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

Product Information

This machine simply has two buttons, and you can very simply (pressing and holding) re-set them, so you can have one as your espresso, and one as your lungo for example. As discussed at the beginning of this post, when I talk about domestic espresso machines, I'm talking about traditional (usually semi auto, or “pump” machines) espresso machines which are made to be cheaper, and easier to use straight out of the box without developing barista skills. 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. Simple espresso memory: Re-set volumes by simply pressing and holding the espresso or lungo button. Home barista espresso machines, also known as prosumer espresso machines, are basically commercial-grade espresso machines made for home use. Although they're made smaller, and (most of the time, but not always) cheaper, they use the same technology as commercial machines – to pull shots of espresso at 9 bars of pressure via standard filter baskets.

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.These kinds of machines are made to work with pre-ground coffee beans or with cheaper grinders which wouldn't be capable of grinding for espresso with a home barista espresso machine, and they create espresso in a slightly different way than traditional commercial and prosumer or home barista espresso machines. The original Accademia was known for being built like a tank and being a real workhorse, often used by busy offices which really should have installed a commercial machine! From what I can tell, they've not changed anything internally which will make this updated model any different in that regard.

There's another difference with this machine which doesn't concern the milk, which is unusual actually as the difference between the versions in each range is usually just down to milk – the hopper lid on the prestige has a rubber seal around the hopper lid. I'm not sure why all machines don't have this, to be honest – not only for freshness (and as I've said, I wouldn't recommend leaving beans in the hopper anyway) but because a rubber seal on the hopper lid does tend to dampen some of the grinding noise.

The carafe version is the most expensive version, usually called the “prestige” version, and these machines handle the milk via a carafe, funnily enough ;-). Standard bean to cup machines are also known as semi automatic, or “one touch coffee” machines, and these handle the coffee side of things at the touch of a button, and have a steam wand for the user to steam the milk. All of the Gaggia bean to cup coffee machines, plus the Gaggia Classic and both of the Gaggia Carezza coffee machines are manufactured in Bologna, Northern Italy. The Gaggia Viva range and Gran Gaggia range are made in China. Gaggia Vs DeLonghi, who make the best coffee machines? There's not a great deal to say here, this is simply the carafe version of the Magenta. The features are the same as the slightly cheaper “milk” version, above, the only difference is that the milk goes in the carafe which slots onto the machine, and the frothing is handled in the carafe, so it looks a bit neater than with the cappuccinatore version, that's about it. It's also more advanced where espresso is concerned than most home bean to cup machines. You have 5 dose settings, plus a boost setting which adds another ristretto to any coffee, it'll do a true double shot when you select two cups instead of one (via two consecutive grind & shot cycles), it has a flow restrictor on the front which allows you to choose from three settings (it shows up on the touch screen which one you've selected), you even have control over brew temp (3 settings) and pre-infusion (also 3 settings).

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. But they've called this the Gaggia Espresso, nevertheless, and the Gaggia Espresso Style is the cheaper option, all plastic, the Gaggia Espresso Deluxe has a metal cup warmer, metal rails, and a metal drip tray cover. There's also the Evolution version which is similar to the Deluxe but with slightly different aesthetics, which isn't currently available in the UK. Most of the Gaggia bean to cup machines have three versions, the standard version, a version with a cappuccinatore frother, and a carafe version. In the UK, I recommend Gaggia Direct, in Elland near Halifax. As I mentioned earlier, these folk were Gaggia UK until Philips bought the company and closed the business here, at which point the former MD of Gaggia UK set up Gaggia Direct (Caffe Shop Ltd) to become the sole UK distributor for Gaggia Milan.

Good coffee and great build quality, but you can get the identical Philips Saeco Poemia for less

But regardless of this history, both companies are currently extremely successful with their coffee machines, and both have a large range – so to try to determine which is best we'd have to do this on a machine by machine basis. Home barista machines aren't coffee machines that the everyday “normal” coffee drinker can just take out of the box and start making great coffee at the touch of a button. You'd need a grinder too, one which is capable of grinding for espresso, which the cheapest grinders usually aren't. More importantly, you'd need home barista skills, and these take time and effort to hone. There’s just 75mm of clearance underneath the group handle, so we couldn’t fit our regular test mug under. You’ll need to buy some smaller mugs or espresso cups and decant the coffee into a large mug if you want to make longer drinks, such as an Americano. 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.