9.9 oz on the E8). The E8 ekes out an advantage in the used coffee drawer, able to hold 16 used coffee pucks versus the Cadorna Prestige's 10.

Expense

Now it's time to consider the biggest question; how much do you need to spend? Well, the Cadorna Prestige is brand new to the market and manages to come in at about $400 less expensive than the JURA E8. At the time of this writing, the Cadorna Prestige is $1699 and the E8 is $2099, so between the two you'll be spending nearly 20% less money on the Cadorna Prestige up front.

But what about additional purchases like accessories, maintenance items, and cleaning products? When it comes to Gaggia, you'll be spending less on all of that too. Here's a quick list of comparable expenses between the two machines.

Water Filter

• Mavea Intenza - $12.99
• CLEARYL Smart - $25.00

Cleaning Tablets

• Gaggia Coffee Clean Tablets (x10 per box) - $12.99
• JURA 2-Phase Cleaning Tablets (x6 per box) - $21.00

Decalcifier

• Gaggia Decalcifier (x1 use per bottle) - $9.00
• JURA Descaling Tablets (x3 uses per box) - $20.00

Also, keep in mind that the E8 requires additional purchases in the form of a milk carafe and the JURA Smart Connect if you want to unlock full functionality which adds $110 to the total cost.

Wrapping Up

Between the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige and the JURA E8, the Cadorna Prestige really succeeds at presenting itself as the higher value option. It's less expensive overall while sharing the most important features of the E8, has a wider selection of drink options, it lets you use larger cups, and it comes with the detachable carafe for extra convenience. The Gaggia Cadorna Prestige is an easy choice.