# Fast dispensing espresso



## Lukew_smith (Apr 1, 2013)

Hello...

I recently purchased a new gaggia classic however since turning it on for the first time I have been baffled by rate that my espresso shot is being dispensed.

I have searched the net, asked fellow gaggia owners and even badgered my local coffee shop but have not yet found an answer. Correct me if I am wrong but the perfect double shot should take roughly 25sec to pour, but for some reason my machine blasts it out in about 15-20.

I have played around with the grinder, the amount of coffee used, how hard I temper the coffee and even changed the supplier of bean without jeopardising quality. However frustratingly have not managed to gain any consistency with my espresso making skills.

Is this something that I am going to have to live with, or is there answer to my quick pouring coffee?

Any words of advice or suggestions where I may be able to find the answer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. Luke.


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## thomss (May 9, 2011)

what grinder are you using?


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## bronc (Dec 10, 2012)

You are probably using the pressurized basket which comes with the Gaggia.


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## Mike mc (Apr 10, 2012)

Lukew_smith said:


> Hello...
> 
> I recently purchased a new gaggia classic however since turning it on for the first time I have been baffled by rate that my espresso shot is being dispensed.
> 
> ...


I have the same problem at the moment.new machine few weeks back.i bought a double basket from happy donkey and threw the one that was supplied with the machine.im getting 1.5 oz in about 15 seconds.

Tried beans from few different suppliers

I've tried all different pressures with the tamp and my grinders on the finest setting(cheap delonghi burr grinder).

Going to order a made by knock tamp and guessing I need to upgrade my grinder or it will always run too quick.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

How does your quick pouring coffee taste?

As Bronc mentions, the pressurised basket will throw out pour times.

A non pressurised basket will help you tailor your shot times, but only in conjunction with a grinder capable of espresso grinds (£120+). For now, perhaps don't focus on time so much, focus more on the weight of espresso produced from a given, weighed dose in the basket to determine where your shots taste best.


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## cambscoffee (Mar 31, 2013)

Hi Lukew_Smith,

I'm having similar issues with a brand new Carezza Deluxe. It comes with a double-walled pressurised porta-filter that seems to be a new innovation on the Gaggias- haven't found anything written about them online. Baskets don't seem to be pressurised however. Shots come out rather weak with a weak very blonde crema.

Gaggia even say in the instruction manual not to tamp the espresso!

Have ordered a new normal Gaggia portafilter from Happy Donkey and will report back how it goes. Am expecting a big improvement.


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

Mike mc said:


> I have the same problem at the moment.new machine few weeks back.i bought a double basket from happy donkey and threw the one that was supplied with the machine.im getting 1.5 oz in about 15 seconds...I've tried all different pressures with the tamp and my grinders on the finest setting(cheap delonghi burr grinder).
> 
> Going to order a made by knock tamp and guessing I need to upgrade my grinder or it will always run too quick.


Exactly.

A cheap grinder is just not going to grind fine enough or accurately enough.

As has been mentioned many times here before, the cheapest grinder that works for espresso is the Iberital MC2 at £114 + VAT.


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## Mike mc (Apr 10, 2012)

RoloD said:


> Exactly.
> 
> A cheap grinder is just not going to grind fine enough or accurately enough.
> 
> As has been mentioned many times here before, the cheapest grinder that works for espresso is the Iberital MC2 at £114 + VAT.


Hi that's the grinder I had in mind.i drink brewed coffee in the weekday mornings and only use the gaggia at weekends so was hoping to get a dual purpose grinder. Sure ive read before the mc2 is a pain to go from espresso to cafetiere grind so may have to save for longer and go for something better


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

I would suggest that there are NO grinders that do both French press grind and espresso grind well. You'd be better buying a half decent espresso grinder, and either using a cheaper burr grinder for the French press, or a hand grinder. Even a mazzer super jolly won't do a great Job of the two different grinds.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

You can brew with a cafetiere & fine grind, if you reduce the steep time & secondary filter the brew through a pourover cone & filter paper. A V60 & papers, or a Melitta style cone & unbleached filter papers can be had for ~£5 (Chemex & Kalita Wave papers are more likely to clog up with fine grinds, other cones use a finer grind to start with, so are a better bet for this technique).


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

shrink said:


> I would suggest that there are NO grinders that do both French press grind and espresso grind well. You'd be better buying a half decent espresso grinder, and either using a cheaper burr grinder for the French press, or a hand grinder. Even a mazzer super jolly won't do a great Job of the two different grinds.


There are plenty of grinders than can do both really well, I have a santos deli grinder that will happily jump between grind settings, my sj will do the same, as well as my fiorenzato f5, some grinders are harder work to switch between grind settings due to the yep of grind adjustment, but the aforementioned grinders are really easy to switch between grind settings due to the grind adjustment collars. You just have to be careful to mark your espresso and drip settings on the collars.


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## autopilot (Apr 4, 2013)

Lukew_smith said:


> Hello...
> 
> I recently purchased a new gaggia classic however since turning it on for the first time I have been baffled by rate that my espresso shot is being dispensed.
> 
> ...


Im having the same problem. I have searched and researched for days, and I am sure the problem is that Gaggia have significantly increased the pump pressure so it will work better with ESE pods with recent models. The result is that shots with normal espresso coffee will pull too fast. Typically around 15 seconds. Sure the grind needs to be correct etc, but a lot of what people are doing is in fact adjusting for a incorrectly calibrated machine.

Adjusting the pressure is fairly easy it seems, I just need to get hold of a pressure gauge...


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

autopilot said:


> Im having the same problem. I have searched and researched for days, and I am sure the problem is that Gaggia have significantly increased the pump pressure so it will work better with ESE pods with recent models. The result is that shots with normal espresso coffee will pull too fast. Typically around 15 seconds. Sure the grind needs to be correct etc, but a lot of what people are doing is in fact adjusting for a incorrectly calibrated machine.


 Possibly, but you could also say if the grind is not "correct" if the shot is too fast. I'm not sure what you mean by "normal espresso coffee" - the grind has to be adjusted for the particular bean and machine. To adjust the pressure to suit the grind is, if I may say so, a rather perverse way of approaching the problem.


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## autopilot (Apr 4, 2013)

RoloD said:


> Possibly, but you could also say if the grind is not "correct" if the shot is too fast. I'm not sure what you mean by "normal espresso coffee" - the grind has to be adjusted for the particular bean and machine. To adjust the pressure to suit the grind is, if I may say so, a rather perverse way of approaching the problem.


I get what your saying, but I'm not suggesting a machine is adjusted to suit a certain coffee. What I'm saying is that Classic's released recently are over-pressured. It's Gaggia in fact that are adjusting for pods. The number of people modding their machines seems to suggest this also (adjusting from 9/10bar from 15bar pressure). I release there are many factors in producing a good shot, but surely the machine needs to be correct to begin with too? Once you have a good base you can then start to learn the true art of coffee. But for me it's like learning to drive in a car with flat tires.

Always happy to be proven wrong though


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

autopilot said:


> I get what your saying, but I'm not suggesting a machine is adjusted to suit a certain coffee. What I'm saying is that Classic's released recently are over-pressured. It's Gaggia in fact that are adjusting for pods. The number of people modding their machines seems to suggest this also (adjusting from 9/10bar from 15bar pressure). I release there are many factors in producing a good shot, but surely the machine needs to be correct to begin with too?


There are reasons why people adjust the pressure on their Gaggia, but that really is not the issue here. If you are getting a 15 second extraction your grind is too coarse. If you are using pre-ground espresso you can not really rely on getting a good extraction.


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

autopilot said:


> I get what your saying, but I'm not suggesting a machine is adjusted to suit a certain coffee. What I'm saying is that Classic's released recently are over-pressured. It's Gaggia in fact that are adjusting for pods. The number of people modding their machines seems to suggest this also (adjusting from 9/10bar from 15bar pressure). I release there are many factors in producing a good shot, but surely the machine needs to be correct to begin with too? Once you have a good base you can then start to learn the true art of coffee. But for me it's like learning to drive in a car with flat tires.
> 
> Always happy to be proven wrong though


This isn't a recent thing - the Gaggia I bought second hand over a year ago was at least two or three years old when it came to me and when I checked the over pressure valve it was set at 13ish bar.

You'll find the coffee improves with an adjustment in the OPV but if you can't get past. 15 second shot the OPV isn't going the help.

As has been said many times - it's all about the grinder really!


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