Gaggia Accademia Overview The Gaggia Accademia is a luxury Italian espresso machine that is both designed and manufactured in the outskirts of Tuscany. It is a fully automatic bean-to-cup espresso machine with a customizable menu of 19 beverages. Milk drinks can be prepared to your liking with the automatic frothing carafe, or using the commercial steam wand to produce latte art quality milk foam. The Accademia is distinguished by incorporating premium materials into its design with brushed steel housing and a black glass touch display. The 5-inch touch display features phone-like responsiveness for intuitive menu navigation and beverage preparation. Features and Benefits The Accademia has the rare distinction of being an Italian made and manufactured espresso machine complete with a metal frame and housing. Its full color 5-inch touch display is vivid, crisp, and highly responsive. Additional navigation is handled in the margins with a suite of four capacitive touch buttons on the left and a textured rotary knob and selector on the right. The top half of the front panel is backed with black glass and accented with the backlit Gaggia Milano red stripe. Cups can be stored on the programmable and electrically heated cup warmer that can be set with unique timers to turn on and off automatically throughout the day.When brewing coffee beverages, each drink can be customized with a unique volume, strength setting (between 6.5 - 11.5g), a unique temperature (low, medium or high), your desired level of pre-infusion (no pre-infusion, short, medium or long), and ultimately the flow rate of the coffee using the Accademia-exclusive Espresso Plus System for regular, full-bodied or lighter cups of coffee. Beyond that, the Accademia includes the option to brew using pre-ground espresso via the bypass doser and many drinks can be doubled up via the “Two cups” function which grinds and brews a beverage twice in a row. Lastly, the Accademia serves as the debut for Gaggia’s Coffee Boost system, which initiates a second grinding cycle for your beverage while maintaining your desired volume.Milk frothing is performed either automatically with the removable carafe, or manually by means of the commercial steam wand. The Accademia’s 11 milk beverages are prepared with the carafe and can be customized with your desired milk volume and texture (across four variations of milk foam consistency). Milk can also be frothed manually with the commercial steam wand, which articulates on a ball joint for perfect positioning in your frothing pitcher. The steam wand can also dispense hot water for standard infusions and 195°F water for Black Tea and 175°F water for Green Tea.The full menu of beverages contains the following drinks:Ristretto, Espresso, Espresso Lungo, Coffee, Americano, Cappuccino, Cappuccino XL, Macchiatone, Melange, Cafe Cortado, Flat White, Caffelatte, Cafe au Lait, Latte Macchiato, Frothed Milk, Hot Milk, Hot Water, water for Black Tea, water for Green TeaOnce customized, beverages can be renamed and saved to one of four user profiles for easy access. One of the four profiles can also be designated as the default start screen when the machine turns on. The Accademia also features an On-the-Fly function which allows for real-time modification of drink variables in the moment with the option to save your changes at the end of the brew cycle.For maintenance, the Accademia has several programs that can be run for both quick rinsing and deep cleaning with care products including a descaling cycle and a deep clean of the milk system. To protect against scale buildup, the Accademia uses Mavea Intenza water filters with one included with each new machine. To conserve energy, there is an optional ECO mode and the ability to turn off the cup warmer, button lighting, button sounds, adjust screen brightness, and specify a timer to enter the low energy standby mode.The Gaggia Accademia measures 11.1” W x 16.5” D x 15.2” H and weighs 30.4lbs. It has a 54oz water reservoir, a 12.3oz bean hopper and a 14 puck dreg drawer. Cup height can be adjusted between 2.95 and 6.5 inches. Why You Should Get It The Gaggia Accademia is an incredible espresso machine that offers the highest degree of beverage customization available on the market while remaining simple and convenient to operate. Its luxurious and innovative design incorporates both metal and glass for tangible quality that its plastic competitors can't touch. We recommend this machine to anybody looking for the best of both worlds regarding performance and aesthetics.Black Glass Touch Panel: Elegant, crisp, and a joy to navigate, the black glass touch panel creates a more intimate relationship between you and your coffee. Further enhancing the tactile experience is the textured rotary knob which simplifies things like adjusting drink parameters and scrolling through the Accademia's 19 one-touch drink options. Commercial Steam Wand: Uniting the simplicity of automatic coffee preparation and true barista technique, the Commercial Steam Wand unlocks the potential to froth velvety milk foam for pouring latte art. Mounted on a ball joint, the wand can be perfectly positioned to create a roll in the frothing pitcher. When you're finished, use the purge function to dispense water through the wand to be ready for your next drink. Auto-Frothing Carafe: The removable Auto-Frothing Carafe allows users to craft 11 unique milk beverages with just a few simple gestures. Milk beverages can be programmed with your desired volume and with one of four distinct froth textures. For cleaning, the carafe features a self-contained rinse cycle that never touches the milk and when not in use, simply stores in the refrigerator. Espresso Plus System: Also known as Flow Control, the Espresso Plus System is a unique innovation that can be used to adjust the flow rate of water through the brew group. The system can be set to one of three positions to achieve a lighter or more full-bodied coffee depending on your preference. When combined with the four available pre-infusion settings the Espresso Plus System offers unmatched in-cup personalization of every beverage. Heated Cup Tray: With its own dedicated heating element, the cup warming tray is a subtle quality of life feature that guarantees the best in-cup results by warming your cups prior to brewing. The cup warmer can be programmed with three unique timers that will wake up the machine and begin pre-heating your cups. Located between the bean hopper and water reservoir lids, the tray can comfortably accommodate several cappuccino or espresso cups. 19 One-Touch Beverages: With its menu of 19 café quality beverages, the Accademia delivers effortless enjoyment to coffee drinkers of all stripes. Featuring favorites like the Cappuccino and Americano to regional staples like the Venetian Macchiatone or the Viennese Melange, the Accademia's Italian origin is front and center on your taste buds. For tea drinkers the 195°F Black Tea and 175°F Green Tea options are perfectly calibrated for proper steeping.