# Gaggia Factory 105



## m0rt (May 22, 2013)

As the proud new owner of a pristine 105 (effively a Europiccola), pause here to thank Dave (Coffeechap) profusely, I have a few questions about best practice for both operating and ongoing dos and donts.

Cleaning/not in use.

First off, what advice regarding what kind of cleaning, other than the daily wipe down, group head, should be performed? I use a brita equiv water filter, (btw - if you don't use filtered water then this is an absolute steal and is easy to fill compared to the Maxtra - amazon link http://amzn.to/10R8jiQ ). What is the best method of cleaning the chrome and is there anything I should pay special attention to, other than the space under the drip tray? What should I do regarding the steam wand? Boiler cleaning - how often, with what and when? What shouldn't I use?

Use - extracting

As for pulling a shot, My first three have been, whereas better than the Delonghi, not as good as I could achieve from the Classic but then I knew that machine better. The Tamp I use, a stainless lump which I 'knew' the feel of, doesn't quite fit in the basket smoothly so i have resorted to the plastic supplied one. The last shot was the finer grind than I would use on the Gaggia, was a little over tamped as the puck was fairly cracked when I removed it, plus the shot was smaller. I am aware of the heat issues, slightly cooler first, spot on second and then the heat build up for the third.

So at the moment, I have too many variables to think about to start with acceptable espresso, so..

The 'double' basket I aim for around 13g...I have taken note of Dave's post about a finer grind thant the classic and a light to medium tamp, once I can get my head around the different feel. What do people normally aim for in the larger basket? And What should I use in the single? Currently, I am using Villa Esperanza Columbian from Rave which I find to be an excellent daily.

Use - steaming.

I need to know how to steam milk properly to perform a decent Machiatto . BTW - if you haven't tried the Villa Esperanza with a shot of milk, you really are missing out on something wonderful. When using the Gaggia, what should I know about when to steam milk? Is the a tried and tested method?

I appreciate their are a lot of questions regarding this and I also realise that it may all have been covered before and I should just use the search function, in which case sorry waste bytes...









Thanks!


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

I've never owned a manual lever so can't go into detail but definitely expect to grind finer than a pump machine on it, and also get a metal tamper that fits! That plastic one is useless, and it's a small investment to complete that rather awesome setup you have going on there!

As always with coffee its trial and error to see what doses and grinds work best, it seems a bit daunting at first but ion a few months you will have got the hang of it and learnt a lot on the way.

Congrats and enjoy.


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## m0rt (May 22, 2013)

Ok so - after a few days consistancy is certainly there.

First shot is always just a little Blonde, and slightly harsh tasting. This, I think must be temperature. I am using 15g in the double basket. The second shot is always fantastic. If anything, it requires a 1 and a half pull as one pull only is a little too intense. haven't gone for a third in the same session yet, so can't comment. But so far, that second shot is rich tasting, smooth, maybe a little overpowering in the aftertaste, which I put down to not enough water, so I suppose I should try knocking the dose down a little.


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## m0rt (May 22, 2013)

So after a week or so with the 'Tin Man', this is what I find, I assume this will be the same for any Europiccola with the Millennium grouphead.

After always getting the first shot too blonde and slightly bitter, I realise this is down to temperature AND the fact I didn't read the manual which states you must get rid of the trapped air in the boiler and group. So my method is as follows:

Prep:

Turn on and let the green light go off, up to pressure. Let air out into espresso cup via wand, let it steam a little, also a good way to warm up cup. Then, with the portafilter attached nad the basket in place, allow a little water out of the group. Caution: use a bigger cup or hold the espresso cup right up to it, to prevent the water going everywhere which it is prone to do without coffee in the basket. This will also ensure any air in the group is reduced, and gets the portafilter up to a decent temperature.

Coffee:

Remove Portafilter, take out basket, in my case, I replace the portafilter to keep it warm, dry the basket thoroughly. Measure out 14-15 g (Current scales only go in 1g increments) which works out a very full double basket. Tamp with whatever method you are used to. Insert basket into portafilter and install.

The pull:

I have tried a few methods and this is guaranteed to give me something I like. Grabbing the portafilter handle to keep the machine steady, lift lever up, slowing down as you get to the water release point. If you go a little too quickly you get slight cracking on the top of the puck as the water rushes in. When full pull down and get a firm pressure and hold the lever there and wait until you get a couple of drops coming out. Normally this is between 5-10 seconds depending on my grind, tamp, and pressure I am exerting. When the coffee starts to drip, deliberately raise the lever to the top to allow a little bit of extra water and then perform the full pull, straight away, with firm equal pressure all the way down and hold it at the bottom. Once the pressure is reduced so that it wont raise the arm back up any, that seems to produce around 25g of espresso. Good espresso.

I think I don't leave the machine on long enough because my second shot is always a lot better than my first which seems to fly against majority opinion that the first shot seems the best, however, the first goes into a long black, and the second is just lovely.

I would like to hear what others get from their La Pavoni machines? Any other methods to try?

Other Factors:

Eureka Mignon, set to '1' past the 0 it came from the factory on, which makes it 1.5 marks finer than the standard used in a Gaggia Classic. Currently using the plastic tamp and the beans used mostly are Villa Esperanza, Columbian from Rave Coffee.

What I really want to do is have a go with the steam wand and steam some milk. have a stainless jug coming so I can attempt, what I think is, a Caffe Macchiato, as so far the espresso with a shot of cold milk, whereas too cold, has a fantastic taste.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

The second shot on these and pavonis is always the best shot, as that is when the group is at optimal temperature, your method is about right, however instead of getting the first drips, raise the lever to pre infuse, let this happen for about 5 seconds, then raise and do the full pull, give that a try. Glad you are enjoying the beast, the tamper is on its way.....


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## dogday38 (Feb 15, 2012)

This post has been really useful for me, helping to get me through some early tricky moments. thank you.


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