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After 15 years, my Baby Gaggia finally gave up. Maybe I should have descaled it more often, but the water here in Margaret River is pretty soft. This was my second Baby G; the first one lasted 13 years. Along the way I've had flirtations with a Simonelli Oscar (found it not awfully reliable, slow to warm up, incredibly noisy) and after I undertook a barista course, found that the coffee the Baby G produced was pretty well indistinguishable from the Oscar, so I stuck with the Gaggia and sold Oscar. I also had affairs with a Kitchen Aid (almost new, $200 on Gumtree --- couldn't resist) but found it inconsistent and terrible at frothing milk --- not that I do much of that, but occasionally guests ask for a cappuccino. Also tried a few Brevilles and Sunbeams when staying with friends, and decided I didn't like the crema that thermoblocks produced. Also tried a Pony Model T Express which was lent to me. It made good coffee but was fairly ugly and had a rather unwieldy filter holder assembly.
When the Baby G died, I figured I wanted a programmable machine under $1,000 (and preferably a lot less) with a boiler and separate frothing system. Not much to chose from it seemed. The only things that seemed available was the odd Breville DB which was sometimes on special at Harvey Normans or on line for about a thousand (and occasionally less) or a Gaggia Baby Twin for around $980. The Baby Twin, of course, has had awful reviews in terms of reliability, so I wasn't going to go down that path. But there is a very attractive video of it and its workings on A Whole Lotta Latte website. I had just about decided to go for a Breville DB (which seems to have had a share of problems too), when I decided to have another look at Gumtree, and there, around the 535th entry, 3 from the end, was an as new Gaggia Baby Twin for $300. I thought at that price, it was worth the risk. It was quite unmarked. Even the aluminium dispersion disc dropped out when I unscrewed it to give it a clean. They can be almost impossible to remove if left in place too long, so that seemed to indicate that it had hardly been used. But it's now been replaced with a brass one from the old machine anyway.
I've had it 2 months now (which is not long, I know) and have to say it makes a terrific espresso or long black, and altogether so far works beautifully. It looks quite handsome (well,I think so) and doesn't take up a lot of bench space. The touch buttons are a lovely feature, and it seems very tolerant (within reason) of the coffee grind and tamping pressure. Maybe it has a better pump than my old machine. It even produces a quite spectacular microfoam, or has since I covered the air bleed hole in the Pannarello wand.
The question now is, of course, how long will it last without problems? Leakage from the hose joints has been reported as being of major concern, but having taken the thing apart to check it was ok inside, can't see that if it did spring a leak, it would be difficult to fix. A friend runs a commercial coffee machine repair business in Margaret River, and tells me that most of the modern machines use plastic hoses and crimped joints nowadays, and they are often easier to repair than machines with copper or S/s pipes. Other than that, the Baby is much the same inside as previous Baby Gs, except that there are two electronic control boards which clip in and out, and when I last looked these can be bought reasonably cheaply from the USA.
Anyway wish me luck with it. I'll report back in due course with an update. Bit so far, I love this machine.
When the Baby G died, I figured I wanted a programmable machine under $1,000 (and preferably a lot less) with a boiler and separate frothing system. Not much to chose from it seemed. The only things that seemed available was the odd Breville DB which was sometimes on special at Harvey Normans or on line for about a thousand (and occasionally less) or a Gaggia Baby Twin for around $980. The Baby Twin, of course, has had awful reviews in terms of reliability, so I wasn't going to go down that path. But there is a very attractive video of it and its workings on A Whole Lotta Latte website. I had just about decided to go for a Breville DB (which seems to have had a share of problems too), when I decided to have another look at Gumtree, and there, around the 535th entry, 3 from the end, was an as new Gaggia Baby Twin for $300. I thought at that price, it was worth the risk. It was quite unmarked. Even the aluminium dispersion disc dropped out when I unscrewed it to give it a clean. They can be almost impossible to remove if left in place too long, so that seemed to indicate that it had hardly been used. But it's now been replaced with a brass one from the old machine anyway.
I've had it 2 months now (which is not long, I know) and have to say it makes a terrific espresso or long black, and altogether so far works beautifully. It looks quite handsome (well,I think so) and doesn't take up a lot of bench space. The touch buttons are a lovely feature, and it seems very tolerant (within reason) of the coffee grind and tamping pressure. Maybe it has a better pump than my old machine. It even produces a quite spectacular microfoam, or has since I covered the air bleed hole in the Pannarello wand.
The question now is, of course, how long will it last without problems? Leakage from the hose joints has been reported as being of major concern, but having taken the thing apart to check it was ok inside, can't see that if it did spring a leak, it would be difficult to fix. A friend runs a commercial coffee machine repair business in Margaret River, and tells me that most of the modern machines use plastic hoses and crimped joints nowadays, and they are often easier to repair than machines with copper or S/s pipes. Other than that, the Baby is much the same inside as previous Baby Gs, except that there are two electronic control boards which clip in and out, and when I last looked these can be bought reasonably cheaply from the USA.
Anyway wish me luck with it. I'll report back in due course with an update. Bit so far, I love this machine.
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