On returning from holiday skiing in Italy having enjoyed great Italian espresso, latte and cappuccinos, my wife bought me this Gaggia for my birthday. Incredibly generous of her, I had always lusted after a Gaggia.I was 100% right to.
My wife had done plenty of research into which Gaggia to get me, and the Gaggia Classic seemed to consistently raved about. Now it's my turn to.
Really easy to assemble, though having to remove the chrome overflow pipe to remove the tank was tricky (it's screwing it back on that's tricky as you could lose the pipe you have to screw it onto inside - maybe it was a problem with my machine).
Anyway, with minutes, I had it set up, filled with water and switched on. The tank holds loads and is very easy to fill. There's spaced for a few espresso cups and saucers on top to warm, though if you do want them to warm up, and get really hot coffee too, I agree with the other reviewers that you need to leave it on a while to really heat up.
The filter holder is very sturdy, in fact the whole machine is so robust and well put together you can feel the quality. It comes with two filter cups, one and two cup, but you'll probably only use the two cup filter cup.
It is a bit noisy, but I don't care. It's a powerful machine and you get the impression it's very much function over form with this Gaggia. It does whatever it takes to get the best possible cup of coffee.
The espresso is superb. The milk frother takes a bit of getting used to but is really effective, creating a really good frothy cappuccino time after time - you will have to rinse the frother nozzle though after each use. the only criticism is that the nozzle is quite low to the level of your worktop so getting a cup under it can be tricky. Not a real problem though.
Everyone who tastes the coffee that it produces falls in love with it and wants a Gaggia - I reckon we've probably sold 2-3 machines for Gaggia so far. If you're reading this Gaggia, we'd like commission!
Seriously though, if you want a sturdy machine, built to last, that's great looking, but not just for design’s sake, that makes impeccable coffees, this is it.
This is the second Gaggia I’ve had. I thought my little Cubika was great, but the pump was a little unreliable. It produced excellent coffee though.However, this machine just makes it pale into insignificance! The crema is really good on my very hot espresso; the noise from the machine is minimal by comparison to others I’ve had before; and the ease of use – literally flip a switch and away you go. The turbo frother not only works really well getting quite a stiff foam, but I find it really easy to clean.
Only tip is that you really must leave the machine to warm up sufficiently, or you’ll end up with tepid coffee and I can’t stress enough that you really must have good fresh beans too.
All in all really very pleased with the machine – although I am now spending twice the amount on coffee than before as it is so easy to make a really good latte I have at least twice the number!
It’s robust, it works very well, it’s not hugely expensive. What more can I say?
