# How not to make coffee at home..



## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

So picture the scene.. it's Friday morning, the wife and I have the day off work. I roll into the kitchen, looking forward to trying out my BRAND NEW SPECIAL coffee beans, which I've bought the day before from a local coffee place that also roast and sell their beans. I let the Gaggia Classic warm up for about 20 minutes then get to work.


The wife requests a de-caff this morning, and I have just enough (slightly old) de-caff beans for a double shot cap. Phew!

While grinding the de-caff beans, I remember they make a very fast shot. I should have set my grinder to a finer grind. Damn. Ok, i'll tamp harder and try to rescue it.

Tamp out two shots and clamp in my group head. Press brew.

The normally quick shot squirts out very slowly, but at a very curious angle I didn't know was possible.

Switch off after 30 seconds and look at the foul black syrup i've created.

While contemplating my next move, I knock over the espresso cup and send the black syrup over the workbench... and off the workbench onto the fridge... then down the sides of the fridge... NOOOOOO!!

Try to move fridge out of workbench to clean it. Crush fingers between fridge and kitchen unit in the process. Try not to cry out in pain.

Cat starts to be sick in the corner of the kitchen. Possibly unrelated.

Roll eyes, contemplate turning to the dark side and buying a bean to cup machine. It must be nice to make a coffee without your worktop ending up looking like the gorilla enclosure at the local zoo.


I did regain some composure and try out my new beans after I'd clean up the mess. They were foul. Really acrid and bitter, despite the grind/tamp/rate of flow looking OK. I don't know if I should take them back, or if it's something I did wrong (quite possible).

If you DID have a nice coffee this morning, I envy you.

Adam


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

Do you thoroughly clean the portafilter and shower between uses? ie, at the end of each day?


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

Yes - I wipe the grounds off the shower screen and wash the portafilter. I don't yet have a brush to properly clean the rubber seal around the shower screen though.


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

Do you ever drink the decaf coffee yourself? Do you use the same grinder for your coffee and the decaf? Are grounds of the decaf getting mixed in with the new beans?

Decaffeinated coffee tends to taste foul in my opinion, maybe thats making it all taste nasty?


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

There are always the dark days when things just don't go right. Look forward to the good days when nothing spills, your family smile and the coffee is good


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

ajc-79 said:


> [*]Cat starts to be sick in the corner of the kitchen. Possibly unrelated.


 Probably









Try and remove the shower screen and check for a buildup of scale or foreign objects (which may be very small)

It may be that you tamped too hard and the water was being channelled through a small gap or loose grounds and thereore hitting the pf it an angle, causing the jet in a funny direction

It might also have been the cats fault ... Blame the cat


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## Monkey_Boy (Feb 26, 2010)

I had 3 coffee's made for me at Brian Wogan's in Bristol today, esspreso, latte, americano......all were amazing and the advise I was given was worth its weight......so far the most friendly coffee supplier I've come across with zero coffee pretentiousness.........even though he'd just come back from Italy for 3 days he spent almost an hour taking me through coffee technique and bean choice........and in my honest opinion the cat was behind the whole thing!.....


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

> Do you ever drink the decaf coffee yourself? Do you use the same grinder for your coffee and the decaf? Are grounds of the decaf getting mixed in with the new beans?
> 
> Decaffeinated coffee tends to taste foul in my opinion, maybe thats making it all taste nasty?


I don't touch the decaff either. Very good point. I did try to run the grinder for a bit to eek out the last of the de-caff nonsense. But you might have a point here..


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Probably
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'll check that out. I've also noticed when i'm tamping, that I sometimes get grinds stuck to the underside of my tamper, even though it's dry. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Adam


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

A light polishing twist should dislodge them.

Sounds like the grind could be too fine? Can you post a pic to view relative size of each particle?


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

DavidS said:


> Decaffeinated coffee tends to taste foul in my opinion, maybe thats making it all taste nasty?


Woah, hold up there, I can't honestly tell the difference between proper decaff and proper full caff beans, except for the effects afterwards. Do you serve decaff at boston? Just curious, don't think I've ever seen decaff in a coffee shop.

Steves guatemalan tecuamburro tastes exactly the same in both the decaff and full caff imo,.


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

RisingPower said:


> Woah, hold up there, I can't honestly tell the difference between proper decaff and proper full caff beans, except for the effects afterwards. Do you serve decaff at boston? Just curious, don't think I've ever seen decaff in a coffee shop.
> 
> Steves guatemalan tecuamburro tastes exactly the same in both the decaff and full caff imo,.


Yes we do. I suppose it is the type we use (we are actually looking at changing it to a better tasting decaf) I should have put, "our decaf coffee"


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

DavidS said:


> Yes we do. I suppose it is the type we use (we are actually looking at changing it to a better tasting decaf) I should have put, "our decaf coffee"


Ok, I'll place a vote for steves guatemalan tecuamberro mexican water decaff then


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

Glenn said:


> A light polishing twist should dislodge them.
> 
> Sounds like the grind could be too fine? Can you post a pic to view relative size of each particle?


As requested! Sorry it's taken me a while to come back to you.










That's the regular, non-decaff espresso blend I bought locally.


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

I know it sounds stupid, but you do make sure the tamper is dry before using? Perhaps wipe it with a dry towel just before tamping, maybe it's slightly greasy?


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

DavidS said:


> I know it sounds stupid, but you do make sure the tamper is dry before using? Perhaps wipe it with a dry towel just before tamping, maybe it's slightly greasy?


I do now.. I have done that a couple of times before but generally spotted it at the time.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

I'd say go a little finer and lighten up the tamp judging from the photo

Had to do a double take. I thought, whoah, thats a huge basket and a small tamp, but then realised its a bowl!


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## LeeWardle (Nov 16, 2008)

DavidS said:


> Yes we do. I suppose it is the type we use (we are actually looking at changing it to a better tasting decaf) I should have put, "our decaf coffee"


I'm company head barista for Boston Tea Party so thought I'd Just add the corporate answer to the Decaf question: (!) In David's shop they are currently using a pre-ground decaff. Our coffee roaster DJ Miles pre-grind it for us. Obvously using pre-ground wil not give great results but up until now I has been the best way to offer it as sales did not warrent a seperate bean/grinder. (counter productive possibly)

However, we are trialing a Single estate Columbian (can't remember the estate) Decaf bean in 3 of our stores.(mine included) and I have to say that it's pretty good. It's quite a fruity little number with little acidity and a medium body. Makes a great espresso, although not quite as sympathetic to the long milky drinks in my opinion.

It's helped me cut down on the caffiene though which is great!

Lee


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

I think we're shifting to that bean soon as well. We have a couple of bags in stock.... Should be interesting.


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## ajc-79 (Apr 18, 2010)

Just to follow up on this.. i've changed a few things and i'm now getting slightly better results. Mark (gaggiamanualservice) kindly provided me with a new group head gasket and steam valve for my machine, which seem to have helped, and now i'm not covering the workbench in water anymore. I think the other is, as suggested by members of this forum, it's hard to get consistant results with the grinder I have now. I'm looking at upgrading to a MC2, perhaps i'll open a new thread with questions on that in the right forum.

Thanks all.


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