Hello CoffeeSnobs!
I've just found this forum after a friend of mine shared some interesting threads from the forum. I've been a long time coffee fan brewing with a Baratza Encore and a Moccamaster, Aeropress, V60, or the Dripster during summer. Working from home since March has increased increased my caffeine consumption a lot, and as a result I wanted to continue my caffeine-fueled jounrey by jumping into espresso.
I found a great deal on a 2003 Gaggia Classic Pro and an Ascaso i-2 Mini grinder and so far, experimenting with espresso has been great fun and I've pretty happy with what I've been able to create so far.
The Gaggia is in fantastic condition for its age but needed some internal cleaning. The aluminium group shower holder was built up with scale and the rubber gasket has gone hard over years causing the portafilter to sit on an angle when its in the grouphead. I've ordered a replacement gasket, holder, and screen that should arrive next week to fix these problems. I've also upgraded from the panarello wand to the Rancilio Silvia steam wand which has been really nice, even with my poor milk frothing abilities!
My workflow with the current grinder is relatively slow and I'd like to upgrade to something that can automatically dose for me. Initially the Baratza 270Wi was my goal but after reading some of the complaints of loudness I've become more interested in the Eureka Specialita.
A couple of questions for those more knowledgeable than myself:
Cheers,
Dave.
I've just found this forum after a friend of mine shared some interesting threads from the forum. I've been a long time coffee fan brewing with a Baratza Encore and a Moccamaster, Aeropress, V60, or the Dripster during summer. Working from home since March has increased increased my caffeine consumption a lot, and as a result I wanted to continue my caffeine-fueled jounrey by jumping into espresso.
I found a great deal on a 2003 Gaggia Classic Pro and an Ascaso i-2 Mini grinder and so far, experimenting with espresso has been great fun and I've pretty happy with what I've been able to create so far.
The Gaggia is in fantastic condition for its age but needed some internal cleaning. The aluminium group shower holder was built up with scale and the rubber gasket has gone hard over years causing the portafilter to sit on an angle when its in the grouphead. I've ordered a replacement gasket, holder, and screen that should arrive next week to fix these problems. I've also upgraded from the panarello wand to the Rancilio Silvia steam wand which has been really nice, even with my poor milk frothing abilities!
My workflow with the current grinder is relatively slow and I'd like to upgrade to something that can automatically dose for me. Initially the Baratza 270Wi was my goal but after reading some of the complaints of loudness I've become more interested in the Eureka Specialita.
A couple of questions for those more knowledgeable than myself:
- Do many Specialitas get sold second-hand on CoffeeSnobs?
- Should I be getting the Gaggia serviced to ensure it's clean inside and out?
Cheers,
Dave.

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