GaggiaAnima Coffee and Espresso Machine, Includes Steam Wand for Manual Frothing for Lattes and Cappuccinos with Programmable Options,Black

Just as the pandemic kicked into high gear, both of our Nespresso machines died. We had never taken to newer models, and were still using 2 D290 machines. We replaced one with the Creatista Uno machine, which we like very much. But we’ve used Nespresso machines for over 10 years, and have watched the cost of the capsules rise from 50 cents each to almost 80 cents each. When I looked at what we spent on Nespresso capsules in 2019, I decided it was time to consider a superautomatic. The difference in the cost of the coffee would pay for the machine in around a year.After researching many different machines, we settled on the Gaggia Anima. I was concerned that the maintenance on a superautomatic would be burdensome, or would get away from me, causing the machine to break, but honestly it’s pretty easy to care for (more about that later). Though it is expensive, Nespresso espresso is excellent, to match the quality would not be easy. Luckily we chose well, and we love this machine!On the Anima, we set the grind to fine, and set the amount of coffee to 5 - the highest. We’re lucky to know someone locally who roasts his own coffee, we buy regular medium roast coffee from him. We use half caf, mixing the coffee we buy locally with Don Pablo decaf we buy on Amazon. Between the two, my husband feels the espresso is even better than Nespresso, I think it is as good. We have cappuccinos with 2 shots every morning. The crema is great, and the Panerello milk wand makes the microbubbles in the milk, the consistency of the frothed milk better than the wand on our Nespresso D290 was. Overall our cappuccino from the Anima is at least comparable to cappuccino from a great coffee shop.As to the maintenance, it’s easy peasy. Every day I clean the removable milk wand, and the under wand. I pull out the drip tray and wash it. Once or twice a week, I pop out the brew group, rinse it in the sink, and pop it back in. None of these tasks takes more than 5 minutes. There is additional maintenance, including decalcifying the machine, but most of it you do once or twice a year. There are videos on you tube to run you through it, so it’s pretty simple.The one thing I would recommend is using the available filter for the water tank, and using only filtered water in the machine, or frankly any good espresso machine. The quality of the water has quite a bit to do with both the quality of the espresso and the longevity of the machine. We’ve had water filters on our kitchen sinks for years in an effort to wean ourselves off bottled water. The filters get changed infrequently, no more than once every 1 to 5 years, depending on the filter system you choose.Anyway, that’s our story. We’ve had the Anima for 4 months now, and we love it! I will update this review if that should change.6/2024: We’ve now owned the Anima almost 4 years, and still love this machine. We’re still using Don Paulo decaf coffee medium dark mixed with Ruta Maya Organic coffee beans (medium) for a satisfying, rich cappuccino every morning. We did have a little trouble with the coffee grinder while the machine was still under warranty, we managed to get water in the coffee compartment, it turned to paste in the grinder. We sent it to be repaired, now it’s been fine and we’ve kept it dry ever since. The grinder was making a funny sound a month or so ago, so I took the coffee out of the compartment and vacuumed out the grinder with my vacuum hose. Voila! No more issue. The drip tray gets a little gooey, after I clean it I give it a short spray of Lysol, that seems to help. Also when the milk wand drips water, it means the machine needs to be decalcified. We probably pull 10 shots a day with it, using Nespresso instead would cost $7/day. When we bought this machine we paid about $699.00 for it. Now a shot probably costs us about 20 cents, so really the machine has paid for itself. It was a good choice.

The coffee grinder didn't work after only a few days of using the machine. Looked up YouTube videos to figure out what was wrong. Clearing the coffee grinder was not explained in the manual. The video showed a complicated way to clear the grinder that involved vacuuming out the grounds. I was able to successfully make the grinder work but then the error symbol came on again within a few days and this time I was not able to fix it even though I was very careful to follow the instructions on how to empty the coffee grounds and how to clean the brew unit and make sure it was completely dry. I was surprised at the difficulty of operating the machine. When it did work, the espresso was excellent. I'm sorry it wasn't easier to use.

Yes, I did state affordable but let's put this into perspectives. I'm coming to the Anima from a Gaggia Titanium which I purchased here on Amazon in 2005 and at the time, paid $1499. I loved it and made over 25,000 cups until last month when the water pump finally died. I was told by Gaggia it would be too expensive to ship and fix and that the Anima was the 'replacement'. So at more than half the price of the Titanium, and considering what other super automatics can cost, I found this unit 'affordable'.It makes superb coffee, perhaps better than the Titanium. There are mostly pro's, a few con's in comparing the two. I talked about price. Further:1. Quality of the coffee. I think this unit grinds and thus produces a better, stronger cup. I've played with the various controls and nailed how I like the coffee. The quality is outstanding (see below, comparison to French Press and Chemix).2. The unit appears to hold a bit more coffee beans and the same amount of water as the Titanium.3. The coffee dispensing spout has a wider range than the Titanium and allows very tall mugs which is a major plus for those of us wanting coffee.4. The control panel is icon based and attractive. It's a bit more descriptive.5. The unit is smaller in footprint than the Titanium. It doesn't swivel on it's base which I could care less about.6. The unit has a more robust "reactivation" (energy saving) mode which is programmable by time. When the unit first wakes up and cleans itself, it uses far less water than the Titanium which makes the water in the tank go longer between refill.7. Once you set the desired amount of product with one push of the button, two pushes produces twice as much like the Titanium. I like the progress dialog on the LCD letting you know how much longer the process should take. More about this in #2 below.Possible cons:1. Build quality isn't close to the Titanium**, but with careful use, I don't think that's going to be a factor. The Titanium was solid with lots of 'metal' while the Anima has a lot of (what some might call) flimsily plastic instead. And that's what one would expect at half the price. I believe if a user is careful with the parts that need to be removed, cleaned and handled, this will not be an issue.2. The Titanium had three "coffee" buttons, this unit has two. Not an issue for me. Both are programmable for the amount of product and thus strength. I have one for espresso and one for 'coffee'. So you can program the amount of product to dispense and double that by clicking on one of the two buttons twice. Titanium also had a cup warmer I never used; not necessary IMHO.3. Seems to require a bit more maintenance. One has to 'oil' the brew unit occasionally and once a month, it's recommended it be 'cleaned' with a Gaggia tablet. That wasn't the case with the Titanium. I don't know yet if this will be a factor. Both units need occasionally to have a descaling.4. This unit is a bit slower in dispensing the coffee perhaps due to the strength of the pump or, it just has to do this to make a better, stronger cup of coffee. Hardly a con but I wanted to mention you'll wait a bit longer for one 'round' than with a Titanium. Both produced lovely creama.5. To alter the grind with the supplied tool, you're told to start the process of making a cup of coffee and turn the dial while grinding. That's not possible as when the door to the coffee beans is open, the unit stops so I can't figure out how to follow the instructions. None the less, I was able to carefully turn the dial to the desired grind and now it's perfect.All in all, I'm very happy with the unit after a few weeks of use. I miss (and loved) my dear Titanium but I'm very happy with this unit. I hope I'm lucky enough to brew 25K cups of coffee and get 13 years out of this unit. There doesn't appear to be a number of coffees produced menu option but that's not a big deal.When my Titanium died and while waiting for this unit, I went back to a French Press and a Chemix (my backups) and it only took a few days to want my super automatic back. Grinding the coffee, boiling the water (to ideal temp) and clean up was a major hassle compared to having a super auto. Push one button, you get a superb cup of coffee. And I really prefer the taste of the coffee from the Anima from either backup method. So if you've never had a super automatic, go for it. If you think it's too expensive, you can spend a LOT more.**EDIT: purchased in 2018, it is now nearly the end of 2023 and the machine is still running as good as the day we got it.