# How's my pull??



## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

Just got my first decent pull using a Gaggia Classic with Happy Donkey naked portafilter (double basket) and Iberital MC2.

Extracted in about 26 seconds (2oz glass).

Does it look about right?

I ended up with a wet puck at the end though. Can't put any more dose in though as the basket was brimmed before tamping.

Didn't taste awesome but was only using Taylors Italian Beans off the shelf to dial the MC2 in which was delivered this week. Don't want to waste good beans after all









Where is the best place to try an Espresso in Manchester area? Costa? Starbucks? I've never had an Espresso before so don't really know what I'm looking out for at the moment as very new to the scene. Need to get my eye in and set a bar.


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

First things first, do you have a pressurised portafilter? If so your basket would look like the left one here:










The shot looks ok, but there's only so much looking at it will tell you. There is crema there which is surprising considering they're supermarket beans that probably aren't that fresh, but if you have a pressurised portafilter that might be why.

If you're looking to 'dial in' your tastebuds then probably the best place in the Manchester area would be North Tea Power, although I've never been there I've heard only good things about it. Perhaps someone on here from closer to the area might be able to recommend some others.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

The best places to try in Manchester are;

City Centre:

North Tea Power (Tib Street, Northern Quarter)

Gatley:

Coffee Fix (Church Road, Gatley)

Sale:

Bean and Brush


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## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

The basket looks like the one on the right. The portafilter is the Happy Donkey naked portafilter with the double basket (non-pressurised) from the Gaggia Classic instead of the triple that comes with it.

Might have to have a trip in to Manchester tomorrow to check out North Tea Power. That's really annoying... I was up near Gatley last week at John Lewis' picking up the Cuisinart! lol


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

> There is crema there which is surprising considering they're supermarket beans that probably aren't that fresh


I work for taylors and I can assure you they are packed to optimize freshness and shelf life.

The beans are roasted and almost immediately packed into a bag flushed with nitrogen. This is almost better than a vacuum meaning very little to no oxidation can occur within a reasonable period.

The best way to see how fresh they are is to look at the julian date code. Todays julian date code is 1322, if it is a number like 1123 that means it was roasted in May so probably isn't that fresh but you can still expect a good taste and good crema.

Personally I've tried rich italian, which has a vast number of components, for espresso and it is definitely roasted way too light for nice espresso imo.

Try Taylors Espresso Beans as they are designed as a traditional Italian style espresso and roasted very dark.

(I'm not biased btw)


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## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

I have checked the beans and the julian date code is 1290.

The rich italian does make really nice brewed coffee, great in the French press. It probably makes a decent espresso but still practising my technique possibly means I'm not yet getting the best results. Sorting a wet puck might help too. Not sure how yet what with not being able to get any more grams in. Worth going with a finer grind and upping the dose?

I'm getting good crema as you can see from the pics. Need to taste a decent espresso really to get my eye in.

Might have to try the espresso beans, especially being 2 for £6 in Asda


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## AlIam (Aug 30, 2011)

TY fatboyslim, that's really useful to know. It's irked me that supermarket beans don't have a roasted on date on the packets just a bizarre best before date; I mean March '13 srsly? The 1 is the year presumably and today's the 322nd day. I grabbed a couple of bags of Taylors beans (Rich Italian 1290 datecode) from the supermarket to dial my new machine in with (on special atm).

Are these 1 month old beans as good as 1 week old beans for espresso making given that they've been stored in nitrogen or have they degraded significantly in that time?


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## PaulN (Mar 10, 2011)

Shot looks good. All down to the beans I guess. If it's happy donkey mine came with a triple basket. It's great but puke never perfect unlike with a no pressurised double basket.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

gazbea the rich italian blend is designed as a rich full bodied roast ideal for french press or filter but in espresso I found the shear lack of caramels (from the light roast) gave a shot much too acidic.

At this stage, no amount of dialing in or adjusting tamp etc will help you.

Companies like HasBean, I noticed, use lighter roasts but this is all down to the beans used and the blends created. Traditionally espresso blends should be dark roasts.

AlIam you probably wouldn't notice a different between 1 week old and 1 month old beans using a french press but using an espresso machine acutely shows the age of the roast.

I have tried (and actually made a post about) struggling with old ToH espresso beans that gave an acidic shot. This was mainly due to my previous beans being less than a day old and requiring a much finer grind.

Older beans can benefit from a coarser grind (to reduce acidity) and possibly a greater dose but I found dosing less actually improved flavour of the shot.

I stand by the fact that Rich Italian is a bad choice for trying to dial in any machine as I have yet to taste a nice espresso shot served using it (even just hours after roasting using a commercial espresso machine).


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## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

Cheers for the info fatboyslim. I had gotten the acidic taste like you had mentioned and had put it down to the beans. Used them for getting the pull right rather than taste as I already had them in the cupboard. Going to get the Taylors Espresso tomorrow and give them a shot (pun intended lol). Sticking with the Rich Italian for French Press though... Unless you can recommend another in your range 

Transferred remainder of beans in to the Cuisinart already.

PaulN, it is the one from Happy Donkey, just swapped out the triple basket with the double that comes with the Gaggia Classic and is working out nicely


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## PaulN (Mar 10, 2011)

gazbea said:


> PaulN, it is the one from Happy Donkey, just swapped out the triple basket with the double that comes with the Gaggia Classic and is working out nicely


Sounds good. Is your gaggia double basket pressurised? Ie has it one hole on the bottom? Ideally get a new basket from happy donkey.

Cheers

PaulN


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## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

Nope... Not the pressurised one... It's the original basket with plenty of holes in the bottom (basket on the right as per post #2). Seems to work really well but just get a sloppy puck


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