Budget £200. Requirement: 2 good espressos a day; feel like a barista in the process.

I know this year’s model has a different boiler and turns itself off and the coffee geeks despise it and all the rest of it.

But I couldn’t see a better option at the price, so I ordered one from Coffee Italia (who supply it with a copper and chrome spout instead of a plastic one which I guess can only be good).

But now I have buyer’s remorse. I should have checked on here first – but is there another machine I should’ve considered? And … should I, in fact, have stretched the budget to £300 or so?

I’m hoping that the Classic is still good – just not so good in the snob purists’ eyes as older versions? I’m sure the coffee is still nice..?

It will be fine. It’s the grinder that you should be worried about.
And hopefully you threw away the ‘crema device’ pressurised basket with plastic bit in the bottom and use a standard double basket.
If you are using pre ground coffee then maybe you should have buyers remorse as your coffee will be distinctly average no matter what the machine.

use a standard double basket.

Get a bottomless one if you want to learn how to make good espresso.

Also find a decent source of freshly roasted beans (I’m currently on the Italian Job from Rave). Buy regularly in small quantities (the fresher they are the better the espresso.)

And get a good grinder (Iberital one is good if you only grind for the Gaggia.) And don’t leave the beans in the hopper as they’ll go off, pop them in an airtight bag.

Those things will make more difference than whether it’s new or old Classic.

and spend a some time to learn to use it well.

As he says below ^^^^. Spend time getting your setup sorted. I found the Home Barista site very useful when I was getting started.

Also regularly back flush and descale the machine (stuff from here.) I also use one of these in tank water filters. Very hard water here.

+1 for the Iberital grinder, and spend some time to learn to use it well.

Thx all. Happy now. Hopefully Santa will bring me a grinder.

With a bottomless filter you get this lovely sight every morning… 🙂

(assuming you’ve not cocked it up!)

In case you change your mind.
No experience, but I saw mention of a sale on Illy machines last night – see here

For th full hipster experience try some of this coffee http://www.monsoonestates.co.uk/coffee-shop/fixie-blend/ – it’s actually rather good, as are all of Monsoon’s beans that I’ve tried.

https://www.happydonkey.co.uk/gaggia-bottomless-portafilter.html

Added to my Christmas list…

I have a bottomless portafilter on my Gaggia Classic, and I very rarely get a nice pour like in MrBlobbys photo, its usually either a very slow drip or a torrent, or I get lots of litle jets of coffee coming out at various angles.

I have an Iberital Burr grinder, never sure how fine to set the grind, and never sure how much coffee to put in the portafilter or how hard to tamp it down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a bottomless portafilter on my Gaggia Classic, and I very rarely get a nice pour like in MrBlobbys photo, its usually either a very slow drip or a torrent, or I get lots of litle jets of coffee coming out at various angles.

Yes, you have to get the grind, dosing, distribution and tamp right. It took me quite a while and a lot of practice. If you don’t get that nice cone you’re likely not getting a good extraction so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. I followed the guides on the Home Barista site above (check out these photos of common problems.) Really is a case of being consistent with the process and patiently tweaking until you get it right.

I have an Iberital Burr grinder, never sure how fine to set the grind, and never sure how much coffee to put in the portafilter or how hard to tamp it down.

I brought some cheap beans and spent a few hours experimenting with grinds and weight of dose, trying to keep the distribution and tamp consistent, and seeing what happened when I changed stuff. Do need to re-tune when I change supply of beans (and sometimes tweak between bags of the same beans too.)

Is this not the right place to say that I quite like mellow birds instant…?

Is this not the right place to say that I quite like mellow birds instant…?

You missed the recent thread about the Classic or alternatives then! 😀

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/espresso-machine-now-the-gaggia-classic-is-ruinwhat-to-buy

Though as I posted in there, one very comprehensive (Romanian!) review seems to conclude the new model actually produces better coffee. It however is different so the Coffee geeks will be all up in arms about change.

Main thing I’ve found with the Classic is the portafilter stuff provided, and in particular the crema filter thing. Bin that stuff, and yeah get a decent portafilter and standard basket or a bottomless for the above effect. You don’t need bottomless, just looks nice. Really it’s for training Baristas so they can see the quality of the extraction.

But mine is a 2010 model from what I can tell, so while a Philips model, it’s not the 2015 model which has changed the internals a bit. So long as it generates enough heat and pressure, and you’ve got a good portafilter, then I wouldn’t really be fussed about stuff like what material the boiler is made of and how the thing is wired up inside.

mrblobby – Member
I brought some cheap beans and spent a few hours experimenting with grinds and weight of dose

I tried that but I found cheap supermarket beans (or even expensive supermarket beans) were a nightmare to get right. I don’t know why but the grind and tamp just never was right and more often than not it would gush and spurt.

Whereas whatever I get from Hasbeans, I get it fairly consistent and a nice pour like above. Sometimes it’s wrong, more often just about right. Not perfect but I’m not a Barista.

You don’t need bottomless, just looks nice. Really it’s for training Baristas so they can see the quality of the extraction.

It’s more than just looking nice, as you say it’s used for training, and if you’re not getting it right it lets you know!

Thanks for the advice MrB, I found that the Italian beans from Happy Donkey gave a nice cone.

Reminds me – I need to put the new grinder they sent me by mistake in the classifieds.
Anyone want a full fat Cunil 2kg commercial grinder?

I tried that but I found cheap supermarket beans (or even expensive supermarket beans) were a nightmare to get right. I don’t know why but the grind and tamp just never was right and more often than not it would gush and spurt.

Yes, I’d agree with that. Does need to be freshly roasted to get a decent extraction (which you don’t get with supermarket beans). Even find with decent beans that it’s not as good by the time I get to the bottom of a bag (and that’s a 250g bag at one or two espresso a day.) Still found it useful to get in the right sort of ballpark with the grind on the Iberital as I went through a few bags.

Thread hijack,I’ve just used stove top for years. Want to treat myself, simply bean to cup. I’ve seen Delonghi get recommended on here, but nothing regards this? http://www.redber.co.uk/collections/home-bean-to-cup-coffee-machines/products/melitta-caffeo-barista-ts-silver