Gaggia Brera Superautomatic Espresso Machine

This was my first foray into semi-automatic espresso machines, so even though I don't have a lot of experience, I was extremely careful in the treatment of the Brera. I cleaned it weekly, and descaled it on a regular basis. Unfortunately two things happened. About a month ago, every third or fourth espresso started coming out extremely watery. It seems that the beans were not being properly syphoned into the grinder properly. It appears that the machine makes the espresso regardless of whether there are enough beans in the hopper. When they did go in, it would make great crema. Last week, however, it developed an electrical issue. The machine would not prime and after playing with it for a few days, it refused to turn on all together. Ugh. I will attempt to get it repaired, but I am not hopeful. So for 900 dollars I got about 4 months of great espresso and a nice countertop decoration.

I bought the silver version about a year ago to replace an aging Capresso C1000. Unlike the burnt taste and warm espresso with the c1000, this unit produces excellent espresso in both taste and temperature. For your reference, I mostly use Giggia Intenso whole beans.

However, there are some minor problems not related to the espresso produced.

1. After about 4 months of use (latte in the morning), the top silver plating of the frothing handle started to peel off. It turns out that this peeling piece is made of plastic that covers the internal metal frothing tube. However, the paint peels off this plastic since it can't withstand the heat of the steaming hot metal. The part was replaced under warranty, but they charged me $6.95 for shipping. While this piece doesn't affect the functionality of the unit, it sure cheapens the look of the unit.. all for a lousy piece of plastic.

2. The water container is too small. Water has to be refilled after few shots of espresso. Not a problem for personal daily use, but annoying if you are entertaining more than a few guests.

I wish I could give this 4.5 stars, but that is not an option. Therefore, I'll give 4 stars since they made me pay shipping for a cheaply made plastic part that was still under warranty.

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Since Whole Latte Love won't print my review (please note others have assigned the machine 1 to 2 stars, yet only glowing reviews are published) I will back up the problems others have reported here. I always research big dollar purchases on Amazon and trust the reviewing community, and others should be forewarned about the Gaggia Brera. I bought it to replace my workhorse Saeco Superautomatica that trucked along for 8 years with typical repairs and part replacements. I make only one 2-shot latte a few times a week out of this machine, so I'm not asking a lot. I appreciated the quieter grind and operation of the Brera, the espresso was good, and the steamer worked great (although the wand is peeling and unattractive). My first complaint was that the ground beans overshot the press and filled the side of the machine. I also bought this for its bypass feature which made sense to brew the occasional decaf or flavored coffee. I contacted WLL, and they told me to use a brush and clean the shoot. Huh?? So I got used to wasting a lot of coffee and cleaning out the machine weekly. Should have returned it then. Now it's demanding to be primed and stuck cycling through the signals. This indicates the flow meter or self-priming valve is broken...and many have reported this problem. So...$140 to ship off for repair on top of the $650 purchase price after less than a year. Stay away from the Gaggia unless you want a pretty looking paper weight.

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I relied heavily on the brand name and reviews when I purchased this product, but was extremely disappointed upon its arrival. For $897 I would have expected a much more robust structure, but it is almost entirely plastic and, frankly, very chintzy in feel and appearance. I followed the setup instructions precisely but after only 3 cups of espresso, the service door which encloses the brew group warped to the point where the door opens during brewing and shuts the machine off. The coffees it made were not bad, but I literally had to hold the service door shut to keep the brewing cycle on. Gaggia needs to throw some of the $897 at some higher quality materials and rethink the service door design. Another disappointment was the absence of the special water filter. They refer to an "Intenza" filter in the instructions and the product description at both Gaggia.com and Amazon.com say this filter is included, but not so. Only a small molded plastic filter. BUST from beginning to end!!!!

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Bought Gaggia Brera through Amazon about a year and a half ago and worked well until all of a sudden got stuck in a "prime loop" where all it could do was prime over and over again--no more brewing.

I have cleaned and descaled it exactly as instructed in manual and did all of that again to troubleshoot to no avail.

here is a YouTuvbe video descring problem although their's occured right out of box and I had excellent espresso for a year and a half.

Gaggia Brera Superautomatic Espresso Machine, Silver]]

I am out of warranty and now have to find someone to repair it.

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