Do you want to make espresso at home with a touch of the button? You want a high quality espresso maker but you are budget conscious? Stay with us in this Gaggia Brera review to find out why this super automatic espresso maker could be right for you.
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Gaggia Brera Review: Who It’s For?
The Gaggia Brera Super Automatic espresso machine is perfect for busy professionals who prefers convenience rather than control. You can get your espresso with a push of a button. You can also froth milk with the steam wand if you like to make cappuccino or latte.
That’s not all. You also get a in-built ceramic burr grinder to make aromatic espresso from fresh coffee beans. A ground coffee compartment is also available for you to use ground coffee powder.
This high quality machine comes with a powerful pump, pre-infusion brew system and water filter. All these features help to make great tasting espresso. And there’s more! These many features come at a great affordable price! For those on a budget, this is certainly one of the best espresso machines under 500 dollars for you!
Gaggia Brera Super Automatic Espresso Machine
Hear out the pros and cons of this Italian espresso machine.
10 Benefits of Gaggia Brera
1. In-Built Ceramic Grinder
This coffee maker comes with an in-built ceramic burr grinder. Compared to a metal grinder, ceramic grinder creates less heat during grinding. Heat will destroy the aromatic compounds in the coffee. With less heat, more flavour in the coffee can be retained.
The grind size of the coffee particles determines the espresso intensity. With this machine, you can set the grind size at 5 different levels.
2. Pre-infusion Brew System
Another feature to improve your espresso is its pre-infusion feature. Before brewing your espresso, the pre-infusion cycle pre-wet the ground coffee bed in the portafilter evenly. This process enables more flavour and aroma to be extracted from the beans on a consistent basis.
3. Powerful Pump
This machine is equipped with a powerful 15 bar pump. This ensures that sufficient pressure is applied to push the hot water through the coffee ground bed. In doing so, the extraction of flavour from the coffee can be maximized.
4. Mavea Water Filter
Clean water is vital to making good espresso. The water quality is ensured in this machine with the Mavea Water Filter for the water tank. The filter uses four stages of filtration to remove impurities from the water. This ensures your water is clean of unwanted substances before it is used for brewing.
5. Ease Of Use
This machine gives you 3 espresso strength options to customize the amount of coffee to grind. You can also choose between a single or double espresso shot. The best thing is that you can also programme the machine to remember your preferred drink volume. The steps to do so is really simple. When the grinding starts, just hold on to the espresso button until you reach your preferred drink volume.
6. Ease of Maintenance
Regular cleaning and maintenance is required to ensure the espresso quality and the health of any espresso maker. For this machine, general cleaning is extremely convenient as the water tank and coffee ground drawer are directly accessible from the front. The brew group is also removable for cleaning by tapping open the service door on the side.
The machine also has automatic self-rinsing function which activates when the machine starts and when brewing is done. During this process, a small amount of water will dispense to rinse and heat all the machine components. At the same time, the digital display will display a sequential blinking of the icons to show that the self-rinsing process is in progress.
Regular descaling is required to remove lime build-up. With this machine, there is no need to remember your last descaling cycle. When the descaling is required, the machine will show an icon on the digital display to alert you. The descaling process is also made easy with step by step procedure in the user guide.
The self-rinsing and descaling will ensure the cleanliness of your machine for every use and also stretch the lifespan for your espresso maker.
7. Time Saving
Its rapid steam technology enables steam to be ready in 9 seconds. So you dont have to wait too long between brewing and steaming milk.
8. Compact
It requires a small area of 15.5 inches by 10 inches. Definitely a space saver for your kitchen counter. With a height of less than 12 inches, you can tuck it easily under the cabinet. With so many components packed in the machine, it only weighs 19 pounds.
9. Ground Coffee Compartment
If you wish to use pre-ground coffee or decaffeinated coffee at any time, you can pour it in the ground coffee compartment beside the bean hopper without a need to remove the beans inside. Using this function is easy. Before pouring the ground coffee, press the “one bean” button until you see the blinking pre-ground coffee function icon.
10. Adjustable Dispensing Spout
Most cups can be used with this machine. Just move the dispensing spout up and down to accommodate your cup height.
Potential Shortcomings of Gaggia Brera
This Italian espresso machine has many wonderful features. However, there are also some negative aspects.
Water Capacity
Its water tank capacity is 40 ounces. A full tank only allows you to make 6 cups of espresso. If you have a big family or using it regularly to entertain guests, it will probably annoy you.
Espresso Brewing And Milk Steaming Not Simultaneous
This machine only has a single boiler. This means that we are unable to perform brewing espresso and steaming of milk simultaneously. The rapid steam technology minimizes this inconvenience by allowing you to switch between steaming and brewing operation quickly.
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Alternative Products
Milk frothing is really a skill which could take time to master. If you prefer a superautomatic espresso machine that can make your lattes and cappuccinos automatically, check out this Gaggia Anima Prestige instead.
Or perhaps, you want to make your milk based drink automatically on your busy workdays and yet have the chance to practice your milk frothing during your leisure time. Check out the Gaggia Accademia Review instead
Should I buy Gaggia Brera?
The thing I like about this machine is the user convenience. I can easily take out the water tank and coffee ground drawer from the front of the machine. It is also easy to navigate the options to customize the coffee potency and drink volume. Another feature I like is the coffee ground compartment which allows you to use pre-ground coffee or decaffeinated coffee.
The machine is automatic. Just put the beans in the grinder. Press a few buttons. And you get your espresso in a few minutes. Not only do you save time from the long queues at the coffee joints, you also get the convenience of having a great quality espresso made automatically in the comforts of your own home.
Overall, the Gaggia Brera is definitely one of the best entry-level super automatic espresso maker in the market. With so many features, this machine is a steal for the price it is being offered. If you are a regular espresso drinker, you can easily spent 5 bucks to 10 bucks a day for Starbucks coffee, or 150 to 300 bucks a month. Doing the math, the Italian espresso machine pays for itself in a couple of months!
Gaggia Brera Super Automatic Espresso Machine
Hope this Gaggia Brera review has helped you made your decision!
