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Gaggia Classic Evo Pro 2.1L 1200W Espresso Machine (Brushed Stainless Steel)
$399
$499
20% off
+ Free S/Hat Amazon
Top Comments
The ones being sent out now are just bare aluminum boilers... and unfortunately, the big issue with that is a concern about galvanic corrosion because of the brass grouphead. I haven't had mine long enough so I can't comment on this galvanic corrosion issue but just informing people what the latest complaints are.
There is new a version with a brass boiler called "Gaggia Classic Pro E24". It's about $100 more expensive than this version and is probably worth it if you just want to avoid the potential issues surrounding an aluminum boiler in this machine. It's been rumored that they will eventually sell the boiler separately so you can also choose to "upgrade" the boiler from aluminum to brass later on, but the price is also rumored to be about $150 for the brass boiler alone so it's cheaper to just buy the E24 version now if you know you're going to upgrade to brass later on.
BTW, this is the same price on whole latte love (with a $50 coupon that's right on the product page). There are pros and cons for both vendors.
If you decide to return this for any reason (within the first month), returns are a lot easier through amazon, but if you decide to keep his long term, WLL will most likely provide you with the better customer service/warranty support after the return period.
First, if you're a milk drink only kind of person, I find that you really don't benefit from any upgrades if you can get your milk froth to the right consistency with the cheapo unit. The milk masks bad espresso.
Next, if you want to explore the world of crema and the perfect shot, you cannot use a standard grinder and a pressurized basket with all the stupid plastic bits. The taste of a pressurized basket filter is oddly flat and oxidized due to how the basket shoots a needle of espresso into a plastic aerator. Yuck!
I've got both the Baratza Encore ESP and the Fellow Opus, and some cheapo amazon hand burr grinder. All work well enough for a bottomless portafilter. Finding a proper portafilter is a bit tricky, but worth the challenge. Seeing and tasting real crema is awesome! I love watching the tan cream flow out of the small holes. The shots with crema tast like a bit of cream is added. It's hard with these low cost units to dial things in, since your grind size is your only tunable metric to create the backpressure and control flow.
Once you're here, then getting a new machine with more precise flow and temperature control will get you that next step. I'm still perfectly happy with my DeLonghi Stilosa and a bottomless portafilter. The cheapo unit ceratinly is a step down. I guess next, I'll have to consider PID temperature and flow control to get to the next step and guarantee better and more consistently good espresso, since that's the point of spending more. I'm not ready to spend $1000 quite yet though.
I hope my scattered musings helps.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
The ones being sent out now are just bare aluminum boilers... and unfortunately, the big issue with that is a concern about galvanic corrosion because of the brass grouphead. I haven't had mine long enough so I can't comment on this galvanic corrosion issue but just informing people what the latest complaints are.
There is new a version with a brass boiler called "Gaggia Classic Pro E24". It's about $100 more expensive than this version and is probably worth it if you just want to avoid the potential issues surrounding an aluminum boiler in this machine. It's been rumored that they will eventually sell the boiler separately so you can also choose to "upgrade" the boiler from aluminum to brass later on, but the price is also rumored to be about $150 for the brass boiler alone so it's cheaper to just buy the E24 version now if you know you're going to upgrade to brass later on.
BTW, this is the same price on whole latte love (with a $50 coupon that's right on the product page). There are pros and cons for both vendors.
If you decide to return this for any reason (within the first month), returns are a lot easier through amazon, but if you decide to keep his long term, WLL will most likely provide you with the better customer service/warranty support after the return period.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
First, if you're a milk drink only kind of person, I find that you really don't benefit from any upgrades if you can get your milk froth to the right consistency with the cheapo unit. The milk masks bad espresso.
Next, if you want to explore the world of crema and the perfect shot, you cannot use a standard grinder and a pressurized basket with all the stupid plastic bits. The taste of a pressurized basket filter is oddly flat and oxidized due to how the basket shoots a needle of espresso into a plastic aerator. Yuck!
I've got both the Baratza Encore ESP and the Fellow Opus, and some cheapo amazon hand burr grinder. All work well enough for a bottomless portafilter. Finding a proper portafilter is a bit tricky, but worth the challenge. Seeing and tasting real crema is awesome! I love watching the tan cream flow out of the small holes. The shots with crema tast like a bit of cream is added. It's hard with these low cost units to dial things in, since your grind size is your only tunable metric to create the backpressure and control flow.
Once you're here, then getting a new machine with more precise flow and temperature control will get you that next step. I'm still perfectly happy with my DeLonghi Stilosa and a bottomless portafilter. The cheapo unit ceratinly is a step down. I guess next, I'll have to consider PID temperature and flow control to get to the next step and guarantee better and more consistently good espresso, since that's the point of spending more. I'm not ready to spend $1000 quite yet though.
I hope my scattered musings helps.
First, if you're a milk drink only kind of person, I find that you really don't benefit from any upgrades if you can get your milk froth to the right consistency with the cheapo unit. The milk masks bad espresso.
Next, if you want to explore the world of crema and the perfect shot, you cannot use a standard grinder and a pressurized basket with all the stupid plastic bits. The taste of a pressurized basket filter is oddly flat and oxidized due to how the basket shoots a needle of espresso into a plastic aerator. Yuck!
I've got both the Baratza Encore ESP and the Fellow Opus, and some cheapo amazon hand burr grinder. All work well enough for a bottomless portafilter. Finding a proper portafilter is a bit tricky, but worth the challenge. Seeing and tasting real crema is awesome! I love watching the tan cream flow out of the small holes. The shots with crema tast like a bit of cream is added. It's hard with these low cost units to dial things in, since your grind size is your only tunable metric to create the backpressure and control flow.
Once you're here, then getting a new machine with more precise flow and temperature control will get you that next step. I'm still perfectly happy with my DeLonghi Stilosa and a bottomless portafilter. The cheapo unit ceratinly is a step down. I guess next, I'll have to consider PID temperature and flow control to get to the next step and guarantee better and more consistently good espresso, since that's the point of spending more. I'm not ready to spend $1000 quite yet though.
I hope my scattered musings helps.
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AKA if you drink lattes, stick with the cheaper unit. I used to drink lattes but once I got into cortados I can't go back. I have this same exact Gaggia unit and it's great, but if I stuck to lattes I wouldn't bother upgrading.
A final word of advice, if you do go down the espresso rabbit hole, don't skimp on a grinder. A 6000 dollar machine, when paired with a 100 dollar grinder, will taste pretty much the same as a 500 dollar machine. Your grinder should cost about as much as half or 60 percent of your espresso machine.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope this helps.
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