Not that I agree with mention of brew temp being too low or not, but.... To amp up the brew temp you can switch to steam mode for a specified amount of time, i.e. 5-10 seconds (depending on the machine, group temp, ambient temp, etc... blah blah blah), then switch back to brew mode and lock in PF and go. Will take some experimenting to find the right time interval but I use this method b/c my Gaggia classic is pretty old. You'll will get some flash boiling initially out of the group when doing this so take that into account as well.

How are you measuring your temperature? Make sure it's in a styrofoam cup . Ridiculously hard to capture after it's left the screen.

A grinder upgrade sounds like it would be worthwhile, but I think you can get by with the virtuoso for now, the preciso might be a good if you can get a deal, and I like the PL53 too, no experience with the Rocky though. And getting a blend that's forgiving of dose will also give you more room to play around, you won't have to nail the grind right on if you can dose a little more or less to get the shot to flow (and taste) right.

The bottomless portafilter will definitely let you know how much work you need to do to distribute the grounds. My favorite ways of breaking up clumps and distributing are either the WDT (vigorously working a thin needles through the grinds, good for really clumpy grinders) or a simple nutating tamp (for grinds that just need a little help).

You can put in a lot of work trying to manage the temp and still not be very consistent, so a big part of it is getting coffee that doesn't mind temp swings, and feeling lucky also helps But you should be able to get an idea if you're in the ballpark by just tasting the shot, ie. it shouldn't be too hot to drink, but it should still be hot (make sure you preheat the cups with some hot water or something). And a styrofoam cup and cheap thermometer will give you a good guess too - basically just make sure your machine isn't broken (it's probably fine).

It sounds like you're on the right track though, I think you just need some good coffee + practice (but I think that's true for all of us).

New coffee...check!


Me likey that PL53 and cheap too!

I don't want to jinx anything, but, I have made two decent doubles in a row, yesterday and this morning.....or maybe I was so tired when I awoke that I couldn't tell how bad the espresso sucked. I'm pretty sure I made two decent doubles though. A smidge of progress....naked PF and non-pressurized FB here this week. I'll make sure to order coffee as well. If it helps at all, my current coffee is pure Arabica beans, really dark roast, from the 28th.

And then there was light.

This AM, naked PF and actual OE double portafilter basket, WDT, nice 30lb tamp, and PRESTO. Even beginning all over the PF bottom save one tiny spot, merging into a unctuous center flow with tiger striping, eventually going blond at the last 7 secs of a 30 sec shot. Crema was better than anything ever before. Tasted ridiculously better. No bitter or sour. When I knocked out the puck it came out whole!

Some things I noticed. Puck had some decent water on top of it when I removed the PFH, and my machine seems to do this. I noticed ultra fine steam jets when watching the shot flow. There was the tiniest, finest spray of coffee, which I could see was related to one itty bitty hole in the puck.

A new beginning.

Hi Alex,

I also have a Gaggia classic and so decided to add my 5cents.

The grinder that you have means less control over the time of the shot. It doesn't mean is not possible to get decent espresso with it. Instead you just don't get the ability to change the grind in 1 seconds range.
Note that the Rocky is not stepless.

You will probably now get damn good shots without much effort. My problem with the Gaggia is that the temperature control is a bit on the wild side. Just for reference try to do a Styrofoam cup test at the beginning and end of the brew cycle. For my experience the range of temperatures you get will be large so try to always pull the shots at the beginning of the cycle. Moreover due to the ridiculous small size of the boiler and the design of the group do not flush before the shot and leave enough time between pulls for the temperature to stabilize.

Apart from that always weight your coffee wither as beans or after grind and once you have the grinder dialed start to cut your shots by blonding and not by time.

Bruno

Sounds great! What coffee are you using?

I'm loathe to admit it, but still using the same 100% Arabica super dark oily beans as before, roasted on the 28th by my friend here in Dallas at Drip Coffee. I am going to order new beans on Mon as I couldn't just trash these, even if they are a hair over the hill. I will use a blend from the 2010 Faves from here which you guys know about to make things easier. This BPF is very, very cool.

Thanks for the tips Bruno, I'm not quite experienced enough to surf the temps, but I'll measure them and post here.

Picked up a clean SJ yesterday for $300 locally and immediately removed the hopper, doser and PF holder, sliding it in next to the Gaggia Classic while the wife was out trick or treating. I gave it a cursory cleaning, adjusted the burrs down till the made contact and then backed off to about one mark left of 4. I measured out about 20g of beans on my scale and tossed them in with the tamper in the throat, catching the grinds in a metal sugar container......Well, tamp and load and 26 seconds later I had a DAMN GOOD cup. This coffee is wonderful. I'm stoked.

Yes I need a doserless mod and a grind collar adjustment pin. Hopefully a Mazzer chute for one of the doserless models would fit the SJ? Seems one of the chutes fit and will line up from what I've read?

http://www.espressoparts.com/MAZ_CHUTE

My main goal is to actually get the bottom burr carrier out and degunk it, even though the machine is pretty darn clean, and was gone over by the seller.



...moderator merged new topic "Oh my, new Super Jolly, Gaggia Classic, Naked PF and CC Toscano beans, I made espresso!" as continuation of this previous thread...