Finally pulled a decent shot with my old espresso machine

I bought a used Gaggia Classic three years ago and could never get the timing right, always ending with sour or bitter coffee. Last week, I finally dialed in a new bag of beans from a local roaster in Austin, grinding 18 grams to a much finer setting than I used to. The shot ran for 28 seconds and tasted smooth, with a nice layer of crema on top. What's one small change that made your home espresso better?

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3 Comments

nina_taylor5mo ago

Honestly, focusing so much on "28 seconds" is where people go wrong. I used to chase that perfect time and it made every shot stressful. The best change I made was ignoring the clock and just watching the flow, pulling the shot based on how it looks. Sometimes a great shot runs fast, sometimes slow, depending on the beans. Getting stuck on one number like that can make you mess up a good thing.

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taylor_patel5mo ago

Totally used to be a slave to that timer. Had this one bag of light roast that just would not hit 28 seconds without choking the machine. Tasted awful every time. Finally just let it run a bit faster one morning and it was like a totally different drink, super sweet and bright. Now I just look for that nice steady stream and adjust by taste. The numbers are more of a starting point than a rule.

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harperr825mo ago

Gotta disagree, timing is everything for me. If I don't hit that 25-30 second window, the whole shot is off. How else do you keep things consistent?

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