Gaggia fans and lovers, rejoice, because Gaggia just announced the Gaggia Classic Pro consumer espresso machine, bringing back all the best-loved features of the pre-2009 Gaggia Classic, and adding a few new ones.
The new Gaggia Classic Pro will be available by April from Whole Latte Love in the USA and Canada, and should have a retail price of $449 or less.
Many consumers felt that Gaggia lost its way after the sale of parent company Saeco to Philips in 2009. The Classic saw downgrades between 2009 and 2014, and in 2015, Philips Gaggia introduced a new Gaggia Classic that was missing some crucial elements, including the 3 way solenoid valve for instant pressure relief in the grouphead. Half the portafilter design changed to plastic, including the spouts. The parts for the machine were built in Romania. And the machine got uglier.
As a result, and with new technologies and abilities coming to espresso machines in the $500 price range, sales of the Gaggia Classic plummeted.
The market is now dominated by Breville machines, including the Bambino Plus, Barista Express, Infuser and the newly released Barista Pro and Barista Touch machines. Gaggia used to compete directly with the Rancilio Silvia, but that machine has moved on to near $800 now, leaving the sub $500 space.
The Pro Gets Back to its Roots
The new Gaggia Classic Pro machine is a machine that essentially ditches everything Philips did to the Gaggia Classic, reverting back to the machine that existed between 1991 and 2009. Most of that is good, but right off the bat, they are back to the anodised aluminum 100ml boiler system, and that’s not a positive change in my mind. The grouphead connection is chromed brass, and very beefy, which is a good thing. They have the old OPV back, which I presume is set at 12 or 13BAR, but as people discovered with the old Classic, this is easily modified. The boiler is still the 100ml capacity boiler that also populated the 1991-2009 era Classic.
The portafilter is back to the chromed brass 58mm affair, including metal spouts. The parts are all once again made in Italy, a good thing.
The biggest reverses are the re-introduction of the 3 way solenoid valve for instant pressure relief after a shot pull, and all the commercial connections and wirings inside. Welcome back!
The most notable difference is the new switches up front. Gone are the pre 2009 funky cluster of buttons and lights, replaced by dependable and good tactile feel rocker switches. The indicator lights live on their own below the switches now.
There is also something brand new on the Gaggia Classic Pro, something never seen on the Classic lineup. The steam wand is now a traditional wand! Gone is the old pannarello froth aiding device. This is a very welcome change.
Gaggia also updated the overall look of the machine in some subtle and very classy ways. Besides the new rocker switch control panel area, they have brought back the 1950s era Gaggia Logo cluster for the front of the machine and have a very nice Gaggia Classic metal logo up front. Back in 2002, this logo was stenciled on.
All told, this is a welcome change from Gaggia, and it should make the machine modders out there – the people who want to install PIDs, flow control, and timers – very happy.
The price is slated to be $499 or less at introduction, and you can choose something other than the classic brushed metal finish this time around. There should be five new colours at launch, including red, black, blue, grey and orange, with more to come.
Whole Latte Love is the main importer of Gaggia Machines in North America, and should be your source for this new machine.
Mark has certified as a Canadian, USA, and World Barista Championship Judge in both sensory and technical fields, as well as working as an instructor in coffee and espresso training. He started CoffeeGeek in 2001.
