Gaggia Anima

Love, love, love it! Was a little nervous at first because even though it’s fully automatic spending $700 on an espresso maker is a little intimidating. But I watched a video and it really couldn’t be easier. And the espresso taste is fantastic!

Overall very impressed, still dialing in the flavor.

I like the functionality of the Anima, and its form factor (i. e. , small footprint). I am coming from two Gaggia Synchrony Logic RS machines over the last couple of decades, and would have bought another, except they are not available (except 220v in Australia). I felt like having a funeral service when I couldn't get parts for the last one. I would always tell guests that they are about to have the best cup of coffee they've ever had, and no one ever disagreed after a cup (or two or three), The Anima is not quite there, but it's early days and I hope to get there. One small functional nit on the Anima - the beans tend to get stuck on the non-grinder side of the bean hopper and not slide down/over to the grinding side without some help, so when I get the "add beans" reminder, the non-grinder side of the hopper is always completely full of beans, but the beans don't "slide" over to the grinder side of the bay. In the end, it's all about the flavor/mouthfeel of the coffee produced and the Anima does not quite (yet) have the richness and flavor of the Synchrony, but I am still tweaking the available settings and will update this review if we get there. All in, so far, this is a really solid machine, way better than the Cadorna Barista Plus (which I tried).

I love this product; fast, convenient and tasty coffee without the need for pods. That's a plus!