# Bottomless Portafilter Learning Curve - Gaggia Classic 2011



## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

I've done this all back to front, but ordered a bottomless portafilter from Happy Donkey (prior to upgrading my grinder) along with some Italian Blend coffee they roast in house. This was down to curiosity getting the better of me and what I could afford to spend at the time, I needed to order beans anyway.

I swapped out the 21g basket that came with it for my 14g basket and loaded it up with 17g of the HD Italian ground in my Krups GVX231 on the second finest grind setting. I've been following this method with other beans including Monsoon Malabar from coffee direct which was freshly roasted, a few different Whittards coffees and some Lavazza supermarket beans and getting ok results (25 second double with good crema and acceptable flavour) using the heavy weight double portafilter that came with the machine (I believe it was an after market upgrade on the standard one). The only difference I've found prior to the bottomless portafilter is I had to vary the weight of beans between 16g and 18g dependant on which one I use.

On this first run with the new beans and the bottomless portafilter the coffee initially went everywhere then the stream sorted itself out but the double espresso cup was full of crema in less than 10 seconds so I let it settle then ran the pump again to top it up. It did not taste great so I tipped it and adjusted the grinder to the finest setting and tamped with more force than the previous shot. This time it ran out more like the bottomless shots I've seen on youtube, single stream, looked like caramel coming through, it took ~20 seconds to fill the cup but considering over half of it was creama at that stage I didn't think it too bad, until I tasted it - incredibly bitter to the point of being undrinkable.

I went back to my regular method using the original portafilter and coarser grind to see if it was the beans and ended up with an acceptable espresso (to my taste).

Does anyone have any experience of using these? Why does it require a finer grind and why is the result so much more bitter? What can be done to improve it?

Thanks


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## DaveMak (Dec 6, 2016)

i was at this point about 12 months ago mate, your grinder is naff (same one i had), inconsistent grind and not fine enough.

you wanna look at upgrading the grinder first, then you can look into your distribution and tamping methods.

also supermarket beans are likely to be old and stale, you want to be using beans roasted 7/14 days earlier and no longer than maybe 3/4months, stale beans are very dry so the water just pisses thru the puck.

also you want to be getting a single shot in 25/35 secs, (30/40ml) your getting a double far too quickly which shows the water is flowing over the coffee too fast = under extraction.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Sorry to say, your grinder is naff, as are your beans.

It's hard enough making espresso, without adding in , stale beans and a grinder that is not capable of making an espresso grind either fine or consistent enough.


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## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

Thanks DaveMac, may I ask which grinder you went for after the Krups GVX2?


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## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

Thanks Mrboots2u,

The beans I used to test the portafilter were Happy Donkey Italian Blend, they arrived in the post today along with the portafilter and some pully caff for cleaning. I was trying to do this test with decent beans but I may have made a wrong turn. What's worse is I'm stuck with 500g of them now.

I've seen a lot of posts recommending the Iberital MC2 as a good affordable grinder for the Gaggia Classic, but other posts saying it's not great and will require an upgrade somewhere down the line. I could get the Iberital relatively soon (in the next couple of months) or save a bit longer for something better.

Any recommendations?


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## DaveMak (Dec 6, 2016)

i had my krups with a krups espresso cough more like kraps strong filter), i got a gaggia classic + gaggia mdf grinder of ebay not long after joining this site, and while its a hell of a lot better than the krups grinder, its still just on the edge of usability for espresso.

i found a compak K6 for sale on ebay a bit later which i got for 60quid, after a bit of pfaffing about stripping it down for a good scaling and a new set of burrs it runs great. but any grinder from that range will be more than enough for you at this point and i'm still wondering why people are spending a few grand on grinders, but to be fair the machines these guys are using are not classics.


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

Bitter means channeling usually.

Definitely investigate WDT and try to find one that suits you.

As the guys say - you need to look at the grinder. Even using a classic every pound spent will be rewarded in my experiences (I am on my second grinder upgrade in 12 months and each was a huge improvement).

The other way of looking at it is the Classic seems quite temperamental as there is no pre infusion or gentle ramp up/down of pressure, so you seem to need very standardised WDT, tamp and a good grinder to get the best out of it.

I had a Mazzer SJ previously and that was superb with the classic - I remember my first time with that being astonished even at how fragrant the grinds were compared to my old Rancillio Rocky.

Mortgage your cat and buy a grinder ASAP.

£100-£200 will buy you an SJ dependent on the condition you are after. Take off the hopper and it is fine in a kitchen. I can't say I have experiences with the Iberital you mention, so can't compare.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Metallo Espresso said:


> I've done this all back to front, but ordered a bottomless portafilter from Happy Donkey (prior to upgrading my grinder) along with some Italian Blend coffee they roast in house. This was down to curiosity getting the better of me and what I could afford to spend at the time, I needed to order beans anyway.
> 
> I swapped out the 21g basket that came with it for my 14g basket and loaded it up with 17g of the HD Italian ground in my Krups GVX231 on the second finest grind setting. I've been following this method with other beans including Monsoon Malabar from coffee direct which was freshly roasted, a few different Whittards coffees and some Lavazza supermarket beans and getting ok results (25 second double with good crema and acceptable flavour) using the heavy weight double portafilter that came with the machine (I believe it was an after market upgrade on the standard one). The only difference I've found prior to the bottomless portafilter is I had to vary the weight of beans between 16g and 18g dependant on which one I use.
> 
> ...


Hi,

It's not uncommon for the same basket to flow faster from a naked portafilter as a standard one will resrict the flow a bit when passing through the small central hole.

It's possible the bitterness you're tasting is a byproduct of the 30% robusta in the blend extracting quicker & the acacia not having the time to catch up. Or it could be inconsistent grind doing it.

I've had a quick look & it's possible to mod your grinder to go finer (turning the stop 90° would be preferable to cutting it off from a resale point of view) but it'll never be great for espresso & you'll most likely find the inconsistency still there.

Also, I'm guessing from your description of the crema that the beans are very recently roasted. It's best to let them rest & degas for at least a week post roast to let them settle.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

I would definitely second something like a super jolly, I used one alongside a classic (and I've since switched to a HX machine but still happy enough with the SJ) if you aren't expecting to want (or be able) to do a "big" upgrade to an expensive set up then it's a great sticking point, the other will always be a step on a journey as it's just not up to the same level.


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## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

Thanks for all the great responses. I had previously read that the beans are best a few days after roasting, but it didn't occur to me that these beans might be too fresh! I just tried my slightly older Monsoon Malabar beans on both the finest grind setting and the second finest grind setting.






The dark one is on the finest setting. Looking closely there was a lot of fine coffee grinds that had come through the filter so I had to tip this one. The lighter coloured one took just over a minute from the first drip. It was quite nice, no where near as bitter as the happy donkey Italian beans I tried yesterday. There was still some fine grind in the crema but not really noticeable.


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## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

i'm going To keep an eye out here and on eBay for that grinder upgrade. Here is video of the shot for the lighter cup in the picture. It was actually more like 80 seconds but tasted ok to me.

I'd be interested to know what those who use bottomless portafilter make of this? It didn't splutter and seemed to run down the middle fairly well but the colour consistency was a bit strange.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Uneven extraction across the puck (lighter colour towards the back).


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## Metallo Espresso (Jan 6, 2018)

There is a seller on ebay with 4 x fiorenzato t80a grinders for £130 each. Does anyone have experience of this grinder? I found a post on another forum suggesting it was similar to a super jolly.


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