Coffee Appreciation

I’d at least get Costa filter.

I don't really know tbh! Might be tricky to rig something which would withstand the pressure.

You can get a blind basket on eBay for less than a fiver so I suppose it depends on how badly you want to tinker!

Ideally no tinkering at all. It was making decent espresso before I did the descale.

Was the boiler hole completely clear and did it squirt a strong jet of water if you switched on the pump?

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Ran a second descale. Is it me or does the flow seem really slow and weak.

Bought some Monmouth coffee last week. And to say their offerings appear to have gone down in quality is an understatement. One guatamalan bean was surpassed by aldis cheapest Nespresso pods.

Where else is good in the borough/Waterloo area to buy interesting beans

Are you getting decent steam? If so:

https://support.wholelattelove.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406967966355--Gaggia-Classic-Solenoid-Valve-Removal-and-Cleaning

Yes steam is fine.

I’ve never used it before today though

Yes steam is fine

You probably need to unblock the solenoid valve then. I posted my experience of doing of it in this thread about 10yrs ago. It wasn't too tricky iirc.

This is exactly how I broke my last coffee machine. Did a descale then it all went wrong.

Ffs down the rabbit I go again. Knew I should have got a flair/robot

It's a simple fix, even I managed it.

How did you get around the forced air bit? I don’t have a compressor

Serves me right for not descaling it monthly. I’ve had it over a year

You don't need forced air, just take it out and needle/blow through it. It's not uncommon in Gaggias if they aren't descaled for a while, the hole in the solenoid is tiny, so scale dislodged upstream can block it fairly easily.

That diagram makes it look way more challenging than it is - one spring clipped inlet pipe and a couple of allen bolts..

Yes, that’s blocked. Poke something up the hole to clear it and descale again until you get a good strong jet from that hole.

The Gentleman Baristas have a shop just round the corner from Monmouth in Park St, or there's the Columbian Coffee Company in Borough Market, or their roastery shop on Southwark Bridge Road.

Both of those have a much more interesting selection than Monmouth

You have Origin Coffee by Blackfriars Bridge / Southwark Station which is always a safe bet

Is there any virtue in increasing the strength of the descale solution? I’m using these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleaning-Tablets-Coffee-Espresso-Machine/dp/B01N02TG8E?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Just believe in yourself and get to the solenoid lol.

@Light_EDDed its really no biggie. These are the fittings mentioned up thread.

Black hose with clip coming out the top, bolts underneath. All you need to remove first is the lid and its earth connection.

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Also ignore anything that's says you need to pull the steam wand/boiler. You don't. It makes the bolts a bit more fiddly as you have less working space but it's plenty easy without.

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Also, that's not descaler. Those tablets remove oily coffee deposits, the brown stuff.

For descaler use Scale Away or Oust or similar from the supermarket. Scale Away is citric acid, so use supermarket stuff this time and get a 500g tub of citric acid crystals on eBay for next time.

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