Gaggia.

It's a name that has been around the consumer espresso machine marketplace in North America more than almost any other brand name, save possibly La Pavoni.

And they have a machine in their lineup - a machine that has seen the light of day constantly for maybe going on two decades now. That machine, in its current iteration, is the Gaggia Classic.

This machine has been around for such a long time that I can recall seeing it, with fairly garish colours, on the shelf of an Italian Deli on Preston Street in Ottawa back in the mid 1980s.

The Gaggia Classic has undergone subtle changes over the years, and today's model is in many ways a refinement of pluses and possible compromises. A lot of what was learned about the consumer espresso marketplace has been put into the Classic's functions, which is a good thing. But Gaggia is still using a boiler system they initially developed decades ago, and maybe it's time to call for the "put out to pasture" sign for that part of the machine - at this point, I don't know. We haven't done the detailed review, and I won't pass judgment on the aluminum boiler inside the machine until we give the Gaggia a good several months' worth of testing.

As always, this is a first look, not a Detailed Review. Anything and everything I write could change between these two documents. This initial look at the Gaggia Classic is just that - a week's worth of analysis and testing.

Doug Wiebe will be handling the full Detailed Review for CoffeeGeek, but for now, I present you with my First Look.

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