The Gaggia Baby, Gaggia has a new baby folks. And I’m not talking about my friend Gaggia and his wife Antonio, I’m talking about the Gaggia coffee company obviously :O) The Gaggia Baby is a line of manual coffee machines. The Gaggia Baby class consists of several manual coffee makers and we’re going to discuss them in this coffee klatch chat we’re having today.
As many of you will know from reading some of my other articles here, the Gaggia company is practically synonymous with excellent, high quality cappuccino machines. Achille Gaggia didn’t invent the cappuccino machine, but he did practically patent the first espresso maker that allowed for the traditional development of crema that we’ve come to enjoy this. This was for the first modern steamless coffee machine that contributed to the development of crema. Since then, they’ve branched out into commercial espresso machines and of course the very popular home espresso machines as both super automatic espresso machines and manual cappuccino machines.
The Gaggia New Baby and the rest of this class are all manual espresso makers. In 1999 Gaggia was bought out by Saeco, the other famous coffee company that makes the Saeco coffee machines such as the Saeco Magic Comfort as well as the Saeco Primea. Saeco incidentally as many of you will know, is owned by the Dutch giant Philips.
Something else that Gaggia is famous for is their Gaggia gelato machines. On a hot summer day as I write this, that sounds very inviting indeed. But onto the topic at hand. The Gaggia espresso machine that we’re going to discuss.
Styles of Gaggia Baby
As mentioned, Gaggia Baby class comes in 5 versions. Starting at the most basic and going on up to the most expensive, these are: Gaggia New Baby, Gaggia New Baby Dose, Gaggia New Baby Class, Gaggia New Baby Class D and the Gaggia New Baby Twin. So what can we expect from these Gaggia espresso wonders?
All of the 5 espresso machines mentioned above, include the Pannarello wand that swivels and foams quite well. This is not a huge benefit, I’m not certain that the Pannarello wand is any better or more spectacular than other wands but it works well once you get accustomed to it. All Gaggia Baby machines also include the professional portafilter that will accept both ground coffee of your choice as well as standard espresso pods and coffee pods.
The portafilter is a nice feature of all Gaggia coffee machines. It is made of a solid and heavy brushed chrome brass. Additionally, the Gaggia New Baby class of cappuccino machines are made with a metal facing front, which is a nice change from the ubiquitous plastic that most manufacturers are using to save money.
Last type of Gaggia Baby
Okay, so that was all of the Gaggia Babys. The Gaggia New Baby Dose adds Gaggia’s proprietary dosing system which memorizes the type of coffee and strength of espresso that you enjoy. All done by a single button. This dosing system offers you the choice of two lengths of coffee, by which I mean that you can have the Gaggia Baby pour two different amounts of water over the coffee pod for either greater strength or less.
The Gaggia New Baby Class and Gaggia New Baby Class D are made of stainless steel. Did I tell you how much I like quality steel over ABS or plastic? No, okay, let me tell you again, I love it ;O) The New Class D obviously adds the dosing system in case you were wondering about that.
The top of the line Gaggia New Baby Twin is made of stainless steel as you would suspect and it also has a double heating system for the water hence the twin part of the name. Having a dual heating system allows for the use of Gaggias Rapid Steam technology which basically just allows for quicker heat transfer from brewing espresso to the hotter heat required for the Pannarello steaming wand. By the way, the Pannarello wand in this Gaggia Baby is made of steel too.
I should also mention just before we end our little insight into our Gaggia Baby, that all the machines come with a generous 15 bars of pressure not the chintzy 12 or 13 bars you’ll find in some other machines. They also all include Gaggia’s solenoid valve which helps to keep the puck dryer after dosing by closing the valve to the portafilter. This allows for easier clean up. And lastly, every Gaggia Baby has a generous 60 ounces (1.75 liters) or so sized water tank which is enough to make the whole family a cappuccino.