Jura GIGA 5 Automatic Coffee Center review

Jura GIGA 5 Automatic coffee center

MSRP $7,500.00

“With the Jura GIGA 5, you’ll feel like a professional barista in your own home, even though you’d need a lot of tips to pay for this machine.”

Avg

• The barista setting allows you to step up your coffee game

• Makes coffee quickly

• The milk foam feature is equivalent to boutique coffee shop quality

Against

• Expensive

• It requires a lot of maintenance

What can you expect from a coffee maker that costs more than $5000? Faster service than you could ever get from a barista and over 20 different choices of coffee drinks. The Jura GIGA 5 can do almost everything needed to deliver a sophisticated cup of java, except make a cool design in milk.

Hands on video

Look and feel

We’re just going to come out and say it: the Jura GIGA 5 is one good looking coffee maker. Its aluminum front, smooth spouts and black plastic sides, together with its TFT color display, give it an aesthetic that makes it at home in any fancy kitchen. The front part of the machine has a dedicated spout for hot water and two adjustable spouts for preparing coffee. It’s not immediately clear if the coffee spouts are adjustable, but you can easily move them up and down to accommodate different sized cups. However, the coffee spouts are part of the same mechanism, so they move together. Both spouts are used to prepare one cup of coffee.

The top of the Jura GIGA 5 is just as impressive as the front. There is an on/off button, a rotary switch and a program button. The rotary switch quickly became our favorite part of the machine. First, it’s just plain fun to use and second, it’s the key to navigating the machine’s menu. Oh, and it glows red when in use, which is always a plus. You’ll also find vents on the top of the machine that open when the coffee is brewing, reminiscent of a jet plane preparing to land. Behind the ventilation holes there is a hidden compartment for ground beans, and the coffee spoon is hidden under a nearby black plate.

Further back are two ceramic bean canisters. The advantage of ceramic canisters is that they do not make as much noise when grinding beans. This does not mean that they do not produce noise at all, but it is significantly less than that of a traditional mill. However, after the cup is full, the machine makes an unusually loud sound, as if it is saying “Blam! Here’s your coffee.” Although you can put decaffeinated beans in one and a different blend in another, it’s not always clear on the screen which canister is being used to make the coffee.

On the left side of the machine is a water tank that holds 87 ounces of water. If you are making 6 ounce cups of coffee, you can make approximately 15 cups. In our tests, we found this to be true. Although the instructions suggest changing the water daily, you can get away with adding more water every few days if you only brew a few cups of coffee a day. There is a water filter in the tank. You will want to run water to the machine, if it is installed. If you decide not to use the filter, you can easily remove the tank and fill it in the sink. It returns to its place with ease.

The star of the machine is the color TFT screen. This is what you use to make all the magic happen. On a machine this smooth, you’d think it would be a touchscreen. It’s not. Use the corresponding silver rectangular buttons to select the menu. Navigating the menu isn’t immediately intuitive, as it involves using a rotary switch to select a selection and pressing the appropriate buttons to activate the machine. Once you get the hang of it, using it to select settings and brew coffee is insanely easy.

If you like strong coffee, Jura GIGA 5 will not disappoint you.

There are many settings on the screen. It’s time well spent to go through them all and learn what they do. You can adjust things like coffee strength (they all make a pretty strong cup of Joe), menu background (there are seven options), and Expert mode. When you first set up the machine, go into Expert mode; here you can adjust things like volume, grinder, coffee strength and water temperature. Exiting the menu is a bit confusing and you can get trapped in an endless loop. Press “P” when it appears and you can exit anything. It works like a “back” key.

Features and use

Physically setting up the Jura GIGA 5 is as easy as taking it out of the box, plugging the cable into a socket and turning on the main power button on the back of the machine. It weighs close to 40 pounds, so it’s not exactly light. You only have to take it out of the box once, so it’s not really a problem. It comes with a welcome kit that includes two water purification tablets, a ClearylBlue water filter cartridge (plus an accessory), cappuccino cleaner, two clear milk tubes and a plastic splash guard.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

In terms of features, the Jura GIGA 5 is fully loaded. There’s definitely a reason why most of the videos on it are around eight minutes long. As mentioned, you can brew two cups of coffee at the same time. The device does not accept powdered milk, and the liquid is stored separately in its own container. If you want to make more delicious drinks that include steamed milk, simply attach the included clear tube to one side of the double spout and place the other end in a container of milk. You end up with a cappuccino that could come from any gourmet coffee shop.

Be careful; if you don’t have enough milk in the container, steam will come out of the spout. The good news is that it’s not hot enough to burn your skin, but it’s far from comfortable. This is where the settings come in handy as you can choose how much milk to add. Here’s the interesting thing about that setup: it’s in seconds. So you choose how many seconds you want milk. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the setting right. You will also need to flush the pipe frequently. It’s not dishwasher safe, so if you let a lot of milk residue build up, it can be a chore. Not everyone in the Digital Trends office was diligent about it, so our pipes got weird, fast.

Speaking of cleaning, it’s also a self-cleaning machine. He likes to clean very much. During testing, we had to perform cleaning several times. For comparison, we brewed about 20 cups of coffee. Cleaning does not take that long – for example, flushing the milk system takes 50 seconds. Emptying the used grounds and spray pan is quite simple; it is a bit bulky due to the size and shape of the removable part. Cleaning the machine properly can take up to five minutes. Although there is a removable splash guard that fits flush with the dual spouts, there is quite a bit of splash. After a few months of use, we started to notice some scratches on the machine.

It is also a self-cleaning machine and loves to be cleaned.

The basic settings on the machine are not that basic at all. For each drink you make, you can choose the coffee strength (one to five beans), the size, the water temperature, and the amount of milk and milk foam if applicable. It’s up to you to decide how much customization you want to do. In the main menu, you can make one or two cups of the following: latte macchiato, cappuccino, espresso macchiato, coffee, espresso and ristretto. In this setting, the machine does all the work for you. If milk is required, you will need to make sure that the appropriate amount is in the adjacent cup. The barista menu has all the fun drinks: Marocchino, Pepresso, White Cool, Flavored Latte Macchiato, Irish coffee, Café Mélange, Vienneses, Winter Magic, Shakerato, Mango Lassi, Red Cool and Summer Fire. When you prepare a drink using the Barista setting, the screen guides you through the steps. The nice thing is that you don’t have to rush because it doesn’t move on to the next step until you choose it.

In our tests, we made all the basic coffee options and a few Irish coffees. We have to admit that making Irish coffee was fun. How long it takes to prepare an Irish coffee depends solely on the speed of movement. In the end, they tasted like coffee with a little booze. We appreciated that when brewing Irish coffee, the drink is not added at the end as we thought.

Performance and taste

We’ll just admit it; we’re still a little jittery from all the cups of coffee we’ve brewed and tasted during testing. Yes, we are that dedicated. In our tests, we measured the temperature of the coffee, how long it took to make it, and the overall taste. According to the National Coffee Association, coffee temperature should be maintained at 180 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. It may still be too hot to drink for some, for example, a McDonald’s coffee lawsuit found 175 degrees to be a safe temperature. Here are our results:

Cook	Temperature (Fahrenheit)	Cooking time	Amount of coffee	Amount of cups	Taste
Coffee	153.1	60 seconds	8 oz	1	Balanced
of coffee	150.4	1 minute 26 seconds	8 oz	2	Balanced
Cappuccino	130	48.2 seconds	3 oz/13 seconds of milk froth	1	Strong/perfect lather
Cappuccino	130	1 minute 29 seconds	3 oz/13 seconds of milk froth	2	Strong/perfect lather
Espresso	133.6	28 seconds	1.5 oz	1	Strong
Espresso	134.5	35.5 seconds	1.5 oz	2	Strong
Macchiato Latte	129.2	1 minute 8 seconds	4 oz/4 seconds milk/10 seconds milk foam	1	Balanced
Macchiato Lattes	129	1 minute 16 seconds	4 oz/4 seconds milk/10 seconds milk foam	2	Balanced

We measured the taste based on the type of coffee you would expect from a professional barista. If you like strong coffee, Jura GIGA 5 will not disappoint you. Brews strong coffee, whether you use grounds or fresh beans. For some, the coffee might seem too strong, and then a splash of hot water comes in handy. You can simply add a little hot water to dilute the flavor.

Making a basic cup of joe or a fancy drink with this machine is really very simple and literally only takes a minute. When preparing only one cup, both double spouts are used. In the case of cappuccino, the two spouts leave two dots in the foam when it’s finished. Perfectionists who like to see an even sea of ​​milk foam at the top of the cup might be a little disappointed. Still, it makes a damn good cappuccino with the perfect foam consistency.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

We found that making two cups of coffee at the same time was a little challenging. You have to place the cups close to each other under the opening to make sure the coffee gets into the cup. If you have oddly shaped or thick rimmed cups, this could be difficult. Seriously, this shouldn’t discourage you because you can make a second cup in a minute.

DT accessory package

Step up your game and get the most out of your gear with the following accessories hand-picked by our editors:

Ozeri Modern Artisan Series Cups ($19) If you’re going to have an espresso machine, you’re going to need espresso cups.

Death Wish Coffee ($20) Really, really into strong coffee? This bean is called Death Wish.

Jura Milk Cooler ($200) Need a cappuccino in a jiffy? This refrigerator keeps milk fresh.

Conclusion

It cannot be denied that the Jura GIGA 5 is the Ferrari of coffee machines. It has all the bells and whistles anyone could want and has a look that can fit in the most modern kitchen. The coffee it produced was strong to some, but the machine quickly replaced the three other options here at Digital Trends as the office favorite. Well, after everyone gets used to the machine, it takes a little time to get to know each other.

Like a Ferrari, maintaining a coffee machine takes time and dedication. Although it has many self-cleaning features, you need to monitor it to keep it pristine. As was often said in the office, “You need a maid to maintain this machine.” As we were quick to point out during testing, “If you can afford a $5,000 coffee maker, you probably already have a maid.”

Tall

• The barista setting allows you to step up your coffee game
• Makes coffee quickly
• The milk foam feature is equivalent to boutique coffee shop quality

Falls

• Expensive
• It requires a lot of maintenance

Editor’s recommendations

Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn