The Gaggia Brera is a relatively recent addition to Gaggia’s range of automatic coffee machines. A bean-to-cup coffee machine makes espresso for you with the minimum of fuss. All you have to do is to put coffee beans and water into the machine, which does all the rest for you. That’s the theory anyway. But does it work in practice? The reviews of those who have bought and used the machine are fairly unanimous – yes it does. Gaggia coffee machines make you look like a professional in your own home.

If you click the button above you will be redirected to Amazon.com. In case you then decide to buy anything, Amazon.com will pay me a commission. This doesn’t affect the honesty of this review in any way though.

Gaggia Brera Features and Benefits

 
Choose the Gaggia Brera for its five grind settings, allowing the coffee lover to brew to personal preference. Use the LED display to call up settings and program functions like descaling. Enjoy water quality from this filter feature plus a stainless steel boiler. These also cut down on the damage done by scale to lengthen the life of your coffee maker. The Gaggia Brera comes in silver or black.

With the Syncrony Logic, you can use pre-ground coffee to make a cup of decaffeinated brew. Set the wash cycle to cut down on cleaning by hand. Brew two cups at the same time for coffee time and conversation with a friend. Make tea or hot chocolate instead with the hot water dispenser for a little party on a cold day.

The Titanium range features an LCD, so no more dirt in the buttons or controls that wear down or fall off. Use the quick steam delivery and pre-grind dosing for fast performance. Set Espresso to whatever intensity you like. Remove your water tank to fill at the tap instead of pouring into the jug at the machine, ensuring greater safety around this electrical appliance and less risk of a mess to clean up.

Platinum Vision comes from a line of Platinum products by Gaggia. Most make space to allow storage of a separate milk container as well as the other features you expect. The touch screen gives the consumer access to a function menu without the buttons of a past generation that are so hard to clean and prone to wear out. Adjust the tray height depending on the function you choose: higher for a tiny cup of espresso; lower for big cups of Americano.

Make a wide variety of coffees with the Gaggia Brera. Choose from espresso, caffe latte, espresso macchiato and others in this day of the specialty brew. Eight grind sizes, programs for milk quantity and froth, and coffee volume and temperature allow for these specifics. Clean thoroughly by removing both brew group and coffee grounds tray.

Weaknesses that some customers have pointed out:

The tank is only 1.2 liters, so needs regular topping up. And you can’t see the water level – so you have to remove the tank to check.
There’s rather too much plastic for an expensive machine, although the front panel and drip tray are stainless steel.
Cleaning and descaling are a bit fiddly, but that is the case with any automatic machine.

Conclusion

 
Overall, criticisms of the Gaggia Brera are relatively minor. Aside from that, the quality of the coffee (which is the only thing that matters) is exceptional. Although expensive, there are good deals available, bringing it within reach of most good coffee lovers.