I bought a Gaggia Coffee manual espresso machine in 2000 when my doctor suggested I reduce my caffeine intake - at the time, decaf from a pot often had an odd taste. That espresso machine lasted until 2015 when service became increasingly expensive and often took weeks.
Searching for a replacement machine, I found the Gamea Revo, a compact Italian-made automatic espresso maker that got good reviews for repairability. I was able to buy it at a reasonable price from Terra Café in Montreal. Although it supports a wide range of adjustments through the touchscreen, the default settings have worked well once I adjusted the grind and figured out that it needed a "blank shot" after the morning startup to get the boiler at the right temperature. It also accepts pre-ground coffee for the regular coffee drinkers in the house
The Gamea Revo requires little regular maintenance. Rather than a group head and a portafilter, the Gamea Revo has a plastic brew group that automatically tamps the grinds, pumps hot water through them, then ejects the grinds into a dreg drawer. I rinse the brew group once a week, apply a bit of silicone grease to the O-ring on the brew group tamper-ring, and periodically grease the moving parts of the brew group. Once every four months, the Gamea Revo reminds me to run decalcification solution through the system.
The Gamea Revo has had some issues. In September 2020, it refused to start. I shipped the unit to Montreal for repairs and had it back in a bit of a week - a thermal fuse had failed. A few months later, the steamer stopped working. The Terra Café technician walked me through diagnosing the issue (another thermal fuse), sent the parts, and walked me through the repairs. The sides, top, and back remove easily, providing access to the boilers and circuit boards. So far, I have replaced the boiler O-rings, the grinder, and a cracked connector in the steam line. The latter was the most difficult since it is behind the front panel which has a lot of connections to the rest of the unit.
The Gamea Revo comes with a milk frother but I initially removed it and frothed milk in a pitcher: I was familiar with that procedure from the previous espresso machine and cleaning the foamer seemed to be a hassle. When I recently mentioned that the Gamea Revo streamer was underpowered, the Terra Café technician encourage me to try the frother. It turns out to be faster and requires less milk to get the same volume of foam. Cleaning involves moving the milk tube to a cup of water to flush milk out of the tube, switching the dial in the front to direct steam to flush any milk in the frother, then returning the dial to "foam" so that water in the tube drains. It means no opportunity learn "latte art", which for me is not an issue.
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