Gaggia Anima XL Super-Automatic Espresso Machine

Owning the Gaggia Anima XL

The top tier of the Gaggia Anima line is clearly the Anima XL; this super-automatic machine boasts extra large water and bean capacities to bridge the gap between party-of-two and party-of-ten brewing. This is a favorite machine around the office because it’s such a workhorse; cranking out espressos and milk-drink galore. Like the Prestige, the XL’s integrated milk carafe is able to produce a airy cappuccino foam as well as a silky latte milk, and its programmable preinfusion wets the grounds prior to extraction to ensure they’re fully saturated. Plus, just like the rest of the Anima line, the XL’s espresso spouts are high enough to brew into a travel mug; it’s highly programmable, with the option to personalize grind and coffee strength across five settings, and coffee temp across three; and the innovative Gaggia Adapting System, or as we like to call it “the brains behind the brewing operation,” which learns how fast to spin those ceramic burrs and how hard to tamp for the first fifteen or so brews for revolutionary results in the cup. Unlike the others, it’s important to note that the Anima XL does not have a bypass doser for pre-ground coffee brewing.

The Anima XL is as easy to maintain as it is to use, with its intuitive maintenance alerts, water filter compatibility, automated descaling cycle, and, of course, Gaggia’s removable brew group, which can be easily rinsed by hand. The Anima XL is a big time brewing machine, but if you’re looking for something smaller for home, take a look at the standard Anima; also available are: the Deluxe model, which features an integrated cappuccinatore; and the Prestige, which is basically the XL without the trumped up tanks.