Customer Reviews

Gaggia 90500 Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine, Silver

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This machine replaces a semiautomatic Delonghi, which, I thought, was decent. Well...after using this for 3 weeks, I can honestly say that my old machine was barely competent. The Titanium is a wonderful machine. Not only is the espresso excellent but the panerella wand makes awesome froth and the thing looks great. It's fully programable and, once set, it's just a matter of pushing a button to brew a delicious espresso - every time! It warms up in UNDER A MINUTE, has a large bean hopper, large water resevior, very cool blue lcd display...i can't rave enough. I've had no problems at all with this machine and I recommend it heartily.

Believe me, I thought long and hard for paying over a $1,000 for a coffee maker. The very idea struck me as a bit outrageous, since I've never paid more than $50 for a coffee maker before, but now I'm glad I did. I looked at several espresso makers, ranging from the simplest (and cheapest) to the mid-range machines on up to this beast, the Gaggia Titanium. I finally decided to take the coffee plunge and figured that I could always return it if my wife ("the decider", as I like to call her) vetoed the purchase.

I ordered the Titanium during my Amazon Prime trial, so it was shipped overnight for just a few dollars and arrived on a Monday. We had house guests at the time and while one didn't drink coffee, the other considered himself a hard-core coffee purist (he even has a roaster at home and buys his beans green). I noticed right away that the machine was packed well, which is always a good sign. I had the machine out of the box, read through the directions, and started brewing coffee in about 15 minutes. Wow. This was easily the best coffee I had ever tasted, with none of the bitterness I usually associate with espresso (at least with espresso I've made).

The machine produces four different beverages: espresso, "regular" coffee, caffe lungo, and hot water. (Caffe lungo, as it turns out, is literally "coffee long" and is similar to espresso, but with more water passed through for a longer brew time. While I'd never heard of it, it's now my wife's new morning beverage.) There's also the frothing wand and the cappuccinatore, which is an attachment that replaces the frothing wand specifically for cappuccino. While others have mentioned never using the cappuccinatore, it's all I've used so far and I've converted at least two strict coffee drinkers to cappuccino lovers.

My second (after the cost) biggest concern was that I'd been told that super automatics are a pain to clean and that it would be more hassle than it's worth. As it turns out, the Titanium's not the hard to clean. The dregdrawer (which holds the "hockey pucks" as my friend calls them) sits inside the drip tray, which easily slides out after you unlatch the door. The Titanium's blue display will let you know when it's time to empty the drip drawer. (It's not clever enough to know if you empty the dregdrawer in between these warnings, but if you empty it on your own schedule, you simply pull out the drawer for 5 seconds and slide it back in.) For the drip tray, there's a red plastic float that rises up as the tray fills to let you know that it's time to empty the tray.

The most difficult part to clean, which isn't all that hard, is the brewunit, which processes the coffee as it comes out of the grinder (or from the ground coffee slot, if you choose to use your own ground coffee). You have to unscrew a couple stainless steel plates and brush the unit (with an included brush). In short, cleaning a super automatic is no more of a chore than cleaning the separate appliances (coffee grinder and drip/espresso maker). One minor annoyance is mentioned on an orange sheet packed in the box that says that "oily" beans can clog the grinder and there's an 800 number to call for suggestions.

The only problem that I've had is that the beans (Starbuck's Caffe Verona) don't fall into the grinder properly and so every few cups the Titanium reports that the beans are empty even when there are beans in the hopper. Reaching into the hopper and pushing the beans around fixes that problem, but the rep at the 800 number reports that the oily beans will cause a buildup in the grinder and offered to send instructions on how to clean the grinder, should that become a problem. (It hasn't been for me yet, but I've only had the Titanium for a week and a half.) The suggestion I got from the 800 number was to let the beans sit on a baking sheet for an hour or so before adding them to the hopper and while this hasn't eliminated the problem of the non-empty hopper, it has reduced it.

One more tip: if you don't have a grinder, consider buying one (I bought the KitchenAid KPCG100NP Pro Line Burr Coffee Grinder, Nickel Pearl from Amazon and have been very happy with it). Sometimes (especially in the evenings, I've had requests for decaf and I'd rather not try to empty the bean hopper and grinder. Instead, you can add a scoop of ground coffee and press the "pre-ground coffee" button to tell the Titanium to use your ground coffee rather than grinding it fresh. (I suppose you could also buy already ground coffee, but if you're already spending over $1,000 on a coffee maker, what's a grinder?)

The bottom line: if you spend more than a few bucks a day on coffee, you can justify the cost and you'll wind up with great coffee. I suppose it's some measure of how much we enjoy the coffee that with three coffee drinkers, we've brewed just over 120 "coffees" (an espresso shot-sized measure of all three coffee products) in ten days. There's no question that this is a 5-star product.

this is my second fully automatic espresso machine; my first was saeco magic that was retired after it began to incessantly leak. i knew that saeco and gaggia were the same company, and the saeco served me well for nearly 9 years with no service whatsoever (although it was a minor repair i found out later) but i wanted to get a newer, more attractive machine, so i spent time looking into this gaggia.

i actually didn't purchase this machine here, but on ebay, but in the past year the price has gone done so you would do best to get it here. the machine i bought on ebay was brand new, unopened (and at the same price they sell it here) and with factory warranty. this is a beautiful piece of equipment, but if you need to save money, the gaggia titanium (without the SS suffix) is $200 cheaper and identical, just doesn't have the stainless steel side panels.

i gave it only 4 stars as it exhibited "issues" just 3 days out of warranty; it appeared to have started leaking. after a quick search into "authorized" repair centers and reading through the nightmares of some people, i found a local repair shop that was able to fix the issue in under a week. apparently, a fitting for the steam boiler was malformed, causing it to leak. the issue was fixed quickly (and for less than $100) and since then, the machine has been making dozens of cups of espresso a day!

the espresso is rich and HOT (being able to set the temperature on this unit is a great thing that a LOT of units don't have) and cleanup is fairly simple. i haven't had the "ventilate" issue that i have seen others write about here. one annoying feature, is that the energy saving feature REQUIRES that you set a turn on/turn off time. and every time the unit turns on, it uses some of the water in the tank to rinse the brew group. normally, not a big issue, but since the water is drained into the pan beneath the unit, you DO have to remember to empty it. while this unit is SO smart...it doesn't know when the pan is full (save for a pathetic little manual indicator) and if you aren't careful, you may end up with murky coffee water all over the place! if you use your machine as often as i use mine (daily), you'll make a note to empty the drain pain every couple of days.

occasionally, the machine will report that the dregdrawer (where the used grounds are deposited) is full, when it actually isn't. best thing is to just empty it and replace the drawer...everything works fine.

i didn't use the wild looking frothing accessory...the actual metal frother that you see on the front of the unit works wonderfully, is easy to clean, and best of all, since the unit has 2 boilers, there's no waiting between brewing espresso and steaming milk...it does dispense nice HOT water as well...

and lastly...the grinder. i know that some people have had issues with it not feeding the coffee properly; this is mainly when the machine is new. once the oil from the beans have lubricated the unit, it is less of a problem. although i found a tip online that said to remove the small cap over the grinder (just try not to stick your fingers in when it's on). i did this to my unit, and have rarely had a problem since...

all in all, a great unit. expensive, but when you weigh it out, i've made over 1000 cups of espresso in this machine in the past year. at starbucks, that would have been anywhere from $2500-4000...so it paid for itself in short order :)

addendum: a year later and 1000 cups more and still going strong! no further issues with leakage. make SURE you decalcify the unit per manual instructions...with over 2400 cups made you can only imagine the money saved at the coffee shop :) i highly reccommend lavazza super crema beans for this machine...

I should've known better. I initially purchased a Gaggia Titanium SS for myself because of Gaggia's supposed excellence in the espresso device market. I'll have to admit, the machine looks beautiful and when it works its awesome. However, after about 2-3 months of use, the machine started to leak in the inside upper-right corner. Puddles and puddles of water on my countertop! If that weren't enough, the increased humidity and steam from leakage caused the digital display to appear distorted and fuzzy! If that weren't enough, I keep on getting a "Close Door" message even though the door is closed! I'm not finished! The grinder adjustment knob doesn't work! I have the grind set at the finest setting and I'm getting coarse coffee grinds!

I called Importika to get this machine serviced and spoke to a "Sally" who takes care of service related issues. After 1 month of emailing and phone calls, "Sally" never gave me a "Return Authorization" which is required for machine to be sent back. She just ignored me. I gave up on this company and decided to get it fixed at a different company.

Save your money! Get a different brand! Do your research!

I just purchased the Gaggia Titanium, and boy, what a machine! This thing is idiot-proof, not to mention it looks great on my counter top! I was so impressed by the styling, that I didn't pay attention to the actual "function" of the machine at first, but when I did, I was in awe! Never having used a super auto, I was used to an old Krups I had purchased at a flea market that actually worked once every other blue moon! So using the Gaggia every morning for my cup of joe made me feel like I was in heaven! The speed of making a latte in the wee morning hours is unbelievable, and the machine's ability to automatically froth my milk for me really makes it a breeze! I highly recommend this machine to anyone who is looking for an easy to use super automatic machine.

I read the reviews and the only concern I had (other than the price tag) was that I would get the dreaded "Ventilate" message.

I didn't. Setting up the machine was relatively easy. The only pesky issue (and this still remains) is getting the front panel on. For some reason, it's a struggle to get it back on. (The only I reason I take it off is to empty the grinded coffee box.)

My first latte was so good. My second was even better.

It is a loud machine when it makes coffee so I can't use early in the morning because it would wake the wife and kids.

I purchsed the Lavazza coffee beans with it, and that is one smooth creamy cup of joe.

I've had the machine since 6/4/08 (today is 6/16) and have not experienced any badness with the machine (knock on wood).

REVISION *** 1/4/2012

I went back and gave this 5 stars...why you may ask when I originally rated it as junk??? The replacement Amazon sent us has now lasted over 6 years and turned out about 7000 shots of coffee without a hitch. Have not need to fix (or service for that matter) anything on the unit and have been very pleased. If it ever dies I would replace with the same machine. Also, when I bought this in 2005 it cost $1700!!!!!

ORIGINAL

I ordered this machine for my wife after reading dozens of reviews and and positive feedback. We followed the instructions explicitly and created one cup of coffee. After that the machine said "ventilate". We followed the proceedures for ventilating the machine and it seemed to correct itself. Went to make another cup of coffee and it said "ventilate". This time it would not fix itself. I tried to perform the ventilate process and it would simply spray hot water out into the tray. Turn off the knob and "ventilate" comes back up on the screen. Turn the machine off and turn it back on, "ventilate" came up on the screen.

We called Amazon and they sent us a replacement a few days later (thank you Amazon). Unfortunately, this one I did not get cup one out of the machine. It read "ventilate" as soon as I turned it on. The difference is with this one no water would come out at all.

Gaggia provides no customer support so you are on your own with this unit.

Excellent machine but be ware you MUST keep this machine clean at the steam/hot water nozzle.

If it gets blocked the first thing it will do is ask to be ventilated .. then the pressure cut off switch may 'pop' and the machine may seem to lock up - there is no autoreset and the pressure switch must be manually reset inside. It's not worth £s sending for repair - but not really a user fix. so be warned - keep your nozzles clean!

First off we use the heck out of this. No one would believe how many cups we make for home use. The first machine had some kind of catastophy after 3 or 4 months. I couldn't get anyone from importica or Whole latte love (same physical building, but they denied to me they are the same company) to even return my calls. I was willing to pay for service, buy a new part (the brew group)...anything to get it working. They totally ignored me (I forgot about the refurb I got from Whole latte love first...it leaked all over the counter the first day. Returned that and bought from Amazon) so this was technically my second machine.

Anyway, after calling Amazon and just asking for a number since no one was calling me back after a week at importica, they totally stepped up and replaced my machine. This third one has been working great. We have had it 6 months and made 2348 cups. (I told you we use this thing).

So, it took me three tries, but thanks to Amazon (and them alone) I am a happy camper.

Three stars for the item, but one star added for Amazons awesome service. They are my favorite online retailer.

Stay away from whole latte love, they are just not a company I would recommend. They seem like what folks imagine when they think of bad used car salesman, sort of shady. That was my impression since when they told me "you have to call importica" and when I told them Importica is in the same building as their headquarters, (exact same address) the guy was playing dumb like it was news to him..."Maybe at a corprorate level"...sure...very shady indeed.

My first superautomatic espresso machine was a Saeco Incanto Classic, which I got for Christmas in 2005. 2 years later when my son was moving out he wanted one for his birthday so I bought him one as well. Shortly after that, and after having 3 years with zero issues, I traded up to a Saeco Incanto digital. I had that machine for 3 years and decided to move up. I read all the reviews on the Gaggia Titanium and even talked to a factory rep and decided that this was "the one". After receiving it the first observations were not pleasant.
1) Water tank has a removable lid and a handle that falls inside where the water is. First of all, the lid was a pain in the a$$ to get on and off, and who wants the handle where peoples hands have touched, inside the water tank?.
2) There is a second lid over the bean hopper "to keep the beans fresh". Sounded like a good idea to me. Only thing is I never had any issue with bean freshness with my single lid saeco, so didn't see it as a big deal. The 2nd lid (the sealing lid) on the Titanium is a huge pain in the a$$ to get back on. After a time I just threw it in a drawer.
3) And this was where I really got upset. The biggest selling point for me on the titanium was the double boiler system that meant zero wait time for steam. Well, it took LONGER for the titanium to make steam than my saeco by far, and even when it produced a full head it wasn't as good. The panerello wand did a lousy job making foam, and the foam attachment that came with the machine worked great...sortof. It would fill the cup with watery milk for the first half and then after dinking around with it, it would finally make foam for the last half.
4) The door to the brew group and dregs drawer was more difficult to open, and then scraped the drip tray with every open and close.
5) The coffee spouts were set so far back under the face of the control panel that it was difficult to tell if the cup was correctly placed under it unless you bent over and looked under it. It also denied me the honor of using my favorite cup, because there was no way to get it under the spouts. Not so with my Saeco.

The only two things that I did like about this machine was that it did heat up faster than my saeco, and it was a little quieter. Other than that, it was a huge leap backwards in design and quality so far as I am concerned.