Gaggia Cadorna Prestige

I wanted to get my partner a super automatic to replace the semiautomatic Breville I got him 5 years ago. He’s an avid coffee drinker and used it to make several cups a day every day and he liked it but he never loved it. It produced inconsistent results but even at its best it never was capable of producing a coffee that rivaled ones he’d had from local coffee shops. Also he wasn’t thrilled with the milk he made with its steam wand (and he knows how to use one) and out of frustration had opted instead for a separate frother at some point. We knew nothing about super autos so I spent an inordinate amount of time researching them, which was a daunting process when I quickly learned how many brands and models are out there. But ultimately I determined there were 3 lead players in these - Jura, Delonghi and Gaggia. After digging into their lineups I determined that the Delonghi Dianamica Plus, the Jura E8 and the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige were the comparable models from the 3 that provided the features and drink selections we’d want. And while I don’t doubt that those models from Gaggia’s competitors are great products the Delonghi is about $700 more and the Jura is a whopping $1700 more. Besides price my objection to the Jura was it having a milk tube instead of a convenient carafe and you not being able to access the brew group. Delonghi had a carafe and you could access the brew group but I didn’t like it that professional reviewers ding them for drink preparation that’s not authentic (milk and coffee always dispensed in the same order regardless of selection). That left me with the Gaggia but I was still hesitant because of the negative reviews on Amazon. After additional digging I reached out to WLL the retailer and distributor and servicer for the brand in the US, whose customers notably left only glowing reviews for the Cadorna. They explained it like this - the Gaggia is from Italy and much like an Italian sports car it’ll outperform just about anything else you can buy but only for so long if it isn’t properly maintained. So if you are the type person who buys a machine and doesn’t read the manual and do required maintenance this isn’t the machine for you. But if you’re the type person who takes pride in their equipment and is more of a hands on owner who pores over the manual and religiously follows cleaning and maintenance schedules you’ll absolutely love owning it. Since we are both that second type of product owners I pulled the trigger and got the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige. It’s been in use in our home for 30 days now and my partner absolutely loves it. It produces exquisite coffees consistently several times every day. He’s blown away by the authentic preparation of every beverage in the menu, which is easily chosen by way of the well-designed and simple and intuitive (and beautiful) TFT display and selection buttons. He can’t believe how excellent the milk frother is - what it produces varies from steamed milk to micro foam to dense rich foam depending on what the beverage chosen calls for. Not only is the quality of the drinks way above what the Breville produced he said they’re even better than what he occasionally USED to pick up at local coffee shops. So how hard is the cleaning and maintenance required to own one of these and be pleased with its performance over time? All you have to do is the following: Weekly - remove brew group and rinse and sit on dish drainer overnight to dry and take apart milk frother and clean all its parts thoroughly with a slim bottle brush under running water Monthly - be willing to purchase and keep on hand Rinza and Gaggia’s brew group cleaning tablets and use 2 super easy cleaning cycles on the machine’s menu That’s it - I read a lot of reviews about bad things happening when some owners didn’t do all that and others from owners who did do those things but thought they were too big a hassle or too difficult. That I do not understand. My partner feels like performing these tasks weekly and monthly are a small price to pay for enjoying such amazing coffee beverages anytime he wants at the touch of a button. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the white elephant in the room - why can you buy this phenomenal super automatic expresso machine for hundreds of dollars less than its rivals? My research indicated that when the Cadorna Prestige was introduced 4 years ago it retailed for $1699 and had no trouble commanding that price point. But a couple of years later Gaggia updated its aging flagship the Accademia and the new rendition of it is absolutely stunning and with its 3 additional beverages over the Cadorna and offering the flexibility of both a carafe and professional steam wand it not only blows away any and everything available from Gaggia’s competitors but also made it impossible for the Cadorna to compete with it too, especially at only $300 less. So Gaggia repositioned its price to keep the model alive until a refresh hits soon offering iced beverage capabilities. So people like me get to pick up a coffee maker which I firmly believe is worth every bit of $1700 for the unbelievable price of about $800. And that’s why I stand by my initial statement that this machine is THE best value super automatic expresso machine across all brands. If you love excellent expresso and specialty coffee drinks AND are willing to take care of this machine, DO NOT hesitate to order the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige - you’ll be glad you did (and so will your wallet) 😉

All I wanted was a good coffee maker without the hassle of using the wand. I worked in fine dining years ago and I still remember how much I hated making capuccinos (it takes a lot of patience and TIME). Unlike a lot of baristas, I don't want to perfect the craft, or spend 10-15 minutes getting a cup of coffee in the morning, and still I wanted something better than my old drop down 35 dollar GE. Then I came across a few brands and this was my ultimate pick for several reasons. After testing it, I realized my dreams came true: Having a way above average caffeinated drink, without all the hassle. The interface is the easiest ever, everything is touch and intuitive, and the machine guides you on how to clean etc. it's beyond amazing how easy it is to use. Delonghi makes great coffee too, but the menus are not streamlined or easy so this won at the end. (I got the prestige with the milk carafe). This is my summary of this beautiful piece of Italian appliance: -14 restaurant quality drinks at the press of a button. -Attention to detail in the style and build if you're into that. Thank Italians for that. -By far the easiest interface in most coffee manufacturers. Fairly easy to assemble too. You can save favorites etc if you like your latte stronger, more milk and so on. -decently priced for what it does. It will pay by itself in the near future since I'm saving trips to starbucks. -Fully automated. Not for hardcore snobs. If you want to do everything manual and go down the 3000+ dollar coffee making rabbit hole, by all means.

Makes great coffee, BUT awful machine design. So hard to clean if not impossible to fully clean. Milk steamer is so hard to clean which leaves it stinky. Also if you need a repair you have to pay for the shipping which is probably crazy expensive since this machine weighs as much as a small child. Keeps telling me to empty coffee puck and when I do it still does not recognize I did which means I have to power on n off and start the whole SLOW machine over again. Slow because to turn it on AND off it goes through this process of brewing water before and after every use. It is annoying because that means it uses your clean filtered water to clean the machine before an after which wastes the water. I HATE this machine when comparing to other machines

Buying the Gaggia Cadorna Prestige fully automatic coffee machine was the best choice after comparing it to other compatible coffee machines. First, I love that it is made in Italy and is one of the top names there in coffee machines. It is made of excellent quality and has all the bells and whistles that I was looking for. It is very easy to use and has a picture display of the individual coffee drinks to give an idea of what each drink will look like. The display automatically notifies when the water is low, the coffee pod drawer has to be emptied, or the cartridge has to be changed out. It has options to program the language of choice, as well as favorite coffee drinks, size of drink, strength of coffee, heat level, and milk level. I have had this machine for almost a year now and so far never had an issue. I definitely recommend washing all the parts of the milk carafe, the excess water drawer, and coffee pod drawer by hand, as they are not dishwasher proof. After doing research, I also recommend using 100% Arabica coffee beans, as they are less oily and of much better quality than Robusta coffee beans, and therefore much better for the longevity of this coffee machine. My personal choice is Illy coffee beans, 100% Arabica, and they are also made in Italy. Following all the instructions and cleaning recommendations I hope to continue enjoying this coffee machine for a very long time. I definitely recommend it.

The machine was easy to setup and start brewing. After adjusting the grinder, the machine made the best cappuccino and latte. The profile buttons made it easy for everyone to store their preferences. Liked everything about the machine. We had issues with the "add beans" message after every brew. We were using Lavazza Super Crema beans, so it wasn't the beans. Contacted Whole Latte Love and were going to exchange until on day 9, the machine started dispensing only water and the milk frother only did air. After some communication with customer services, we decided to return. We were concerned if the machine broke in only 9 days, what would happen if the next machine broke on day 31? The machine does have a warranty but you must pay for shipping back for repairs and many reviews stated the repairs could be 6-8 weeks. The machine is not built very well; the water tank is plastic and hard to pull out; the spent pucks notification happens when not filled; With all that said, it does make a great cup of coffee! We are hoping to find another machine which is made better.

1+ months into owning this machine, and we are very happy with its performance, taste, features, etc. The default coffee drinks are great - and - you can modify them to taste. The machine's milk craft that removes for storage in the fridge is well designed but takes a bit of practice to seat it in the machine. It saves us coffee beans (and $$) because now we never over-make and have to throw half a carafe away. It does generate much excess water, which collects in the tray - every start-up and shut-down, it goes through a short cleaning cycle. The case is plastic, but it is heavy and well-designed. Fits well under our cabinets. A++ for the quality of drinks, price, build, and look!

This was originally going to be a 4 star review, but the ongoing faulty design issues has me changing my opinion and may serve as a warning to others. Just like other a Ducati or Maserati, to get the best of of this little Italian speedster it requires regular careful maintenance. There is no doubt that it will produce some of the finest caffè you can get outside of that little caffeteria around the corner in Rome or Naples. The crema on the espresso is marvelous and the blend in the cappucino is divine. Yet after only 6 months of mileage, things started breaking down. First the second (water only) fill of the Americano would end up in the drip tray at the bottom, with nary an addition to your (what is now an) espresso in your cup. Apparently, the puck clean isn't good enough to allow the subsequent seal. Whether it's the post dispense clean, the gaskets or the mechanism is unclear. Whole Latte Love (WLL) support ran me through some options which included seal replacements. This after 6 months use at only 5 servings a day??!!! Well a good manual scrubbing and an application of Petro Gel Food Lube seemed to make things run better (WLL has videos to help), but it's a constant source of {nervousness} for every cup going forward as it STILL occurs 1-3 times a week. Shortly thereafter, we ran into an issue of "out of coffee". Mind you, this was on a full hopper. The bean hopper, has a small capacity, but what's worse is there there's no real mechanism to ensure bean feed, except for the vibration of the unit. Perhaps we had some big beans this time around, but we only the same styles from Cafe Mam. A bit of force poking of the holes seemed to fix it... this time around. At this point, I should state that we do weekly tear down and clean and a monthly brew unit clean. At 6 months, I should expect things to be a smooth as buttah. Before I go into more, minor annoyances, I should say: Would any of this prevent me from buying it? YES, I would NOT BUY THIS again. The coffee is that good, but you need to treat it like any other Italian princess. With ever loving attention. As for the rest of the story, there are a few more annoyances, that are hardly worth mentioning except for the impending buyer: - The bean hopper is small - The water tank is smallish and made of BPA free plastic. I use RO water and supposedly the higher acidity still isn't a problem. I don't have the scientific research to argue, but the option would be glass, which would be heavy, right? - There is a rinse after every serving... which goes into the drip tray. Just so you know. We'll see where we stand in 12 months, but at 8 months, there's no way I'd buy this again. [In Italian, but they don't allow it here, apparently:] Good night, Princess until tomorrow

Great machine for superb coffee. Was an upgrade from a Gaggia Brera. Soy milk did not froth or heat well in carafe causing curdling (temp difference hitting hot coffee). One star deduction for crushing my dream of hands-off flat whites at home. So if non-dairy is your thing, this model may not be right for you. Ended up returning for the Cardona Barista Plus (wand frothing) paired with my Breville milk frother.

Totally awesome machine. Easy to use. I’m in love. The only caveat is that you must use the froth milk option if you want milk in your coffee as only then is it truly hot hot. Works great doing that. Large investment, but I’m very happy with it. Was excited to share this review.

This amazing coffee maker does it ALL and does it just like the $18,000 commercial models.