WRONG - IT'S GOOD!!! (Gaggia Classic Coffee)

Member Name: Cooper

Product:	Gaggia Classic Coffee
Date:	06/05/07 (918 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cafe quality coffee in your home, will last a long time, looks good

Disadvantages: Bulky, needs a little bit of practice to master

Well, I just bought one and IT'S REALLY GOOD! After 6 coffee's and two days I am making flat whites the way I like them, strong-ish, thick with crema and warm (not hot) - as good as a good cafe could make. About the milk frother: you must be using the 'panarello' attachment, which is a bit useless anyway, you can leave it off completely to no ill effect. Also, if you look closely at that attachment it is made of about 5 seperate parts - re-read the manual (or look at any extra notes included in it, as mine was on a sheet of paper!) you'll see there is a detachable plastic screw at the top of the panarello assembly, which is tightened around the metal frothing tube, then you fit the rest of the plastic attachment onto that tightened nut. It is very tight and secure around the metal tube then and can't just fall off! I can't pull it off with my fingers.

The mystery plastic thing the reviewer mentioned is made to fit UNDER the metal drainage tray, it slots in and sits over the waste water reservoir. Maybe just gives the cup above it extra support, it's probably seperate so you can take it out to clean it all.

As to the things about weight and force needed to tighten the group head, etc, that is a big positive, as the amount of pressure this machine produces to make it's good coffee means you need a well made all-metal chassis and a good seal to keep the water and steam in. It will last longer than a light weight plastic based machine and makes much, much better coffee than any crummy filter machine. I haven't fouind any probelms cleaning it, it sounds to me like this pertson is a bit anal about dust, too - just wipe it down!

I am rapt so far, and if you look around at other reviews you'll see that this is a great machine, I read the manual before I used it, and so don't be put off by this persons (well meaning) but slightly uninformed assessment.

Summary: Looked at espresso machines for years, finally bought this one, and it is GREAT!

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