Too Much Coffee

Hello all,

I just started brewing espresso at Christmas with a Gaggia Classic and MDF and although I am still very much at the learning stage, I can pull shots that follow the golden rule and have a decent crema.

I am going to stick my neck out now with a confession: I like Costa coffee! At least their Americanos and Macchiatos. However, when I try to make an Americano at home with a double shot in a normal size mug, it tastes weak, nothing like as strong as a Costa one. I have tried different beans, including Monsoon Malabar and Sumatra Mandheling. In desperation I bought a bag of Costa beans and tried them but nothing tastes strong enough.

Is there something I'm missing?

Harry

How many grams of coffee are you using (presumably freshly roasted and ground 2 mins before using?)?

It might sound a bit silly, but how are you making your Americano? Ideally even for a double shot you should only make 2floz of espresso (not a mugs worth), then top up with hot water. If you try to run a mugs worth of water through the coffee then you will be obtaining negatives tastes from the spent grounds - The maximum - and this is pushing it, water you can run through 7g of espresso ground is around 3floz - so for your double six - Try topping with hot water and you might find an improvement. Hope this helps

And why aren't you a member????!!!!

mhuk, I have no way of weighing my coffee accurately, but after tamping, the puck is about 5mm below the top of the basket (I use 2 level scoops of beans). Yes, I should join you guys!

RobC, I am topping up a 60ml double with hot water.

Thanks to you both for your replies,
Harry

And how long does it take to extract your 60ml double then?

About 25 seconds

May be of interest:

w w w .coffeekid.com/espresso/minifaq

are you adding the esspresso to the water in the mug? i am certainly no expert but this seems to work better.
alternatively add another shot - you know you want to!

And how big is your mug? If it is very big then you may well want to add another shot!

One thing that I've found to be overlooked in the coffee community is the coffee mug. Not only it's size, but also shape.

We had friends over last week, and them being average Finns, light roasted drip coffee was the way to go. I mixed in some of my home roasted dark espresso blend and the result was very good. But when I tried to redo it the next day, it was not that good. Was I so easily affected by the atmosphere? I don't think so, because very different mugs were used. First time we had fancy thin mugs, with slightly open mouth. Second time I used basic thick and straight mug. From my whisky hobby, I know that the characteristics of the first type of mug are best in reproducing a taste profile at its fullest.

So, you should use identical mugs when comparing two coffees, and you might want to get yourself new ones if you're not pleased with your coffee and all the other variables have been checked.

Harry,
I'd follow KingSeven's advice (he knows what he is on about, esp with Gaggias). It might seem a bit frustrating with a new machine, but start with looking at dose/shot time/temp. Give us that info and we should be able to help.

Definitely agree with the above for wine/champagne, which is why I also like decent cups for coffee too... all part of the aesthetics.

D