Gaggia Velasca Prestige Espresso Machine, Stainless Steel, 54 ounces

Our old Gaggia super-automatic sprung a leak and bit the dust this year, after 15 years of reliable service. While we shopped around other brands for a replacement, we gravitated back to Gaggia on the basis of three things: 1) Gaggia was the first to market a large, commercial espresso machine, many years ago, 2) the machine’s reliability, based on our prior experience, is hard to beat, and 3) the coffee tastes amazingly good, just as we remembered. Also, the Gaggia is still built in Italy. The Velasca Prestige is a bit smaller than our first Gaggia, with an attractive brushed stainless steel front panel and chromed drip tray cover. The water reservoir and used “puck” container are both located conveniently at the front where they are easily removed to refill or empty. A large bean reservoir sits atop the unit. It holds about half a can of Illy beans, so doesn’t need frequent refilling. There are plenty of user-adjustable options (READ THE MANUAL or you won’t get the most out of the machine) for preparing coffee drinks, plus a front-loaded milk frother container that can sit in the fridge in between coffee-making sessions. The coffee, in whatever style you may like is uniformly delicious.My only issues with the machine are that the water reservoir is small and requires frequent refilling and ditto for the puck container. I imagine Gaggia was trying to keep the machine within reasonable dimensions to fit conveniently on a countertop, which it does nicely.Speaking from almost 20 years of experience using Gaggia super-automatics, read the manual, buy the cleaning products, and maintain the machine regularly. There is a learning curve, both for preparing drinks and for cleaning the machine, but you get to drink some great coffee during the process. Enjoy!

This is the best coffee machine I've ever had. I'll never need another one. It's amazing and worth every cent. It makes espresso, cappuccino, hot water. froths milk and does it all. Maintenance is simple. This is the greatest machine ever.

After loving our Titanium Gaggia for over 6 years, we were very excited to upgrade to a super automatic. After lots of research, we purchased the Anima Prestige, but returned it after about a month. While the frother was great, we were constantly getting no bean errors, which led to lots of ruined drinks, frustration and tons of wasted beans. The machine would grind the bean serving, then dump them into the dredge drawer and rinse itself into your fresh cup. We decided to return the Anima and switch to the Velasca Prestige, since family had recently purchased and had success.Immediately, we started getting no bean errors on the Valasca. We had several calls with custom support and went through the tedious and wasteful task of "training our Velasca's algorithm". ( One would assume for $900, the machine would come preprogrammed to make a cup of coffee) We had a bit of success for a while, but if you change the aroma strength, you are back at square one. It is not atypical to get 4-6 no bean errors while trying to make 1 espresso drink. We have had to double our Lavazza subscription, because of the coffee we waste.When we received both new machines, we noticed that they didn't seem as solid as out titanium, but were happy to look past that since they promised new exciting features. Now after 2 failed machines, I can't help but assume the quality of this brand is not what it once was. I'm hopeful that I will be able to return this as we are currently using our $30 french press, while the $900 machine gathers dust and takes up room on the counter.

My old manual machine died so I finally decided to replace it. After looking at the different brands and features I decided on the super automatic Gaggia Velasca Prestige.I have only had it a little over a week, but I am so happy with my purchase. It was a little confusing to set up, but operation is easy. I would prefer a little more ability to customize drinks.Overall, the quality of the espresso is spot on. Good crema, not quite as thick as my manual machine, but still good. I debated whether to splurge for a model with an automatic frothing function. Again, not quite as good as doing it manually, but honestly it does a good job and I use it more often because of the ease of use, just install the pitcher and push the button and use the quick clean function after.The only thing I haven't been happy with is the preground bypass doser doesn't seem to work too well. (I only use it occasionally for a decaf ) Sometimes it works, other times just puts out a shot similar to weak tea. Could be user error on my part.Cleaning is pretty easy. Bottom line, I enjoy using the machine and am happy that I bought it. Now, I'll have to wait and see how durable it is.

Did my research. Am a very picky coffee drinker. I've had many espresso machines and 1 Philips/Saeco automatic that only lasted less than 2 years. This appeared to be convenient and easy to clean, plus Italian Gaggia is a brand well known for best quality coffee. Not worth it for me to save $200 and get a Chinese brand name. And it looks great !It is super easy to operate and clean. So easy to use milk container. I fill milk to max and use for a few days, run clean circle and put back in fridge right away. I keep a cup under dispenser to catch water. I've used medium and dark roast, and get perfect crema and milk froth. Its very easy to operate, selecting coffee strength and type. So far so good. I love it !Update after almost 2 years.The milk dispenser stopped working. No matter how much I clean it. Since there is a 2 year warranty, I asked for a new one. Lets see what happens...

Purchased my machine in May 2022. It has worked flawlessly, I especially love the design of the milk frother, easy in/out, fridge to machine and back. I do use the Gaggia scaling solution on time every time and I use the quick clean function on the frother. I would highly recommend. I think it is a quality machine with a powerful pump. I make 1-3 cups per day about 5 days a week on average. Great machine.