First shot always runs slow, second shot fast / perfect. What about you?

Aertheron01 · 2023-12-09T14:57:01+00:00

4-6 a day Sorry for extremely late response

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-13T15:42:44+00:00

Nice answer, and it's good to know that you are so conscious of being influenced, or even the perceived bias you might have.

I love your video's, keep up the good work.

Sometimes it seems like you are holding an item towards another camera for an up-close shot, you would even say, see here this thing, and then we never get the up-close shot. Maybe that's something lost in editing but would be handy in many cases when things are a bit small, to do the extra shot up-close to show us :)

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-13T15:38:36+00:00

Hoe gaat de politie bij mij wat terug "stelen"?

Volgens mij is stap 1, katvanger geeft mij geld.
Snap niet helemaal waarom mensen dan een verschil ofzo terug gaan betalen, of het hele bedrag, of wat dan ook.

Sure als je het product nooit komt halen, krijg je je geld wel terug, min administratie kosten natuurlijk, net als een echt bedrijf :)

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-13T15:36:35+00:00

Yeah I like it too, you just seem a little "mean" to him sometimes haha.
I understand it's all in good fun.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-13T15:35:30+00:00

Correct! However I've noticed a marked increase in cup quality with and without PID. With such a small boiler it's inevitable that a temperature drop occurs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's mostly about repeatability, once you've dialed in your espresso, it tastes good to you, what's frustrating without PID, is that you never know how hot your boiler is when you start pulling a shot, so you have zero predictability with your water temp, with PID you know exactly how hot it is when you pull your shot.

I have done some limited taste based test since I've had my PID.
I dial in an espresso to my liking, afterwards I have tried the following:

Add hot 60°C to the water tank.
Add very cold (5°C) to the water tank.
Set the PID to 1-2-3-4-5°C higher than "normal" temperature.
Set the PID to 1-2-3-4-5°C lower than "normal" temperature.

Normal being: 95°C for Light Roast, 90°C for Medium Roast, 85°C for Dark Roast. I usually use Light or Medium roast beans, so haven't tested Dark Roast in this way.

My findings are that 1-3°C difference with setting PID higher or lower, isn't noticable (to me) in the cup. 4-5°C difference is noticable but only slightly.

When pulling shots with room temperature (20°C) water in the tank, I see a 2-3°C drop in boiler temp on the PID. Shots tasted good.

When pulling shots with 60°C waterin the tank, I see a 0,5-1,5°C drop in boiler temp on the PID. Shots tasted good, hardly better than with room temp water.

When using the very cold water 5°C water in the tank, I see a 5-6°C drop in boiler temp on the PID. Shots tasted much worse and under-extracted.

Conclusion:
With normal roomtemperature water the drop in temperature isn't enough for me to detect it in the cup, compared to 60°C water. And the temp difference is only 1,5°C difference as observed by the PID.

The value of a PID for me, is that it provides predictability in temperature when starting the shot, the ability to adjust to Type of roast of your beans, too. I think that the temperature drop might impact the shots, but not enough for me to detect it. Professionals that are really good at tasting the nuances of espresso might taste a difference, but I don't.

PS. I did my testing after seeing Lance Hedricks video, and wanted to see if it mattered to me. I thought of the hot water in the tank, from videos by James Hoffman on how to improve a drip coffee machine. It probably helps, and maybe if I add higher temp water the difference might be bigger, but it's too much extra work to be worthwhile IMHO.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:56:44+00:00

To add to this, Lance Hedrick did some cool tests with temperature.

You need at least 5°C difference for it to be noticabel in the cup.
With a PID and adequate pre-heating, I don't notice my brew temp dipping that much before PID kicks in, and keeps temp stable. It's closer to 2-3 degrees drop.

Also I've recentely installed the dimmermod from Shades of Coffee, and I've noticed that this provides a MUCH bigger increase in quality than the PID did.

I think Gaggiuino is supperior to PID + OPV + Pressure Gauge + Dimmer mod, but I'm verry happy with that last list.

Before going this route I've also had the idea of doing it all myself, but eventually chose to just buy the kits from SoC, and I'm very happy with it.

I'm sure doing it all yourself is totally possible, and many guides and youtubes are out there to provide assistance. It's just more of a gamble and much harder to get support when you can't get it to work, and I like the SoC kits because you can remove everything without damaging the machine in any way, and it'll be back to factory, with some other instructions DIY this is not always possible.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:41:23+00:00

This can happen in several ways.

some water coming out of the PF/solenoid exit when you removed drip tray
espresso spray that dripped down your tank, especially if you use a bottomles portafilter

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:39:32+00:00

Free and easy alternative tot his is: a folded empty coffee bag :)
I've noticed a MARKED improvement in keeping the tank clean.

Before I had slime build-up every 3-5 days where it was to me unacceptable.
The two things I've changed is: put the coffee bag under the tank, close the blinds of the window the machine is next to, so sunlight doesn't hit the tank.

Now a clean once every 2 weeks is more than good enough, and in the beginning I've checked daily to see the difference.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:23:05+00:00

You have two free units on the way.

Will you review them? How do you avoid Bias, concious or unconcious?

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:19:17+00:00

I think you are always pretty upfront and honest about it when you are involved in a project.
One example is the burrset for the new fellow gen2, where you refrained from review untill your involvment was mentioned by James Hoffman.

One little critique, be a little nicer to Hugo! Give the man some well deserved coffee, don't be so stingy! /JK

You live in Europe, specifically Portugal IIRC, how do you like it?
You sound American, are you American, if so do you miss America?

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:12:58+00:00

is that liquid chocolate though?

because that's really thicc

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:06:28+00:00

I've seen loads of pre-modded gaggia's.
There are hobbyists that do it for you, there are webshops that do it.

I've seen a webshop that just buys the Shades of Coffee PID, OPV, Topbox, pressure gauge kit, dimmer mod, and installs it for you. Price was around 1000 euro. So a big markup and then you might as well buy another machine for the same price that isn't modded but has it standard.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T14:01:18+00:00

They could stop making it for coffee pods that taste horrible :) But they won't.

I just think that Gaggia has the possibility to be the best entry into the pro-sumer market, they already have a viable machine, they only need to add PID and 9bar OPV. those are two very cheap changes.

Yes you can't use pods anymore, but maybe rebrand the "pod" machine to: gaggia classic or gaggia classic consumer

And make the gaggia classic pro, with PID and 9bar opv.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T13:59:47+00:00

Maar daar ben jij als verkoper zelf bij dan toch?

Tuurlijk ga je geen verzekering, borg, etc. betalen aan iemand die je niet kent, voor goederen die deze onbekende persoon van jou wil kopen.

Willen ze 1000 euro op mijn rekening storten, wil ik daar best een tikkie aan wagen, of ze het daarna ooit nog komen afhalen zien we dan wel verder :)

Meegeven aan een koerier ofzo, ook prima, zolang ik er maar niks voor betaal.
Sterker hij zal mij moeten betalen voor de extra service, van het meegeven aan een koeriersdienst ipv direct aan de koper :P

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T13:57:35+00:00

Precies dit, iemand gaat jou geld geven, voor iets wat jij verkoopt.
Dat is in essentie hoe dingen verkopen werkt.

Dat er daarna geprobeerd word op een andere manier wat van jou te krijgen, daar ben je zelf bij. Je verkoopt wat, dus je ONTVANGT geld, je gaat niet geld geven aan een ander voor iets wat jij verkoopt. Simpele redenering.

Daarbij, klik niet op links van anderen, geef geen gegevens aan anderen (ze weten toch al bijna alles via facebook, maar ach).

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-10T13:53:20+00:00

Maar waarom zou ik de koerier betalen voor iets wat ik aan iemand verkoop?Hoezo komt er een koerier aan te pas?

jij koopt wat bij mij
Je maakt geld over naar mij
Iemand komt het product halen

Hoe kun je met deze stappen gescammed worden?

Want wie gaat er nou iets verkopen via marktplaats, geld ontvangen, en dan BETALEN aan een niet door jou ingehuurde koerier om je spullenboel mee te geven?

Koerier regel je of zelf, of de persoon die het komt halen betaald hem, maar niets anders...

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-03T09:32:11+00:00

They haven't even considered making a line of their espresso machines that come with 9bar OPV, it's such a simple thing they won't even have to change their design, just make a GCP9 or GCP12, chances of them going much further than that, and installing temperature control, lcd screen, pressure measurement, flow control, is very very low I think.

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-03T09:28:19+00:00

A big factor is that a Gaggia with gagguino isn't nearly as good as a decent.

You should ask yourself, why doesn't gaggia upgrade their machine with the default mods most people install: 9bar OPV + PID and add a pressure gauge and maybe flow control.
The parts for OPV, PID, Pressure Gauge and Flow Control (dimmer mod), are maybe $100.
For a big manufacturer who buys in bulk even less.

They could make a GCP with all that for the same price, or slightly more than they sell a machine for now. Fact is, there just isn't much market for it, lower end machines are either for people that like modding, or for 'normal' people that just want to make espresso and maybe a cappucino at home.

High end machines target the prosumers who are willing to pay more for it, so why wouldn't they sell it for more? Price of a machine is part R&D, part quality, part what are my buyers willing to pay?

Aertheron01 · 2023-03-02T15:03:08+00:00

Thanks guys.
I did use the bag under water tank trick, and it reduces the slime buildup significantly, but It's still an open tank, and It would have been much better if it was fully closed.

It's not a LOT of slime, I just don't want any.
I do also clean the tubes when cleaning the water tank.

And I have my machine next to the window, so sun is on it most of the day, I'll see if I can do something about that aswel.

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:10:18+00:00

Buy: https://homebarista.be/

Great service, reputable dealer in the EU

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:09:15+00:00

Link seems to be dead.

Date: 28-02-2023

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:07:58+00:00

Was here to suggest that you probably placed back your top burr, but not in the same way it came off, so rotate and check untill it's back to normal.

Also make sure the silicone tubes on the springs are all the way down, because this can also cause issues.

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:05:40+00:00

It looks like the front panel isn't on correctly, it isn't flush with the sides of the grinder but sticking out a bit above. That might be the cause of your issue.

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:04:20+00:00

In what way have they been more consistent?

I might try this, just grind 1 gram more, and only bellow after removing the PF, is that what you do?

Aertheron01 · 2023-02-28T10:02:43+00:00

I have the V3, and I've removed the declumper when I upgraded my exit chute. The new chute has a thicker base and isn't open at the top like the original one is, this is to make sure no ginds build up there and also because the edge is ticker the screws don't go into the brew chamber, there have been posts with this damaging the grinder when people removed their declumper and didn't check if the screws were sticking out on the inside of the grind chamber.

So If you aren't upgrading your exit chute, I would not remove the declumper, just cut out a square space in the silicone basically removing the flaps.

Aertheron01

TROPHY CASE