Gaggia Anima Prestige Review.

This week we have tested the latest coffee machine released from Gaggia.

Some history

In 1948  the Italian company Gaggia started producing coffee machines on a large scale. Gaggia takes immense pride in the design, production, and quality. Starting in 2010, the company has manufactured all its coffee and espresso machines in Italy in its factory located in Milan.

The Pros
There are many pros that the Gaggia Anima coffee machine offers you. Below are a few of the pros.

• The frother: Integrated milk carafe make froth milk easier than you can imagine producing a thick and creamy milk froth. In few seconds you can have your cappuccino and latte macchiato, your coffee is brewed and the milk carafe froths the milk all at the touch of a button.
• 100% Ceramic grinder: More reliable and more durable with 5 setting from the finest for strong coffees to the coarse for lighter tasting coffees.
• Fully customisable: You can customise up to six coffee or milk based drink. from the temperature to the lenght and the strenght.
• Auto cappuccino system: Thanks to its frothing system you can prepare your cappuccino with just a touch of a button.
• Optiaroma: 5 options available from 6.5 grams to 11.5 grams, to adjust thee coffee quantity for your personal taste.
• 15 BAR pump: Is the perfect pressure to reach a perfect, rich and creamy espresso.
• Ground coffee options: Has never been so easy to brew a different blend of coffee, just using the “coffee program” without changing the beans in the container.
• Simultaneous brewing of two cups.
• Fully automatic rinsing and descaling: Having the coffee machine clean ensure its durability and coffee quality. It is very important to keep the machine clean and descaled. With Gaggia Anima this process has never been so easy! it is just automatic.
• Automatic milk system cleaning process: The frothing system is cleaned automatically after every milk preparation or when you wish.
• Stainless Steel Body: Make this machine even more reliable and durable.

The Cons

Is not easy to find cons with this coffee machine. we think it is full of features and the brand is synonymous of reliability itself. We have made cappuccino, espresso and all the possible beverage with this machine using it in our office has been like going to the cafe every morning.

However there is something that Gaggia could add to this machine which is a steam wand to froth the milk manually, but we know that this coffee machine has been designed to be a true fully automatic coffee machine and to excel in the home coffee machines market.

 Conclusions

If you are looking for a reliable and easy to use fully automatic coffee machine, whether it is for your office or your home, Gaggia Anima Prestige is definetly the right choice. For more info click here. Don’t miss it!

5 tips to choose the right coffee machine for your home

Coffee is not just a drink, it is a must in today’s fast paced life. Does not matter if you are pure coffee lovers or not: having the right home coffee machine is essential in order to obtain the desired espresso cappuccino or any other coffee based drink.

The sales of this small appliance have increased consistently in the last years pushing the brands to produce more and more sophisticated and different types of coffee machines for domestic use.

In front of this large offer of different coffee machine the question is: How To Choose the Right coffee machine for my needs? What to consider before buying a coffee machine?

1. Which type of coffee machine to choose?

• Manual
• Fully Automatic
• Capsules

2. Espresso, cappuccino or both? 
3. The : Pump pressure
4. Dimensions and materials
5. Cleaning Maintenance
6. The Coffee

Which type of coffee machine?

What is the differences between coffee machines that uses Pods, Capsules, Beans or ground coffee? Which one is the best?

Is important to know which are the differences among the models present on the market in order to find the product that suits our needs and match our budget.

Manual coffee Machine

The Classic coffee machine, the same type of those in use in cafes.

The manual coffee machines allow the user to make the perfect coffee for its taste. This means that you can easily choose how much coffee ground put in the handle, how much pressure give to the coffee, and which blend to use.

This kind of machine require more cleaning than the other typologies.

Capsule coffee machine

Quick and Easy

The best choice for those who want to prepare a coffee in just few seconds without making any mess. You are just required to insert the capsule in the coffee machine and then push a button to obtain a creamy espresso. Each capsule contain enough coffee for a single shot coffee. Being sealed the coffee inside the capsule stays fresh for longer.

Coffee capsules are usually more expensive than ground coffee or beans.

Bean to cup Coffee machine (fully automatic)

Just push one button

This kind of coffee machine have an adjustable internal grinder and a system that automatically makes coffee immediately after having ground the beans. This gives the coffee an incredible unique and fresh aroma.

Fully automatic coffee machines are more expensive than capsule coffee machines, despite the coffee beans which are cheaper than capsules.

Dimensions and structure

Is important to find a coffee machine which style and dimensions suit the place.

Cappuccinatore

If you are Cappuccino lovers you definitely are looking for a coffee machine with a panarello steam wand or a fully automatic cappuccino system. These machines are able to make a thick froth and perfect cappuccino with the ability to set also the amount of coffee and the coffee length.

This kind of machine have automatic cleaning systems and reminders, you just need to use the right solution for each cleaning cycle.

Maintenance

Every coffee machine needs to be cleaned at specific intervals that can be based on number of coffee made or days of usage. Every coffee machines needs continuous attention so choose your coffee machine with an eye also on the usage comfort.

In general we can say that manual and fully automatic coffee machines requires more time and attention to be cleaned and maintained properly because more residue can be stuck in the filter, while capsule machines are much easier to be cleaned.

When cleaning a coffee machine always check the brewing unit, the water tank, the steam wand, the grinder and the milk line when present. Always use a water filter in the tank and run a compete descaling process every month.

Pump pressure

Café coffee machine and automatic or domestic coffee machine works with the same principle: with pressure.

The secret of the espresso consist in extracting using high pressure all the essentials oils, the aromas and all the other substances that are present in the coffee. The pump is the element that push the water in the filter. In order to obtain a better coffee the pressure should be between 12 and 15 Bar.

The Price

In this section we will help you understand why the price differences.
First thing we need to consider which kind of coffee machine we are looking for.

Usually manual and capsule coffee machines are less expensive than the fully automatic / Bean to Cup ones, the price difference depends on the materials and also on the features the coffee machine offers. Basically we can affirm that as cheap as you go as basic features you get.

Another factor that impact on price is for how many coffee per day the machine is recommended for.

More expensive coffee machines have more features such as automatic descaling/cleaning system, adjustable coffee grinder, custom settings, different frothing systems etc.

So is very important to find the right coffee machine to know how many coffee per day is going to make and for which environment (office/home) we need the coffee machine.

Welcome to my coffee blog

Hi All!

Welcome to my coffee blog.

This is a place where we can talk about coffee, seek advice about coffee systems, coffee solutions, home coffee machines, office coffee machines, coffee beans quality and everything is related to coffee. 🙂

Espresso Coffee Guide

guidelines on how to prepare espresso

The following are guidelines on how you can prepare your perfect espresso

• Grind the coffee beans
  Before you start preparing for the coffee, the coffee beans need to be ground with a proper coffee grinder down into finer pieces. The size of the particles should be fine enough such that your hand feels it a bit like the size of dusty sand. Don’t over or under grind the coffee bean particles, as this can make espresso shot vary in taste. If the size of particles, feels soft and a little course in your hands, know that you’re in the right direction, if not adjust the grinder to achieve the right particles.

• Doses and measurement

Commercial or Manual home/office Espresso machine clasps the coffee cup by what is termed as the portafliter and has round metal part in the end that is termed as the basket. The baskets usually vary in size but for today’s experiment we’re going use the 21- gram basket. Before you start the process, you should first clean the portafilter, then the weigh it, while empty on a gram scale. The scale gram tool should assist you to get the right measurement every time. The coffee density alters regularly, as the climate condition changes. The coffee behave will be different every time you prepare it, and because espresso is a unique kind of coffee, it magnifies any single ingredients in the coffee flavour. You can practice the process all the time to make sure you get the correct result every time. Weigh the dispensed coffee properly, to know much longer the grinder will run to get the right amount of coffee in the basket. A barista will help you determine this measurement.

• Mixture and Distribution
  Although you have the coffee inside portafliter, you’re not ready yet. To guarantee that you’ll take out a shot of espresso correctly,  distribute the coffee evenly inside the portafilter basket. If you see some places on the coffee, which is closely packed together and other places is loosely packed, whereas water particles are still moving around the bottom of the basket, then resulting product will produce bad-tasting espresso. The work of the barista is to tap the portafilter evenly and ensure that the whole mixture appear evenly distributed by a display. You can also distribution the extracts on the ground by the use of your finger or another tool. Then use a coffee tamper to prepare closely compacted mixture.

• Purge the machine
  Another important step is this: remove the espresso group head. Is a place a barista put their portafliter to pull the shot, letting droplet of water to run, even though the portafliter is set up. You should ensure that clean and smooth water is running, and there is no element of coffee on the ground from the previous shot that could interfere with the fresh shot of espresso.

• Pull and watch shot extracts
  After the purge, the barista clicks the portafilter into position and begins the shot. Firstly, there will be some droplets of water produced for most used espresso machine, which will leave the ground time to shine. This stage is called the pre-infusion / prebrewing stage and it’s not invisible. After this, the shot starts, water is let out through the bed of coffee ground by high pressure, and then a thick mixture of espresso begins to pour downwards from the portafilter. Blended Espresso shot pours out in about 20 to 30 second depending on the quantity of the prepared. To ensure you blended the right espresso you should watch the color and speed of the flow. At fast, will notice very thick and dark drips, as this depends on the quality of espresso prepared, but it will come slowly drip by drip and then starts to flow. In the start the color is thick and dark, after that it becomes lighter to form tiger like strips. The color seen should be dark brown with tan color inside, and also creamy like a beige color.

• Serve your percet espresso

Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee?

The bulk of the people that make up the working class drink coffee each and everyday and without getting their black cup of Joe, they would not be able to function as well or get as much done. Although a great deal of people prefer to pop into their local coffee shop each morning, it makes way more sense financially to simply make your own coffee before you head out for work or for the day in the morning. Because of this, purchasing your own good quality coffee to brew is essential, although this means that you are going to have a proper coffee grinder and a coffee maker to make the perfect cup of coffee or espresso.

Typically you can purchase coffee that is already ground up, or you can purchase whole beans and grind them up yourself. There is a bit of debate among coffee lovers when it comes to which type of coffee is better to purchase, but if you were to talk to anyone that truly knows a lot about coffee, they will tell you that you absolutely have to buy the beans whole and grind them up yourself. This is due to the fact that coffee beans retain their flavour and strength when they are ground up and immediately made into coffee.

However, when you purchase coffee that has already been pre ground up, you are not going to get the freshest coffee possible, which is why it is very important to go out and get whole beans and grind them up each and every time you go to make coffee. Although this may seem like a lot of extra work, it is well worth it in the long run and you should consider doing this if you want to make your coffee at home.
When coffee is ground up, the beans start to oxidise within a matter of minutes, which is basically the beans giving off carbon dioxide. When this starts to occur, the great aromas that coffee beans have start to fade away and the oxidation process also starts to take away from any of the health benefits that are derived from consuming the beans. For this reason, you are going to want to get a coffee grinder that does not overly oxidise the beans when they are ground up, or you are simply going to want to make sure that when you do grind up your beans that you make your coffee right away.

Some people like to prepare ahead of time for the week and will grind up a bunch of coffee beans so that they are ready to go, but this is making a big mistake as well. As soon as those beans get cut, they start to oxidise and their great flavours and aromas start to fade away, so make sure that you only grind your beans up right before you make your coffee. Also make sure that you get a coffee grinder that does not overly oxidise your beans when you grind them up!