Gaggia RI8323/01 Gran Style Coffee Machine, 950 W, 15 Bar, Black

Product Information

Again, thank you so much for the personal and quite excellent information on this knowledge journey! I wasn't expecting a lot from this machine, to be honest, I thought it was just going to be another entry level 15 bar pressurised portafilter espresso machine. I was wrong! Gaggia and DeLonghi are among the biggest names in coffee machines at the time of writing, and it's fair to say that both have become trusted brand names. It's incredibly difficult to make a sweeping statement about which company make the best coffee machines, both Gaggia and DeLonghi have a great reputation when it comes to their coffee machines.

Usually, if I'm using a bean to cup machine for review purposes, I'll pull off the Panarello and use the steam pipe underneath as a pro steam wand, which is fine, it's doable with some practice, but it's not quite as good as using a proper steam wand, and you don't usually quite have the length you need to get into the milk jug, so it can be a bit of a faff doing it that way. So, this would be the bean to cup machine I'd go for if I wanted to go down this route. The manual doesn’t say to tamp the coffee, but we found we got the best results by tamping using the flat bottom of the measuring cup. The group handle has a pressurised diaphragm, which is designed to help produce better crema. The design is a little strange, as the handle is slightly sprung, so it moves to the left when you let go of it. That makes it hard to line up the spouts if you want to make two cups. the vapor button is for activating the vapor hose, no light here because you hear the noise of the vapor coming out from the hose (I repeat, be careful since vapor burns). For example, you might find that you prefer a flat white made with a double ristretto over one made with a double espresso – some baristas insist that it should be ristretto, but flat white is a hugely contentious drink, no one seems to be able to agree on exactly what it is and what its origins are ;-). I say it's whatever you want it to be, so if you go for this machine, try it with ristretto and with espresso, see which you prefer. Best Gaggia one touch bean to cup coffee machines froth density levels on the Accademia – the only Gaggia coffee machine I'm aware of with adjustable froth density.

Price comparison

So I suppose my question summed up would be…. Does the Gaggia Anima Deluxe provide the same ability to manually get the same Milk froth results as the Gaggia Anima Barista Plus? This is the new version of the Accademia, and they've basically given it a design overhaul along with a few upgrades, including a much bigger touch screen display, with the option of controlling it via the dial if you prefer, or a combination of the two. Wait, did I say there was only one true Gaggia home barista espresso machine? I lied ;-). OK, this is still the Classic Pro, but it's the limited edition “Acrobat” version. These are numbered limited edition versions carrying the special acrobat barista artwork. I believe there are a few of these left, and at this discounted price, personally, if I was buying a classic pro, I'd buy the Acrobat version. As with the Magenta range, the coffees are really simple to change when it comes to strength, volume & temperature, and it's really simple to save each setting to your own profile.

It has a bigger water tank than most, and a bigger waste coffee drawer capacity than most of the others too – which means filling the water tank and emptying the waste coffee container less.

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This was until Mr. Gaggia cleverly flipped that into a positive, and coined the phrase “Crema” which was marketed as a positive byproduct of this new (at the time) espresso-making technology. Judging from the photo you are missing the most important accessory, the filter holder, without that it's impossible to brew coffee. Without that, you can only use the vapor hose (beware of burns) for frothing milk for cappuccino (but you would need coffee made from another source) or heating water for infusions (tea and so on). Try asking politely to your neighbor if there is any chance to retrieve the filter holder, most probably the ones that are sold nowadays won't fit your machine.

It has the ability to top up the water if you notice you're close to running out mid-shot, which is a handy feature – and being able to input your water hardness is another handy feature, as it means the frequency of the descale reminders will be appropriate for the water hardness in your area. You can also adjust the brew temperature on the Anima, which is a feature you don't often see on coffee machines at this kind of price point. To conclude, Gaggia produce quite a range of machines, as you know now from reading this post – and hopefully, you'll also now have a much better idea of which Gaggia coffee machine is right for you, or at least which type of coffee machine would be the best match for you, which is a start at least. As with the Magenta milk, the Cadorna milk is the cappuccinatore (or capp in cup as they've started to refer to these particular types of cappuccinatore as) version, but it's a one touch coffee machine as the carafe version is. This is an interesting looking little bean to cup machine from Gaggia, at first glance it resembles something like an air fryer or deep fat fryer than it does a coffee machine ;-). A coffee machine though it certainly is, and a very inexpensive one, too.The Anima is one of the bean to cup machines from Gaggia that I think really hits the sweet spot when it comes to price point vs features. It's more advanced where milk is concerned than most bean to cup machines, giving you not an either-or scenario (either the control of a steam wand or the convenience of a one-touch carafe) but the best of both worlds, and both systems are really good, the auto steam clean after each one touch milk cycle is great, the steam wand is really easy to use & the fact that there's a purge button on the screen is great, and that you're prompted to purge after steaming with the wand. It's quite unusual to have a one touch bean to cup coffee machine with a café au lait selection, although whether the café au lait this machine delivers will be what you are expecting, depends on what you're expecting, of course ;-). As with the flat white, if you ask a dozen baristas to describe exactly what this beverage is, you'll get a dozen different answers. Gaggia Direct, however, are in the process of creating a drip tray extension, which works as an optional upgrade, you use it as the base and it gives you the kind of drip tray capacity you'd probably expect from a machine of this calibre.