u/Cocktail_Guru

I have a new gaggia classic pro E24. I love the machine, it looks great (green model) and works great too.

I’m still learning espresso and my grinder is sub par (DF54) and causes me problems so almost everything “off” is purely my technique.

But the times I pull a perfect shot are addicting, it’s been better than any espresso I’ve had at local coffee shops maybe besides a couple, and I live in an international city with lots of $5 espresso shots

Something’s though are a bit challenging, like the steam wand. It’s just never had enough power until I learned how to purge it early and temp surf it.

This had me wondering after looking at all mods, is there a mod for that? There seems to be a ton like the gaggiano, can someone explain the common mods, what they’re for, etc?

I use the bartenders choice version 3 a lot, often times recipes will say “1/2 oz coconut”. Sometimes there’s already 1/2-1oz sugar syrup so I assume it’s coconut cream. But other times that is the sugar, my question is, what do they use for it? Coconut cream and sugar, coco Lopez and coconut milk 1:1? I ask because other recipes specifically call for coco Lopez or cream of coconut.

Anyone know what this means?

Looking for recs for higher end Jamaican rums, I’m typically a cocktail guy and love rum drinks. My favorites for mixing are smith and cross and Dr bird. I’d want to both sip this rum and make Mai tais with it. I don’t care about making Mai tais with expensive rum, It’s my preferred way to drink them actually.

I’ve had hampden 8, plantation Jamaica 2003 from Clarendon, and Appleton 21.

Hampden was really good but leaves a lot to be desired I thought. Plantation was a bit disappointing for the age but still good and Appleton 21 is great but more oaky than funky and I like funky.

Heading to a local shop that has tons of selection, pretty much most things I’ve seen on this sub besides some super rare options. What should I try?

I feel like I am losing my mind - I spent the year learning home espresso and finally got consistent shots that I could enjoy on their own with my setup - 30 -35 sec 2:1 pulls, tasted great, etc. However my DF54 has had multiple clogging issues where I had to clean the burs and declog the chute with a long object, then reset the burrs by finding the true zero. Usually it would be all good after that, just with a different zero point.

I have been using a darker roast beans from a local roaster that lasts me about a month, so adjusting every few days is normal. A few weeks ago, my grinder randomly clogged bad again and I had to do this adjusting again. The zero point was the same though so I continued as usual.

However, the same exact grind size that worked before the last clog now gushed out. I also noticed this feeling when tamping as if I wasn’t able to tamp down as far, like the tamper was stopped early or the basket was more full or dense.

So I grind finer, expecting to choke the machine as I’m already at very fine grind, and it still gushes out. I’m suspecting channeling? I literally have to dial the df54 to 2 ( my true 0 is -5) to choke the machine. But anything greater than that, it gushes out.

The only other thing is I noticed now the grinder is very prone to clogging and I have to pump the top every time I load beans to push any grinds through, or it instantly clogs.

I’m bewildered as it’s been every day like this, and it feels like maybe extra grinds are getting into my basket? I can’t explain the tamping feeling any other way? Is it possible it’s the off gassing changing the grind so drastically by the end of the bean bag? Seems strange how my workflow was fine even with minor adjusting as the bag aged, and all of a sudden it’s like nothing works. I’m either pulling 2:1 in 10 seconds or choking the machine for 20 seconds then massive channeling