Espresso machines · Gaggia
Owners keep the E24 for espresso they rate above most cafes and for how far it can be modded, accepting temperature surfing and slow, uneven steaming as the price of getting there.
Once a routine is dialled in, the shots hold up: one stock owner rates them equal to a Profitec Pro 300, another says their coffee beats most cafes, and a third sees no reason to spend on upgrades because the stock machine already pulls great shots.
Brew temperature is the clear complaint. Without a PID, owners describe temperature surfing every shot and still getting cup-to-cup differences with the same beans and grind, and one owner who came from a machine with a PID boxed the E24 back up over it.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What lasts is the coffee. Several owners say a good grinder, a bottomless portafilter, a precision basket and a practised temperature routine get them shots they would happily put against far more expensive machines, and a few are content to stay stock. The other lasting pleasure is the modding path: a lower drip tray, a nine bar spring, a pressure gauge, a PID, or a full Gaggiuino build, with one owner noting these mods deliver features usually found on machines near the two thousand mark.
What people adjust to is the routine itself. Flushing water, waiting for the light, then pulling the shot becomes a habit, and owners who switch beans often find that habit tiring. Steaming is the recurring letdown: several call it slow, and one six month owner says it is the only complaint, because the power varies from session to session. Opinions on the PID mod are divided. Some see it as the fix for the temperature problem, others dislike how the add-on looks or admit they end up fiddling more than tasting, and one new owner is unsure they want to open the machine at all. Price is also split: some see it as a bargain next to machines costing two or three times more, others note that buying the mod bundle adds up to roughly the surcharge for a factory-fitted alternative.
The few owners who mention the hardware speak well of the boiler and the build, and one long-time user of the earlier model says the same surf-and-pull routine has worked for five years. Parts are available: one owner replaced the boiler assembly and group body from a UK supplier, though the steam wand began leaking badly afterwards, which they put down to their own disassembly.
The long-term record is thin. Most accounts here are from owners two to six months in, and the handful of build and boiler comments are too few to judge. There is no clear pattern yet of what fails on the E24 over years, only that the parts exist to fix it.
Nothing with a clear majority yet. Owners who raised these subjects were split, or too few to judge.
Nothing has a clear majority against it yet. Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
More in espresso machines: Nespresso Vertuo, Flair 49, Breville Bambino.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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