Customer Reviews

Gaggia 77002 16-Cup Manual Espresso Machine, Silver

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I've been using the Gaggia Factory about 2 months and the bottom line is that it makes excellent espresso with a minimum of daily fuss. Like all hand-lever machines, it is nearly silently when making coffee. It has a small footprint so it doesn't take up much counter space. It operates very cleanly and efficiently. I also own a Gaggia Achilles hand-lever machine which takes up more space, uses more coffee and more water to make the same amount of espresso, and leaks all over the counter.

You'll need an excellent burr grinder to get great espresso from the Gaggia Factory. This machine is sensitive to grind: too coarse or uneven and there will be no resistance when you pull down on the lever. If you get the grind too fine or tamp the coffee too hard into the group, you can't get the lever down at all. It takes a little experimentation to get it right.

It takes about 15 minutes to heat up. I make 4 cups of espresso each day and have to top off the water level in the boiler once a day to keep it at the correct level.

Things I wish I had known before I bought it: The Gaggia Factory's group is 51 mm. The supplied plastic tamper is too big for the group. I would have bought a 51 mm stainless steel tamper anyway, but an incorrect accessory in a machine that costs $700 is annoying. The steaming wand is very close to the boiler which gets hot, so it is easy to get burned. The wand does not swivel, it only goes up and down. It is all metal (no rubber section to protect your fingers when moving it up and down). I actually like the location of the wand for steaming and don't care about the lack of a swivel, but I had to slip a rubber guard from another machine onto the upper section of the wand to save my fingers.

I would recommend this machine, particularly if you have owned hand lever machines before. If you're new to hand-levers, I would still recommend it, but be prepared for a more extended learning period than you would need with an auto or semi-auto machine (and get a good burr grinder first).