WHAT makes for a great-tasting cup of coffee? It's a combination of many things…  Freshly-roasted and finely-ground beans are always the most ideal to start with. Fresh and cold tap, mineral or spring but not distilled water is best. The right proportion of water to coffee grounds is likewise crucial.  And then, of course, if you are using a simple espresso machine for your home or something that's a little more state-of-the-art, any coffee afficionado worth his or her salt will tell you that only the branded ones made by European manufacturers like JURA Elektroapparate AG of Switzerland extracts the aroma better than their cheaper, commercial counterparts. This in turn, naturally translates to some of the best-tasting cups of coffee you'll ever get the pleasure of sipping.

JURA's three main criteria are outstanding design, simple operation and the best coffee result. By outstanding design, JURA means compact espresso machines for the home characterized by clean lines and beautifully finished surfaces that have consistently won international design prizes.

One look at JURA's IMPRESSA J7 and IMPRESSA J9 One Touch machines and they look like high-end audio appliances that would look great not just in the kitchen but in any other room in the house, for that matter. Ditto with the IMPRESSA C9, the Top of the Line IMPRESSA Z7 and the slim and sexy ENA7 and ENA9 machines that all embody elegance, sophistication and function in compact enclosures that are conversation pieces in themselves.

As simple operation goes, nothing can be more intuitive than JURA's interactive plain text dialog screen that makes it easy for anyone to serve a cappucino or latte machiato at the touch of a single button. Coffee strength, temperature, water and milk quantities are all adjustable not only in the IMPRESSA J9 One Touch but also in other equally state-of-the-art models like the IMPRESSA J7, the IMPRESSA C9, the IMPRESSA Z7, the ENA7 and the ENA9 models. There's nothing intimidating about the user-friendliness of these machines.

“Because of their versatility, JURA machines are designed to give coffee lovers complete freedom of choice, fresh from the bean down to your cup,” says Conlins Coffee World Vice President Lloyd Eric Conlin. “The open system for the fully automatic machines allows us to get the maximum taste from any coffee blend. Your own preferences decide.”