Gaggia woes

dndrich

So many variables. Dose and headroom will matter. The coffee itself will matter. Grind. And, are you using the new IMS basket, or the stock basket? The stock basket has some nice sloping so the puck drops out really well for me.

DrForinor

dndrich The funny thing is, I moved from my IMS basket to the standard Elizabeth double basket - and that gave me a worse puck than in the IMS basket 😅😅

dndrich

Well, part of the fun is that coffee is a dynamic product. We aim for consistency, but all we really want is a way to make nice cups. Your machine can do that and more! I’m using a very nice medium roast from Verve in Santa Cruz, CA. Very predictable classic flavor for coffee and espresso. Nice arabica blend.

DrForinor

dndrich You are right, we only need a tasty cup. Though I can’t help but want perfection in every aspect of the process, OCD maybe? 😅😅

Have made 4 cups today, today being the second day I’ve made coffee with it, and 1 last night. Out of the 5 total, only 1 was “dodgy” tasting. The other 4 were perfectly drinkable, not amazing by any means but good. In that regard I cannot complain - but I can’t help myself, I have a “need” to know why something is happening (or not happening).

Tried 2 different coffee beans in it so far. Will try a different 3rd coffee bean tomorrow. I think the pre-infusion is definitely helping to get a fair bit of sweetness from the beans.

Also the first time I’ve tried steaming milk, a lot to learn.

DrForinor

It’s also much more pleasant to make coffee in the Elizabeth, than it was in the Gaggia. How is that possible, the process is the same? I wasn’t making any milk drinks in the Gaggia so no steaming at all.

I found the Gaggia slightly stressful (perhaps too strong a word) but in this it’s a pleasure.

DavecUK

DrForinor It’s also much more pleasant to make coffee in the Elizabeth, than it was in the Gaggia. How is that possible

I’ve said it many times, the more expensive machines are just much easier to use, and much more pleasurable to use. I think it’s because they have a level of refinement the cheaper machines obviously don’t have. The ratio of successful to unsuccessful coffees also seems to go up, of course there is a point of diminishing returns.

DrForinor What would be the deciding factor in choosing a steam pressure pre-infusion, vs a non steam pressure bloom

This is part of the joy of owning a more advanced machine, you can actually experiment. For that particular coffee you have no one really knows, but the fun is in trying stuff out to see whether it improves things in the cup or not.

DrForinor

What would be the deciding factor in choosing a steam pressure pre-infusion, vs a non steam pressure bloom phase for the pre-infusion?

Yorkie_Al

DrForinor whichever method gives the better tasting coffee. You have two buttons on the Elizabeth which can be programmed. I have one set for steam and one set for bloom phase. I try them both when using a new bean or batch of beans and decide which I prefer.

DrForinor

DavecUK You are so right!! I tightened up my grind (because yesterday’s grind was a little too coarse for the steam pressured pre-infusion) and then last second I decided to try the non steam pressured bloom phase (not taking into account I had ground finer). My timer for that button was set to 50 seconds, I got 16.7g out (for 16.5g in) and it was still drinkable!!!!! That’s amazing!! Just mind blowing coming from the Gaggia! I’m in love with this machine!

DrForinor

Yorkie_Al How do you set one for steam and the other for bloom? I thought the only way was to switch the steam boiler off?

DrForinor

Can anyone please tell me why I have water in this shot? The only other time I saw this was when I tried the bloom phase, and this was the bloom phase again. Have I not tightened the PF enough?

16.5g in, 36.3g out in 35 sec, including 6 sec water in, 6 sec bloom.

DavecUK

DrForinor The water from the left spout has actually run down from outside the portafilter and dropped into the left spout. You have noticed it because it’s there before the coffee starts to flow. You can see the drops continuing to add themselves to the stream of coffee on the left.

I’d definitely remove the sticker…they can tarnish and on E61 machines I have seen the chrome actually pitted under a well blackened hot sticker

Apparently cafelat gaskets do work really well on Liz, although I have never used one…I intend to pick some up from Lelit when I am next in Brescia, hopefully in the spring.

Cuprajake

umm, id say not locked in far enough,

DrForinor

Cuprajake Yeh that was my initial guess. But I have water coming through the left spout also?

Is it best to remove that “lock” sticker?

Cuprajake

prob just a drip, id bet they do a silicone cafelat seal for it, more robust,

id leave or remove the sticker all together,

DrForinor

I did ask BB if they have a Cafelat silicone seal but he wasn’t sure. I can tighten it further but then I’m able to go past that sticker point.

DavecUK

DrForinor I did ask BB if they have a Cafelat silicone seal but he wasn’t sure. I can tighten it further but then I’m able to go past that sticker point.

Going past the sticker point is 1000% fine to do. It should be tight, or it will leak.

hornbyben

@DrForinor, did you make sure there were no coffee grinds on the rim of the portafilter before locking it in, as these can also cause small leaks. Probably just needs locking tighter though.

DrForinor

hornbyben This is something that I do check as it annoys me. So without a doubt nothing of significance. But yes I’ll be sure to tighten it properly. I will upgrade the seal though.

DrForinor

Regarding shots that include pre-infusion, what are the general rules to follow re timing? Ie, without pre-infusion it’s generally good ballpark figure for around 30 seconds (for argument sake), how does it work with pre-infusion?

I’ve tried a couple of coffees with non steam pressured pre-infusion and I really enjoyed it so I want to get better using this method. Six seconds water, six seconds no water, then the pressure starts. How do I account for those inital 12 seconds versus a standard time?

DavecUK

DrForinor Six seconds water, six seconds no water, then the pressure starts. How do I account for those inital 12 seconds versus a standard time?

If we imagine a standard shot (no bloom phase taking 28s. Adding preinfusion of 12 seconds I would try 34s total time from pressing the shot button, and see how it was. In effect the 12s bloom phase counting as only 6 seconds. I would work my way up and down from there.

If I found it over extracted, I might try 31s or under extracted 39s…

I would tend to count those 12 seconds as 3 seconds off the shot time and work the total shot time from there.

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