Gaggia Evolution 74556 Coffee Maker Grey

Other than that, once you've mastered how much to compact the coffee in the brewing head in order to produce a nice cream on top, the machine is very good.

The other thing I was a bit disappointed with was the fact that Amazon did not mention the colour of the machine. On the picture it looked like the black Gaggia Evolution, but when I received it - it turned out to be the GREY one. The grey is dark, almost black, but not good enough if all your kitchen appliances are black and chrome. However, I decided to keep it because I couldn't be bothered to send it back all at my expense.

Hope my experience would be of help.

On arrival, I unpacked the machine and was initially very impressed. Gaggia UK had put a service contact number sticker on the back, a nice touch I thought. However, I noticed that the case did not fit properly at the top back of the machine, something wasn't clipped in correctly inside. I actually had to open the machine up and bend a plastic clip back into position inside to get the case to fit properly, it wasn't a major issue, but their quality control can't be up to much if that got though, as I spotted it right away.

The general feel of the machine is quite nice, reasonable quality bearing in mind the price. Nothing felt cheap or shabby, but you can�t expect solid stainless steel either. Overall, a nice machine.

The looks are good however, very nice, but that may be a personal taste thing. The black plastic casing is actually like a metallic paint finish on a car, black with silver speckles in it, nice. It looks simple, not fussy, which I like.

The user manual. Good luck, it�s awful. Takes a few reads to know what to do and even then I wasn�t totally sure. I�m no fool, but it had me scratching my head. However, essentially the machine is very easy to use, once mastered.

The water tank. A bit fiddly to take out but does look nice. Manual recommends using filtered or purified water to prevent scaling inside the machine. Personally, using bottled or filtered water is one extra hassle/expense too far. I�m sure it would improve the taste of the coffee and extend the life of the machine, but I just can�t be bothered. It�s already quite a lot of effort making coffee with the machine anyway.

The filters. Supplied with the machine are one and two cup filters, a mushroom shaped thing for pressing the coffee down into the filter (the tamper) and a measuring scoop. The scoop and the tamper are simple black plastic, but do the job just fine. However, the filters which press into the brewing head, which clips into the machine are a different matter (I�m sure it isn�t called a brewing head but I don�t know the correct term, it�s the thing with the handle that you always see them bashing into the bin in the coffee shops). Made from solid stainless steel, the quality is good, but they can be fiddly to get in and out of the brewing head. But the worst thing is, after maybe 20 uses, the single filter has started sticking, when you remove the brewing head, the filter stays in the machine!!! Not every time, but sometimes. Happened the other day when it was full of boiling hot water and coffee, and it really isn�t easy to get out, I was lucky that time but I�m sure it won�t be long before I have hot water and coffee all over the kitchen. Not good.

The machine says it has a non drip system� it doesn�t, but it doesn�t drip a lot either, there is a drip tray anyway, but the bottom of the cup is always wet after making the coffee so remember to wipe it.

Cappuccino. There is a milk frother, it does work well but I quickly grew tired of using it and now just have espresso�s. I did burn myself a couple of times getting used to it, that�s not the fault of the machine, you are dealing with steam after all, but beware. The frother is a bit low however and getting a cup/jug of milk under it is ok�ish when not frothed, but you need to remember to leave room in the container to take it out after, or the milk tips out. You can take the frother nozzle off, but that is fiddly when covered in warm milk, bearing in mind you have to hold the milk so you can only use one hand.

The coffee you use will dramatically affect the end result. I don�t mean the flavour so much, obviously if you buy cheap beans you get cheap tasting coffee. But buying ready ground coffee is not really an option, it has to be ground very fine, like fine bread flour to get any kind of �crema� on the coffee. I got the Dualit grinder, works ace, see review, coffee from the machine was very plain and boring until I used the grinder with fresh beans.

Is it too much hassle for a cup of coffee? Well� no. I do use it regularly and if you buy nice beans and grind them VERY fine, it does work well. Not much cleaning required but it does take a good few minutes of activity to get a cup out of it.

I�m sure this will sound like a bad review of the machine, but it really isn�t so bad, it just has faults. I have never used any other machines but I�m sure there are a lot worse out there. It�s best point is its looks, so if you do buy it, and as is the case with many kitchen gadgets, stop using it after a few weeks, at least it will look nice in your kitchen.

I will continue to use mine, and probably would recommend it to someone wanting to spend £120 on a espresso machine. If I had my time again, would I buy a £200+ Dualit or similar? I don�t know, maybe. If you have wads of spare cash, don�t buy this machine. If you don�t, it�s work considering, it really isn�t that bad, even after all I have said.