Please help!
I bought my Gaggia classic in 2008. This was the first thing I ever bought with my first paycheck, and so it has great sentimental value, but the truth is I never really learnt how to use it, and would pull a shot every now and then the best I could, then forget about it for a while. Despite not really getting much out of the machine, I could never really bear to get rid of it, and it has followed me through 5 or 6 house moves in the last 18 years.
In the last couple of years I have been trying to learn how to use my machine, and have watched lots of videos about espresso making and about the Gaggia classic.
Things I have done to try and improve my espresso:
- Bought a grinder - I use Sage Smart Grinder Pro, on the finest grind setting
- I buy fresh beans from what I believe are a good London roaster (Dark Arts)
- Changed my basket to a ridgeless VST 18g basket
- Cleaned my machine using cafiza and descaled
- Changed the gasket
- I bought a pressure gauge - the original pressure was 15+ bar, I have now adjusted it to 9 bar.
However, despite all the things I have tried, my espresso just extracts too quickly (18g of ground coffee gives me 36g espresso within 8-10 seconds), and basically tastes like acid.
I am on the verge of giving up. Does anyone have any suggestions or is it time to say goodbye to my Gaggia?