Jura-Capresso 13299 Impressa Z6 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center

This is the ultimate in automated coffee centers for home or office. If you are a regular at coffee shops, paying $4 and up for frothy coffee and milk drinks you can make your own and amortize this machine's initial cost in less than a year. Jura of Switzerland is the leader in this type of automatic coffee centers and it is no wonder they sell so well all over Europe.

I recently purchased the new Z6 after seeing one at William's Sonoma around Christmas. I resisted the temptation to purchase until a friend of mine called and told me he found one under the Christmas tree! We both purchased the Capresso 1500 about 3 years ago and thought those were the "Cat's Meow". Now fast forward to 2007 and the Z6 is here as the super automatic on steroids.

After unpacking I sat down and watched the included DVD twice. Once with my wife and once alone as I set up the machine. After you get through the initial setup and programming the machine is very easy to operate and maintain. Making a coffee drink is as simple as pushing one of 8 drink buttons on the front panel. I like the idea of the thermal milk storage tank but it's recommended that you don't store milk in it after use. I find this a little inconvenient to have to pour the milk into another container. With my previous C1500 I just put the plastic milk jug in the refrigerator and used it the next day.

I bought this unit to replace my C1500 for two major reasons. The first was my C1500 struggled to make a really hot coffee drink. I found myself drinking the beverage too quickly to avoid it getting cold or putting it into the microwave to heat it back up. The Z6 makes a hotter beverage that is much improved but still could be a few degrees hotter in my opinion. The second reason I purchased the Z6 was to get a bigger cup under the spouts. The C1500 was limited in what size cup I could place under the spouts and the Z6 allows me to put virtually any reasonable sized cup under the spout.

The Z6 is a beautiful piece to look at sitting on your counter and will be the envy of many a guest. However it has a chrome finish which appears durable but I would caution you to take extra precautions not to scratch the finish as it would be permanent. I place a paper towel on the lower tray when using ceramic type mugs to avoid scratching.

Update on 05/26/2008

I would like to say that the Z6 has been performing flawlessly for the past year and a half. As long as you perform the routine maintenance the Z6 will provide many years of trouble-free performance. I've also been putting the thermal milk container in the refrigerator with milk in it with no issues.