Gaggia Baby Class

bad bad bad – Good looking but bad product. The brewing group seal becomes brittle every 3 moths. The control panel sometimes, after the machine has cooled down and was restarted again, would start/stop the machine in quick succession. After that happened we had to keep it on all the time. It blew one of the boilers which got repaired under warranty but after a… Read more

short while it blew the second one which they said was because of me for not descaling it often enough. On top of that, bad corrosion on the drip tray, could see the paint blistering with white stuff inside the blister. looks built quality is very low

Stunning to look at, fiddly at first – I decided to splash out & buy a Gaggia. It's sleek, stainless steel design always attracts comments from guests. Caution: this is not a machine for a novice! After a bit of practice (& 6 coffees later!!) I finally perfected the use of this machine....once you get the hang of it (coupled with using the right beans of course) this machine… Read more

makes a beautiful coffee.

Priming is essential with this machine, but I guarantee its worth the extra hassle.

I make 2-4 cappuccinos a day, I can say its never let me down. Sleek design, makes a beautiful strong cappuccino The only negative about this machine is that's its a little noisy. Need to remember to prime the machine before use.

Great machine! Delicious coffees! – After 7 years faithful service from our Breville coffee machine, it was time for an upgrade. I did lots of research on the internet, and asked advice from a coffee connoisseur relative, narrowing my range of options to two or three brands. Our family budget forced us to rule out a couple of machines I would have preferred, and I finally settled on… Read more ·  1

a Gaggia Baby Class. Italian machines usually guarantee you good quality and durability.

Being a boiler machine, rather than the common thermoblock variety, it has taken longer to learn how to get the best coffee out of it, but the effort is worth it. Well at least, my niece visited today and declared my cappuccino excellent!

I do like the fact that the Gaggia Baby Class is stainless steel, and it is a great-looking product sitting on the kitchen bench. It has a warming plate on top, which can be used to pre-warm your cups. There is also a 1.6L water tank at the back which is very easy to get out and fill. However, there are a couple of pieces of advice I would give to anyone considering buying one of these machines:

1. If you are planning to entertain a lot, and make lots of coffees for your guests, save up a bit more and choose a bigger machine. The Gaggia Baby Class is great though if you just make 2-4 coffees. It takes 6-10 minutes to prime up before using, so allow at least this time after turning it on before trying to make your coffee.

2. I have avoided using the word, "espresso" in this review, because our Baby came with the new Crema Perfetta system for extracting the coffee, and what you get is not a true espresso, even though it looks like it. This system has pressurized baskets for the portafilter, and a little plastic peg that goes in the hole, which would be easily lost. I'd advise that you pick up a couple of non-pressurized baskets to extract "real" espresso. These can be obtained easily for under $10 each.

3. The steam wand is a little tricky to get used to, but if you follow the enclosed directions, with practice you can get a really nice, silky foam on your milk, and make wonderful cappuccinos and lattes. If you are a real coffee geek, you may prefer to get the steam wand from a Rancilio Silvia, and with a little fiddling you can get it to attach to the Gaggia, and I believe it froths the milk even better, though I can't say this from personal experience.

In summary, the Gaggia Baby Class is a great machine which delivers beautiful espresso and makes wonderful lattes and cappuccinos, as long as you are prepared to read and follow the instructions carefully, get lots of practice, and do a bit of experimentation. Also read the experiences of others on websites such as www.coffeesnobs.com.au or www.coffeegeeks.com. Well-built, attractive machine, makes great coffee, any way you like it. I prefer the non-pressurized baskets for a genuine espresso, and the panatella wand is tricky to get used to.