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Don't be disheartened if the shots with the coffee you've had since xmas doesn't make great coffee. I got a secret santa of some pre-ground coffee from a coffee shop and it's pretty bad (and this is compared with my home-roasted stuff which I'm sure isn't on par with pro roasters!).
The Porlex will do fine enough for espresso, however the steps (clicks) are quite far apart so you'll likely need to be adjusting the dose rather than the fineness for the most part. Grinding espresso by hand can be hard work. I got an attachment for mine that allowed me to pop it on a drill (as far as I know, new Porlex grinders actually have a hex bit on top as opposed to the old penta bit so don't actually need an adapter).
If you haven't already, I'd grab a blank for the portafilter and some Cafiza/PulyCaff for backflushing. Seems like the sort of thing that might be missed by a newcomer to the world of home espresso!
My first setup was an old Gaggia Classic with a Zassenhaus hand grinder so not a million miles away from what you've got (also used a Porlex as espresso grinder for my La Pavoni, though did upgrade to a motorised grinder once I had the space for it).
Would also recommend looking into upgrading the steam wand for one from the Rancilio Silvia, can't actually remember how bad the original wand was but remember very much appreciating the upgrade when I did it.
mmccarthy-
Right, blackflush kit on order - thanks for the heads up!
I knew about the wand upgrade, seems like a pretty common mod for the classics. What's difficult to know is, as a newb, how much difference the small stuff actually makes. I've just seen a forum post saying the the user was making noticeably better espresso after going from a 58mm tamper to a 58.35mm tamper, which I just don't get. Maybe it's like us cyclists being 'able to tell the difference' between a Shimano BB and a Hope BB...
Now I'm confused which tamp to get - stick to 58mm for the standard basket or anticipate an upgrade to a VST basket and upsize a tad on the tamper but risk it not fitting in the stock basket!
mf
Hi All, I’ve recently decided to take the plunge into the world of espresso after using a Moka Pot for years, and now have a Gaggia Classic (pre 2015) and a Porlex tall grinder on the way.
I’m going to be using up my Christmas supply of medium ground with the stock basket to start with before getting fresh whole beans from my local roaster and grinding my own.
Any tips to stop my first few dozen cups being undrinkable would be gratefully received! Will be drinking as straight espresso as well as milk-based variants too.