fabchef Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 64 Location: mtl Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 5:22pm Subject: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
Hi everyone, well i wanted to get oyur opinions. I just finished working on my older gaggio "espresso" machine. I wanted to know of these preground coffee, do you think work best (grind-wise) with this machine? i have: lavazza (red,gold,crema&gust) kimbo (red and gold) barbera danesi housbrant illy thanks fabs
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 6:31pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
if you're able to obtain any of those coffees within 15 days of roasting and have it preground and rushed and brewed it ALL within 15 minutes, they'd all be fine.
obviously you arent.
most people here agree on babbie's rule of 15s
roasted within 15 months of harvest ground within 15 days of roast brewed within 15 minutes of grind
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 6:58pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
*shakes head*
Unless you're using a pressurized portafilter, none of those coffees will work. You have to grind it based on the machine's specific needs, and none of those coffees are ground to meet those needs. This is why we always say grinder is more important than machine. You need to be able to grind the coffee yourself so you can find your machine's "sweet spot" where it will pull a really good shot.
Spend some cash on a good commercial grinder, buy some fresh roasted beans, and dial in the proper grind for your machine.
fabchef Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 64 Location: mtl Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 8:45pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
hi gang, well i also do have a saeco magic combi with built in grinder...BUT i still prefer the coffee that comes out of this old gaggia. I think i do have a pressurized PF,,,the basket that the coffee goes into...has just one small hole in the middle underneath where the coffee comes out..does this qualify? only with this basket can i get a nice thick crema..without it (full holes) it just runs out. fab
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 9:01pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
If you're using a pressurized PF, then go ahead and get any pre-ground coffee you want. I personally would go with a fresh roasted one you can get straight from the roaster. Illy's somewhat okay due to their using gas to keep the grounds fresh, though I have no idea how long those grounds stay in the fresh air before the can/bag gets closed. LaVazza is also okay. I think they use the same gas treatment. Danesi's good stuff. I've used their pods before.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,685 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Fri Mar 30, 2012, 11:36pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
Pressurized PFs are made for poorly ground coffee. However, they will do nothing about STALE coffee.
Ground coffee needs to be used within 15 minutes of being ground, period.
My fav example follows.
Take a nice fresh and juicy apple. Now cut it into quarters. How long does it take for the surface of the white fruit to turn brown? say, about 15 minutes???
The same thing happens with coffee, except, coffee is brown colored to start with so you don't see it. Add to that the fact that the size of the grounds are WAY smaller than the apple slices. If you cut the apple into pieces the size of coffee grounds, how much GOOD apple will you have left after a short time? Answer, not much at all because even though the oxidation is shallow, you have VASTLY more surface area to deal with and a HUGELY increased ratio of rot to good to deal with.
Fresh coffee is your best chance to get good coffee, pre ground or out of a can or even whole on any bag of coffee with a BEST BY date printed on it and you are hopelessly stale. The same process happens with whole beans but because they are whole beans you get about 15 DAYS until the beans turn into plant food, Any bag-O-beans with a BEST BY date, are hopelessly stale long before you got up out of bet to start your day. They are roasted, move to a staging area, sold, moved on a truck, stocked in a back room of a store then placed on a shelf where it may take weeks to sell what is there. The whole process is often many, many months from roast to shelf, ONLY buy FRESH beans with a ROASTED ON date printed on the bag, that way you KNOW how old they are. OH and a tip, always buy your bag from the BACK of the shelf, the store fronts the older stock and the new stock is in the back.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
MARIOBARBA Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2011 Posts: 126 Location: MONTREAL CANADA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso DUO Prof TRONIC Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Sat Mar 31, 2012, 5:10am Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
If you have to use pre-ground, as I did years ago, I would try Lavazza il perfetto espresso and Kimbo espresso Napoletano. These were my favourites back then. If you can though get a grinder with some good whole beans.
JasonBrandtLewis Senior Member Joined: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 6,099 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 - La Valentina -... Grinder: Mahlkönig K30 Vario -... Vac Pot: Yama 5-cup Drip: CCD, Chemex Roaster: No, no, not another...
Posted Sat Mar 31, 2012, 8:00am Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
Chiming in to repeat what's been already been said . . .
The Four M's of Espresso: 1) the Macinazione is the grinder, and with it, the correct grinding of the coffee beans; 2) the Miscela is the coffee beans/blend itself; 3) the Macchina is the espresso machine; and 4) the Mano is the skilled hand of the barista.
All four are important. Nothing is more important than the grinder.
/ / / / /
Babbie's Rule* of Fifteens: -- Green (unroasted) coffee beans should be roasted within 15 months, or they go stale. -- Roasted coffee beans should be ground within 15 days, or they go stale. -- Ground coffee should be used within 15 minutes, or it goes stale.
Your choice.
Now . . . having said all that . . . there are certainly those of us out there who, for one reason or another, do not have/cannot afford a grinder at this time, and must use pre-ground. Hopefully, this is a TEMPORARY situation, as you will never get great espresso from pre-ground. Period. There is no way around that. However, if you must . . . I'd try the Kimbo or the Danesi. But look in between the cushions on the sofa, and start saving for a grinder ASAP!
Cheers, Jason
* OK, so there are very few hard-and-fast "rules" -- more like "rules-of-thumb."
D4F Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2012 Posts: 1,198 Location: USA Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID Grinder: Preciso
Posted Sat Mar 31, 2012, 9:14am Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
JasonBrandtLewis Said:
Now . . . having said all that . . . there are certainly those of us out there who, for one reason or another, do not have/cannot afford a grinder at this time, and must use pre-ground. Hopefully, this is a TEMPORARY situation, as you will never get great espresso from pre-ground. Period. There is no way around that. However, if you must . . . I'd try the Kimbo or the Danesi. But look in between the cushions on the sofa, and start saving for a grinder ASAP!
I just finished doing this. I found a local roaster and got freshly roasted and ground beans and watched them progressively fail in crema and brew faster and faster daily until the next buy. It was very frustrating. I just got a Baratza Preciso refurb and had been reading about the Preciso on CG. I was able to get a better brew on first grind than I had for the preceeding weeks. Amazing to experience what I already had beed told, question answered before my eyes.
shockwvs Senior Member Joined: 12 Feb 2012 Posts: 13 Location: San Diego, CA Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Pasquini Livia 90 Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly
Posted Tue Apr 10, 2012, 9:05pm Subject: Re: which pre-ground coffee works best with gaggia???
Hi fabchef ,
I'm new here but I think you came to the wrong place asking about which pre-ground coffee was best for your machine, this group of folks while incredibly supportive, are firm advocates of fresh beans, and grinding right before pulling your shots. While I winced thinking about what I would see in reply to your questions,I was pleased to see that you did get your answer, and that was which brands that do what I believe is a nitrogen flush to keep the beans fresh (somewhat). I'm always amazed by how much knowledge is lurking here))
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