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Up to now have used Lavazza and Illy espresso in my gaggia Classic....... a while ago I used a darker roast Illy... the black one but I struggled to get the machine to pull through it... i came to the conclusion it was too fine ground ( novice barista!) I ended up just mixing it in with Lavazza to use it up, and didn't think too much more about it
Now I have just bought some new coffee on a subscription, and the water just doesnt go through it so I can't pull a shot!?? Whats going on? Is my machine not producing enough pressure? I can't imagine I've taped it too much ... did same as I always do?
Any advice or tests I could do?
Have you done any of these things?
A) Removed the plate from the head and cleaned it. You'll get plenty of gunk under there.
B) Descaled the machine. Should be done regularly, say every 6 months.
C) Adjusted the amount of coffee you use. Should be about 14g.
D) Tried using fresh coffee. Nothing to do with blockages, but it's worth trying.
Sorry, I see that you've gone for d already. Yes, with a new grind you can vary amount of coffee and the tamp until you get a 25s pour. Could well be you are tamping too hard.
#firstworldproblem
You need to grind your own. I get my coffee from http://www.monsoonestates.co.uk/, and I find that there is up to 6 clicks difference on my grinder settings between different coffees - also using a Classic. If I've got 2 or 3 different blends in the cupboard, remembering which one needs which setting can be a bit of a pain, and if I get it wrong the result is either can't pull (or a very slow, over extracted pour), or watery coffee.
I would agree with cleaning it all out, but I find with my Gaggia, there is a very fine line between just the right grind, and choking the machine.
If you have your own grinder, you can work this out. If you have pre-ground, then there is not much you can do.
STWGaggiaCoffeeTrackWorld
Oh my.
it was descaled a month ago... but is fine with different coffee..... its just the new one.... literally just get a dribble through then nothing
Can you get water to pass through the group head without the filter basket/handle in place?, if not then your descale may have dislodged a small amount of scale that will be lodged in the minuscule holes in the solenoid valve.
Drop the dose, less tamp pressure.
Illy is crap coffee though 🙂
Should be about 14g
That depends on the basket (usually 18-21g with a double basket)
I just spent £20 on a hand grinder, and now don't have this problem (well, not more than once per batch of beans while I get the grind right), and the coffee tastes much better. Highly recommended.
Btw, booths are doing beans for £1.77/227g at the minute, £1 off normal price. Make the most of it if you're a northerner!
I use just less than 2 gaggia plastic scoops ( I think they are 7g each?
) in a single basket
water passes fine through grouphead.....
its just the new coffee that it has issue with....#
That depends on the basket (usually 18-21g with a double basket)
Standard double shot is 14g. 21g will seriously overload most baskets and cause problems by the time you've tamped it enough to fit.
15 g would not even compress against the shower screen with my gaggia classic and i would run out of adjustment on my mahlkonig grinder (not cheap and a proper espresso grinder) and result in a rapid pour of about 10sec.
I use a small digital scale to check dose weight when dialling in a new bag of coffee and weights vary between 17.8-20.5
Heh.
I would agree with cleaning it all out, but I find with my Gaggia, there is a very fine line between just the right grind, and choking the machine.
If you have your own grinder, you can work this out. If you have pre-ground, then there is not much you can do.
I'd say this is it. I use fresh or frozen but very fresh beans all the time (Guatemalan Elephant) and struggle to get a slow flow even if I grind as fine as possible and tamp as hard as I can. Ran out last week and dug done very old beans out from the bottom of the freezer and even on a medium grind and light tamp the machine struggles.
15 g would not even compress against the shower screen with my gaggia classic
Yet with my Gaggia Classic a 14g load and the right grind gave a perfect 22 second pour of a double shot.
If you have one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaggia-Coffee-Machine-Maker-Crema-Perfect-Perfetta-Disco-Double-14g-Basket-/160940225221?pt=UK_Homes_Garden_Kitchen_Kettles&hash=item2578c8f2c5
chuck it out and get one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Double-14g-Shot-Portafilter-Basket-for-Gaggia-Coffee-Machine-Maker-/400458974822?pt=UK_Homes_Garden_Kitchen_Kettles&hash=item5d3d370666
How much tamping pressure are you using? I used to use illy coffees a in my manual machine it was sensitive to tamping pressure. I hardly had to tamp it down, just a light press to bind and level it and it was perfect everytime. I think it is a very fine grind.
Paul, you need to weigh your coffee, and keep it consistent. I'm in the 18gm camp. Once you've weighed it, you can then adjust the grind and tamp accordingly. Different beans will require a very different grind.
Can you backflush a "Gaggie Coffee" machine? Not sure you can as there's no outlet iirc? Could do with stripping and cleaning mine tbh and replacing the gasket etc.
You can backflush a Gaggia Classic. You need a blank basket and the powder. Happy Donkey do them.
Yer. I bought the blank portafilter and the caffex (sp) but I didn't realise you can't backflush a "Coffee" as you can a "Classic" unless I'm muchly mistaken.
Yer. I bought the blank portafilter and the caffex (sp) but I didn't realise you can't backflush a "Coffee" as you can a "Classic" unless I'm muchly mistaken.
You're not, you can't. I have the same machine and the only thing to be done is to use descaler in the water tank and pull through the machine followed by many tanks of plain water to rinse.
Yup that's what I did last time. Think it's about time I did a full service / clean though. Last time it took ages to get the chemical taste from the coffee that came out. Probs about 10-15 shots and plenty of water flushing too.
Bought mine as a recon unit from Gaggia about 10 years ago. Pump is still going strong (obviously I've now put a kiss of death on it!) Broke the plastic spout on the handle and replaced with an alloy one. The handle also has a crack in it which I've yet to repair.
No shortage of decent roasters here in Oz though. Plenty of lovely coffee about. This place is my new haunt:
http://perth.westcoastcafes.com.au/roasting-warehouse-fremantle
I tried a single shot 7g and only smoothed the coffee rather than apply any pressure ..... Managed to get a shot out but waS very slow .... Tasted Ok - ish, but puck was very wet and slopped out rather than pop out...... So definitely something amiss as made another straight after with 14g of Illy coffee... No problems and dry one piece puck!
are you using pre-ground?