# Story so far !



## shinsplint (Oct 18, 2012)

Some may recall I bought a new Classic in December, so just thought i'd share whats been happening.

I had a month or so to wait for a grinder (roll on Christmas







) so made do with some preground Lavazza Rosso coffee which I actually enjoyed. I was using the supplied pressurised baskets, mainly double, and getting pretty good espresso, and having fun experimenting with the supplied steam wand.

After getting loads of useful info on here I soon started the upgrade path and bought a Made By Knock 58mm tamper, as well as the Rancilio V3 steam wand. Well having got a real bargain with the Classic I had the money left over so why not









The steam wand was straight forward to fit and made a big improvement, although it can be LOUD ! I think over the weeks and plenty of coffees i've got much better at making the various drinks - cappucino being my favourite.

A few weeks on now and I have a new Iberital MC2 grinder which im finding brilliant. I initially adjust it to about the finest setting (took a while!) but this was way too fine, especially for the pressuried baskets. I've had to turn it back several rotations, im talking about 10-15 full rotations, to get it to a reasonable setting. Just about got there and my new Gaggia double basket arrived !

So last night I turned it back a bit finer to see if it would work with the new Gaggia basket, and hey presto, the new basket without that stupid plastic thing has done the trick. Had a superb coffee last night, just over 25 seconds for a double (ish) shot.

One thing I havent yet played about with is any measuring. I'm basically filling the basket so its about level, giving it a tamp (not too much pressure), and it seems to work for me. I'm not weighing the beans as I have the hopper about 1/4 full all the time.

Currently using Winter Blend from Union which definately has fruity characters... im not sure if its for me as I think I prefer a darker richer coffee, but im looking forward to trying many others.

Here's my current routine.

* machine on for 15 mins or so.

* quick group head clean.

* fill espresso cup and a mug with boiling water (for heat)

* run some water through the portafilter and leave it for a moment

* fill a shot glass (supplied from Happy Donkey) with ground coffee (level to top)

* dry portafilter and filll to top, break up any clumps with paperclip and level

* pull shot in espresso cup (almost fill - double shot ??)

then if required..

* steamer on

* pour espresso into mug

* steam milk and i'm away !

Takes about 10 minutes but well worth it









Feel free to give any tips. I'm sure some will be thinking how wrong it is of me to not be measuring anything just yet lol ??

Also just bought some Puly Caff powder to give it a backflush.

Only plan for now is to just tweak the grinder each time and see how it goes, but im just enjoying real coffee !

Hope all that wasn't too boring lol.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Not boring at all!

Good to hear you're enjoying the machine and grinder.

Endless tweaks await and hours of fun (accompanied by coffee) will be had.

There'll be some frustrations along the way too.

Good to hear you have a decent tamper as well. Makes a lot of difference.

Thanks for sharing


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## skenno (Oct 14, 2012)

All sounds very similar to me! The next thing to get hooked on is latte art!


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## shinsplint (Oct 18, 2012)

Cheers guys, must admit I get some strange looks from the other half... especially when trying to explain things like "baskets" and "tamping" lol.

So would you say i'm likely to improve things in a big way by weighing the right amount of beans etc? Or is it acceptable to just enjoy it as I am?


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

i tend not to weight my bean in the way as my grinder holds on to quite a lot and varies from dose to dose a little, so if i'm doing a control shot to see how i'm getting on, i just weight the grinds until they are correct. 14-15g does it for me. Don't like my coffee TOO strong


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## skenno (Oct 14, 2012)

I think I got into weighing and precision too soon. I'd say just keep making coffee you're enjoying for a bit first, until you're fairly consistent then you can start weighing and tweaking. I think you'll appreciate the outcomes of your changes more that way.


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## shinsplint (Oct 18, 2012)

ok cheers chaps


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