Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
After trading up to a Gaggia Classic Pro E24, I went on a journey to learn how to do things a home barista should. After a few machine swaps, I ended up making a few process tweaks, making a few key purchases, and ended up consistently making morning espresso to beyond my tastes.
I'm talking expensive cafe level awesomeness! I know this because I am starting to judge places I get espresso from in mentla language like this... "Wow, I make a much better shot of espresso that this drink."
With a little over a year of research, I want to honor the people that I've watched many multiple hours in the past 16 months. This is in order of how much content I've watches, with first and second place being near identical:
I'm talking expensive cafe level awesomeness! I know this because I am starting to judge places I get espresso from in mentla language like this... "Wow, I make a much better shot of espresso that this drink."
With a little over a year of research, I want to honor the people that I've watched many multiple hours in the past 16 months. This is in order of how much content I've watches, with first and second place being near identical:
- James Hoffman - https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann
- Lance Hedrick - https://www.youtube.com/@LanceHedrick
- The Real Spromethius - https://www.youtube.com/@Sprometheus
- Home Cafe by Charlie - https://www.youtube.com/@homecafecharlie
This is a Shortcut Page
You can do all the research you want. In fact, I encourage that you do. However, I want to address a specific target audience... people who purchased the Gaggia Classic Pro E24 or the Gaggia Classic Pro EVO.
For you, this is a shortcut page. Meaning, if you stumbled onto this page because you want to make a great cup of espresso, then I believe I've done just that and want to share the results of over a year working with both of these machines, to give you a solid set of techniques and recipies.
For you, this is a shortcut page. Meaning, if you stumbled onto this page because you want to make a great cup of espresso, then I believe I've done just that and want to share the results of over a year working with both of these machines, to give you a solid set of techniques and recipies.
The Preface
If you'd like some background... read this!
I had a Krups Calvi espresso machine with a 51mm pressurized basket for 5 years. I mostly used Starbucks' brand Casi Cielo medium-dark coffee beans and used a Capresso Infinity 16-step grinder at a very low setting. I made very good coffee with my setup. I'd buy somewhere between 12-16 pounds of coffee and vaccum seal the bags until I needed to open them. With 1 to 2 shots per day, it lasted about 8-10 months per year, after that I would experiment with other coffee.
I found a few types of coffee that I'd rotate during the year I had a lot Casi Cielo on hand because I wanted to experiment but be able to go back to the default drink I enjoyed. My tastes gravitate to a choclatey deep flavor of coffee, which I got from the Casi Cielo.
The Krups Calvi was a very automatic machine from an operational perspective. You still had to gring, distribute and tamp your coffee. Then you load the puck and turn the machine on. It did a preinfusion step to soak the coffee, stopped for about 2-3 seconds, then continued until my espresso cup was filled about more than 1/2 way. I added some hot water to the finished beverage - but it was not what i consider an Americano. If I pulled 2 ounces of coffee, I'd add 1 ounce of hot water to that, as is.
Then the heat element broke, and that was the end of the Krups machiene. I missed doing the prep, so I decided to poke around and go with something more "home barista-like" and ramp up my game. After a month of shopping around, I still went with the cheapest option for a machine that has a lot of fanfare and was customizable... the Gaggia Classic Pro EVO was my choice.
I won't go through everything but I immediately purchased the YMWVH Botomless Portafilter Kit for Gaggia. It came with a bottomless portafilter, a ridgeless double-shot sized unpressurized filter basket (which I did not use right away), and a puck screen. After a few months, I found out my machine was affected by the Boilergate Issue. I received a replacement at no cost, with the warranty starting all over again. Unfortunately, this machine also had the Boilergate Issue. I was very unimpressed with with the supplier of the machine who 100% admitted they screwed up.
At this point I was using the filter that came with the YMWVH Botomless Portafilter, becasue this new machine had the same ridgeless double-shot sized unpressurized filter basket my YMWVH kit came with. Then I struck a deal where I paid half the difference in price to get the Gaggia Classic Pro E24 that had more mass and a 50%-ish larger internal brass boiler.
After watching videos from everyone above related to espresso baskets, I was going to spend the bigger bucks to get a better basket. I was researching and trying to figure out what to do, as I really wanted to splurge on a basket with a lot of holes but did not want $150-$200 per basket price. Then something became available I've never seen before... the 58mm Espresso Filter Basket from CAPFEI, available on Amazon! Here's what we're looking at:
By the second day, I was pulling crazy good shots. After a few tweaks with one week, I am pulling shots consistently better than other cafes I've been to. At this point my consistency needed work but I was pulling shots at a 7 to 8 ona 1-10 scale. With a few more changes, I'm pulling shots at a 9 to 9.5 out of a 1-10 scale.
I had a Krups Calvi espresso machine with a 51mm pressurized basket for 5 years. I mostly used Starbucks' brand Casi Cielo medium-dark coffee beans and used a Capresso Infinity 16-step grinder at a very low setting. I made very good coffee with my setup. I'd buy somewhere between 12-16 pounds of coffee and vaccum seal the bags until I needed to open them. With 1 to 2 shots per day, it lasted about 8-10 months per year, after that I would experiment with other coffee.
I found a few types of coffee that I'd rotate during the year I had a lot Casi Cielo on hand because I wanted to experiment but be able to go back to the default drink I enjoyed. My tastes gravitate to a choclatey deep flavor of coffee, which I got from the Casi Cielo.
The Krups Calvi was a very automatic machine from an operational perspective. You still had to gring, distribute and tamp your coffee. Then you load the puck and turn the machine on. It did a preinfusion step to soak the coffee, stopped for about 2-3 seconds, then continued until my espresso cup was filled about more than 1/2 way. I added some hot water to the finished beverage - but it was not what i consider an Americano. If I pulled 2 ounces of coffee, I'd add 1 ounce of hot water to that, as is.
Then the heat element broke, and that was the end of the Krups machiene. I missed doing the prep, so I decided to poke around and go with something more "home barista-like" and ramp up my game. After a month of shopping around, I still went with the cheapest option for a machine that has a lot of fanfare and was customizable... the Gaggia Classic Pro EVO was my choice.
I won't go through everything but I immediately purchased the YMWVH Botomless Portafilter Kit for Gaggia. It came with a bottomless portafilter, a ridgeless double-shot sized unpressurized filter basket (which I did not use right away), and a puck screen. After a few months, I found out my machine was affected by the Boilergate Issue. I received a replacement at no cost, with the warranty starting all over again. Unfortunately, this machine also had the Boilergate Issue. I was very unimpressed with with the supplier of the machine who 100% admitted they screwed up.
At this point I was using the filter that came with the YMWVH Botomless Portafilter, becasue this new machine had the same ridgeless double-shot sized unpressurized filter basket my YMWVH kit came with. Then I struck a deal where I paid half the difference in price to get the Gaggia Classic Pro E24 that had more mass and a 50%-ish larger internal brass boiler.
After watching videos from everyone above related to espresso baskets, I was going to spend the bigger bucks to get a better basket. I was researching and trying to figure out what to do, as I really wanted to splurge on a basket with a lot of holes but did not want $150-$200 per basket price. Then something became available I've never seen before... the 58mm Espresso Filter Basket from CAPFEI, available on Amazon! Here's what we're looking at:
- A high precision, high extraction portafilter basket
- 1800 X 0.02mm holes
- 24.7mm high with an estimated capacity (dose) rating of 18-20 grams
- $20... so I bought 2.
By the second day, I was pulling crazy good shots. After a few tweaks with one week, I am pulling shots consistently better than other cafes I've been to. At this point my consistency needed work but I was pulling shots at a 7 to 8 ona 1-10 scale. With a few more changes, I'm pulling shots at a 9 to 9.5 out of a 1-10 scale.
Gear | Ingredients | Workflow
WATER
Gear for the water tank: BWT Bestsave Limescale Protection Pad M.
Workflow: Use filtered water from my refrigirator system and pour into the Gaggia MAX line no later than 3pm.
Details: I do my espresso drinking between 5 and 9am || rarely doing a shot after that
EVERYTHING ELSE
WORKFLOW
Gear for the water tank: BWT Bestsave Limescale Protection Pad M.
Workflow: Use filtered water from my refrigirator system and pour into the Gaggia MAX line no later than 3pm.
Details: I do my espresso drinking between 5 and 9am || rarely doing a shot after that
EVERYTHING ELSE
- Baratza ESP Grinder
- CAPFEI high precision, high extraction portafilter basket w/ 1800 X 0.02mm holes (18-20 gram rating)
- KALLODEAR Espresso Calibrated Tamper & Magnetic Dosing Ring
- MORILS Espresso WDT Coffee Tool with Stand w/ 10 X 0.35mm spring needles
- Suwyaner Gravity Adaptive and Self Leveling Espresso Coffee Distributor (58.35mm)
- Several 1.7mm & 150μm Metal Puck Filters
- Unbleached Espresso Paper Filters
- Tombia 500g Precision Digital Pocket Scale to 0.01g Resolution
- Espresso cups that are no taller than 2.25" high
- Single wire milk frother
- Pyrex measuring glass
- Espresso (dark roasted) air roasted whole coffee beans from Lowe's Foods Boxcar collection
- Organic Guatemalan (light roasted) air roasted whole coffee beans from Lowe's Foods Boxcar collection
WORKFLOW
- Measure an equal amount of dark and light roasted beans for grinding (aim for 18 to 18.2 grams coffee weight if using a metal puck screen and a paper filter or 20 to 20.1 grams coffee weight if using just 2 X paper filters).
- Set grinder to 7 or 6 depending on roast age and other factors. If experimenting, grind to 7 first. Scale down if necessary or for pure tasting experimentation.
- Mix coffee beans vigirously.
- Turn on grinder and grind coffee. Try to extract within 0.1 grams of what went into the grinder.
- Transfer beans to the portafilter basket (no need to load it into the botomless portafilter handle at this time).
- Slightly bump the basket for some basic coffee distribution.
- Use dosing ring and WDT to distribute and level off the coffee in the portafilter basket.
- Use the gravity adaptive distributor to further distribute and partially tamp the coffee.
- Use the calibrated tamper to tamp coffee. You can go fairly hard but use a little bit of rotation and slowly pull up on the tamper until spring snaps up.
- Gently place the portafilter basket into the botomless portafilter handle, as to not disturb the coffee.
- Gently load a single papaer filter on top of the coffee, and feel free to blow out or wipe out coffee stuck to sides of the portafilter basket.
- Place a 150μm metal puck filter over the paper filter.
- Gently place everything into the group head.
- Get you scale on the bottom of the machine's water basket... but do not turn the scale on.
- Get your cup on the scale... still make sure the scale is off.
- Open the steam wand to one full turn. By the way, it's good to put a coffe cup under the wand now!
- Wait for the (middle) brew light to shut off.
- Close the steam wand.
- Wait 10 seconds after the brew light comes on, then turn on the steam buttom for 10 seconds.
- Wait 5 seconds and open the steam wand to 1/2 turn.
- As soon as that's done, start brewing the coffe and start your timer. [0"]
- Wait 4 seconds. [4" elapsed]
- Begin to slowly close the steam wand in the next 4 seconds. [8" elapsed]
- Continue to brew and stop the brew and timer the momnt you see one of these weights...
- The scale hits 34 grams with an 18 gram starting dose. Your goal is 36 grams in the cup.
- The scale hits 38 grams with a 20 gram starting dose. Your goal is 40 grams in the cup.
- Remove your espresso and scale from the bottom of the machine.
- OPTIONAL... Stir the coffee a little bit and with the spoon, sip the coffee to get an idea of the taste. It should have a juicy level of acidity with hints of chocolate that feels vibrant on your tongue and in your mouth.
- ALSO OPTIONAL... I am not about warm milk or warm cream at all, but I use light whipping cream in my finished drink. I place a pyrex measuring glass into the freezer when I begin grinding the coffee. When the coffee is done brewing, and after I do a quick taste, I go to the fridge and pour about 20ml of light whipping cream. I use the milk frother to whip it for about 10 seconds (you can't overwhip the light stuff). After that, I pout that over the coffee and sti unless...
- FINAL OPTIONAL STEP... If I am craving dark chocolate, I have a bag of unsweetened dark chocolate chips. I will add one after the whipped light cream gets poured onto the coffee. Then I stir vigirously for 20 seconds.
