Espresso Gaggia or Baby Gaggia?
Mark Letteri
Hi,
I'm looking for a small home espresso maker and have narrowed it down to
the Espresso Gaggia (no solenoid valve) or the Baby Gaggia (with solenoid
valve). The Espresso is cheaper (and the best selling Gaggia); the Baby is
much more expensive. Is the solenoid valve worth the extra bucks? Does the
Espresso produce a good cup of espresso with nice crema?
Thanks in advance,
-- Mark
Serge
However, the Best seller is Classic Gaggia.
Baby (do not kill me for a repeating) has the same brew system, boiler etc.
such as the Classic. The difference is in design only.
David Ross
Mark Letteri <let...@server.uwindsor.ca> wrote:
| The Espresso is cheaper (and the best selling Gaggia); the Baby is
| much more expensive. Is the solenoid valve worth the extra bucks? Does the
| Espresso produce a good cup of espresso with nice crema?
You can get very good espresso from the Espresso, but the Baby is a much
more serious machine. There are more differences than just the valve - if
you open both of them up you'll see that the plumbing in the latter is less
flimsy. Even between the Espresso and the Coffee (virtually identical
innards) the latter is a better bet - higher quality switches, less
vibrations when brewing, etc.
FWIW, the valve in the Espresso (and the Coffee) *is* an item requiring
ocasional replacement (or adjustment - the spring compresses over time, and
needs stretching), but it is very inexpensive ($5-$10) and easy to do at
home (15 minutes).
- David R.
David Ross
Serge <es...@access.digex.net> wrote:
| Baby (do not kill me for a repeating) has the same brew system, boiler etc.
| such as the Classic. The difference is in design only.
But *not* the other Coffee models!
I think the proliferation of Coffee Gaggia variants can be confusing to us
poor consumers. There is (at least) (1) the Coffee Gaggia as sold in the US
circa 1991; (2) the Coffee Gaggia of the same period as sold in Europe; (3)
the Coffee Gaggia as sold in the US a few years ago; (4) The recently
redesigned Coffee Gaggia; and (5) the Classic.
I have a (1) and a (3), and while they look almost identical (and seem to
have the same plumbing), there are some substantial design improvements in
the newer one (substantially better case construction, better switch
quality, cheesier-looking but better froth attachment). (2) had at least
one improvement over (1) - the back-flow tube also on the Classic and Baby
(part of the anti-drip system?). However, (1)-(4) are very nearly the same
machine. The Classic, on the other hand, has a better pump (which, however,
fits quite nicely as a replacement for a blown Coffee pump) and better
internal plumbing - a Baby in a steel case (and without the spring
pushbuttons).
Here's a question. 5-6 years ago I saw a machine in shop (possibly a Peets)
which was obviously a Baby, but it had a black enamel steel case and 'Bunn'
(might have been 'Mr. Coffee' - I can't remember) on the front. I asked the
shop clerk about it, he said that Gaggia had gone under and had been bought
by Bunn. Clearly nonsense, but does anyone know the truth about this
machine/collaboration?
- David
Larry Brown
Reminder.....They are blowing out the espresso Gaggia in the onsale auction.
www.onsale.com - consumer products.
David Ross
"Larry Brown" <lbr...@ricon.com> wrote:
| Reminder.....They are blowing out the espresso Gaggia in the onsale auction.
| www.onsale.com - consumer products.
I don't know if 'blowing out' is really the right term here; a few weeks ago
the better Coffee Gaggia was available for $4 more from Surplus Direct's
non-auction site.
- David R.