# New Classic, filter baskets



## ChriX (Sep 16, 2010)

Evening all.

I am looking to buy a Classic - hoping to get a good used one. However, I started looking at new ones and noticed on the messy thread here that new ones are not issued with the correct filter baskets. Is this still the case no matter where you purchase from? It's a bit of a downer as it's something else to sort.

While I am here I was wondering if anyone could advise the best place to purchase one from. I read about the US store which adds the extra filter baskets, so was wondering if anyone in the UK did that. Best price I have found is Comet, who (after discount codes and cashback) are doing it for £218 plus postage.

Any buying advice much appreciated.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Thats a cracking price for a new machine.

The baskets are only a few £ extra to purchase separately. It all depends on the age of the stock as to whether you get the new pressurised baskets or not.

Baskets flip out easily so no hassle in changing them at all.

Welcome to Coffee Forums UK


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

hi, i have a used classic that i have just reconditioned, got some scratches on case but internally it is in excellent condition, looking at £145 delivered if interested. regards Mark


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## espresso_a_day (Aug 18, 2010)

I bought a Gaggia Classic from Amazon UK and it came with the pressurized baskets -- was very glad I found the thread about this here before I ran into the problem.

To add to what Glenn said -- I took the opportunity as an excuse to get the bottomless portafilter from HappyDonkey, which comes with a double basket. The bottomless portafilter is great fun to watch, and as a total newbie I was immediately able to tell something was seriously wrong with my tamping (channeling) when thin streaks of coffee went in all directions -- a few practice runs this is now gone!

Since I only drink singles, I switched the double filter basket over to the regular Gaggia portafilter (for when I make two singles at once) and bought a La Marzocco single filter basket from CoffeeHit and put that in the bottomless portafilter. I know people here say single baskets are difficult to work with, but this one works very well after a few tries (and again, I found the bottomless PF really helpful). The LM single basket is neat because essentially where you put the coffee and tamp it is just like a smaller version of a double filter basket with straight walls. I just dose so I get a mound of coffee in the middle and tamp that.


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## ChriX (Sep 16, 2010)

gaggiamanualservice.com said:


> hi, i have a used classic that i have just reconditioned, got some scratches on case but internally it is in excellent condition, looking at £145 delivered if interested. regards Mark


Hi Mark,

I am very interested in your offer. I wonder if you could send me a photo of the machine and all the bits that come with just so I know what I am getting and what the appearance is like. Can I trust that everything is in good working order?

I had a look at your site and notice you do spares and such so was wondering if you can supply any extras? For example would quite like a bottomless portafilter as espresso_a_day mentioned (obviously prepared to pay the extra).

Regards,

Chris


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## Mazza (Aug 11, 2010)

espresso_a_day said:


> I bought a Gaggia Classic from Amazon UK and it came with the pressurized baskets -- was very glad I found the thread about this here before I ran into the problem.
> 
> To add to what Glenn said -- I took the opportunity as an excuse to get the bottomless portafilter from HappyDonkey, which comes with a double basket. The bottomless portafilter is great fun to watch, and as a total newbie I was immediately able to tell something was seriously wrong with my tamping (channeling) when thin streaks of coffee went in all directions -- a few practice runs this is now gone!
> 
> Since I only drink singles, I switched the double filter basket over to the regular Gaggia portafilter (for when I make two singles at once) and bought a La Marzocco single filter basket from CoffeeHit and put that in the bottomless portafilter. I know people here say single baskets are difficult to work with, but this one works very well after a few tries (and again, I found the bottomless PF really helpful). The LM single basket is neat because essentially where you put the coffee and tamp it is just like a smaller version of a double filter basket with straight walls. I just dose so I get a mound of coffee in the middle and tamp that.


Useful info, I may try the same as I often end up throwing one espresso away.


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## Mazza (Aug 11, 2010)

When using the bottomless portafilter with double basket do you guys extract into a standard cup and then split into two ? Do you actually usually use the bottomless filter or is it just to practice with ? I drink long coffees so with the double spout portafilter I extract into 2 espresso cups then pour that into my cappuccino cup containing hot water.


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## Osh (Jun 15, 2010)

ChriX said:


> Evening all.
> 
> I am looking to buy a Classic - hoping to get a good used one. However, I started looking at new ones and noticed on the messy thread here that new ones are not issued with the correct filter baskets. Is this still the case no matter where you purchase from?
> 
> Any buying advice much appreciated.


I was in John Lewis yestersay and they still have the old baskets. Obviously not had new stock yet.


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## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

With a bottomless PF - actually with any PF when making just for myself - I just grind tight enough that I get only a single espresso from it. Granted, that may be strong, thick, syrupy espresso, but that's how I like it.


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## ChriX (Sep 16, 2010)

espresso_a_day said:


> To add to what Glenn said -- I took the opportunity as an excuse to get the bottomless portafilter from HappyDonkey, which comes with a double basket. The bottomless portafilter is great fun to watch, and as a total newbie I was immediately able to tell something was seriously wrong with my tamping (channeling) when thin streaks of coffee went in all directions -- a few practice runs this is now gone!


I went with this idea - am waiting on my bottomless portafilter now! Was playing with my new machine tonight but it's very hard to tell what's going on when it's just foaming all the time. Am looking forward to seeing exactly what's going on.


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## Mazza (Aug 11, 2010)

I may have to try the Marzocco single filter basket. I tried the Gaggia single basket (non pressurized!) and it seems difficult to tamp with 7 or 8 grams of coffee, I`m sure im just pressing against the actual basket rather than compressing the coffee.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Getting decent results with single baskets of any brand can be iffy at best.

Do let us know how you get on with them


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## RDW (Aug 26, 2010)

Did the Gaggia importers ever respond to the query about the new baskets? Apart from the issues with pressurised baskets in general, I think a lot of their customers won't even realise these are what they have, and will attempt to use them without the plastic nozzle, which seems like a potential hazard given the reports of 'coffee sprayed up the wall'. If they do insist on shipping only the pressurised baskets they need to update the main manual, not just include an addendum slip. It would also be helpful if anyone who maintains an online guide to the Classic revises it to highlight this potential problem.

For what it's worth, I bought the double from xpresscoffeeuk for £6.99 delivered (the single is a quid less), so getting a Classic from the new batch is more of an irritation than a deal breaker if you already know what to expect.


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## espresso_a_day (Aug 18, 2010)

Since yesterday, I have a little digital scale. I seem to be pretty consistent even without it, but I can now report: when I use the Marzocco single basket, I use more than half the dose for the double basket. With the current blend I use 14g for a double and 8-8.5 for the single. In the single basket, I do not flatten the mound that builds in the basket (I've got a doserless grinder), but rather, I just tamp that directly. I usually end up with a surface area of coffee that goes across the entire big diameter of the basket, but of course on the outside this is just about a millimetre sitting on the rim. Am I making sense? Anyhow, for me the results are as good as from a double basket.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Sadly Gaggia has not responded despite leaving several voicemails

I'll try again this week

Their helpdesk must be getting unnecessary calls and their retailers getting a higher than usual amount of returns (disc: this is assumed)

Hopefully I hear back soon


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

the pumps on the manual machines are not very powerful, using a commercial blank basket can do more harm than good


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## ChriX (Sep 16, 2010)

Maybe should start a new thread for this but... how do people do multiple milk drinks? Is it shot/steam/shot/steam or shot/shot/steam/steam? I have been doing the first method, but then after I've steamed I have to flush the boiler until steam stops coming out? Is this the correct way of doing it? It just seems that I'm repeatedly heating up the boiler then filling it with cold water.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Shot / Shot / Steam / Steam = less stress on the machine.

Keep the original shots hot though


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## The Judge (Oct 5, 2010)

How would one keep the original shots hot?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Pre-heating the glass will help

There is no other way of keeping them hot without affecting the coffee


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## WienerBarista (Sep 2, 2010)

In response to the original tenet of this thread, I posted a while ago that I had received a Gaggia Classic that was promised to contain standard baskets. I had highlighted to my supplier that there had been issues with recent machines and that unsuspecting people had coffee hissing up their walls. He, in turn, spoke to Gaggia who maintained that my machine would have standard baskets. Lo and behold it arrived with two pin pricks to force my espresso through. I immediately informed my supplier who kindly sent two standard baskets free of charge (not bad as I live in Vienna and the company is in London). For some reason the communication from Gaggia to its retailers and end users is extremely poor. What is more, the need to change is hard to understand and lacks some thought.


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

It might be worth mentioning the supplier who gave good service for future customers.


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## captainpk (Oct 12, 2010)

The best price I can see is on Amazon £ 233.74 - but I guess will need to buy an extra basket.

What I am slightly worried about is that it is not clear what you get !

Box Contains

* 1 x Measuring spoon

* 1 x Tamper

* 1 x Instruction Leaflet

* 1 x Gaggia Classic Manual Coffee Machine with Professional Filter Holder

So I am not sure what type of baskets it comes with.


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## captainpk (Oct 12, 2010)

Have asked Amazon what is in the box so to speak:

"From your e-mail I can understand that you are looking to buy the Gaggia Classic and want to know what type of filter basket comes with and what are the other contents.

In order to address this query efficiently, we will need to carry out a physical check of the item in our Fulfilment Centre.

I have therefore requested that our inventory of Gaggia be examined by a member of our Fulfilment Team."

Which is nice off them - will update when I get the response.


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## Mazza (Aug 11, 2010)

I bought mine from Amazon quite recently and it came with pressurized baskets. Standard baskets are cheap though so not a problem.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Budget for a new tamper (58mm) as well

The plastic tampers (approx 54-55mm) are not fit for purpose


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## RDW (Aug 26, 2010)

Mazza said:


> I bought mine from Amazon quite recently and it came with pressurized baskets. Standard baskets are cheap though so not a problem.


Same here. Unless Gaggia changes its policy I guess they'll all come like this (though I suppose some other suppliers might have 'new old stock'). One other issue I had with Amazon was that they just shipped it in the Gaggia box (which isn't really designed for this) without an outer box. A hole had been knocked right through the box by the time it arrived, but luckily the machine was undamaged.


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