Jura was host to a select group of retail partners and media for the exclusive launch of what the company describes as its ‘most sophisticated’ fully automatic coffee machine – the GIGA 6. Also in attendance was Jura global CEO, Emanuel Probst, global service manager, Peter van Rohr and export manager, Eveline Fink from the Jura head office in Switzerland.
Launching in Australia on 1 March, 2020, the machine is a result of close to A$3 million in research and development and new production tools with more than 70 engineers behind the inner workings of the machine, the GIGA 6 is designed for coffee lovers who want ‘the best of the best’ coffee machine in their home, which comes as no surprise given the $6,490 price tag.
The Jura GIGA 6 fully automatic coffee machine
Jura Australia managing director, George Liakatos said, “As a fully automatic coffee machine specialist, we need to be at the forefront of innovation and new technology and the GIGA 6 represents the very best in coffee as the company’s most luxury and premium machine.”
Unique to the GIGA 6 is the ability to prepare a Spanish cortado – the Australian equivalent of a piccolo – a short, milk coffee with Pulse Extraction Process (P.E.P.) espresso, but at the heart of the GIGA 6 is Artificial Intelligence (AI) which means the coffee machine learns personal preferences and adapts the start screen on the 4.3-inch high resolution display accordingly.
“We are seeing many products move towards the connected home as consumers expect remote access via their smartphone and as the Internet of Things (IoT) grows, the technology will only become more advanced,” Liakatos said.
Jura Australia managing director, George Liakatos with Jura Australia retail manager, Sylvia Occhipinti
The GIGA 6 is also accompanied by the Jura Operating Experience (J.O.E.) app, available on Android and iOS devices, including Apple Watch. First introduced in 2018, the app is designed to put the machine interface in the palm of the user’s hand. A recent update to the app is the ability to assign Siri shortcuts to coffee specialties – for example, ‘Hey Siri, prepare espresso’ which was demonstrated by Liakatos at the GIGA 6 launch event. J.O.E. can also prompt users about machine maintenance with short videos of operating tips.
Jura has also introduced Automatic Grinder Adjustment, allowing the two ceramic disc grinders to automatically adjust while preparing coffee to consistently enhance the flavour and taste for the lifetime of the machine. In addition to two grinders, the GIGA 6 has two bean hoppers, ideal for coffee drinkers who wish to blend coffee or for those who drink decaf as they can set one of the hoppers to a decaf setting.
With two grinders, two pumps and two fluid systems, the GIGA 6 can make two coffees simultaneously. Further, the GIGA 6 allows users to adjust the milk temperature, auto switch from milk to milk foam and program the exact amount of both milk and milk foam to suit the cup size.