While the Gaggia Brera is probably my favourite simple, manual milk frother bean to cup machine for the more budget conscious, if you have a slightly higher budget (about £50 more), and if you have a bit more vertical space available (the Anima is slightly taller and the tank is top filling), then I would definitely put the Anima on your short list.
Features and Benefits
• 1.8 L water tank
• Automatic pr-infusion
• Top filling water tank for uninterrupted coffee
• Grinder bypass chute for pre-ground coffee
• 5 dose options from 7-11g
• True double shot (two consecutive singles)
• Pannarello steam wand for manual milk frothing (three other versions available)
• Max cup height of 11.5cm
• Max internal waste bin of 15 used pucks of coffee
• Compact size of 22.1cm wide, 43cm deep, 34cm tall
The main differences of the Anima vs the Brera (and this is the most common question I’m asked about both machines, meaning people looking at the Anima will ask about the Brera and vice versa) are:
Anima has a top-filling 1.9L water tank
The Brera has a front accessed 1.2L water tank. If you’re struggling for height under kitchen wall units, the Brera is better in this regard as you pull the water tank out from the front, if you can easily access the top of the machine though, then with the Anima this means if you run out of water as you’re making coffee you can fill it up while it’s brewing.
Anima has 5 dose settings
The Brera has 3 bean options, one bean is roughly 7g (depending on the coffee beans, roast profile and grind size), two bean is 9g, and three bean is 11g. The Anima has these bean settings but in addition, it has 8g and 10g options, which probably isn’t a huge deal to most people, it just gives you a bit more choice when it comes to dose.
Anima Accommodates slightly bigger cups
Again not a major deal, but the max cup size with the anima models is approx 15cm, and the max is approx 12cm with the Brera.
Anima Has a Bigger Dreg Drawer
The internal dreg draw on the Anima will take 16 pucks of coffee, which is double that of the 8 pucks capacity of the Brera.
So these aren’t huge differences, and it’s worth noting that they both have identical grinders and brewing units, as far as I’m aware, so the cup quality is likely to be practically the same for both.
The Anima does have a number of versions available, the Anima Black is the lowest cost option and has a panarello steam wand, the Anima Barista Plus has a pro steam wand.
The Deluxe has a cappuccinatore (pronounced cappuccino toray) which is basically the same frother that comes with the one touch carafes, but without the carafe, and both the class one touch and the prestige one touch, both have one touch milk carafes.