Hi Folks,

I recently purchased a new Gaggia Baby Twin. I was very disappointed with the espresso I made because the crema was so thin and weak. I used illy espresso grind which I think was a very fine ground coffee. I used to loaded at least 7g in the filter. Tamping force was light. (about 3lb) Anything wrong ?

Is it a must to grind the coffee myself for freshness ? BTW, for Gaggia machine, there is an optional component named "perfect crema device". Is this component useful ? I believe this device is only a gimmick thing creating crema by pressurizing coffee through a little hole. That kind of crema is not what I am looking for. I want cream instead of tiny bubbles....

Please help !

Jack

Hi.
Firstly the Baby is a capable machine.
Do you have a grinder? If not you will need one so you can use fresh coffee. The pre-ground coffee is stale, as is all the supermarket stuff.
That crema device will make the shot of pre-ground look like a real espresso, but it will be anything but.

Have a look over the useful guide;
http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide.html

Thanks for the advice. I dont have the grinder. I though the illy grind coffee was very fine and should be good enough for espresso purpose because the price is not cheap. ($17 a can)

I want to know more about the fineness of the grind. Is it correct that the more fine of the grind the better espresso you have ?

Thanks!!!

No, I'm afraid not. One way to look at it would be that there is a correct grind for each combination of bean and machine. The fineness affects the speed of the pour and the strength of the espresso. The important thing however is that the coffee is ground just before brewing, you will notice the huge grinders that are a part of all cafe equipment serving espresso.

A good discussion on the use of pre- ground
Use preground coffee while saving for an espresso grinder?

liyinjack wrote:Thanks for the advice. I dont have the grinder. I though the illy grind coffee was very fine and should be good enough for espresso purpose because the price is not cheap. ($17 a can)

I want to know more about the fineness of the grind. Is it correct that the more fine of the grind the better espresso you have ?

Thanks!!!

More important than grind itself is what you're grinding. If you're not grinding - that's already a problem for preparing proper espresso. Pre-ground is stale ground coffee and the 'freshness' that is locked into those cans lasts about a second... not literally, but it's not worth the money for proper espresso extraction.

Fresh beans < 2 weeks old at the VERY least.

There's a thread of "my favourite roasters" that will have a large list of pro roasters that most everyone uses to get their fresh beans. However, before any of that I guess you'll have to decide to buy a grinder...

That is about as good as it will get with preground Illy. As mentioned above, you will need to invest in an espresso grade grinder and source some fresh (less than a week old) beans.

There are too many links to post each individual one when it comes to grinders. I would recommend reading through the posts in the Grinder FAQ for more information.

Grinder FAQs and Favorites

Thank you all for the advice !
The articles are very useful.
Making a good shot seems not that simple as I imagined...

Since you are in HK, one good place to visit is:

http://www.hkcoffee.com

It is one of the few roasters who will not only sell you good green beans, but custom roast beans to your liking, in as little as 100-200g. Much better than Illy.

Also try good espresso at Zambra's in Chai Wai or city'super at Harbor City.

Consider a low cost, local ubiquitous Feima 900 or 901 grinder which can use Mazzer Super Jolly burrs for espresso. As previously mentioned, an espresso capable grinder and fresh beans are a must.

thanks for suggesting me "Zambra" and also hkcoffee.com. The lab seems quite professional in my opinion.

Since a grinder is a MUST for good espresso. I would like to ask if "Virtuoso" burr grinder is capable.