Coffee Appreciation

Yeah, vario would be nice, I'm almost regretting buying the Sage now as I'll have to ship it home now....should have waited and bought something when I moved home!

Now that I'm moving into a place with 10 times more space I may end up giving the sage to my brother and buying a mazzer of some description....we'll see

@Colm89

I have now picked up the new used Gaggia Baby Class so the 'old' one is up for grabs along with the coffee related bits on the photo.

Free to pick up, and not sure if you knew but I import my family grower Champagne here in London so you can place an order and pick up at the same time ;-)

Not wanting to step on any toes but I have a gaggia classic that is surplus to requirement, comes with all the usual plus a naked portafilter, decent tamper and Porlex grinder. It has the upgraded rancillo silva steam wand too.

Open to sensible offers.

Pm me your location and availability tomorrow :)

And a price for a bottle of champers, I'm not a big fan but herself is :)

Would you sell the naked portafilter on its own? Dibs if you would...

I'd prefer to pass the lot on in one go but if that proves impossible I'll be in touch.

@Object I'm interested.

Can discuss on here or over pm

Thanks!

Open to sensible offers.

Give it to me, and I'll stop calling late at night.

The Gaggia Baby story continues.

After complaining about low pump pressure last week, I started thinking that my Gaggia Baby needed a new pump or at least a good service.

I found a good used one on Gumtree so freecycle my old one to @Colm89 (who I actually met at HHV a few times).

I decided to give the 'new' one a good clean, did one too many back flush and end with the Gaggia not passing water through the head at all. Online + @Colm89 advice recommended to check the head plate and screen for 'caking' (both were impeccable) then have a look at the solenoid valve. On my return from an early Champagne delivery, I pulled the solenoid valve out to have a look and found the limescale blockage:

It was actually really easy to pull apart and pull back together, I found a good YouTube video of someone doing it.

Anyway, I remove the blockage and put the Gaggia back together.

The Gaggia is now back in action so I tried to pull an espresso and, as with my old machine, a lack of pressure once again....

Turns out that I ground my new Norwegian hipster coffee too finely with my Porlex Mini and packed the basket too firmly so water can't go through.

I never needed a new Gaggia in the first place... Ah well, lesson learnt and at least I can change the Solenoid Valve on it if it ever packs in!

I bought Dan's Gaggia Classic from this thread a few weeks ago, but haven't used it as my boss gave me his old machine which I prefer so it's up for sale again

It's in need of some repair but does work as a coffee machine, just it's not perfect.

same price as I bought it for - £40 if anyone wants it?

I think @Tenderloin was interested when I put it up.

That fancy gold one?

Yup, that one

Have you got any more details on the Gaggia @bmx_fred ? Am on the lookout for a cheap machine but can't seem to find the original post....

ta

It's one of those (but a bit tattier) and from the description from Dan:

Known issues are:
A) the steam wand drips (could be solved by a descale and/or adjusting the valve)
B) There waste pipe seems to be backed up - I'm not sure what the source of this is - might try a backflush again later today.
c) the shower screen screw is rounded off - you would either need to get it out with an extracting drill bit, or cut the bolt off with a Dremel and use pliers to undo the screw. I actually have a spare screw somewhere - and also a replacement gasket which you are welcome to.

All in all - it's still making good coffee, it just needs a bit of TLC under the hood.

Ahem.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111562553695&alt=web

Will drop you a pm @bmx_fred

@bmx_fred I'll take it for £40 if it's not gone yet, can collect on Thursday or Friday

@Colm89 is on a mission to service all Gaggia coffee machines in London

I aim to own 50% of gaggia classics in London before I move home at the end of the week.

Go for a controlling share, then exploit your position as the sole person who knows how keep them running.

http://thecoffeefactory.co.uk/our-coffee/

I'm working my way through these currently. They're a small roaster in Devon and came reccomeded by Cotswold Artisan Coffee (who are the only place to buy good beans in Gloucestershire AFAIK).

Super late reply... It was fifteen quid for the kilo. Its actually nice as well. Not quite as good as Illy but its similar in a lot of ways.

I use it almost exclusively with an aeropress but will give it a whirl with the bialetti this evening.

It's still available if you want it, pm me

Thanks

Over the weekend, I was at a mates house and we were PUTTING ALL THE THINGS in to the aeropress. Hot chocolate doesn't work. Its just cloggs up and seals the filter shut.

The one surprise was using the grains we use for brewing made a really nice drink.