Gaggia New Baby Dose

...usually get them from a Gaggia stockist (their own stores are few and far between), or alternatively from the Gaggia website.

We like our machine, it's been very reliable, and it makes an excellent cup of coffee every time, with the only difference in taste being if we change our brand of coffee at any time. It produces an impressive crema layer on the top of each espresso, not unlike a miniature glass of Guinness in appearance, and ...
...be a bit of a long-winded performance, in fact it's very simple indeed. Given the right circumstances, I'd happily buy one for my own home, and having become used to drinking well-made espresso coffee and cappuccino, it really is quite sacrilegious to go back to the blandness of the instant variety. Recommended without hesitation.

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I've never been particularly keen on drinking coffee at work - the options usually consisting of either a mug of the instant variety made with water boiled in a disgustingly furred-up kettle, or a paper cup of brown-coloured hot liquid dispensed by a temperamental vending machine - so it was with some relief when I began a new job last year to learn that there was an espresso machine at my disposal, with which to make a cup of 'real' coffee whenever I wanted one. I wouldn't term myself a coffee snob by any means, but I'm a firm believer that there's no competition between the genuine article and its powdered or granular equivalent, despite what the Kenco lady in the television commercials would have us believe.

NAMING THE BABY

Our machine, the quaintly-named Baby Dose, is made by the Italian company Gaggia, one of the world's leading manufacturers of coffee machines. Quite why it's called a "Baby" I haven't managed to work out - something either lost or gained in translation, perhaps - but the "Dose" part refers to the fact that you can programme the machine to dispense varying measures or 'doses' of coffee.

The machine is very impressive to look at, being a striking bright red colour, with a mirror-effect panel at the front housing the control buttons. At first glance, it looks as though it's made of metal, but it is, in fact, made from a durable plastic, although it doesn't look at all cheap and nasty. It would stick out like a sore thumb in my kitchen at home, it has to be said, but it's certainly eye-catching, and in fact, looking at a picture of the alternative silver version, I think I actually prefer the colour we have. It does have a tendency to show up the slightest greasy fingerprint, but fortunately, the four of us who use the machine are fastidious in keeping it looking spotless. I wouldn't think it's an appropriate machine to have in a large office or workplace, however, primarily because it's described as a "quality espresso machine for the home", and probably isn't meant for heavy usage, and secondly, there's the added headache of trying to get everyone to clean up after themselves; if you've ever worked in a large office you'll know that that's about as likely as the Pope announcing that he's about to be married.

PLAYING WITH BABY

The machine allows us to make either one or two cups at a time by choosing the appropriate coffee filter - the single or the double size - and using one or two scoops of coffee as appropriate. Then it's simply a case of pressing a button and the machine dispenses the coffee into the cups. The machine has what is called a 'dosage' system, which means that you can programme it with two different lengths of coffee, and it will dispense exactly the same amount each time you press a particular button, after which the dispenser stops automatically. It's an ideal system for the four of us, but another reason why I wouldn't recommend that the machine be used in a larger working environment is that it's a dead cert that people will start to muck about with the settings, causing all hell to break loose when somebody happens to receive the wrong quantity of coffee.

It's relatively easy to set the quantity levels - it's just a question of remembering to press the memory button at the end of programming - and the machine has never let us down with regard to the amount of coffee it dispenses. Just one thing to mention if you like your coffee served in a tall mug; the space between the drip-tray stand and the dispensing head is limited, meaning that even if you manage to manoeuvre a mug under there to begin with, you'll have the devil of a job trying to remove it once it's full of hot coffee. A solution is to make two smaller cups and then tip both into a larger mug, which is what one of our number does. What you have to remember is that this a traditional Italian-style espresso machine and the Italians simply don't 'do' huge mugs of coffee; indeed, the very thought of it is enough to invoke a mass waving of Latin arms amidst anguished cries of "Mama Mia!"

As well as taking ground coffee, the machine also gives you the option of using coffee pods, which are very similar to a teabag, and which contain the same amount of coffee as you would use if you were using the fresh ground variety. We tend to keep a box of Gaggia's own brand on standby in the event that we're running low on supplies of ground coffee, and it must be said that none of us can tell the difference in the taste. The pods come individually wrapped, the best-before date is always a year or two hence, and the advantage here is that you don't get any mess as you do with the dregs from the ground coffee. The pods are a little more expensive, needless to say.

PREPARING THE BABY'S MILK

If you prefer your coffee as an espresso, then that's all there is to it, just add coffee to the filter, press the button, and you're done. The option to turn it into a cappuccino or a milkier café latte is available by means of a gadget at the side of the machine, called a pannarello frother. Because the machine has only one boiler, it needs to be heated up to steam temperature after making the base espresso coffee, and this is done by pressing another button on the front of the machine. It takes a matter of seconds for the machine to reach the required temperature, which means that the coffee stays reasonably hot in the meantime, and we find that it helps to place our cups on the flat top of the machine above the boiler unit while we're steaming the milk. The warm surface helps retain the heat, although, again, it doesn't take very long at all for the milk to be steamed and frothed to perfection. It's as good as anything you'll get from Starbucks or the like at a fraction of the cost. And there's the added satisfaction of having tailored the quantities of coffee and milk to your own liking.

The snag with the machine heating up to steam temperature is that it's then too hot to make another coffee immediately afterwards, and indeed, the pressure that's created means that you can't remove the coffee filter for a while until the machine has cooled down a little. The steam arm has quite a bit of manoeuvrability about it and a large jug will fit underneath it very easily, so we tend to make our individual espressos first, and then steam and froth the milk all in one go at the end. This seems to be the quickest and most efficient method to ensure that we all get our drinks at the same time.

If you're somebody who prefers to add cold milk to coffee, then this or indeed any other espresso machine may not be for you. The reason I say this is that whilst the coffee itself comes out perfectly hot enough, it isn't, of course, heated to boiling temperature, and the moment you add cold milk to it, the temperature level drops dramatically, instantly causing your coffee to become lukewarm. Having said that, the machine has another function whereby it can dispense hot water from the steam arm, so you could always use this to raise the temperature of your coffee, although to my mind, it rather defeats the object of setting the coffee level in the first place.

WASHING THE BABY

Babies everywhere have a habit of getting dirty, and the Baby Dose is no exception, although it is very easy to clean and maintain, added to which, it doesn't scream the place down when you do it. The plastic drip-tray slots in and out for emptying and rinsing, as does the water tank which lifts out from its position at the back of the machine. The pannarello frother needs to be washed each time milk is used in order to prevent a build-up of bacteria, and the whole thing comes apart quite easily - just be sure not to lose any of the two washers which hold it in place while it's attached to the machine. It's an idea to rinse out the coffee filters too, at the end of each day, as it's surprising how much they get clogged with the oils from the coffee during everyday usage. According to the instruction manual, you shouldn't put any of the machine parts into the dishwasher, but it really isn't a great inconvenience to have to wash them by hand, and of course it's much quicker.

The big thing to bear in mind is that the machine must be descaled regularly, regardless of whether you use filtered water. Incidentally, the tank is equipped to carry a water-filter, although we fill ours from our own filter jug. Here in the south-east, the water is very hard indeed, and it doesn't take long for taps and appliances to become scaled up if they're not cleaned regularly. Descaling the Baby is a relatively simple process, and on average we try to descale our machine every six to eight weeks. Occasionally, towards the end of the eight-week period, we notice that the coffee doesn't flow quite so rapidly into the cups, which makes us think that if we didn't descale regularly, it wouldn't be too long before the flow were to cease completely, so in fact it acts as a timely reminder to give our Baby its two-monthly bath.

OTHER BABY TALK

For the benefit of the espresso machine cognoscenti, the pump has a pressure of 15 bars, although the significance of that is lost on an ignoramus like me. The machine also has yet another gadget called a solenoid valve, which apparently diverts any excess water after the coffee is made into the back of the drip-tray. This appears to be effective, since we notice very few drips coming from the dispensing head onto our nice shiny metal tray, but I don't know how this compares to a machine which doesn't have this type of valve.

The tank holds 1.6 litres of water, which is more than adequate for us, but you can top it up if necessary by lifting the lid and pouring water into the top of the tank without having to remove it from the machine completely. The machine comes with a two-year guarantee and if you need to replace any of the small parts, for example, the measuring scoop or the pannarello frother sleeve, etc., you can get usually get them from a Gaggia stockist (their own stores are few and far between), or alternatively from the Gaggia website.

We like our machine, it's been very reliable, and it makes an excellent cup of coffee every time, with the only difference in taste being if we change our brand of coffee at any time. It produces an impressive crema layer on the top of each espresso, not unlike a miniature glass of Guinness in appearance, and while I had initially thought that the milk-frothing process would be a bit of a long-winded performance, in fact it's very simple indeed. Given the right circumstances, I'd happily buy one for my own home, and having become used to drinking well-made espresso coffee and cappuccino, it really is quite sacrilegious to go back to the blandness of the instant variety. Recommended without hesitation.

 

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