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The Gaggia Classic has been around for decades, and it has a reputation few machines at its price share. It’s built like a café machine in miniature, and it rewards people who like to take things apart. The current version is the Classic E24, sold in North America as the Classic Pro E24. It replaced the Classic Evo Pro in 2024, and the headline change is inside: a brass boiler and group where the Evo Pro used coated aluminum.
What follows is built from Gaggia’s specs, published measurements and what owners report.
What You Get
- A 58mm stainless steel portafilter, the size commercial machines use, with three baskets (one of them pressurized) and a plastic tamper that most owners swap for a proper 58mm tamper
- A lead-free brass boiler and brass group
- A commercial-style steam wand
- A 3-way solenoid valve, for drier pucks
- A 2.1-liter water tank and simple rocker switches
US models ship with brew pressure capped at 9 bars. UK and European units have shipped set higher, in the 11 to 15 bar range, which is why a 9-bar spring for the over-pressure valve is one of the first things European owners buy. The kit costs about £10.
What the Brass Boiler Changes
A heavier brass boiler and group should hold temperature more steadily, and side-by-side measurements published in September 2026 bear that out. The E24 stayed within about 3°F during a shot, against roughly 7°F for the Evo Pro. The same tests found it slower to heat, with the brew light coming on after about 90 seconds instead of 71, and they didn’t find the 25% steam gain Gaggia claims. Either way, give it about 10 minutes to warm up properly before the first shot.
Temperature Surfing
The Classic’s boiler runs on a simple thermostat, so it’s always drifting between a bit too hot and not quite hot enough. Owners work around it with a routine called temperature surfing. Run about 60 ml of water through the group, wait for the heating light to go off, then wait another 10 to 30 seconds and pull the shot. It sounds fussy, and it is. It also becomes habit within a week or so.
Steam for Small Drinks
As a single boiler machine, the Classic can’t brew and steam at the same time. You pull the shot, flip the steam switch and wait for the boiler to climb. Reviewers say the steam tends to run out on a full milk jug, and that’s where the cortado comes in: a cortado needs only about 60 ml of milk, well within what the Classic can steam. If your household drinks big lattes back to back, a heat exchanger or dual boiler will be much less frustrating.
The Modding Scene
This is the Classic’s real appeal. Owners add PID temperature controllers, pressure gauges and flow control, and at the far end there’s Gaggiuino, an open-source project that turns the machine into something close to a pressure-profiling prosumer. The E24 is supported, though it needs a stronger over-pressure valve and heat-resistant insulation, and modders report that the bigger boiler leaves less room inside for the extra electronics.
Price and Catches
In September 2026 the E24 lists at $549 in stainless steel and $599 in colors in the US. It’s often discounted to $499, and deals have dipped lower. In the UK it’s £549, and in Europe about €500 to €530. Out of the box there’s no PID, the plastic tamper is flimsy, the steam wand isn’t cool-touch and there’s little room on the tray for a cup and a scale together. Some enthusiast guides go as far as saying it isn’t worth buying unless you plan to modify it.
If you want the Classic’s feel without the surfing, Gaggia’s Classic GT, launched in 2025, is a dual boiler with PID control at $1,529 to $1,699. That’s three times the money. For a cortado drinker who enjoys a project, the E24 is still the obvious place to start, and our cortado recipe is written for exactly this kind of small milk job.