Hi, I have been making french press coffee for the last 2 years. Recently got my hands on Aero press. Now planning to get Gaggia Classic Pro Evo (metal series).
As of now I have a hand grinder (burr) and have option to procure pre grounded coffee from local roaster.
Just wanted to know your thoughts. Which was your first espresso machine? How was your experience? What’s few things I should look out for as a beginner? What’s your favourite recipe?
I don’t think I’d recommend that machine. Simply because it’s not a portafilter.In these automatic machines coffee grounds get stuck in all sorts of nooks and crannies.
In my experience people don’t run the daily cleaning program nor the weekly one. And even you do, some coffee grounds stay behind so you always have old coffee grounds in the path, affecting the taste of your coffee.
I looked at the Accademia series. Completely different beast.
The Classic Pro Evo looks like a nice little beginner’s machine. Not too dissimilar to my first machine, a Rancilio Silvia.
I think you may be mistaken. The Evo is simply the latest model of the Gaggia Classic Pro. It is a portafilter espresso machine. It is semi automatic in the sense that it has a pump and a boiler, but is not automatic in the sense that it has an integrated grinder and does the whole process for you.
https://www.coffeeitalia.co.uk/difference-between-gaggia-classic-evo-pro-2023-and-gaggia-classic-pro-2019-models/
Oh, you’re right, I looked at a completely different machine.
What’s your personal favourite recipe?
That strongly depends on the coffee. For the Silvia the community recommends temperature surfing, meaning to release enough water through the brew head to trigger a heating cycle.
Then you’d brew your coffee when it just finished heating. This way you get a relatively predictable brewing temperature and heat curve, despite having no PID.
I figure the same might be advisable for other small machines without PID, like the Gaggia.
Beyond that you’ll just have to play with your parameters (amount, grind size, packing pressure, brewing duration) and possibly compensate for environmental variables (temperature, humidity, age of coffee) and find a configuration that produces coffee you like.
Figuring that out it’s half the fun.