The one thing to note about the grinder hopper is that there's no rubber seal around the lid as there is with the Brera, which means two things. I put hot water into the cappuccino cup, to warm that up, and then I have a glass espresso cup like this one, with a handle. Ultimately, I’d say the espresso from the Gaggia Anima Prestige is above average in comparison with other machines. It is possible to tailor both modes to produce anywhere between 10ml and 230ml of coffee, however, so there is leeway for getting a balance between the two, depending on your own personal tastes. If there's no integrated milk system cleaning program in your appliance, see the following instructions.

Similarly to the Brera it has simple buttons and little in the way of frills, as a result it’s one of Gaggias best bean to cup machines where value for money is concerned, and it’s also very durable. It’s born out of deep passion for espresso and a sincere desire to make high-quality coffee available to everyone.The steam isn't quite as quick to get going as with the anima, but there's plenty of steam power once it's going. This is a good thing: we experimented with lowering the settings, and with our selection of beans from Square Mile Coffee Roasters, the results were disappointingly watery and thin. Great coffee machine I would of said it’s absolutely brilliant if it did not make loud squeaking noises. This allows you to brew a different blend of coffee without changing the beans but using the ground coffee selected. Drip tray, drip tray plate, coffee pucks container, water tank, pannarello, cappuccinatore, CappinCup and milk carafe are removable and should be washed under tap water, with a bit of dish soap, but no abrasive substances nor solvents.

It is possible to adjust the grinder settings by pushing and rotating the knob inside the coffee beans container with the grinder adjustment key (end of the measuring spoon), one notch at at time, and only when the machine is grinding. The only caveat with this is that your first espresso of the day if you make it as soon as the machine warms up, may be a bit on the cool side, due to the fact that the brew unit itself hasn't yet warmed up. The Optiaroma feature allows you to personalise the intensity and flavour of your espresso by giving you the choice over the quantity of ground coffee per cup among the five beverage selections.The way they brew the coffee is very similar to a manual system but instead of you doing the grinding and tamping, the machine does it for you. Whether you want the simplicity of bean-to-cup or crave a domestic barista status—Gaggia is there to fulfill all your needs. So, let’s put this machine head-to-head with a couple of other affordable super automatic espresso machines.