I-Roasted...

Recently I was on holiday in a remote place armed with a good Jura coffee machine, and some green bean, and an I-Roast, an excellent domestic roaster. And I was happy to spend time reaquanting myself with the little roaster.

I first used the I-roast over 4 years ago, and had some fun learning the nuances of the roasting of green bean, but it was only after spending time in front of larger more commercial raoster, the Diedrich that I started to really play with the I-Roast. And I learnt then that slowly heating the bean, then after 6-7 mins increasing the temp slowly that you go great results, close to the commercial roaster, but with a smaller volume.

So armed with my historical knowledge I was fortunate enough to have Yirgacheffe green bean, which I prefer at the moment of second crack, and away I went. For interest this is what the end program looked like:

1. Temp 160°C, time 6:45
2. Temp 170°C, time 30sec
3. Temp 180°C, time 30sec
4. Temp 190°C, time 30sec
5. Temp 200°C, time 30sec

and this did the trick. The roaster is a little noisy but it is so cool watching as the green bean, become a greeny brown, then light brown then darker and darker. But don't stare at the horizon too long, since then you will miss is. And then after the 4 minute cool down, I found a 30 minute resting period was best before enjoying a freshly ground brew.

Jura Ena9 is here

Jura Ena 9 making
a Cappuccino

After nearly a year of waiting, South African’s can finally purchase the Ena⁹ One Touch domestic automatic coffee machine.

Was in Europe First

The Ena⁹ One Touchwas released in Europe early in 2010, and offers Jura’s take on one button methodology, where you can make, espresso, coffee, cappuccino and latte at a single press of one button.
The Ena range is Jura’s range focused on the domestic market.

So what is it like?

Well as far as a one touch cappuccino machine it is a pleasure. Attach the pipe, and simply press a button, and the milk is frothed, then coffee is added. It makes a good cappuccino, more in the latte style than in the barista style, but for an automatic, that is a compromise we have seen many people happy with.
And since it is part of the one touch range it will ask to start the internal frother rinsing cycle after not making a milk based drink for 5 minutes, which is a necessary feature.

Tell us something that is great

When I originally heard of the aroma boost button, I must be totally honest I initially thought it was a stupid feature, but having worked with many coffee drinkers; they seem to have a problem understanding what makes an espresso and what makes a coffee. So essentially the aroma boost is either an espresso shot or a double espresso shot (depending if you press it once or twice)
Another great feature is that all the buttons are programmable in the typical Jura way. Which is so easy to use, and easy to explain; and best of all are easy to override when you need something different

Why domestic only?

One of the biggest problems automatic coffee machines suffer from is incorrect allocation of the machine to its purpose. We see so many offices that purchase a domestic machine and then wonder why it falls over all the time. We class this machine as a domestic machine since the typical domestic environment consumes no more the 10 cups of coffee a day, and typically average only 3 or 4 cups a day. Anything more than that I we would not recommend the Ena range, since the water tank takes only 1.1 litres, the bean hopper 110g; and you can only do 10 cups before emptying the grinds.