Coffee Appreciation

I weight the amount dispensed into a single shot and it was 7 grams. And the puck stuck to the shower screen.

My experience with the Classic’s single shot basket is the puck almost always sticks to the shower screen. It’s a slightly compromised design because the 58mm portafilter is really designed to take a straight-sided basket that size, and that means a ~20g dose of coffee. The single shot basket tries to get around this by having heavily tapered sides, but it’s then not an ideal shape for espresso pulling. If you only do single shots, you might actually be better with a machine with a smaller portafilter which takes less coffee.

So I need a different machine?

Or to drink doubles?

It’s my wife’s fault. She wanted the classic I wanted the flair/rok. For the money we spent I could have got the robot that people rave about. But I didn’t like the arms and my wife hated the way it looked.

Doubles all round. I’ll order a 20g vst and bottomless portafilter on payday.

I'd say 18g basket is plenty, but 7g is teeny!

Agree on both counts. Never known the supplied single basket to ever actually be used on the Classic.

Got back from a weeks camping - took our el cheapo stainless french press and bought some local beans. Seemingly every rural grocery in Northern California has a couple of local roasters that supply beans and a grinder to grind your own. Much higher ratio of dark to light roasts than LA. Very civilised - I quite enjoyed sipping a weaker brew for a change.

The vst comes in either 15/18/20 grams. But the bottomless portafilter says 14 or 21g.

Am I right in think a 15g vst and 14 portafilter will work?

Link to the portafilter? Would be surprised if it mattered which basket you put in because as far as I'm aware the depth is the only difference between them (been years since I bought a regular-sized basket as I'm stuck with little 51mm baskets, so maybe things have changed recently).

We're on a budget this month. Managed to snag 2kg of Lavazza Super Crema of Amazon for USD13.5 a kg! First one arrived with a March 21 roast date which is fresh for this stuff. Not the trendiest, but it's easy to turn out delicious shots on the Pav - excellent texture and a bit more medium roast bite than I remember. Can't argue for 17c a shot!

https://www.happydonkey.co.uk/product/gaggia-bottomless/

So I think the basket option is just what basket comes supplied with the portafilter. The portafilter itself should be the same, so shouldn't matter which you choose if you're going to put another basket in there.

Also, I'm so damn jealous of how cheap that is. I couldn't find a bottomless portafilter for my La Pavoni for less than £50 or so, and I didn't even get a basket! Though I imagine a basket that comes with a £20 portafilter may not be the greatest basket you'll ever own.

I'd just be a bit mindful of the VST as the holes are bigger the brewing time is sped up dramatically, to maybe like 3x quicker, and alters the flavour, AND you'll need to grind finer. On the last lot I had from Dark Arts I was at the finest point on my grinder with the VST and 3 with the Gaggia double basket.

This is such a mine field. But I feel like I’m on the right lines.

Just use the double basket that came with the machine. It’s perfectly fine. I’ve never felt the need to change it.

On the plus side, you're working with what's likely the most common household espresso machine (well, the most common good one at least)! So there should be tons of info for you out there if you need it!

Rivers micro + aeropress metal + aeropress paper= triple filtered brew.

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Turns out she didn't even drink any coffee!

Needless to say I’m heart broken.

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From one type of gold to another...

Never seen or even heard of one of these before (always associated Elektra with levers). Just dominated the room.

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My glass Kalita dripper seems to have spontaneously shattered while I've been away! I left it on the worktop and came back to find it in the same place but cracked into pieces. If I get another one maybe I'll avoid glass this time. Is there anything else that uses the Wave papers I can consider that's equally as foolproof? I like the Kalita because other than an initial splash to bloom I just pour in all the water in a slow spiral and it tastes great, no multiple pouring stages.

A non glass Kalita!?

What’s the forum going away but can’t take the coffee machine with me but need decent coffee coffee production device of choice

Gaggia need to have a serious word with themselves. They send this shit with the machine. That’s your first new machine experience ruined

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Aeropress & Hand Grinder usually for camping/hotel/weeks away with family. Although if going with a group, I've sometimes taken V60 & Wilfa grinder if staying in house. If going with a group dont underestimate how much coffee to bring - 2 cups a day for 6 people is quite a lot of beans

I’m staying in a cottage in north Wales.

I have contemplated taking the machine and grinder but it’s overkill.

Aeropress solves lots of problems because I’m not sure what the job situation is for a moka pot. I don’t have a hand grinder so will have to take some pre ground beans in a Tupperware tub.

I'd recommend picking up a hand grinder if you're going to be finding yourself in that sort of situation with any regularity. You can pick up a good one (for filter at least, manageable for espresso maybe) for around £30-50