Gaggia Classic Pro vs Breville Barista Express

  • Great for espresso
  • Affordable
  • Modifiable
  • Good temperature stability
  • Excellent milk steaming
  • Great for those who are serious about becoming home baristas
  • Takes around 15 minutes to make a latte
  • Some people have had issues with water not pulling from the tank
  • Been around for a decade
  • Grinds too coarse

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Temperature

Good but Not Great
4) Uses a "standard size 58mm" group head & portafilter (but NOT "the standard" E61, so you must use parts specifically for a Gaggia) The BAD: 1) Temperature control is a joke! After a few weeks of inconsistent shots, I put a couple thermocouples on the boiler & group head (being a Technical Director / engineer by day, I was curious to see what's going on) and I observed wild temperature swings of over 20 degrees F!!! No wonder there's so many folks adding PID kits to this thing (as I've recently done) 2) Water discharge into the portafilter isn't exactly even 3) The 58mm portafilter also means you'll need near perfect puck prep to get things perfectly extracted 4) The group head sticks down into the portafilter further than what you see in some other machines making it slightly more difficult to maximize your dose, so you might have to put less grinds in the portafilter to avoid smashing them into the shower screen or use larger/deeper baskets than what you're used to with other machines 5) Due to above, grinds can easily contact or get into the shower screen, and I found using a super thin screen on top of the grinds or a paper filter practically a must 6) No pre-infusion, but you can trick the machine into doing this by venting with the steam knob while starting to pull a shot, or add a dimmer (as I did) to make the pump variable speed/flow 7) The distance between the group head/portafilter and the drip tray is SUPER short! Forget about putting any normal size cup in there (even for a latte), especially with a scale unless you remove or buy one of the slim drip trays. 8) Steaming performance is an absolute joke unless you learn how to trick the machine into staying hot enough (e.g
3/5
2 years ago
amazon.com

QUICK QUESTION!

Got an opinion on a product you've used?
If so, we want to hear from you! Write an authentic longevity review about the product and share your experience with our community. You'll have the chance to win a $100 gift card.