Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

[cassarose]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

I had ordered my Giotto PP several weeks before Xmas and was hoping it would arrive in time.  However, I had to wait for a new shipment, with that and the tyranny of distance (remote community in NE WA) it was not to be.  Cyclone Billy didnt help with eye passing just a few ks north.  The airstrip was out for a number of days and I finally had it shipped up river by the air/sea rescue boat.  It arrived 10 days ago.

Gina Giotto now has pride of place in my humble kitchen and our love affair has just started.  Giovanni  Grinder (Anfim Best) sits alongside my Italian beauty.

Gina has been very understanding and forgiving of my amateur forays.  I know with time and practice my technique will develop and together we will create exquisite artistic experiences of the body and mind.

Life is good.

[greenman]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Hi Cassa I hope you will have a wonderful relationship with Giovanni and Gina, I recently said goodbye to Silvia and have welcomed Maria (Isomac Tea) :into my coffee inner sanctum.

[Mango]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Hi All,

Well, Im now a proud owner of a Giotto.
I knew I was in trouble when Chris (Talk Coffee) relocated and was now just 200 meters away from me!

My upgrade path I would say was a huge one, stovetop with supermarket preground coffee straight to a Giotto!

My intention was to purchase the grinder first, either the Compak K3T or the Mazzer Mini and then the coffee machine at a later date. When I visited Chris and viewed those machines I knew I wasnt going to walk out with a grinder only, the tempatation was too great.......

Sure enough after my second visit, I made my decision and purchased the Giotto and the Compak K3T, funnily enough the
Giotto came home before the Compak K3T - coming home very soon I hope.

I stumbled across this site probably two years ago and was thinking back then in getting the Silvia and Rocky. My second child came along and the idea was put to pasture, six months ago got back to this site and finally have some equipement to play with - not quite the Silvia and Rocky I had in mind previousily!.

I like to thank all CSs who have contributed to this great site which has assisted and influenced me in making my purchase.

Also, thank you to Chris at Talk Coffee for his professional advice and service.

Im sure to be pulling wonderful shots from this baby for many years to come - well maybe in a month or two while I get my techiques to some resonable level!

PS. Yes I did blow the budget......bad influence you all are!

[Thundergod]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

My upgrade path I would say was a huge one, stovetop with supermarket preground coffee straight to a Giotto!

Mine was too; instant to the Expobar & Macap.

Youre lucky Chris is that close.
Although in saying that, what he sold me has never needed his services since; both are running along smoothly.

[AK900]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Just taken a new Giotto Premium Plus home ;D

Have lurked around this forum for some time and after a one year apprenticeship on an ascosio, I have taken the plunge with the Giotto.

So farm this unit is amazing in every respect - build quality, design, and usage. Only complaint is the plastic tamper - best just to leave it out altogether!!!

Will be sure to write up some thoughts once I have had a chance to play.

[Buschy]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Ive had my new machine for just over a week now. Couldnt be happier with my new purchase.   Just a couple of newbie questions I am hoping someone can answer... :-?

1. I have mine set on a timer. It preheats for 30 minutes in the morning before use (can stretch this out to 45 min if better...?). The manual suggests running "a cup" thru the group to flush. Seems like a lot of water! Ive read in other threads that it requires minimal flushing. How much is considered "minimal"?

After 30 minutes of preheating I typically purge the steam wand and run about 75>100ml thru. I repeat the flush if its been sitting idle for half an hour or more between coffees. Am I on the right track?

2. Before steaming Ill quickly purge the steam wand and then steam milk. Sometimes by the end of the steaming the gauge is reading .5 or sightly less bar. Do I need to be concerned if it drops below .5 bar? I read somewhere this may cause damage to the boiler. Thanks.

[TC]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Ive had my new machine for just over a week now. Couldnt be happier with my new purchase.   Just a couple of newbie questions I am hoping someone can answer... :-?

1. I have mine set on a timer. It preheats for 30 minutes in the morning before use (can stretch this out to 45 min if better...?). The manual suggests running "a cup" thru the group to flush. Seems like a lot of water! Ive read in other threads that it requires minimal flushing. How much is considered "minimal"?

Hi Buschy, a good rule of thumb is that you dont make coffee with steam. If you get steam on flush or rinse from any machine, just reject it

After 30 minutes of preheating I typically purge the steam wand and run about 75>100ml thru. I repeat the flush if its been sitting idle for half an hour or more between coffees. Am I on the right track?

See above

2. Before steaming Ill quickly purge the steam wand and then steam milk. Sometimes by the end of the steaming the gauge is reading .5 or sightly less bar. Do I need to be concerned if it drops below .5 bar? I read somewhere this may cause damage to the boiler. Thanks.

Thats typical Buschy....No need to worry. You will be able to comfortably texture a 1L jug if you want to (not that you would)...

Hope that helps...

Chris

[Stevo99]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Been an avid reader of CS for the last few months. This is my first post and is to say no more than - IVE DONE IT! After years drinking the good bad and indifferent espresso around Perth, telling my good wife that I would really love to make my own coffee, I finally went out and bought a machine. After flirting with various machines over the months I took the plunge yesterday and bought a Giotto PP coupled with a Eureka MCI grinder. After playing around most of the night I actually ended up making a reasonable coffee. Certainly not the best, but I have had worse in some dedicated coffee shops around Perth; and still using the plastic tamper that came witht the machine!!
My journey is just starting and I am loving every step that I am taking. Apologies for babbling on, but needed to offload to those that care. The wife still cannot understand why a machine at that price doesnt grind its own beans...

[bolb]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

I hear you Steve.
When i bought my Giotto SWMBO wanted to know where the beans went and was even more surprised a few months later when i bought our Macap grinder.
To her i was having a mid life crisis, well thats what she tells her friends.

Mal

[flynnaus]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Evening all

I stopped by Cuppacoffee yesterday mainly to pick up my BeanBay order. However, by the time I returned to my car, I found I had one of these in the back (see picture below)

OK the story is, a few weeks ago, Chris advertised his demo GPP machine for a very attractive price. After discussions with the wife, my mind was made up (for me) that it wasnt the right time to upgrade .

Then last Thursday, the machine was advertised again at an even lower Chriss Krazy Warehouse price. My pulse started racing. On Friday, I PMd Chris to check it wasnt a false alarm and it was really available. Yes, it was real but no, it had been snaffled. However......

... he said I could ask Den about Cuppacoffees demo GPP. So on a rainy Saturday afternoon, Dennis shut up shop and spent about an hour preaching to the converted. I knew I had to have it. A quick check with Mrs Flynn and with a resigned nod from her, the deal was sealed.

Already caffeined up on Denniss excellent Honduras, I managed to wait until this morning to try it out. First shot was under-dosed: I was used to the low shower screen of the VBM. The pour was still good, backing up the point Den made about the GPP being a forgiving machine.

I tasted it as an espresso. Even though it was made using my 2 week old CS-11 roasted Brazil Alterosa it was sweet - as good as what the VBM could produce. I steamed some milk. Easy as! Perhaps a little under-textured but excellent microfoam on my very first attempt.

My wife tasted her latte flat white made from my first shot and declared it a winner. A little later, I made a second cup - cappucino - with a properly dosed shot. It was declared better than my first attempt. My argument that I could prepare better coffee with this machine was justified.

Many thanks to Dennis for the demo. I followed his instructions and already kicking winners after only two shots. Many, many thanks to Chris from Talk Coffee for making it happen

The service from both Talk Coffee and Cuppacoffee has often been praised on CS and I can add to that. I completed the purchase knowing that I had made the correct decision, guided by people who know their stuff. If you are considering purchasing coffee equipment, you can bdo much worse than contacting Chris and Den [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

I am one year a CoffeeSnob and my transformation is now complete!

Steve

[Thundergod]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

my transformation is now complete

Dont speak too soon.....

Congratulations! BTW

[flynnaus]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Dont speak too soon.....

Congratulations! BTW

Thanks.

I thought about the transformation aspect and after 12 months I thinkI have experienced all aspects that I imagine would qualify one to be a fully-fledged CS: good grinder, Pullman tamper, espresso machine, drink espressos rather than just milk-based coffeess, roasting, alternate brewing equipment and now a pointy end machine.

I guess there are still some goals: get my corretto up and running, cupping, conical burr grinder (dont tell the wife ), attending a barista comp (attending, mind you, not competing!), owning a syphon. Is my apprenticeship not really complete unless I have ticked these boxes?

Anyway, back on-topic. This morning was a bit of a test for. Preparing two milk-based coffees took me 10 minutes on my VBM. The same task took me 5 (this includes making and cleaning up afterwards.

I put it on a timer this morning but wanted to clarify if that is OK. The user guide (a useful one!) mentions starting the machine with the steam valve open. I had it set to come on at 6AM and, at 6:30, I bled the steam for about 5 seconds as recommended in the manual.

Still getting used to the machine but still surprised about how much easier it is.

For those who have put the GPP out of consideration because of the drip tray size: re-think! The GPP is too good a machine to be marked down on such a (for me) non-issue. I put a cup under the head while I brushed and backflushed. There would have only been about a spoonful of water or so in the drip tray after one shot. With one hand I removed, emptied and replaced the tray in about 3 seconds.

[TC]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Hi Flynn and congrats on your new kit.

No worries to pop it on a time switch.

The 5 sec steam wand purge simply protects against a dud anti vac valve and poor technique as if you attempted to texture milk without purging the steam wand, the false vaccum caused by a stuck anti vac would pull milk into the boiler. Given you have a new machine, no issue for you. Also, CSers have good habits on the machine and we rinse/purge whatever were using before and after anyway. Its good hygiene

Should your anti-vac die further down the track, youll know it because boiler pressure will drop straight to zero the first time you hit the steam in the morn and all will be normal thereafter- until the next day.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Thanks for supporting Talk Coffee!  8-)

Chris

[flynnaus]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread

Thank you, Chris!

[cuppacoffee]

Re: Giotto premium plus- discussion thread


Congratulations Steve and glad to hear, though not surprised, everything is going so well.

Appreciate your kind words too.

Cheers
Den