Seattle Coffee Gear: Blog

Comparing One-Touch Superautomatic Espresso Machines

You can't beat the convenience of a one-touch superautomatic espresso machine -- but how do the different models compare against each other? Watch Gail as she makes a cappuccino on the Jura Z5, DeLonghi Gran Dama and Saeco Primea one touch superautomatics, including her assessment of the pros/cons of each machine.

Using the Jura Cool Control

As we wrote about in February, the Jura Cool Control stays on top of your counter and keeps your milk nice and icy for those one-touch cappuccinos. Watch as Gail shows us how the Cool Control works and makes us a cappuccino to test it out.

The Grind - May 2009

The May issue of our monthly newsletter, The Grind, has hit the bricks! Including the Turkish Dee-Lite recipe, our process for making excellent french press coffee, tips on how to brew a strong shot in a superautomatic espresso machine and a directory of all the recent YouTube videos we've done over the last month, May's news is a sweet little compendium of a lot of the content we've shared with you here.

But what you won't find here is The Grind Special -- this month: $10 off the Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker! Get this special and all future specials by signing up.

Tech Tip: Superautomatics and Oily Beans

We have written before about the no love lost between superautomatic espresso machines and oily, dark roasted coffee beans, but when we got a machine in the repair center last week that was caked to the gills with coffee cement, we just had to film it and show you what we're talking about.

Watch Gail take apart the grinder of a Saeco Vienna superautomatic espresso machine and show what happens over time to the internal grinders on these machines if someone is using super-dark and oily beans. We definitely recommend sticking with a lighter, drier roast for the long term health of your machine -- and now you'll see why!

New! Seattle Coffee Gear's Commercial Espresso Equipment

We have a deep love for and commitment to the home espresso enthusiast, but as our passion for making excellent espresso at home has grown, we have been exploring commercial-grade equipment, too. Obviously, comparatively few of us can afford to drop $15k on an espresso machine for our homes, but if you're looking to either upgrade your business' existing setup or thinking about launching a new espresso-based business, we have a wide selection of machines that is going to continue to grow.

Currently featuring primarily Faema and Rancilio commercial-class espresso machines & grinders, we've also included a few of the prosumer class of machines that could work well in a smaller-scale business that has espresso as a complementary service -- such as a bookstore or an art gallery. We also have tons of quantity discounts on accessories and wholesale pricing on coffee and syrups, so just ask.

We're excited to venture into a new realm within the coffee world and look forward to talking with you more about it! This blog will also expand as a resource and start offering up information that may be of interest to cafes and other small coffee businesses, so stay tuned.

Comparing Espresso Machines

With so many different kinds of espresso machines on the market, researching which is the best for you can sometimes feel like popping open a big ol' can of worms. Superautomatic or semi-automatic? Single boiler, heat exchange or double boiler? Is the E61 brew group really that great?

Our goal here at Seattle Coffee Gear is to provide as complete of a picture as we can about as many machines as possible. We read through user reviews to develop general pros and cons, have our techs test out the machines, experiment with different grinders to see how they perform with different machines and, ultimately, drink way more coffee than we should. All of this informs our YouTube videos, the writing we do here, our product descriptions and -- one of the best resources we have -- our Side by Side Compare tool.

If you're just learning about espresso machines and aren't sure what will meet your needs and budget, this tool is a great place to start. We've organized the different machine classes by price range and compared their performance against each other, so you can see technical facts like how hot they brew or which type of pump they have and more subjective assessments such as the ease of use or quality of shot.

We're constantly updating and adding machines to these pages, so definitely check them out if you're in the market for a machine.

Green Machine

We're all more conscientious these days about our environmental footprint -- what we do every day and how that impacts the world around us -- and our pocketbook. What started as a random inquiry every now and again eventually developed into a dull roar...people wanted to trade in their machines on new ones, and they wanted to find a way to keep their fully intact machine out of a landfill.

So we developed our Trade-in and Recycling Program to fill this need: Basically, we'll take a look at your current espresso machine or grinder and determine if has any resale value. If it does, we'll give you a store credit, then we'll clean up your old machine and find a new home for it. If the machine isn't worth refurbishing, however, we will break it down into all of its components, reuse any parts that are still good and then recycle most of the rest.

If you're interested in the program, just contact us and let us know the make, model, age and condition of your machine. We'll get back to you with a rough estimate and tell you how to deliver your machine to us. From there, we'll give it a final assessment and let you know the exact amount of your credit -- then you can choose a new, upgraded model!

Crew Review: Capresso Coffee TEAM

Any drip coffee lovers in the house? If you're looking to swap out an older drip coffee brewer and are interested in a high quality grinding-and-brewing combo, Capresso's Coffee TEAM is an awesome solution. You can program it to freshly grind and brew your drip coffee in the morning, so you'll be lulled out of sleep by the softly wafting scent of java creeping out of your kitchen. Well, it'll be either the scent or the sound of the grinder, but we're all about accentuating the sumptuous here.

In this video, Gail shows us the Coffee TEAM and brews up a delicious cup of coffee.

You're So Cool

We can't help but hear Patricia Arquette's refrain in the second-to-last scene of True Romance when we look at the Jura Capresso Cool Control Automatic Milk Cooler. But instead of slipping it a note with hearts on it, we'll just write about it here.

This handy little gadget is fairly lo-fi, costs pennies to run each day and will keep your milk cool and easily accessible on your counter top for all of your favorite latte or cappuccino drinks. It directly connects to the frothXpress adapter that is featured on many of the Jura superautomatic espresso machines (such as the Z5, Z6, C9 & S9 One Touch, S7, J5, F8, F9 and Ena 5) and will cool your milk to 39F, the perfect temperature for fluffly, frothy foam!

If you've ever forgotten about your thermal milk container and suffered through cleaning up some nasty ol' milk, gift yourself with never doing that dirty job again! The Cool Control will keep the cottage cheese out of your lattes and in your favorite...dish? We're not actually sure how people use cottage cheese.

Jura Ena5 Wins Good Design 2008 Award

This is cool!

One of our favorite machines, the Jura Ena 5, recently received a 2008 Good Design award from the Chicago Athenaeum. It's one of the most prestigious design awards and focus on a high quality blend of form, function and aesthetic. Judging was performed by a panel of design specialists, who based their selections on concept, materials, utility, energy-efficiency, cutting-edge design, construction and sensitivity to the environment.

Winners of this award become a permanent part of the Chicago Athenaeum's exhibit, touring around the US and abroad. We also honored the Ena series in this video on its awesome features and functionality.