Small commercial coffee machines - suitable for use at home?
With millions more people working from home since the start of the pandemic, there has, unsurprisingly, been soaring demand for high-quality domestic coffee machines.
But some households drink more coffee than others and may actually find they could benefit from something a little bigger. So we decided to explore whether upgrading from a domestic coffee machine like a Jura Z8 to a small commercial coffee machine like a Jura X10 might make sense for some.
In our view, as we explain below, it probably does…particularly if you have enough space in your home to accommodate a slightly larger machine. Let’s have a closer look at these two coffee machines.
Bigger machines bring added convenience
The Jura X10 is 5cm. wider and 14cm. taller than the Jura Z8, while the depth of the two machines is actually the same. So not really a big difference in overall size, but the benefits of moving up a league in coffee machine terms are actually quite significant in terms of added convenience.
For a start, the X10’s larger dimensions mean you get a lot more water storage - 5 litres in fact, which is more than double the Z8’s 2.4 litres. This means less time spent filling the water tank.
With the X10 you’ll also spend less time emptying trays as its waste containers hold twice as much as those of the Z8 (40 portions of coffee waste compared to 20).
The bean hopper on the X10 holds a full 1kg. of coffee beans, while the Z8’s hopper holds just 280g. That means far fewer fill-ups.
What about drink dispensing?
The benefits of the X10 are already stacking up, but another pretty big one is that it can make two milky drinks simultaneously. With so many of us now working from home, this seems to us a pretty significant benefit, because you’ll spend less time actually making your coffee. And that means more time between your Zoom calls to relax and enjoy drinking it.
While the Z8 can produce 2 “black” drinks simultaneously, the X10 trumps that because it can make 2 cappuccinos or 2 lattes or 2 flat whites at once. This is a really great facility which is only available on Jura’s X8, X10 and GIGA ranges. In fact the X10 offers a total of 31 drink products, compared with the 21 available from the Z8.
Price Comparison
The Jura X10 with 1-litre cool control currently costs £3,250, compared with £2,775 for the Z8.
The additional £475 for the X10 over the Z8 needs to be considered, however, in the context of the overall lifespan of the machine. These machines typically last for 10 or more years, so an additional annual outlay of just £47 gets you all the extra convenience and functionality which come as standard with a fully-fledged commercial-grade coffee machine.
Conclusion
If you have the budget and the space the X10 is, in our view, definitely the superior choice. With it you get commercial-grade build quality and a step-up in functionality and convenience from a machine which is only marginally larger than a Z8.
At this point we should probably also mention the GIGA 6 - Jura's Household flagship machine, which is a little larger than the Z8 but comes in at £3945 with the 1 litre cool control, so £695 more than the X10. It offers twin ceramic grinders and like the X10 it can produce 2 milk drinks simultaneously.
If you’d like to learn more about the Jura X10 coffee machine, or have a demo online, please contact us today on 01892 322007.