# Help dialing in Gaggia Classic and Sage Smart Grinder Pro



## Mm391 (Apr 19, 2020)

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to this whole coffee game and you have all probably heard this same story over and over again from newbies, so sorry in advance. I have been trying to dial in my Gaggia Classic and Sage Smart Grinder Pro. But after grinding the beans no coffee is being produced through the Portafilter.

Coffee was roasted just over a week ago. Internal Burrs set at 6:
Attempt 1: Grind Size 6 - No Coffee - Waited 2 minutes
Attempt 2: Grind Size 10 - No Coffee - Waited 2 minutes
Attempt 3: Grind Size 15 - a tiny dribble after 60 seconds.

No coffee was produced at all through the Portafilter apart from the last attempt, but even that was a dribble. I can only assume that the coffee was too fine and the pressure was too great stopping the water making its way through the puck. This seems strange as I have seen other people posting that they were able to use grind sizes as low and lower than 6 in the Sage Grinder and still produce coffee. Does anyone have any suggestions or do I just play around with the grind size until I find something that works. I know all coffee beans, grinders and machines are different so trial and error tends to be a beginners best tactic.

On a side note, the person I brought it off demonstrated it working, but with a different grinder, before I brought it and it was in amazing condition, but not sure if he modified its pressure at all. I was thinking about trying to locate a modified Portafilter to test what pressure the machine is set at. Does anyone know where I can get one from?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Matt


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## Stox (Jul 19, 2020)

You play around with the grind size until you find something that works. Yes, really, but this assumes there isn't a fault somewhere with the espresso machine or grinder. Is the grinder new? How much is the dose, and what basket are you using?

With a brand new Classic and Smart Grinder Pro purchased earlier this year I was looking at grind settings between 6 and 13, dosing, say, 16g in the supplied 14g unpressurised basket for 32g+ yield in 25-30 seconds using freshly roasted high altitude single origin beans. I wouldn't expect pressure modifications to make a huge difference based on what happened when I adjusted my machine down from the standard 15 bar to 9 bar.


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## dutchy101 (Jun 12, 2020)

They recommend starting at grind size 12 for espresso. I've only got as low as 9 on my SGP and it choked the Bambino.


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