At Cape Coffee Beans we take a pretty hands-on approach to coffee. We enjoy the time and intentionality involved in manual brewing and all its component steps, which is why automatic bean-to-cup machines still only take up a relatively small section of our store shelves. However, we do also value convenience (if it’s not at the cost of quality). Nowadays, home espresso expert Gaggia offers a line of bean-to-cup machines with both in spades, and the Anima is one of the latest to hit our shelves.

Gaggia is one of the biggest names in the world of home espresso brewing, best-known for the entirely manual Gaggia Classic. In recent years the brand has also released several high-quality automatic bean-to-cup machines. The Anima is one of the Italian brand’s entry-level offerings, promising consistent, quality espresso at the push of a button, and at an affordable price.

About the Gaggia Anima

The Gaggia Anima is a fairly simple machine, all things considered, which might be precisely what you want in an automatic bean-to-cup coffee maker. It brews two kinds of espresso drinks at the push of a button: a standard bean-to-cup espresso, and a longer lungo-style shot. Each shot involves a short pre-infusion period to saturate the coffee puck before brewing, ensuring more even extraction and more flavour in your cup. The Anima also sports a stainless steel steam wand, activated by the press of a button, which puts out either hot water for Americanos, or steam if you’d like to strap on your home-barista apron and foam up some milk.

The Anima has a ceramic burr set which promises consistent and even grinding, and can be adjusted to one of five grind settings depending on your preference and the beans you’re using at any given time. Your coffee dose is also adjustable, thanks to the Anima’s “Optiaroma” feature which lets you personalise your drink’s coffee dose and therefore it’s intensity according to five options. And, if that versatility wasn’t already enough for your daily needs, the Anima lets you change the length of your shots by simply holding down the relevant beverage button for a few seconds. It then memorises this adjustment so that you can brew exactly the same way the next time you hit the same button.

Finally, regarding cleaning, the Gaggia Anima actually runs an automatic cleaning cycle whenever you switch it on or off, ensuring that your daily driver is always clean and tasty, uncontaminated with residue from past brews. The machine will also let you know when it’s due for descaling, and will guide you through the process with step-by-step instructions on the LCD display. The brew group is also easily removed for manual cleaning or repairs should the need arise.

About the Gaggia Anima Prestige

The Prestige offers everything the standard Anima does, as you might expect, but trades out the steam wand for an integrated milk carafe. The milk carafe automatically heats and foams milk, and is accompanied by the addition of two milk-based beverages to the Anima’s one-touch beverage buttons and the option to simply foam milk on its own, which is found in the drinks menu on the LCD display.

The milk carafe is detachable, so you can leave your milk in it and just store it in the fridge when you don’t need it, or overnight, rather than dumping it out and refilling it all the time. The milk circuit is also cleaned right after brewing a milk drink, and in only a few seconds, ensuring that you don’t ever have to deal with any built-up milk scum.

Our recommendations to get the most out of your Gaggia Anima

• Use it as intended; it's a home machine for up to 10 cups per day (give or take)
• Clean it religiously using products like those from Caffenu, or Gaggia’s own cleaning and descaling products, and the instructions in the manual. If you don't, it will break down as undesirable residue builds up. This is true for all coffee equipment, and particularly for bean to cup machines.
• Use water filtered through a jug like the BWT or bottled water
• Use fresh, high-quality coffee beans
• Don't use very light-roasted coffee (in bean to cups in general)
• Calibrate the settings to your taste (you may need to experiment)
• Don't expect it to make coffee like a professional barista
• This specifically applies to the Anima Prestige’s integrated milk carafe: Understand that if you want your milk scalding hot (no judgement), you may need to use a microwave or a stove rather than a coffee machine; this machine (like most others) will produce milk foam at an appropriate drinking temperature.

Gaggia Anima features

• 100% designed and made in Italy
• LCD interface and one-touch beverage buttons
• Brews 2 varieties of espresso drinks and dispenses hot water; brews 2 additional milk drinks and foams milk (Prestige only)
• Stainless steel steaming wand / integrated, self-cleaning milk carafe (Prestige only)
• Adjustable ceramic burrs (5 settings)
• Optiaroma (dose control - 5 settings)
• Adjustable coffee spouts (110mm to 150mm)
• Memory function for personalised brewing preferences
• Pre-brewing function (pre-infusion for better extraction)
• Automatic cleaning and descaling cycles
• Adjustable brew temperature (3 settings)
• Compatible with Gaggia’s Intenza+ water filtration system
• Includes grease tube, grinder adjustment key/measuring spoon

Gaggia Anima specifications

• Unboxed weight: 7.9kg / 8.7kg (Prestige)
• Dimensions (L x H x D): 22.1 X 34 X 43 cm
• Body: black ABS / black ABS + stainless steel (Prestige)
• Drip tray: ABS + stainless steel
• Boiler: Stainless steel
• Power and voltage:
• Anima: 230V 50HZ 1850W;120V 60HZ 1850W
• Prestige: 230V 50HZ 1500W; 120V 60HZ 1850W
• Power draw on standby: <1 W
• Water tank capacity: 1.8 L
• Milk carafe capacity (Prestige only): 500 ml
• Hopper capacity: 250g
• Puck container capacity: 15