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Gaggia MDF mod

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  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    You dont need to now.

    Yours is better.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Originally posted by Thundergod link=1189056493/15#18 date=1189222039
    Mal your post (including reference to your family friends understanding) is more convincing an argument than the "Discussion" you previously linked to.
    Youre probably right there TG,

    Twas a long day the other day unfortunately, even though the hour was quite respectable : :P by my standards anyway.... should probably have tried to find a better reference to use as a "definition". Ill keep looking and see what i can turn up,

    Cheers mate ,
    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Mal your post (including reference to your family friends understanding) is more convincing an argument than the "Discussion" you previously linked to.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Originally posted by Dennis link=1189056493/0#14 date=1189169737
    Mal, I will defer to your definition or connotation of a ristretto in relation to coffee. As for the actual meaning of the word, my father spoke Italian, and my mother is Italian. With no disrespect to yourself, Id prefer to stick with what they taught me as I have more faith in them than a UK website.
    Gday Dennis,

    My reference isnt with respect to the exact literal Italian dictionary translation, but the essence of the use of the word in the world of specialist coffee imbibers. I realise what the literal dictionary translation is (my Mum and a lot of the members of her side of the family can speak several languages including Italian), but that is not the manner in which the word is interpreted in the specialist coffee community, which by and large, CoffeeSnobs is a major part these days.

    After discussing the usage of the word Ristretto rather than the more literal word for Restricted "Limitato"with an old Italian family friend who loves his coffee, his understanding of the use of the word Ristretto is intended to describe the "fullness" (or lack thereof) of the stream of coffee liquor discharging from the spout(s) of the PortaFilter, thereby indicating increased restriction to the flow of water through the cake of coffee grounds in the basket.

    Given that this seems to be a reasonably wide-spread understanding and intent of the use of the word Ristretto, I dont think that it is unreasonable for people in the English speaking world to use the extended connotation of the word to mean a "Restricted" espresso shot. This is not just my view by the way, but that of an awful lot of people who have way more knowledge and experience in the world of coffee than I have.

    All the best,
    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • shultzy
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    I would definately get a Macap or mazzer if I could spare the the cash , but as my wife doesnt drink coffee I can not justify to she who must be obeyed to part with the cash , I am stuck with the MDF, but I am very happy with the MDF & would recommend to anyone in the <$300 price range.
    I think I have had a couple of ristrettos when choking silvia
    My next endevour is to get a crazy popper & roast some beans(wife says Im a coffee nerd I said thats coffee SNOB to you. ;D

    Leave a comment:


  • JavaB
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Originally posted by Thundergod link=1189056493/0#13 date=1189164740
    Dont forget too that Dennis speaks Italian.
    His translation of ristretto should have some bearing on the argument.
    I have no doubt that ristretto translates to "narrow" but the meaning shouldnt be looked at in a narrow fashion

    Narrow in the English language can mean many things..... e.g. when a river narrows not only does it get less wide but the flow of water is restricted.... so is the flow from the PF when extracting a ristretto.....

    It is very dangerous to translate from one language to another using the exact dictionary meaning in both languages - much then gets lost in translation (and can even become extremely humorous as I experienced when learning French many, many years ago.....)

    So "narrow" can also mean - and I believe it to be the intention in this case - "restricted"....

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  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Mal, I will defer to your definition or connotation of a ristretto in relation to coffee. As for the actual meaning of the word, my father spoke Italian, and my mother is Italian. With no disrespect to yourself, Id prefer to stick with what they taught me as I have more faith in them than a UK website.

    I thought it interesting that directly under the reference to ristretto, comes...

    "Robusta: Fine and aromatic type of coffee with igher acidity. High in caffeine and low in flavour. Grown between sea leven"

    Two typos in just over one sentence, and I wonder if you also agree with them when they say robusta is low in flavour?

    Sorry to take this OT shultzy. I have a little stepped conical (Isomac) and also a mazzer, which is stepless. If one notch is anything like the isomac, its quite significant. I guess if you know a way of modifying it, then it might be tempting to void the warranty, depending on how long youve had it and what youve really got to lose (or gain).

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Ive read that one before Mal and without references to back it up its an opinion.

    Secondly, its a monologue not a discussion.
    Dont forget too that Dennis speaks Italian.
    His translation of ristretto should have some bearing on the argument.

    Another point: the Definition says 50% volume, the "Discussion" says 75%.
    No consensus.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Heres both the definition and an interesting discussion from different sources Dennis.....

    Definition

    Discussion

    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Thanks Mal - so a dopio ristretto is a turkish?

    ps. "ristretto" translated literally means "narrow" though in context to the coffee we make it might better translate to "cut short" or "finish early", hence my question.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Originally posted by Dennis link=1189056493/0#7 date=1189148640
    ??? - you grind finer to make a ristretto?
    Yes mate,

    This is the recognised way to pull a Ristretto... Pulling a shot up short is not really a Ristretto, just a sub-volume standard shot. After all, that is what Ristretto means - "Restricted" - and the way to do this is to grind slightly finer to realise a shot with half the usual volume in the same 25-30 seconds shot time .

    Cheers,
    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    If you like solid consider a Macap like mine.

    Leave a comment:


  • shultzy
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    The variation to grind setting seems common to the lower end machines like em0480, I was grinding at 1 for my silvia & sometimes-1 & even though I cleaned & checked alignment ,It still wasnt any better (on em0480)
    Thats why I took it back. The Gaggia MDF However seems a lot more solid With brass burr holders instead of plastic ,but it comes down to quality control as other on this site have said When made in china!

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Originally posted by NewToEspresso link=1189056493/0#6 date=1189145917
    Had a thought about it and I figured that since Im already puling a decent double shot at the setting of 2 and the 1 is the lowest which still might not be fine enough for a ristretto, I opened up the MDF to see if it will turn below the 1 mark and it turns out the the numbering dial thing has a stopper that stops it from going past the 1 mark but it was set quite high. Once Ive removed the number dial, turns out I can go finer yet to the point where it feels a little tight so I eased up a notch from the tight setting and set that as 1 instead. Should have noted how many clicks I went finer but my guess is I went 3 or 4 clicks finer so now it what was previously 2 is now 5 (or 6) which is more or less what everyone else seems to be getting. Will test it out with a double shot later timed to the stopwatch.
    ??? - you grind finer to make a ristretto?

    Leave a comment:


  • NewToEspresso
    replied
    Re: Gaggia MDF mod

    Had a thought about it and I figured that since Im already puling a decent double shot at the setting of 2 and the 1 is the lowest which still might not be fine enough for a ristretto, I opened up the MDF to see if it will turn below the 1 mark and it turns out the the numbering dial thing has a stopper that stops it from going past the 1 mark but it was set quite high. Once Ive removed the number dial, turns out I can go finer yet to the point where it feels a little tight so I eased up a notch from the tight setting and set that as 1 instead. Should have noted how many clicks I went finer but my guess is I went 3 or 4 clicks finer so now it what was previously 2 is now 5 (or 6) which is more or less what everyone else seems to be getting. Will test it out with a double shot later timed to the stopwatch.

    Leave a comment:

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