PacificGrove Junior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Milton Keynes Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Gaggia Classic
Posted Sun Jul 20, 2008, 5:45am Subject: Re: Just been barista training with Gaggia in London
Hi
I've just bought a Gaggia Classic for home use and want to make sure that I am getting the best from it. I have no experience of making espresso just buying and drinking it.
Would you recommend the course for someone like me?
cheekymonkey Senior Member Joined: 12 May 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Bournemouth, South coast, UK Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Jul 25, 2008, 4:49am Subject: Re: Just been barista training with Gaggia in London
PacificGrove Said:
Hi
I've just bought a Gaggia Classic for home use and want to make sure that I am getting the best from it. I have no experience of making espresso just buying and drinking it.
Would you recommend the course for someone like me?
You don't mention where you're sourcing your coffee and what grinder you have. Until you have addressed these issues and spent time getting to know your machine then it may not be that great value for money. Of course, this is just my opinion... ;o)
PacificGrove Junior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Milton Keynes Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Gaggia Classic
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2008, 5:04am Subject: Re: Just been barista training with Gaggia in London
Hi scook94(?)
Thanks for the comments. Generally I have always just enjoyed good coffee - especially espresso.
I have enjoyed it in a number of European countries and want to get some of that experience at home.
After a bit of research (including the Coffee Geek) archives, I plumped on the Gaggia Classic as the best machine that I could afford. I have tried a couple of easily available coffees (pre-ground illy black and red, two different roasts from Whittards, ground in the shop for my machine (they were very helpful about Gaggia and seemed very knowledgeable) and Starbucks espresso (ground in the store after purchase).
I can't afford to buy my own grinder yet and am happy to ask the stores to grind the beans that I purchase as a compromise. Generally, I don't keep anything for more than a week. I prefer to buy small quantities regularly.
I have followed as much online advice about dosing, tamping as I could find but can't seem to get much consistency in my shots. They range fron around 15 seconds to forever on a bad day. I also struggle a bit with the Gaggia steaming turbo frother - the steam wand is just too short without it and I am not so technically minded that I would want to attampt to mod it with a replacement. It seemed to me that a Gaggia trainer might be able to help me a bit.
Your comments about value for money are obviously right - you can but a lot of things for the £65 (but not a decent grinder!).
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2008, 2:24pm Subject: Re: Just been barista training with Gaggia in London
The Iberital MC2 can be had for approx £117 (not sure how much postage will be), so you'd be more than half way there. If you spend the £65 on the Gaggia course you're going to come home knowing that you really should have put the money towards a grinder! Almost everyone sinks all their money into an espresso machine only to realise at a later date that the grinder is more important than the machine (I know I did!).
If you really want to get the best from your machine start saving for a grinder, then start using beans where you know what date they were roasted on.
Posted Mon Aug 4, 2008, 1:18am Subject: Re: Just been barista training with Gaggia in London
I'd have to agree with scook94 about where best to spend your cash at this stage. Go for a decent grinder rather than getting them shop ground ..... you'll really notice a difference.
The MC2 is a good choice as a home espresso grinder and not a bad price. If only grinding small quantities of beans then I'd personally go for the one without the dosing hopper. As mentioned in the happydonkey review, MC2 may not be the best choice if you also with to drastically change your grind for something like a caffitiere.
As for getting some good quality beans, I can certainly reccommend ordering from http://www.hasbean.co.uk The packages are printed with the roast date and cupping notes are available for download on the site
I'm currently drinking their Cup of Excellence Espresso Blend & Honduras La Fortuna roasts and I offer the Guatemala CO2 Decaf Lake Atitlan as my decaf option at work ....... no complaints from customers or me !
They tried to make me drink it decaf.... I say No No No !
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