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The Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso is one of the best espresso machines for home and it’s quite impressive. With a sleek, modern look and lots of key features, we put this home espresso brewer to the test to see if the Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso maker is up to the standards we like our coffee!
Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine Review
| Price
|
Around $650-$700
|
|
Color |
Silver |
| Weight | 26lbs |
| Product dimensions | 29 x 37.5 x 42.5 cm
|
| No. of grind settings | 18 |
| Bean hopper
capacity |
8.5oz |
| Water reservoir capacity | 60oz
|
| Waste container capacity | 13
servings |
| Pump Pressure | 15
bar |
Overview
The Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine allows users to make barista-quality espresso-based drinks, including cappuccinos and lattes, in the comfort of their own home (or office) and enjoy their delicious taste.
It has a professional in-built conical burr grinder offering a variety of grind settings, and a premium ‘Turbo-Frother’ automatic milk frother wand to ensure milk is steamed to the right consistency and texture.
The Titanium Super Automatic has an array of other adjustable features that allow the user to prepare beverages to a variety of parameters and specifications. Overall, this is a machine for the serious coffee drinker who wants to make a significant investment in their home espresso brewing capabilities. Please note that this particular model isn’t suitable for commercial use.
You can actually call this super-automatic Coffee Center because it allows you to create practically any coffee drink you could imagine and in most cases, replaces the drip coffee maker altogether.
Features
The Gaggia Titanium Fully Automatic Espresso Machine comes with the following built-in features:
- Conical burr grinder with 18 grind settings
- Electronic LCD display screen
- Beverage volume pre-programmable buttons (for preparing small, medium, and large beverages)
- Steam wand and hot water dispenser
- Adjustable doser
- Double boiler (comprising a brewing boiler and additional steaming boiler)
- Cup warmer (for up to six cups of coffee)
- Coffee powder option
- Energy-saving capabilities via the automatic stand-by setting
- Removable water tank
The Titanium Super Automatic is compatible with the Cappuccinatore auto-frother (sold separately).
Top Brew Use
With its substantial price tag (it originally retailed at around the $1,000 mark) and copious features, the Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine is serious business.
But for anyone looking to bring their local coffee shop into their kitchen (or office), the Titanium Super Automatic provides the complete package of ease-of-use, versatility, and quality. With a few simple adjustments, even the novice brewer can craft their perfect macchiato or espresso drinks.
At first glance, the Titanium Super Automatic is a sleek, silver machine. The body is encased in stainless steel and it features an electronic display screen that promises to direct the user to a perfect brew, each and every time.
However, at closer inspection, the Titanium Super Automatic appears a touch flimsy, which is surprising given its price tag. This raises a few concerns as to how well it’ll stand up to regular, moderately heavy use.
The machine is compact, looks nice sitting on the kitchen counter and comes with a useful (multi-lingual) instruction manual.
But enough about the aesthetics, what about the coffee?
On this level, there’s very little that the folks at Gaggia haven’t thought of. From grinding beans to 18 different levels of coarseness to providing a place to heat your cup of coffee, brewing with the Titanium Super Automatic is, for the most part, a joy. It’s fast, responsive, and when you’re done playing, straightforward to clean and maintain.
In fact, the word that springs to mind with regard to the Titanium Super Automatic is ’control’.
One of the most impressive features is the double-brew system. By incorporating a brewing boiler and additional steaming boiler, it significantly reduces the gap between brewing the espresso and heating the milk.
The Titanium also boasts a Super Automatic coffee center that moistens and conditions the ground coffee and ensures the aromatic oils get the chance to fully leech out before the high-pressure pump is activated to maximize flavor extraction (at eight to ten atmospheres of pressure).
Beyond just the basic settings, the Titanium Super Automatic includes such extras as a dose control feature that lets you choose between six and nine grams of coffee per shot. You can also experiment with five different temperature settings and a bypass doser for ground coffee.
It’s also worth mentioning the excellent stainless steel froth milk wand, which is capable of producing lovely, creamy milk foam. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t automatically create fancy latte art – you’ll have to learn how to do that yourself!)
So far, so good.
However, as this is an expensive piece of equipment, I think purchasers have every right to be picky, so it’s worth flagging a few things that do give cause for frustration.
Number one is the ‘love it or hate it’ electric blue display screen. When it behaves, it’s terrific, easing you through the brewing process step-by-step. However, there’s an annoying ‘ventilate’ message, which appears when the pump sucks in the air. It’s really not cool to be yelling expletives at your expensive espresso machine before you’ve had your first caffeine fix of the day!
In addition, when it comes to grinding and dosing, the Titanium Super Automatic isn’t exactly ‘whisper quiet’. This might not be an issue for most – myself included – but if you’re planning to brew your espresso in a quiet office or in a house with napping kids, you might want to bear this factor in mind.
Overall, this is a high-end espresso machine that promises much and delivers on most of those promises. Unfortunately, lingering doubts as to its long-term durability prevent this from being a glowing ‘run out and buy one today’ type of review.
What’s the verdict?
The Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine undoubtedly has a great range of features and the ability to produce excellent coffee.
When you splash this level of cash on making your daily brew, you want to feel it’s been money well spent, and certainly, based on sheer coffee quality and versatility alone, the Titanium Super Automatic justifies its price tag.
Indeed, there’s a reason why it remains one of the best-selling espresso machines in the ‘super automatic’ category.
While it won’t turn you into a skilled barista overnight, after a bit of practice with the milk wand, you can certainly bang out a more than a respectable latte, cortado, cappuccino, or macchiato, etc. Not to mention a fine espresso, long black, or cafe crema. (Or even hot chocolate and tea, if you’re that way inclined.)
However, while the Titanium Super Automatic ticks all the boxes with regard to features and quality, it is worth noting there are quite a few negative third-party reviews out there. Worryingly, these concern the durability and functionality of the machine. For example, there are reports of the display screen malfunctioning and various other parts breaking down (often with expensive repair and shipping costs involved to put things right).
I’m certainly not suggesting these problems have been experienced by the majority of purchasers. Of course, there are plenty of happy Titanium Super Automatic owners in the world and I have no first-hand experience of the issues raised.
However, if you’re looking to part with $600+ on a new (or replacement) home espresso machine, you have every right to be 100% satisfied with your purchase and confident that it will provide years of trouble-free operation.
You can actually call this super-automatic Coffee Center because it allows you to create practically any coffee drink you could imagine and in most cases, replaces the drip coffee maker altogether.
FAQs About the Gaggia Titanium Espresso Machine
First of all, the machine should be left on for around 6 minutes in order to properly heat, afterward, place the Arabica espresso beans in it and wait for approximately 2 minutes before you have a fresh cup of coffee.
Obviously, you need to wash the parts after each cup of coffee in order to avoid coffee residue to build-up due to the oils of the beans.
Use a coffee machine cleaner in powder and a liquid machine detergent for the milk frother, and scrub all the parts with a brush in order to avoid tearing the pieces apart and doing a deep cleanse.
With regular maintenance and backflushing with water after each use, you will definitely keep the machine in excellent condition, and you will have to descale it after a few weeks or a month with citric acid.
The Final Brew
Pros: There is undoubtedly a lot packed into the Titanium Super Automatic. It has a wide array of features that can produce beverages to suit the most discerning coffee aficionado. The machine is simple to use, even for the espresso novice, and relatively easy to maintain. If you are a regular espresso drinker, investing in the Titanium Super Automatic could save you $$$ in the long run.
Cons: For a machine of this price and functionality, I would have expected a sturdier build. The grinder and doser are on the noisy side, which isn’t an issue personally, but might be a factor for some users. Also, oily beans have a tendency to clog up the works, so it’s best to avoid dark roasts. The occasional annoying ‘ventilate’ message on the electronic display screen could drive you a bit crazy. Then there are those worrying third-party reviews…
In a sentence? There is no doubt that the Gaggia Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine offers the complete home espresso brewing solution, providing barista-quality beverages and a variety of options to tailor your drink, each and every time – but make sure you do your homework before investing, as not every purchaser has had a 100% positive experience with this particular machine.
Dana Muntean
Friday 8th of October 2021
For anyone still on the fence, we've had this machine for eleven years, still going strong at 16,614 cups brewed as of today . No repairs needed, only weekly rinse of the brew unit and descaling when the machine "asks" for it.
J. Mansilla
Monday 6th of April 2020
I've had my Gaggia Titanium for 10 years. The verdict is: I made an excellent investment and I love my espresso machine!
Note: I send the machine for maintenance 1x per year (they disassemble the machine and clean it inside, lubricate internal parts and tighten the internal workings of the machine). I pay between $80 to $120 for the service, depending on what they do and if they replace parts. Since I live in LA, there are local businesses that can do this, so I don't have to ship it and pay extra for that.
depending what the do to it and if they need to replace something. I also descale the machine every 3 months