For Gaggia Anima Prestige vs Breville Barista Touch, it is hard to find the winner as each machine owns unique features that suit different requirements of users. However, if I need to choose one, I will go for the Breville Barista Touch.
My pick is Breville Barista Touch because this semi-automatic machine gives me consistent coffee shots with rich and creamy crema on top. Additionally, the milk froth is also silky and perfect for milk-based drinks. Besides, this machine allows me to add new personalized coffee recipes so that I can easily brew the same perfect cups for next time.
Meanwhile, the Gaggia Anima Prestige is fully automatic, easier, and friendlier for the beginner. With a removable Carafe for milk froth, it can make the latte, macchiato, or cappuccino without moving the cup. Thus, the Gaggia Anima Prestige is the best suit for busy days when I have no time to play around with tamping the coffee grind and frothing the milk.
Gaggia Anima Prestige vs Breville Barista Touch: Comparison Chart
Last update on 2023-02-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Gaggia Anima Prestige vs Breville Barista Touch: Differences
In the comparison of Gaggia Anima Prestige vs Breville Barista Touch, I figured out that the Breville Barista Touch wins 4-1 against the Gaggia Anima Prestige. It is because the former offers more precise grinder performance, greater and more consistent coffee flavors, a better milk system, and higher utility.
On the other hand, the Anima Prestige is easier to use and control while the Barista Touch requires a steeper learning curve to brew a great cup of espresso.
Grinder
Winner: Breville Barista Touch
For me, the grinder of the Barista Touch is better than that of the Anima Prestige. The reason is that the Barista Touch offers 30 grind settings while the Anima Prestige features 5 settings. As a result, the Barista Touch can grind coffee beans finer and more precisely.
It may take you a little bit more time to find the right grind size for the perfect extraction that matches your preference. You can adjust the grind settings by observing the coffee flow into your cup.
For example, if the flow is pulled out too fast (within 6 seconds), it is under-extracted, indicating the too-coarse grind size. So you need to decrease the grind size in this case. If the flow is too slow (>15 seconds), you should increase the grind size because the grind is too fine, making the coffee over-extracted.
Brewing system & Coffee flavor
Winner: Breville Barista Touch
Brewing system
The brewing systems of both machines feature a single boiler and adjustable temperature. However, the things that make the Brista Touch win this category are the integrated PID temperature control and the ThermoJet heating part.
The PID control ensures the consistency of water hotness at 200oF while the ThermoJet enables the machine to heat up faster. To see whether the hotness of coffee/espresso shots is any somewhere near the point of 200oF, I measured my cups. It stayed at 185oF, which is good enough for me. If I want hotter coffee, I just need to warm my cup before starting the brewing.
The Anima Prestige can also brew a hot cup of espresso. However, because it does not feature a PID control, sometimes, I got a cooler cup of coffee, which is just lukewarm.
Coffee flavor
With more precise settings of the conical burr grinder, the Brista Touch gives beautiful crema and a rich espresso taste. As I love the strong coffee flavor, I modified the grind setting to 20, and then I got a full-bodied coffee cup with a robust taste and thick crema on the top.
The espresso shots brewed from my Gaggia Anima Prestige are also of good quality. It has even crema and a creamy taste. However, sometimes I can not get the right hotness and the shots taste watery (maybe the grind setting I selected is too coarse).
Milk system
Winner: Breville Barista Touch
Adjustable milk temperature and froth amount
I will give my vote for the Barista Touch in this category because it gives me more control over the milk frothing process. Particularly, the machine’s steam wand is automatic but it is possible to program the milk temperature and texture. With this feature, the Brista Touch eliminates my worry about cool milk-based beverages since it is common for the espresso to get cold when adding steamed or frothed milk.
By increasing the temperature of milk (my preference is 150oF), I can get a great cappuccino or latte cup with the right hotness. Besides, the temperature in the drip tray, located beneath the steam wand, also helps the machine control the exact temperature for the frothing process.
Auto-purge
Once the Barista Touch finishes frothing the milk, you just need to wipe the steam wand with a damp cloth and lower it down, then it will automatically purge the water out of the wand to get rid of the milk residues. This is so amazing!
The Anima Prestige also features the auto cleaning function for the milk frother, however, it is kind of tricky to use. After the machine is done frothing, the machine gives you about 7-10 seconds to press the tick for the cleaning option, which I usually miss and have to do another brewing to get the milk frother cleaned.
Milk froth quality
The Barista Touch makes a silky micro milk foam with sufficient hotness for my cappuccino cups. Meanwhile, the milk froth layer made by the Anima Prestige is fairly thick, creating a good and beautiful separation in the cup, but it is not as hot as that produced by the Barista Touch.
Ease of use
Winner: Gaggia Anima Prestige
The Anima Prestige is easier to use and control than the Barista Touch because it is a fully automatic coffee machine, allowing you to brew a good cup of coffee with a touch of a button. Meanwhile, for the Barista Touch, you have to spend more time trying the right grind size and practicing manual tamping for the perfect flavor of coffee extraction.
Utility
Winner: Breville Barista Touch
Customization of coffee drinks
Not only does the Barista Touch includes more varieties of coffee presets, but it also offers up to 8 different personalized recipes, which I considered more convenient than the memo function in Anima Prestige.
In particular, besides the adjustable pre-programmed 5 coffee options, you can add more 8 new settings that can be personalized for different users. You can adjust the temperature, the milk foam, the grind, and so on. Then, you can save and label the recipe when you finish programming your preferences, which enables easy access when brewing the next cups of coffee.
With this feature, the Barista Touch can save more than one coffee “profile” at a time, making the coffee preparation for several different servings pretty handy. As a result, it is more convenient and time-saving than the Anima Prestige with a memo function.
Heat-up time
When taking these two machines in a side-by-side comparison, I figure out that the Barista Touch has a more impressive heat-up time than the Anima Prestige. I estimated that the Barista Touch takes about 3 – 5 seconds to be ready for brewing, without pushing any water into my cup. Meanwhile, the time of Anima Prestige is longer, about 27 – 30 seconds.
This advantage can be attributed to the ThermoJet heating component in the Barista Touch. The ThermoJet is considered an upgrade of the traditional thermoblock heating component as it is more responsive to changes in energy and temperature. Thus, it shortens the time for heating and cooling down the water of the machine
Quick Rundown Of Breville Barista Touch
- Note: 1)Too coarse a grind, too little coffee, or insufficiently tamping the grounds before brewing can all lead to inadequate pressure for a proper brew. 2)It is important to note that the amount of espresso extracted will vary depending on the grind size and amount and reprogramming may be needed when the size and amount are adjusted
- The Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine helps you create third wave specialty coffee with ease with intuitive touch screen display with pre-programmed cafe drinks in 3 easy steps Grind Brew and Milk; You can easily adjust the coffee strength, milk texture and temperature to suit your taste.
- Precise Espresso Extraction: Digital Temperature Control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature ensuring optimal espresso extraction
- Faster Heat Up Time: Innovative ThermoJet heating system achieves the optimum extraction temperature in 3 seconds; Ready to make your best coffee without the wait
- Automatic Micro Foam Milk Texturing: Auto steam wand allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste; Delivering barista quality micro foam that enhances the flavor of the coffee and is essential for creating latte art
Last update on 2023-02-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Quick Rundown Of Gaggia Anima Prestige
- Note: 1)Too coarse a grind, too little coffee, or insufficiently tamping the grounds before brewing can all lead to inadequate pressure for a proper brew. 2)It is important to note that the amount of espresso extracted will vary depending on the grind size and amount and reprogramming may be needed when the size and amount are adjusted
- ONE TOUCH BREWING AND FROTHING: Bean-to-cup feature with automatic milk frothing for cappuccinos, macchiatos and lattes
- PROGRAMMABLE: Programmable brewing options for lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and espresso
- TEMPERATURE CONTROL: 3 different temperature settings. Min/177.5 °F, Med/182.9 °F, Max/184.5 °F
- EASY ACCESS TO WATER RESERVOIR AND BEAN HOPPER: Features a removable 60 oz water reservoir that can be accessed on the top left of the machine, and an 8.8 ounce capacity bean hopper with access from the top right of the machine
Last update on 2023-02-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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References:
- Breville Barista Touch: https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/espresso/bes880.html
- Gaggia Anima Prestige: https://gaggia.com/automatic-machines/anima-prestige/#
I am Ralph Mason and I am a passionate coffee drinker. I worked as a barista for a few years and since 2012 I have been trying to convince as many people as possible of good coffee.
I started writing on the barista blog on RepublikCoffeeBar in 2018. It was a pure hobby site and I tested coffee products like coffee machines, beans, mug, and other accessories. After the first year, my blog is becoming a well-known coffee site with about 100 thousand visits per month.
In 2019 I decided to focus on RepublikCoffeeBar only. I became a full-time coffee blogger and was declared crazy by many.