Philips - Classic Evo Pro (RI9380/51)

It’s a perfectly fine machine out of the box. The basic machine has been made for decades and made plenty of espresso long before someone invented temperature surfing. The latest iteration with the larger brass boiler is the most temperature-stable model to date. Suddenly there is this narrative (created by YouTube pundits) that you MUST modify the machine. You do not have to and you do not have to temperature surf. They just make things more consistent. It is a home machine, not a commercial machine. Even modded, it is a modded home machine. It will never keep up trying to do milk drink for a crowd. You might could pull it off with two of them. Maybe. You can use the steam wand shortly after brewing, say 30 seconds.

A few comments: The E24 has been my introduction to espresso. I did the research and it seemed like a slam-dunk. It has not disappointed, and very early on I got into agreement with several comments already made here: modding is not a necessity at all. Having said that: I have just ordered the Shades of Coffee (soc) steam valve. The leakage on the stock one, which I thought I could live with, just gets worse and worse. I'm fixing it. I also have learned a bit of tweakage on pulling shots that makes a difference... pressure-profiling really does make a significantdifference. So far I've been doing that with the steam valve, but given that this is going to be something I will be doing forever now, I want it easier. So: also getting the soc pump dimmer kit. And, while I am at it, I am also upgrading to the soc single-hole steam tip. Others talk about the limitations of this machine as regards volume. I've no doubt it isn't up for full commercial use, but we have no problem (at a relaxed pace) of pulling multiple shots out of this machine. One trick: pull 3 shots (mine are 20gm grounds to 45gm espresso), steam, give the machine 5 minutes, and do it all again. It can probably do that a lot (I've done it 4x in a row a few times and not noted any sort of fall-off), so depending on your group, it is not a no-go by any means. Also, a minor trick: at least 1/3 of folks in my experience ask for Americanos (they don't know or care about espresso.) So, no steam... and you can use your tea-kettle for the hot water. If it is a big enough group, I guess you could bring along a drip or french-press set-up.

I suspect that would be purely up to work-flow consistency: the PID enforces the consistency anyone with dilligence can replicate manually. I don't PID, and my shots are almost invariably acceptable. PID is certainly not at all a need with the E24 (I cannot speak to earlier iterations.) Having said that: I did this w/e add a SoC dimmer (so now am bypassing the steam-valve volume-profiling mess) ;) In fairness, I should point out that I am not an espresso cognisanti: I don't have a lot of not-at-home experience drinking espresso... but the ones I have had in cafes are not substantially different from mine (indeed, I'd say 3/4 are not as good from my perspective.) Also, I don't drink straight espresso (don't like it): it is almost always a dark cortado, or a canadiano.

Got my GCEvoP as my first beginner machine with the full intention of modifying it. E24 wasn't available back then so I later upgraded to a brass boiler. I ordered the Gaggiuino first (at Gen 3 V4 launch) then ordered the Gaggia. I didn't know anything about espresso or the machines at the time but Gaggiuino and the modding process seemed super fun and that's how I dipped my toe into the spro game.

I have a GCEvoP Gaggiuino and it's my first (beginner's) setup. Ordered both at the same time but I didn't receive the Gaggiuino kit until a few months later. I used the stock GCEvoP exclusively--without any mods--up until I received the kit and it allowed me to learn more about the machine (in depth) as well as the general basics after countless trial & error. Due to the limited capabilities of the stock GCEvoP, I can really appreciate what Gaggiuino can do & what it's capable of. As others have said, it's rather complex and you'll need to **understand the basics** first prior to spending not-so-insignificant amount money. https://preview.redd.it/9miq4n6uys1f1.png?width=1420&format=png&auto=webp&s=dcf37468cf6f7d572f737e0db1587c4582df5124

I've been using the E24 for 2 months now, I tried temp surfing and without temp sursfing, there was barely any difference, espeically if you enjoy milk coffee, the difference is not sufficient for you to go PID. If your event isn't huge with too many people, you can't probably get away by making more iced coffee and americano, just don't steam and only pull espresso shots back to back, I'm sure it will be adsolutely fine with that. Just no hot coffee with milk steaming, cuz then you have to worry about the temp cooling (get temp up to steaming isn't the worst part as it only takes around 20s), the temp cooling takes some time and it's wastefull on water, since the water reservoir is tiny on gaggia for a commercial setting. from my experience, with a full tank of water you can pull at least 13 shots of double espresso without milk steaming but you'd be lucky to pull 7 shots with milk steaming and cooling

I feel like for your use case the bambino is a better buy: \- For gaggia you have to wait at least 10min for the entire machine including the portafilter to heat up properly for the ideal extraction \- it's not easy to outperform bambino as I've used both side by side for a while, bambino has PID so the temp is more stable, for gaggia you really need to know how to temp surf to make shots even close to what bambino does \- the steam pressure limitation is real, esp for aluminum boiler gaggias, the brass E24 model got way better as I also have been using one too \- no your wife would struggle a lot with stock gaggia and want to pull good shots without learning everything it takes. bambino esp the plus model would be a way easier option also it has a 54mm which means deeper puck and more tolerable shots, only thing you need to worry about is to warm up the porafilter by flushing before puck prep, then you should be good to go. \- in order to consistenly get great result on gaggia EVO, you have to learn the basic routine which is way more troublesome than bambino, gaggia is only good if you like to mod it, the stock form isn't better than anything at this price range

If you were to save up a few extra quid, you could grab a niche zero grinder and a gaggia classic (Classic Evo Pro 2024 or Classic Pro E24 if you want new). The niche zero is a modern coffee grinder that has basically blown away the competition. Most other grinders are going to be much bigger or cost a lot more. The gaggia classic has a huge fanbase about it and there are lots of mods and upgrades if you like to tinker but this set-up will easily last you 10-20 years until you decide to spend stupid money on something [decent](https://decentespresso.com/overview) IMO if you go for anything less than this, you will be back within 2 years asking about which machine/grinder to upgrade to Edit: you could go full manual espresso if you want cheaper but the workflow is going to be much slower, you won't be able to do multiple drinks back to back and you lose the ability to do proper milk-based drinks

I love that grinder, pairs with a gaggia pro evo... I love to push the portafilter in twice and have a preset grind and duration fill it.

Is a $200 SK40 a “good grinder”? Serious question. Purchased it 2 years ago along with my Gaggia classic evo. Been making cortados daily while wondering if my coffee is good or not. Nothing to compare it to and diluting with milk which makes it even harder to tell.

Delonghi Dedica Arte ($200) expandable with Breville Smart Grinder Pro ($350). Great beginner setup if you don't want to break the bank. Can also buy your beans pre-ground but that's less tinkering to dial everything in (still fine). Breville Barista Express ($600) for a solid all in one. Otherwise if you have some more money to spend. Gaggia Evo Pro ($800) paired with a Vario Baratza Encore ($300) or a Vario VS3 ($450).

I had a second hand gaggia classic for the longest time before it died, and my household ended up drinking mostly pourovers, so I got the Dedica incase I really wanted an espresso and it's held up really well. I'm a fan of the separate grinder options, purely because it's just a little more convenient to do non-espresso methods.

I’ve had the Evo for about a month now and found my groove about 2 weeks in. I thought the warm up time would be an issue but I just turn it on before I do anything in the morning and it’s good to go by the time I get back to it. The frothing was the biggest learning curve but finally got it figured out. Turn the steam switch on, wait 10 sec, purge the water out of the wand into a cup then it’s ready to froth. If you need another milk drink shortly after you can refill the boiler by running plain water without a porta filter. My wife isn’t interested in learning so I just make it for her, was the same with the drip coffee machine we had so no difference there. I’m not trying to make this my hobby, just a way to get a better tasting cup of coffee in the morning and it’s doing just that. My biggest issue is dialing in the grind and puck prep

I know about "Boilergate". But a simple search even a young child can perform, will point out **exactly** which serial numbers to avoid. I agree that the E24 with its slightly bigger brass boiler is far superior in all respects, but if you find a "safe" Evo, you'll be fine. I live in country with very limited distribution for Gaggia - we're typically flooded with the cheaper Australian and Chinese alternatives - I've had my Evo now for almost 3 years and during my installation of my GM Pro, I decided to open up my boiler to check on all the flaking that's happening inside and to my utter surprise, it looks brand new! It should be very easy to replace with a brass boiler when it eventually does start flaking (and hopefully I'll be able to source one locally by then)!

I agree 100%. Get yourself the GCP. It makes awesome espresso. You might want to upgrade the stock filter baskets though. Just upgrading the baskets will already see a significant jump in shot consistency. While you're at it, get bottomless portafilter too, so you can fit the larger baskets (if that's your thing). I had my GCP for over a.year before I went ahead with the GaggiMate Pro mod. I completed my mod only a month ago and have never looked back! It's not only a huge upgrade, but the (Discord) community is awesome!