THE best value in super automatic expresso machines
I wanted to get my partner a super automatic to replace the semiautomatic Breville I got him 5 years ago. He’s an avid coffee drinker and used it to make several cups a day every day and he liked it but he never loved it. It produced inconsistent results but even at its best it never was capable of producing a coffee that rivaled ones he’d had from local coffee shops. Also he wasn’t thrilled with the milk he made with its steam wand (and he knows how to use one) and out of frustration had opted instead for a separate frother at some point. We knew nothing about super autos so I spent an inordinate amount of time researching them, which was a daunting process when I quickly learned how many brands and models are out there. But ultimately I determined there were 3 lead players in these - Jura, Delonghi and Gaggia. After digging into their lineups I determined that the Delonghi Dianamica Plus, the Jura E8 and the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige were the comparable models from the 3 that provided the features and drink selections we’d want. And while I don’t doubt that those models from Gaggia’s competitors are great products the Delonghi is about $700 more and the Jura is a whopping $1700 more. Besides price my objection to the Jura was it having a milk tube instead of a convenient carafe and you not being able to access the brew group. Delonghi had a carafe and you could access the brew group but I didn’t like it that professional reviewers ding them for drink preparation that’s not authentic (milk and coffee always dispensed in the same order regardless of selection). That left me with the Gaggia but I was still hesitant because of the negative reviews on Amazon. After additional digging I reached out to WLL the retailer and distributor and servicer for the brand in the US, whose customers notably left only glowing reviews for the Cadorna. They explained it like this - the Gaggia is from Italy and much like an Italian sports car it’ll outperform just about anything else you can buy but only for so long if it isn’t properly maintained. So if you are the type person who buys a machine and doesn’t read the manual and do required maintenance this isn’t the machine for you. But if you’re the type person who takes pride in their equipment and is more of a hands on owner who pores over the manual and religiously follows cleaning and maintenance schedules you’ll absolutely love owning it. Since we are both that second type of product owners I pulled the trigger and got the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige. It’s been in use in our home for 30 days now and my partner absolutely loves it. It produces exquisite coffees consistently several times every day. He’s blown away by the authentic preparation of every beverage in the menu, which is easily chosen by way of the well-designed and simple and intuitive (and beautiful) TFT display and selection buttons. He can’t believe how excellent the milk frother is - what it produces varies from steamed milk to micro foam to dense rich foam depending on what the beverage chosen calls for. Not only is the quality of the drinks way above what the Breville produced he said they’re even better than what he occasionally USED to pick up at local coffee shops. So how hard is the cleaning and maintenance required to own one of these and be pleased with its performance over time? All you have to do is the following: Weekly - remove brew group and rinse and sit on dish drainer overnight to dry and take apart milk frother and clean all its parts thoroughly with a slim bottle brush under running water Monthly - be willing to purchase and keep on hand Rinza and Gaggia’s brew group cleaning tablets and use 2 super easy cleaning cycles on the machine’s menu That’s it - I read a lot of reviews about bad things happening when some owners didn’t do all that and others from owners who did do those things but thought they were too big a hassle or too difficult. That I do not understand. My partner feels like performing these tasks weekly and monthly are a small price to pay for enjoying such amazing coffee beverages anytime he wants at the touch of a button. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the white elephant in the room - why can you buy this phenomenal super automatic expresso machine for hundreds of dollars less than its rivals? My research indicated that when the Cadorna Prestige was introduced 4 years ago it retailed for $1699 and had no trouble commanding that price point. But a couple of years later Gaggia updated its aging flagship the Accademia and the new rendition of it is absolutely stunning and with its 3 additional beverages over the Cadorna and offering the flexibility of both a carafe and professional steam wand it not only blows away any and everything available from Gaggia’s competitors but also made it impossible for the Cadorna to compete with it too, especially at only $300 less. So Gaggia repositioned its price to keep the model alive until a refresh hits soon offering iced beverage capabilities. So people like me get to pick up a coffee maker which I firmly believe is worth every bit of $1700 for the unbelievable price of about $800. And that’s why I stand by my initial statement that this machine is THE best value super automatic expresso machine across all brands. If you love excellent expresso and specialty coffee drinks AND are willing to take care of this machine, DO NOT hesitate to order the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige - you’ll be glad you did (and so will your wallet) 😉 Read more
