# Newbie having troubles!



## Adie1981 (Mar 22, 2015)

I have bought a Gaggia classic to venture into the mysterious world of coffee at home!

It is a second hand machine that has had upgraded solenoid and steam wand.

Due to the standard baskets it came with, when I pulled a shot through a fine grind the coffee raced through the portafilter (took about 10seconds to produce the shot which had little crema). Should I check what the bar pressure is set to on the machine first? Or can I adjust the shot quality with an even finer grind and a stronger tamp?

If I do need to adjust the bar, does anyone have a gauge kit I can borrow?

Thanks all.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Before racing into this

Are you tamping the coffee with a proper tamper?

What baskets are you using? (can you post a photo of the bottom of the basket?)

What grinder do you have?


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## Adie1981 (Mar 22, 2015)

Standard baskets

motta 58mm tamper

mc2 grinder

thanks.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Adie1981 said:


> Standard baskets
> 
> motta 58mm tamper
> 
> ...


And the coffee? fresh ? roast date ?


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Is the coffee ground fine enough?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Rhys said:


> Is the coffee ground fine enough?


If its stale , they wont be able to ....


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## Adie1981 (Mar 22, 2015)

Grinding happy donkey Italian beans.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Grind finer or tamp a little harder (but not both)

Are you weighing in?

Start with 17g in to the basket and see what happens

If there is a screw indent after extraction then back off .5g

If not then add .5g until you see one

Keep grinding finer but keep the tamp the same

Once you're in the ballpark then adjust tamp pressure to suit


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## Adie1981 (Mar 22, 2015)

Ok. thank you.

so, don't play with OPV yet?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

No, not until you are getting something drinkable


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Those HD Italian beans are not the greatest but Scott gave me a few bags when I bought my MC2 and it should be possible to get a 25-30" extraction from them using the MC2. But that grinder does take a fair few turns of the adjuster to make much difference to the grind. Having such fine adjustment is a good thing in theory but makes dialling in a bit of a faff.


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