Review by Jim N. on 15 Mar 2020 review stating Four Weeks of Use and have found we really Love this Gaggia Accademia! Summary Review:
The five star rating I provided is based on how much we enjoy this machine now, not initially. I still believe Gaggia has an opportunity to change one characteristic, drip tray capacity, and that might bring up some other reviewers opinions of this machine.
What my wife and I enjoy most about the Accademia;
• Quality and ease of one button drinks, daily for us
• Large easy to read buttons
• It is a very good-looking machine and appears well built
• I look forward to my morning espresso beverage every day and have been drinking more afternoon/evening decaf’s!
• I think the quality of the auto frothed milk/foam is very good
• Like the ability to control both the amount of steamed milk in the drink and the amount of foam
• Coffee bean hopper lid has seal for freshness
• Both the auto frothing pitcher (super easy to use from fridge to machine with no attached hoses) and a separate commercial style steam wand so I can get creative on weekends
Opportunity for improvement:
• Internal drip tray water capacity should match the empty grounds (dreg) capacity (e.g. you should be able to fill the empty grounds container without filling the internal drip tray first).
• External (front) drip tray plastic liner has cutouts allowing fluids from spills/coffee dispenser to the enter the metal non-detachable tray. We always use a cup to catch cleaning water before it goes in the tray, but sometimes you miss it, then end up with water in both the plastic insert (removable) and the metal (non-removable) front tray
• Screen saver (I’ve been told it will last the life of the machine, but with current technology seems like a simple feature to add)
• Water/bean hopper empty sensor enhancements (you can start a drink, especially a larger drink, and run out of water ½ through the poor or get a light coffee if the beans run out during a shot)
NOTE – My first few weeks of using the Accademia were like a roller coaster, I loved it but felt like I made the wrong choice at the same time. Reality, I was focused on the limited capacity of the internal drip tray as some of the reviewers of this machine pointed out. That distracted me from the value we receive by getting a milk-based drink at the push of a button, verses always having to steam your own. With our busy schedules this is a real treat and I find myself drinking more coffee daily (mostly decaf as I’ve had to reduce caffeine from my diet).
On my first Guest event with this machine, I fired it up, after pre-rinse, emptied both internal containers, and served 10 cappuccinos’ before I got the empty drip tray alarm (see commentary on this concern below). 8 cappuccinos were created by using my Latte button to serve steamed milk for two at a time, then popping out the milk carafe and double tapping the expresso button to split two shots across the two milk drinks. Two were single fully auto (one button) cappuccinos.
All my guests were delighted by the drinks. After the event my wife got emails complimenting us on the coffee’s. I felt much better about the Accademia after that event than I did initially experiencing the frequent empty tray warnings.
Below is a lengthy detailed review of my experience with his machine in 4 weeks of ownership.
First off, I’d like to thank the WholelatteLove team for the video reviews on your products, those are very helpful along with all your coffee making tip videos and maintenance videos.
I own a Saeco Magic Plus we purchased from WholelatteLove 16 years ago. It’s made close to 20,000 drinks since we have owned it and still works very well. We have always used distilled water in it to avoid any scale build up.
We decided we wanted to upgrade to a fully auto machine. The Accademia immediately caught my attention. In the reviews from WholelatteLove it appeared the main difference between the Accademia and the Babila were the cost (Babila higher priced), the 3 extra special drinks on the Babila and the additional bean grinder settings on the Babila. The extra drinks were not something my wife or drink, and our experience with our Saeco was pretty much set the bean grind and forget it. Consequently, those options didn’t seem worth the cost differential to us.
I also found from reviewing the machine images and videos on the site I liked a number of features on the Accademia that I felt were pro’s for us (by my comparison I found 14 pros on the Accademia over the Babila based on our use of the machine).
Accademia Pros for me (verses the Babila): Larger buttons with drink names on the buttons; Cup warmer, Milk foam control, Calendar feature for auto on (up to three auto on times a day), Milk Carafe cover magnetically sticks to side of Accademia, (seems trivial but very handy and gets used every day), 6 one touch buttons (Babila has 5 and a special drink button for the other drinks). On the Babila the “Latte” drink is in the special drink menu, I find this to be a handy option when serving guest so having this as a one button is somewhat of a timesaver for me on the Accademia. I’ve also found I like to serve a Caffe Lungo and to with just a little steamed milk, using the Latte button then stopping when I have enough is perfect. Some other subtle differences I observed on the Accademia is the hot water is two button presses, vs going in to special menu. This is the same for the steam feature. The bypass doser is 4 button presses on the Accademia to get to the to doser, the Bablia, due to the extra bean strength options requires a few more presses (for me I would like the option of changing that order. I would prefer the bypass doser come up before bean strength, since you can program the bean strength by drink). The Accademia holds a little more fresh water and beans than the Babila. So as you can see from my perspective the Accademia appeared to be the obvious choice for me comparing the two online.
Then came actual use. I purchased the Accedamia, so I really can’t give an experienced view of the Babila. Like many who have created some less than positive reviews on the Accademia, I found myself frustrated and annoyed with the empty grounds drawer and drip tray warnings. Sometimes I would get just a couple drinks before having to empty, then at times 6 or 8. Frustrating, given the specs state the grounds drawer should hold ~15 pucks. I found a couple of reviews on the Accademia where the reviewers stated they returned their Accademia for this reason and got a Babila claiming its drip tray was more properly sized for the machine. The Babila specs state a 30 oz drip tray with only 10 oz for Accademia. As the Accademia, and most likely the Babila, dispense water in the internal drip tray on machine start up (cleaning the coffee circuit), when dispensing drinks (~1 oz for an expresso and ~2 oz for a milk drink from my personal observations), it’s easy to see that 10 oz capacity on the Accademia will fill fairly quickly. In fact, it’s hard to believe one could ever fill the 15-puck capacity of the empty grounds container before the drip tray reaches capacity. And in the 4 weeks I’ve owned it I’ve never filled the empty grounds drawer with 15 pucks before hitting the drip tray capacity.
This seems to be a design flaw in the Accademia. It appears from viewing the video on the Babila, Gaggia may have reduced the size of the coffee grounds container (11 pucks stated capacity) and used the extra space under the coffee grounds container for more drip water capacity. Simple! Why not offer a retrofitted drip tray/coffee grounds drawer for the Accademia?
I did bring my concerns to the attention of the WholeLatteLove technical staff via several email messages and a couple of on-line chat sessions. I got immediate response on the chat sessions, however, sadly, only one of my emails was answered. In conclusion they suggested the Accademia was the better choice for my preferences.
Between using the machine and experimenting, reading the user manual and reading the technical specs from the service manual, here’s some key points I’ve learned on this machine that have helped me.
1) The Accademia counts coffee dregs (e.g. the pucks that it dumps in the internal coffee container) based on the last time it reset its dreg counter. To reset that counter, you must remove the internal coffee container/drip tray when it gives you the dreg drawer warning or prompts you to empty it.
2) The drip tray warning is based on the Accademia’s internal capacitive water sensor for the drip tray. Once it detects the tray is full it will prompt you to empty both the internal drip tray and the coffee dreg container.
3) If you remove the coffee container/drip trip to empty them with no warning, the drip tray water sensor will be reset but not the coffee dreg counter.
4) If you manage to keep emptying the drip tray with no warning, you may reach the full coffee dreg counter even though you still have room left in the drip tray. When this warning appears by itself without the drip tray warning, you can serve a few more coffees before the empty dreg drawer alarm.
For comments in relation to the auto milk frothing temperature, I found the following:
Googling Milk Temperature - Gaggia Accademia/troubleshooting - Whole Latte Love … wiki.wholelattelove.com
“Aug 2, 2019 - The carafe was designed for use with a room temperature boxed milk. The machine is programmed to produce a temperature rise of 50-70 F. Typical ending temperatures are around 125-135 F. However, this is completely dependent on the starting temperature of the milk being used.”.
I lived in Italy for two years back in the 80’s in my Air Force days, and I remember the boxed milk, so that makes sense to me.
Coffee temperature – WholeLatteLove's Todd measured 176F during their unboxing video for a Caffe Lungo on the Accademia. I’ve measured 175F on mine for a Caffe Lungo in a pre-warmed 8oz ceramic coffee cup and 169F in a 2.5 oz pre-warmed single wall glass espresso cup. Might consider some of the glass double walled cups, however these temperatures are in WholeLatteLove Marc & Tracy’s recommended range of 150-170F for best drinking temperature.
Knowing this for my weekday morning routine, I do the following (on weekends I just wait for it to prompt me):
1) I start up the machine in the morning, warms up very quickly about 45 seconds. After it completes the startup brew circuit rinse, I open the front service door and empty both the internal drip tray and coffee ground container. Although this does not reset the empty coffee counter, it does clear the internal drip tray and resets the drip tray sensor. Now I have the full 10 oz internal drip capacity to make coffee & milk drinks.
2) I top off the freshwater tank, (we keep a gallon jug next to the machine). I do use the water filter and tap water with this machine and will continue to use the recommended water filter and follow the de-scaling recommendations.
3) I check the bean hopper to see if it needs topping.
4) I also pre-warm my cups with hot water and if possible, let the milk sit a few minutes before frothing to improve milk/drink temperature.
This daily routine has enabled me to enjoy my morning espresso or cappuccino, along with my morning coffee “to go” in my travel mug. It also allows my wife to have her Latte Macchiato with no empty tray alarm. I may get the warning to empty the coffee grounds, however as described above you can keep serving a few coffee or milk drinks when that warning appears by itself without the drip tray warning (per the service manual another 3 drinks after the first dreg warning). Since I’ve already emptied the coffee grounds first thing in the morning, I know there’s no risk of overfilling that container, it’s just a matter of waiting for the empty drip/coffee alarm to complete a reset of the coffee counter.
Final notes for others moving from a different machine. I only had to empty my Saeco Magic Plus maybe once a week with normal use (drip tray and spent coffee puck tray). So yes, the Accademia is a big change in that respect. On the surface this appears as though it’s a down grade at a higher price tag. However, the features of the Accademia, and the one touch drinks make it worth it to me. I considered a Jura, but I’ve really come to believe that the removable brew group with a weekly rinsing and periodic lubrication is a significant element of the lifespan of a machine like this (stuff gets dirty and moving parts need parts need to be lubricated). To my knowledge you cannot do that with a Jura. I was also really sold on having the manual steam wand in addition to the auto milk frothing carafe feature. I do still like to steam my own milk drinks on weekends. During the week, I let the mini barista do the work. I also wanted to stick with a product in the same family as my faithful Saeco. Again, 16 years is a good testimony for me. Hope this one will last as long. If you are coming from another machine like we were, and you are willing to change your daily habits you will probably enjoy this machine. If you are buying it with the idea you can go for days of daily use without emptying the drip tray/coffee grounds (because you haven’t served 15 drinks yet), think again and consider another machine. In my case emptying the trays are a daily activity now. But it's worth the results for me!
It will work, however you may not get as high quality a froth as you would with whole milk.