This is one of the most helpful videos. Thank you! I did a write up of what you covered for referencing. Brewing workflow 1. Turn on machine. Let it heat up 15-30m. 2. Wait for BREW BUTTON to light up 3. Remove Portafilter 4. Run some water through group head then wipe with towel and use brush to clean 5. 18g coffee into basket and tamp 6. Flip on STEAM BUTTON for 20s then flip off 7. Put filled Portafilter into place 8. Brew espresso ***Longer than 20s will cause boiling water/steam to spill into group head Steaming Milk workflow 1. Flip on STEAM BUTTON until it lights up 2. Flip off STEAM BUTTON 3. Turn steam valve and release all of the steam until it runs out 4. Press STEAM BUTTON AND BREW BUTTON 5. Turn steam valve to let some hot water out of steam wand 6. Flip off BREW BUTTON 7. Wait for steam to come out of steam wand, then close steam valve 8. Wait 20s. 9. Open steam valve to purge a little bit, then steam milk normally. ***STEAM BUTTON will not light up, but you will have enough steam for milk General workflow for brewing and frothing 1. Turn on machine 2. Purge/clean group head 3. Brew button light on 4. Flip on Steam button for 20s, flip off 5. Brew 6. Wait 20-30s for boiler to heat up again 7. Press Steam Button + Brew Button 8. Release hot water out of steam wand 9. Flip off Brew button 10. Wait for steam to come out of steam wand, then close valve 11. Wait 20s 12. Purge steam valve a little bit, then steam milk normally. Boiler will be hot enough to provide enough steam for (2 latte worth of) milk
Thank you for writing the steps! This is one of the most helpful videos on this machine and I just sat down with pen and paper to write a list like this but you did it all for me. Thanks also to The Majestic Bean for clarifying and sharing about the best results for this machine!
Bro, i am not even sure if i even like real cappuccino/flat whites anymore. i just hope my noobie hands just cant get the right settings after one day of testing xd
You are excellent! I'm from Russia. Recently bought a Classic. And couldn't make a cappuccino according to the instructions. There wasn't enough steam. I was very upset. Only your video helped me make my first cappuccino! Now everything is great! Thanks a lot!!
I just did that and indeed my flat white is creamier and tastier than ever. Quick one, i remember that in the past, I was pushing brew and steam buttons at the same time by mistake. It has always felt like i am breaking the thing. Are we sure 100% that pushing both steam and brew buttons won't damage any internal ? Thx! :)
At 11:40 both buttons are pressed. So what i meant was that if brew and steam are turned on concomitantly, would there be a risk of damaging the internals? I have tested the first part (pulling the shot) and indeed it tastes much better,
Just tried these techniques on my gaggia classic (original) and significantly stepped up my cappuccino game. Thanks so much for making this video - very helpful!
Since I worked in 3 specialty coffee shops for the past few years, you're making a lot of mistakes in making your coffee and I will write down these mistakes; and that's written in a friendly way to help you get the perfect coffee in the future 🤩 1. Clean your coffee machine, only after using it and not before. Why I'm saying that? It's because, if you use the machine and then you let it until the next day to clean it, the oil remaining from the coffe will stay for about 24h on the surface of the intern coffee machine and that can destroy the coffee machine in time. 2. Never wipe the machine in the area where you attach your portafilter. That surface it has to stay wet; it's not a problem. 3.Grounding your coffee in the portafilter, attaching to the coffee machine and not pressing the button imediately it's the biggest mistake in specialty coffee. Never wait for pressing the button after attaching it to the portafilter. 4. The heating of the steamer has to be made before attaching the portafilter or before making the milk, but not while you have the portafilter inside already; they don't have anything to do one with each other, since the steamer is for the milk. Yes, heating the steamer helps warming the machine, but do that before making any coffee. 5. Two of the things that you'll see in a good espresso coffee is: 1. having orange-yellow cream on top, which, your coffee doesn't have it and that's because your coffee is over-extracted (and that's because you attached the portafilter to the machine and then waited those 20 sec for the steamer to heat and then only after those seconds you started the timer and pressed the main button for the coffee) that means, that your extraction, instead of being between 23-26, is around 40, and that's clearly over extracted coffee; 2. the whole coffee has to have a creamy texture and not being watery (check the 9:49 and you'll see what I say that). Have a really great week and a lot of good contents! 🤩
Can't espresso how grateful I am for coming across your channel! These tips and tricks have elevated my coffee game to the next level. Loving my gaggia thanks to you.
This is such a useful video, or at least I thought it was at the beginning, thank you for all the work however after following every step here're my findings: 1. The highest temperature of the water reached with your method for extracting espresso was around 63 degrees C. That is not enough. The best temp is around 80 degrees or so. 2. The best method is to turn the machine on and leave it for 10 minutes. This is the only way that the machine will reach to the necessary temp for espresso. Once reached, the machine will remain at this temperature and none of the steps indicated in the video is needed. I repeat, highest temperature OF THE WATER direct from the shower was 63 degrees. After extracting the espresso the espresso stands at around 59 degrees which is NOT GOOD. Hope this helps someone.
I have had this machine since April and just saw this video. Cant believe I did not know this before. This video has been amazing, finally I have a reason why the micro foam and espressos were not consistent. Thanks mate. Great work. Keep it up!
Great work of this guy, I can totally agree with you. I do something different when steaming latte for latte art. I just turn on the steaming for 25 sec. Wipe the want and start steaming after 30sec, without pressing the 2 buttons.
I've had my Gaggia classic (not pro) since 2011, very well looked after and always served me well to this day. Always found it sort of inconsistent but good enough. Only this year though I've got more and more into it with a better grinder, wtp, proper tamper etc etc, then I started learning about temperatures and found this video. Well I'll be... Thanks a lot!! Only 12 years with this machine and no clue 🤣
This video is the most useful video I've seen for the GCP workflow and overcoming some of its limitations. Everything in it checks out on my machine and is now part of my daily routine. Thank you.
Just got a Gaggia Classic Pro and this channel is an absolute gem; we’ve finally have been able to prepare consistent cappuccinos and microfoam! I’m surprised more people haven’t found this channel yet❣️
You are a savior, purchase my new Gaggia Classic pro yesterday with Sette 270 and I couldn't believe how badly the machine was frothing losing so much steam power. I watched this video and boom problem solved, I can believe nobody else has picked this up on this. You are a legend thanks.
@@tmb-themajesticbeanchannel1746 some people brew when the light is off after it is preheated by purging some water... when the light is off it is heating the water, so - I'm finding my espresso's to be 80-90% of the time at a good temp.
@@frasertomsfilm that sounds reasonable. I can't try it because I have a PID now, but hopefully someone else can confirm that it is a more consistent way.
Great video! There a lot to miss if you’re not watching it a few times. With practice and familiarity with the specifics of “your” personal machine, these are good suggestions. The coffee journey is all about learning and if you aren’t learning then you must be already there and your journey is over. For the rest of us, much complements on your videos. Keep them coming!
Brilliant idea of using the "funnel" to fill the portafilter from a "standard" grinder ... I was told it would be difficult and messy to not use a dosing grinder ... so, you've provided even more tips than you thought! Thanks!
The video that saved Christmas! Got my machine yesterday as a present and had been gutted at the pour temp. Sleepless, I turned to hack videos and ... PRESTO! Hot coffee! Thank you and best wishes.
@@tmb-themajesticbeanchannel1746 I would say the Gaggia owns me still, rather than the other way around, but if it has been a good start it's thanks to you. Keep well.
Saw this video a week or so ago as I was prepping for the arrival of my gaggia classic pro and made a mental note to watch again when the unit arrives. Its here and what a great guide you’ve provided. Many thanks for posting!
Not barrista class yet but its getting better. I've watched some of your other videos and I think the arrival of my baratza virtuoso+ will improve the grind and the result. Hopefully 🙂
I think this is the best video on getting the best results out of this coffee machine. There are many videos on this machine, but these tips&tricks helped me get better milk based coffees.
Thanks very much for putting all these hacks together. I'm expecting my Classic Pro in about a week. I did a lot of research before deciding on the Gaggia. Nothing else compares at this price. It's built to last and the full size group head is what separates this machine from an appliance. The 20 second wait for steaming milk cures what they are call waiting the "too late light." Can't wait to put all this into practice. For those who don't want the bother, you could spend twice as much for a bean to cup super automatic.
I've had the same machine for a month;- I think this video is 100% correct. The 20-secs pre-heat steam & then keep the element on thing makes a massive difference.
Great insite for the steaming! I had a perfect latte this morning after watching your video for the first time since I bought my Gaggia 4 years ago. Thank you.
This video is a game changer! I’ve been getting ok results with the steam wand before and first try with your method has gotten me perfect microfoam and texture. It makes pouring latte art so much easier when the milk consistency is perfect. Thank you for this video!
@@tmb-themajesticbeanchannel1746 Definitely an improvement in the milk frothing but the shower screen isn't flowing properly so I've got some cleaning to do!
Damm mann thank you so much!!! I’m new to Expresso but I’ve seen this is one of the best machines but I was scared to pull the trigger since it doesn’t have all the high tech for beginners. You just finalized my decision to finally do it! Thank you 🙏🏼
Massive respect from Canada brother, my machine will arrive this week and the information you just provided is priceless. Truly appreciate your help. Just a side note, your English is awesome, well done. I hope you and those that love you are keeping well 😊
THANK YOU! This is so helpful and such a nice clear explanation of a repeatable process to achieve quality and consistency. Much appreciated. Nice shooting too, I could see everything clearly.
Thanks so much for this video, none of the other videos telling about the Classic pro has even mentioned anything about those isues. I just ordered the Gaggia Classic Pro yesterday and thanks to your video I will get of the right way from beginning.
Thanks mate, will do that as soon as we can film together with Madeleine again. We have a strict lockdown here in Melbourne & can't have people coming over for any type of visits 😔
@@tmb-themajesticbeanchannel1746 Ah gotcha, thanks mate! Are you filming on your phone? Perhaps you can rotate it sideways and film it that way? Hahaha!
This video is super helpful, and well explained - thank you! Although I still am a little perplexed why everyone is calling this one of the best affordable espresso machines, but it can't do basic things well out of the box without work-arounds! Anyway, really appreciate you taking time out to explain - I'm already adopting these techniques with better results 👍
The great thing is that these techniques are portable; they work on other machines. The old Starbucks/ Saeco machines, the old Krups machines, the old DeLonghi machines, etc.
Thank you very very Much. Ik Just was concidering to throw my new Gaggia away, and take back my old machine! But now i am able to make a perfect and better caffè. It's hot and well extracted finally, very happy. Te milk steaming wil be the next step. So happy you figured this out. 🤩👍great job
In my personal experience, or probably due to the warmer climate here (maybe?), the 20s steam button preheat trick may need to be improvised to lesser seconds. I've read around some other user's experience of 8s being sufficient, depending on where the boiler is at, at the point in time. So, just word of advise, do improvise on the steam button preheat seconds. Sometimes 20s for me would torch the grounds and it would come out bitter. Sometimes 12s would turn out nice and sweet. Do play around :)
I absolutely agree mate, the steps shouldn't be followed religiously. They should be adjusted to everyone's individual situation, since not all machines are the same 😁
I adjust based on the age of my beans. When the beans are fresh, on my machine 11 seconds works. But as the bag of beans dwindles and they are now 10 days older, that drops down to five. By the time the bag provides its last cup of espresso, I won’t need the steam preheat at all.
Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou stability!! Sooo much coffee wasted recently trying to solve why so many sour shots , even when trying to us other steam solutions. This has just worked when pulling 10 consecutive shots - even used different roasts. Now need to go and drink lots of water and stop vibrating!!!
WOW the difference is night and day!! It seriously feels like I just upgraded my machine, im so glad you made this video. ALL gaggia classic owners should see this!
I'm so happy it worked, you're right I also felt like I had a new machine once I tried this. I hope more people see this video and make better espresso :)
@@tmb-themajesticbeanchannel1746 it's actually already here. I'm just waiting on my Mignon manuale to arrive before I get it out. Is that the Weiss distribution method you're using?
Basically, what you are trying to accomplish is a dance between heating and cooling aiming for equilibrium When the light comes on... the instantaneous correct temperature has been reached and the heating element is turned off So one side of the dance is not operating. And will not start operating until boiler temp is significantly reduced. And even then, there is another problem... if you have watched the heating elements in a toaster oven heat up.... you understand that heat does not come instantaneously. So even after the Gaggia heating element turns on... it still takes a while for that element to start providing significant heat. When you turn on the steam switch for 20seconds before brewing.... you are starting up the heating side of the temperature stability dance. Cold is the other side of the stability dance. When you turn on the brew switch.... hot water leaves the boiler.... but cold water enters the boiler from the reservoir. This rapidly starts cooling the boiler. Which again disturbs equilibrium. So by having the heating element operational, it compensates for the cold water refilling the boiler. There is some other trick that I do. I do a quick flush through the brew head just in case there is overheating from having the heating element on. Then I put in the porta filter... run the brew switch for about 1-2 sec for pre infusion. Wait 3-4 sec for boiler to re heat from cold water. Then do another one sec brew stitch. Wait another 2-3 sec. then start normal extraction I came up with this process because I have a pid that shows me boiler temp... and I can see how rapidly the boiler temp drops during the initial stage of extraction when there is no resistance from the coffee puck. After extraction actually starts... the water flow is reduced so the heating element can keep up with heating the cold water refilling the boiler
...by watching this video and reading your comment here, i already changed my plan to the Bezzera bz09 😂... This gaggia needs a bit too many steps for me. Both of you shared great tricks though 👍☕
Excellent explanation, as I was wondering what the intent of turning the brew switch on whilst steam switch was on was doing. Also, you mentioned you do pre-infusion using the brew switch. On whole latte love's channel they mention that this will not be a true pre-infusion because it will build pressure and on a classic Pro with the 3 way solenoid, it will suck water back up from the coffee puck resulting in a disturbed puck. They recommend be pre-infusion by opening the steam a quarter turn to release some pressure, then hit the brew switch to pre-infuse for up to 5 seconds, then choose stream and compete your extraction. I hope this might help improve even further :)
Hi, Thank you for your video BUT, I just tried the shot with a 20s preheat with the steam button using a bottomless portafilter and Fail, I got multiple boiling needle jets from the basket holes. The preheat must have lead to overheat and steam has dislodged the Puck leading to short circuiting. Previously I could see I was getting perfect flow from my basket (after coarsening my grind slightly).
Same here. On my machine 20s preheat with the steam button is way too much. It boils the water and leads to really bad channeling. Just leaving the machine to preheat properly for 10-15 mins works fine most times. It’s probably not as consistent as PID but I keep getting really close extraction times and taste.
As always, thanks for taking the time to video the whole process, so you can allow the rest of us to “walk along with you”. 👍 Honest question, after you pull your shot at the 15:06 mark, can’t you just jump straight to the steam pre-heating step at 15:17? I noticed, that at 15:06, you switched on the steam button and waited for 20 seconds, and then shut it off. But then right after, you turned the brew & steam buttons both on, waited for water to come out, then turned off the brew button and waited for steam to come out of the steam wand, then shut the knob off, keeping the steam button on. Then started your timer for 20 seconds before steaming… a similar 20 second step as you did at the 15:06 mark. My question again is why the extra step involving the steam button at the 15:06 mark? After you pull your shot, can’t you just jump straight to the steam pre-heating step at 15:17?
Excellent question Franco. In all honesty, I'm not techincally gifted enough to understand why I was doing what I was doing. After reading a lot on different coffee forums and experimenting, I found that what I'm doing in this video works very well, and gets me consistent repeatable results. Now that I think about what you said, it would have cut the whole process, but since having a PID on the Gaggia atm, I can't actually try that out. If you have a Classic, try it and let me know if you still get good results.
Your video is so helpful man, I was interested in GCP but I was afraid with the consistency when I saw couple reviews. But now after seeing this im convinced enough to get it! Thanks again, much appreciated 👌🏽
Thanks for sharing your techniques! I'm getting an older version of the Gaggia Classic soon (the one with the buttons together and the wide steam button), I wonder if the same tips will work on it? We will see!
there are a lot of temperature surfing schemes out there. They all are just trying to over come the fact that the temperature range on the gaggia is pretty huge before the heating element kicks back on, even after warmed up. I have the older generation as well and find that letting it warm up for at least 20 minutes, then dispense ~1 ounce of water, then wait for the light to go off; depending on where in the heating cycle it was this takes up to a minute. this means the heating element is back on, it will stay on for about 10 secs. during that time I put in the portafilter, and then once the brew light comes back on, start the brew. However, I also have a brass dispersion plate so it holds more heat than the stock aluminum one. The best thing to do is set up a digital thermometer probe under the portafilter and experiment to find what gives you a good 2-3 ounces of properly heated water. Going to give this method a try though.
Thanks, I just bought mine today followed the instructions and got some cold bitter "espresso". I will try your methods tomorrow after watching again to refresh my old feeble mind.
Hi! Thanks for your Gaggia videos, I haven't even looked at the manual, just been using your videos ❤️ What dose and yeild/ratio are you using here in this example? Many thanks
Watching this video confirmed my fears about this. Gaggia is missing vital components and causing users to revert to silly hacks for something that should be working in a good machine. My biggest concern with this is there is no way to control the temperature ( say like what you can do with the lelita Ana 2 which has a visual temp display and buttons to up and down the temp), you have to rely on the gaggia default temp being the right setting ( question is,... is it? Well your video answered that. It's not.) And if its not, on the lelita you can just hit the button a few times and up the temperature. Wala. Fixed. On the Gaggia, nope. From what I can tell from your video its not by default at the right temperature that's why you are having to hit the STEAM button and piss around with risking it overboiling and ruining your grinds. You shouldn't have to do that if its a good unit. That is a hack and a dangerous one that could ruin your system never mind your coffee. Next there is no external pressure gauge to see if you get 9 bars like you can on the lelita ana 2. Why is that important to see visually? Well lets say you put in the wrong grind of coffee, ( too coarse or too fine ) and you end up gettin a bad tasting coffee but you don't know why. That's because you can't see a pressure gauge hitting 9 bars ). With a gauge if its under 9 or over 9, that means your grind is either too coarse or too fine. When you get the grind right, you will hit the 9 bars each time. Seeing it is vital. Having the pressure gauge really helps. Those are the only 2 downsides i have seen to the gaggia but those are HUGE downsides.
You're correct Jack, but you have to consider the pricing point as well. The Lelit is a couple of hundred dollars more expensive, so you basically get what you pay for ☺️
G’day mate I bought my Classic pro two weeks age and was ready to send it back until I came across your channel I’m now making great shots and milk thanks mate keep the vids coming
I’ve had my Classic Pro for only two days, and these are exact the problems I am having. It seems a bit ridiculous that the machine doesn’t work as it should, but thanks for explaining how to get the best from it.
Good video! I agree, I let it warm up for at least 30min purge and brew and for the steaming after researching about it I replaced the 145 degree thermostat for the steamer for a 155degree, very easy to do no hazard, and a lot of steam power...
My new GCP is to arrive next week With you sharing your research i am more confident that i will be able to have good results. Thank You paul in Calif.
