The Beauty Of The Gaggia Ruby

Let's take a look at the Gaggia Ruby. Gaggia have been kind enough to loan me this machine, so, what do I think?

Before we start, it's worth noting there a 3 versions of the Gaggia Ruby - The Ruby, The Pro, and the Pro 2. The latter being suited more to more high volume environments. I'll be talking about the Ruby, one suited in my opinion, to skilled professional Baristas at home, or anyone wanting to step up their home coffee game, and smaller office spaces.

It was another working day, off I went, but finding it hard to contain my excitement about what would be

waiting at home later that day. I came home to a rather huge pallet next to the coffee station. There it stood. The Ruby.

Off we went, unboxing everything, getting it setup on the brew bar. Included With the Ruby was a tamp, shot glasses, a bar towel, and the MD42D grinder. Now, I had been using the Sage Duo Temp for over a year at home. Cracking little machine, but as a Barista working in Speciality Coffee, the Ruby instantly hit me as a more professional level machine, more suited to my desires.

So, how was it to install? Fairly straight forward really, however you will need to have knowledge on dialling in coffee and what to look for in espresso extraction. The dialling in and programming the buttons took the longest, but nothing was difficult, nice easy to understand instructions helped speed up the

process.

The Gaggia MD42D grinder is a stepless grinder giving a great range of adjustability, and allows for fine tuning. Stepless grinders allow you to make micro adjustments without anything "clicking" into place, it's a free movement. This has made a huge difference to my home espresso, and the quality of espresso produced is lovely. It also has the benefit of dosing. You Can set up a single and double shot for a timed dose to what you require, or just have the option of the continuous dose.

One thing I have noticed, is this grinder does have a bit of grind clumping, so it does require just fluffing up those grounds before distributing and tamping, just to minimise any channelling. Then tah daaah, a perfectly prepared puck!

Let's have a little dive into the Gaggia Ruby features:

• Programmable shot buttons (single and double)

• Powerful 4 hole steam wand (comparable to commercial machines)

• Hot Water tap

• Steam milk and pull shots at the same time (yay!)

• Removable drip tray

• Refillable water tank

• Heated top to warm cups

• 58mm portafilter

• Thermosiphon / heat exchange boiler

• LED lights to notify boiler heat and low water level

The exterior of the Gaggia is a heavy duty plastic outer shell with a high gloss finish, with a stainless steel backplate and removable drip tray. For home use it's great, however for a professional environment I would be a bit concerned about the longevity of the high gloss plastic getting a bit scratched and scuffed over time. It also has a pressure gauge, and various features to notify you if the water level is low or when the boiler is heating up. It takes about 10 minutes for it to warm up, and it's great to just leave on all day and grab a brew whenever you fancy. It will also keep your cups nice and warm on the top of the machine, being metal, so it really holds the heat. No more cold cups!

This machine is a single boiler, however it allows you to brew espresso, steam milk, use the hot water tap all at the same time using a Thermosiphon system. It will notify you when everything is heating up using the LED lights on the front. Once they stop flashing, you are ready to brew. It won't let you brew until it's ready anyway so need to worry. I really like these features, a lot of home machines I've used don't indicate when it's fully heated and will let you brew, and you will soon see it's going to be a bit of an epic fail!

"It takes about 10 minutes to warm up, and it's great to just leave on all day and grab a brew whenever you fancy."

Another notable feature, making this a good office space machine, is you can use the pod basket to brew capsules and ESE paper pods. I have never tried this myself, I'm all about the coffee making experience, however I think this is a nice little touch to those who also brew with these.

Did someone say steam wand? This is one of my favourite features of this machine. It's really very powerful considering it's size! The power is very similar to what you would find on a larger commercial machine, which is great. I like the dial feature to adjust the power, a lot nicer than a push button with no control found on various home machines. It has allowed me to practise my latte art (I've been practising my Phoenix, onto the Seahorse next!), and being able to pull a shot and steam at the same time really speeds up the process, especially if you have guests or lots of people wanting coffee at once!

The hot water tap pumps out a good amount of hot water , perfect for Americanos. It saves messing around with your kitchen kettle, and again, you can use this at the same time as pulling a shot, so don't fear! No waiting around with this machine!

The portafilter is a 58mm, an industry standard. This makes getting accessories an easy take if you wish to do so. I got a distribution tool which I would recommend to anyone for home espresso making. This levels out your coffee bed before tamping, it distributes the coffee grounds evenly to reduce channelling.

"If you're like me and you work in coffee, you'll find this machine brings that coffee shop feel to your home."

I've been using the Gaggia Ruby for a few months now, and I'm honestly loving it. It's massively improved my home espresso, and I love how professional feeling it is, yet still; user friendly. If you're like me and you work in coffee, you'll find this machine brings that coffee shop feel to your home. If you're a home Barista that's been using a lower end coffee machine and you want to improve your espressos and milk steaming and really dive into a more professional level machine, I would recommend this, providing you're willing to learn!

It fits right in on my coffee setup! I love the build quality, the look of the machine, and how it has improved my home espresso. It's quick to heat up, customisable to what you require with programmable features on the machine and grinder, and offers a great brewing experience that I look forward to every day.

I think Gaggia have done a great job at making a machine that offers professional Baristas and more experienced home baristas a machine that performs as well as a larger commercial machine, and also something that could be used in a smaller office or a little coffee cart.

It's allowed me to satisfy my love for tinkering, dialling in coffees, learn more about the machine, and really delve into espresso brewing at home. It's a dream setup!