I received my first coffee machine yesterday for my birthday - I did a lot of research first into which machine I should get, and wanted one in the Saeco Talea range but struggled to find anywhere to purchase one, and very few sites offered it for delivery in the UK (my other half tried to order it but got messed around). In the end we went to the Gaggia concession in a department store, and we ended up getting a Gaggia Platinum Vogue.
So far I'm really happy with it, but my only concern is the pucks it's discarding. I know from what I've read, and what the sales guy told me, that the pucks should be really dry but at present mine are very sloppy and on the first few occassions didn't hold together at all.
Obviously it's an automatic bean to cup machine, so there's only a limited amount of things I can do:
The guy threw in some Gaggia beans, so I'm using those for now
The only selection options are strength (mild, medium or strong) and a dial that ranges from espresso to long drink. To begin with, I'm selecting medium strength espressos
The only other thing I haven't changed yet is the settings on the ceramic grinder (I can make the grind finer or more coarse) - is this what I need to be changing? If so, which way would I need to go to get the dry pucks I'm aiming for?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, and I apologise if I've posted this in the wrong place! Rach
The puck appearance has little to nothing to do with anything regarding the quality of the shot you produced. Try using much fresher coffee. Find a local roaster and use beans roasted less than 10 days ago. This will probably produce a less sloppy puck and much better espresso. You may also be dosing too high.
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