# Out of lurking & into Gaggia.



## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

Hi guys & gals.

I've been taking a slow methodical wander through the world of coffee over the last couple of years. Starting with a stove top pot moving to a aero press before acquiring my first basic machine (delonghi ecc220). In recent weeks I've upgraded from pre-ground to a hario grinder, this compounded with a play with a sage machine in a Lakeland store has sparked the need for a upgrade.

Now my budget unfortunately isn't going to stretch to the sage machine I was looking at (boo) I have set myself into the £200 range, long time lurking has swayed me to the Gaggia classic. Now before ploughing headlong into the purchase I was wondering 1. If the hario grinder will be enough to do the machine justice for the moment, upgrades for that will come in time & 2. The Carezza seems to fall into the same price range, is there much in the way of difference between the two? Tbh I prefer the looks of the Carezza, but some initial reading seems to point towards aesthetics seem to be all it has.

Any guidance or opinion would be much appreciated.

Cheers Adam


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

First question you need to ask yourself, does it have to be new or are you prepared to go pre owned?


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## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

I am open to a pre owned machine.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Then my suggestion would be to go for a pre owned classic from here.

Get 5 posts and you can access the for sale section, this one still shows for sale, it has been well serviced and is ready to go..

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?23949-Gaggia-classic-with-wand-and-solenoid-upgrade


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## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

Excellent, thanks.

Now about the grinder, will the hand grinder serve this machine well enough or would I be better off investing some of my budget to a good quality electric?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

£200, your going to struggle, or wait a while for machine and grinder come up, it does happen, i sold my classic and MC2 a few weeks ago for that price, plus i think another went for the same recently.

Any chance you can stretch to a little more, say £300? This will put you in a better place, machine for £120-£150 then a grinder for £150 off here also.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

If you do decide to buy a new gaggia classic then I would advise against getting the newer 2015 model (RI9403)and get the older version (RI8161) .

Personally speaking you can get a decent pre loved one off the forums here with some if not all the mods done to it that you may consider doing yourself and save a bit of cash that could go towards a better grinder rather than getting one of Amazon or elsewhere, they come up for sale on here all the time and for well below your budget you could even get a bottomless portafilter with it.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

^ Agreed, dont buy a new one, some people did that, ignoring the advice, then they hit problems and went and purchased an older one.


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## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

I'm more or less locked into my budget for the minute, If I'm very lucky I may be able to squeeze another £150 into it but I'm not holding my breath on that one. I think for the moment my options sit with ether getting the machine then upgrading the grinder later down the road or holding off & budget building for a full set up.

The urge for upgrading now is very strong, so my thoughts are swaying to getting the machine now & feeding it with the hand grinder for time being.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Adam86 said:


> .
> 
> The urge for upgrading now is very strong, so my thoughts are swaying to getting the machine now & feeding it with the hand grinder for time being.


Sounds like a good compromise. No need to get everything at once, you can enjoy the whole experience of upgradeitis over a more prolonged period and it will give you more time to conclude which grinder would be best suited for your needs.

I still havent got round to getting a decent grinder yet, but I do like the window shopping aspect


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

One more post and you can ask about the classic.

Whatever is left, come back and see what grinders people are offering.

You could continue using your hario grinder for the classic, but that's going to get boring after a short time, how many cups a day do you drink on average?


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## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

I tend to average 4~5 depending on the day and its activities. I do enjoy using the hand grinder in a odd way, I find it somewhat therapeutic haha.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Fair play, hario will not give great espresso though, but if you upgrade your hand grinder then your eating into your money...

Tough choices!


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## Adam86 (May 19, 2015)

Well I am now in possession of the very same gaggia linked by froggy & I've had so much coffee this morning I think I can see through time. Thanks for all the help guys!


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Adam86 said:


> Well I am now in possession of the very same gaggia linked by froggy & I've had so much coffee this morning I think I can see through time. Thanks for all the help guys!


Nice purchase.

And easy done overdoing it on the coffee when you get some new equipment \ beans etc,,, I was up till 1.30 last night watching layercake for the 5th time cos of too much coffee.


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## itguy (Jun 26, 2015)

Which Sage were you interested in?


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