Gaggia Espresso Cubika Plus RI8151/60 Coffee Machine, Black
You Save : £73.03 (38%)
Price : £119.99
Product Description
Manufacturer's Description
Cubika Plus: Compact Yet Efficient
The Gaggia Espresso Cubika Plus coffee machine features a 'perfect crema system' in its filter holder to help deliver a great-tasting espresso with a professional crema layer.
Why choose a Gaggia Cubika Plus espresso maker?
Ground coffee or coffee pods
Gaggia’s manual machines come with coffee filters for one and two cups of ground coffee, and a special filter for ESE (easy serve espresso) pods. This provides a choice between the quality of freshly ground coffee or the convenience of easy serve pods should you need your coffee on the go.
Rotating steamer
The panarello steamer attachment rotates for easy access to froth milk in seconds. This allows you to perfect your frothing technique and make great cappuccinos and lattes while also having the versatility to be able to deliver hot water for tea and other hot drinks.
Perfect crema system
The Cubika Plus filter holder is supplied with an extra pressure chamber. This helps to ensure your espresso is served with a perfect crema layer, every time.
What drinks can I make?
With the Gaggia Cubika Plus machine, you can make all your favourite coffee shop drinks including: cappuccino, latte, espresso, caffe mocha, macchiato, caffe americano and even frappuccino. The steamer can be used separately to make thick, frothy drinks like hot chocolate or to boil water for drinks such as tea.
What makes the Gaggia brand special?
Gaggia is a company deeply rooted in Italian espresso heritage. Yet its coffee machines have evolved over the decades, from the original pressure-generating, lever-activated piston, to the latest fully-automated, bean-to-cup technology which, at the touch of a button, grinds, brews and dispenses a delicious cup of espresso. However you prefer to brew your coffee--whether you want the simplicity of bean-to-cup or crave domestic barista status--there is a Gaggia machine for you.
History
In 1938, Achille Gaggia filed patent no. 365726, an ingenious invention which saw steam pressure applied to ground coffee, so that the water forced through the coffee extracted all its flavours and aromas to create a rich foam crema layer. However, the real revolution came 10 years later when Achille filed a new patent, for a lever-operated piston machine incorporating a spring. This spring provided additional pressure, and this pressure forced water through the coffee in a shorter time, producing a short black espresso in just 15 seconds.
In the 1950s, Gaggia found fame in the trendy coffee bars of Rome and Milan, and most notably in London’s prominent Sirocci in Soho. These coffee bars soon became icons of the '50s lifestyle. With the launch of Baby Gaggia in 1977, the company began producing domestic espresso machines, making the professional values inherent in Gaggia’s commercial machines widely available for use in the home.
Customer Reviews
I got one of these machines as a gift at Christmas. Great coffee until March (3 months) when it just suddenly died. No indicators, nothing. Just a complete failure to respond.
Given that Gaggia is generally thought of as a good brand, I assumed this was just unlucky and accepted a replacement.
Six months later, in September, it died in exactly the same way. No indication of what was wrong, just a complete failure to respond.
Needless to say I won't be risking another one. I've taken a refund and will be looking for an alternative
It has rather reduced my faith in Gaggia.
UPDATE: Thanks to reading another review on here I have given this machine another chance and am now on my 3rd. I decided to do this as I had enjoyed the coffee when the previous machines worked. The thing I learned was about a bit of apparent stupidity in the machine design.
The machine will cut out if left switched on for any moderate length of time with the steam button depressed. This seems to be a safety cut-out feature and is no bad thing in itself.
What is daft, is that there is a reset button that is not mentioned in any of the instructions and is actually inside the machine, so that some dismantling is required to operate it. It isn't actually that difficult.
Just remove the top plate by undoing the two screws that hold it (the obvious warnings about unplugging first and your level of expertise and confidence in dismantling anything apply - as well as the fact it probably invalidates your guarantee!). Once the plate has been lifted off you will see a small switch on the wiring block between the two brown (live) wire connections. Simply press this, reassemble, plug in and, bingo, the machine works again. Why Gaggia (now Philips) make the reset so hard to access is beyond me. Many people, like me, must have returned machines in despair when it was actually unnecessary. Surely not good for their reputation!
Anyway, I'm back to drinking decent coffee, will be more careful with the steam button and will know in future what to do if it does cut out.
UPDATE2: Now that I know what to watch out for, I've had no problems with my 3rd machine after 6 months and have continued to enjoy decent coffee. I have therefore upgraded my star rating from an initial 1 star to 3. If it wasn't for the issue of a lack of warning about leaving the steam button in and the reset switch being hard to access I'd have given it 4 stars.
This coffe maker will meet most peoples home requirements for small money.
I looked around for ages, Italian friends recommended Gaggia, and it perfectly fits the bill. Really good looking (the wife loves it!) fits under the cupboard units, and will do everything you might want for your "barista" coffee, having the 15 bar pressure you really need.
Very easy to use, watch the video posted here if you like, but honestly, plug in, fill with water, and you are away. It does take quite a while (maybe 10 mins)to prime, and is noisy whilst it does this, but its worth the wait, once the water has been pulled through and all of the air has gone from the lines, it works every time perfectly.
Don't overfill the coffee holder, tamp down slightly, ensure a tight (L--R) fit, and you're off..espresso simple, Americano a breeze, caps, lattes....all easy.
You have got to enjoy the "coffee making ritual" though - cleaning out the holder, tamping fresh coffee in etc. If you don't like this, get a pod thingy....
Tip - when you are frothing/steaming milk, use a cup first, as quite a bit of hot water comes out of the nozzle before the steam does...then froth your milk with steam only.
Tip - DON'T forget to keep filling it up with water, like I did, it is a noisy, lengthy old business to prime it up again...
Tip - Don't read the instructions...I haven't bothered, its all simple anyway, just enjoy the coffee! I've put Kimbo, Lavazza, Illy and even Taylors through mine so far...all good
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