Mmmmmm... Espresso.....

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
5,786
Many moons ago, my ex-wife bought me a cheap American "espresso machine" and it sucked. Then I went without for a few years (I lived in Italy for 6 years, so I have high standards) without, then decided I'd get a little Moka Pot to do it on the stovetop. While not producing real espresso, those pots do make a pretty acceptable cup of espresso-like coffee.

I finally decided to treat myself and bought an inexpensive refurb'd Gaggia Espresso and have had it for a few days now. Gaggias are real Italian machines, producing real espresso with high pressure, etc etc. Their line starts at just under $200, I think (I paid $150 for my machine, shipped, from whollattelove), and goes way up from there.

The cool thing about Gaggia is that the internals are the same for a $200 machine or a $500 machine. They use the same aluminum boiler, portafilters, heads, etc etc. The frothing wands vary in quality and function, etc, but most of the art of frothing milk comes from lots of practice, not gadgets, anyway.

In any case, the machine is pretty awesome. I have had better luck using the double-shot basket in the porta-filter, and I am improving with each shot I pull, but I am getting the machine dialed-in pretty nicely. Frothing will take time and I'm more of a straight espresso, no sugar/no milk drinker, but I would like an occasional cappuccino or macchiato, too.

In any case, I'm really happy with the machine and for the money the quality is awesome.
 
I bought an espresso machine about year ago or so.
It worked great for about 2 months...

Then one day it suddenly stopped doing good espresso and produced only hot water run through coffee :(
I've tried warranty service (twice) - they said it is normal :eek:

I think it has lost it's ability to creat enough pressure (probably sealing or pump).

So enjoy your machine hopefully yours will work longer than mine :)
 
Good choice in machines! The workhorse of the industry.
Where are you getting your beans tho? I hope your using good quality beans...if you know wholelattelove you probably know coffeegeek.com which is a great place/forums for all coffee info for your new machine including tips and tricks.

Anyway back to beans(now that you have a good machine... next is great pre-roasted fresh beans...then finally home-roasting!! hehe so if you haven't heard of em check out SweetMarias.com...they have the BEST green beans and they fresh roast 3 diff kinds every week if you want a taste.(My favorite non-blend espresso is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe..absolutely stunning if poured right)

For pre-roasted high quality...check out Intelligentsiacoffee.com I Highly recommend their Black Cat espresso blend they also sell a lot of great teas

I hope any of this info will help fellow coffee nuts ^_^
 
How does the Gaggia compare with the Rancilio Silvia? I've been doing a little reading on espresso machines and I keep reading all the purists swearing by the Silvia - it's frequently described as "the best espresso maker under $500."
 
I've heard good things about the Silvia. LIke I said, though, the working parts of the Gaggia machines are all the same, so you may not have as pretty looking a machine, but for the price you get a kick-ass piece of equipment. I mean, I think I paid $165-$175 for the machine, shipped. No brainer!

What I have found is that I will have to really spend some time practicing the frothing side of things, which is an art on any machine, but I'm getting the espresso dialed in. I realized I needed to start tamping a lot more forcefully, and I just got my new tamper in the mail yesterday. This morning's double was my best yet. I had only one disaster so far, but it's because I left the steam button on, inadvertently, from earlier in the day and then when I pushed the button to get the espresso going, it shot steam through the group. It was really sour and made a huge mess.

For coffee I am using pre-ground Lavazza in the gold can, which is about $8 a can at World Market. I also bought the same stuff in the black can to compare it. Pre-ground works fine for me. It's pretty good stuff and I used it successfully with my old Moka Pot, too. From what I remember in my life in Italy, most coffee bars, in Rome at least, used pre-ground in cans like that, too.
 
The toughest part I am running into is foaming milk. Not a terribly big deal, and it's a technique issue, not a machine problem. Just takes practice...
 
Chiro75 said:
The toughest part I am running into is foaming milk. Not a terribly big deal, and it's a technique issue, not a machine problem. Just takes practice...
Click to expand...

The biggest help for me in learning how to get that lovely microfoam from the steam wand...was to start with the coldest milk possible!...the colder the milk the longer you have you have to get that perfect froth before the milk overheats.
And to get used that "sound" as quickly as possible when its making that sound your getting the good foam
 
gizzyeq said:
The biggest help for me in learning how to get that lovely microfoam from the steam wand...was to start with the coldest milk possible!...the colder the milk the longer you have you have to get that perfect froth before the milk overheats.
And to get used that "sound" as quickly as possible when its making that sound your getting the good foam
Click to expand...

Something that many who work for Starbucks have not mastered yet. A latte.....or cafe con leche as we call it down here in the North Carribean is NOT suposed to have the consistency of Barbasol.........that is for you pantywaist metrosexuals that like cappucino:D The little stovetop pots do an ok job, but then again, I am using Cuban coffee which I think has a slightly coarser grind.
 
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