hows this coffee maker?

K.C. Leblanc · 28 Oct 2012 at 11:34

Oh no, the pod people are revolting.

Is the current Gaggia Cubika any good, I seem to remember there was a lot of love for the older one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAGGIA-RI...pt=Coffee_Machines_Makers&hash=item3f1b41f520

arknor · 28 Oct 2012 at 15:57

reviews suggest they break a lot (i guess thats why there are 100's of refurbs around) and they are poorly designed as an industry sized shotglass is to tall to slide underneath so you have to put it under at an angle

PobodY · 30 Oct 2012 at 12:01

Raymond Lin said:
Wake up
Turn it on
Go shower
Come out and make coffee

With ours it's more like;
Sunday: Turn it on.
Monday: Wake, go downstairs and make coffee.
Tuesday: (See Monday)
Wednesday... I think you get the idea.
Saturday afternoon: Run some polycafe through it, then shut it down and empty the boiler.

Is that the best way to treat it? No, but it does minimise the time I need to wait each morning before coffee is ready.

Raymond Lin · 30 Oct 2012 at 12:10

arknor said:
reviews suggest they break a lot (i guess thats why there are 100's of refurbs around) and they are poorly designed as an industry sized shotglass is to tall to slide underneath so you have to put it under at an angle

Had mine 5 years and the only thing I replaced is the rubber seal around the shower head.

Starbucks shot glass fits...or I just put a normal size espresso cups underneath? That's what I normally use anyway. If I want to drink espressos then that's straight into the cup, if I want to make a bigger drink then I pour that into a mug. There really is no need for a shotglass.

arknor · 30 Oct 2012 at 13:54

but they dont just slide under? someone said the standard industry sized ones you see at costco etc have to be tilted an an angle to get them under

maybe your lucky with your machine on the page of reviews from owners i read a lot of them were saying there machine broke after 3-6months.

btw if anyone buys a gaggia classic the new ones come with a crappy basket and adapter nozzle for "perfect crema" so even if you use crap coffee/pods it "looks" good.
so that should be the first thing you replace, the old style basket is only around £6

someone else said they use a slightly smaller solenoid valve aswell but i couldnt dig up any info about it

Zirax · 3 Nov 2012 at 13:39

The Amazon warehouse deal machine came today. The machine is brand new and is absolutely spotless. It was 'box damaged' and it was only a 3-4" scrape down the side of the outer box. It looks like something rubbed against it while in the warehouse. At the moment it works

I just made my first cappuccino. Not great, but already better than the works canteen attempts!

arknor · 3 Nov 2012 at 21:14

how much did you pay for it?

Raymond Lin · 3 Nov 2012 at 21:23

arknor said:
but they dont just slide under? someone said the standard industry sized ones you see at costco etc have to be tilted an an angle to get them under

maybe your lucky with your machine on the page of reviews from owners i read a lot of them were saying there machine broke after 3-6months.

btw if anyone buys a gaggia classic the new ones come with a crappy basket and adapter nozzle for "perfect crema" so even if you use crap coffee/pods it "looks" good.

They slide under with loads of room to spare.

You can see the 1oz line right there.

arknor · 3 Nov 2012 at 22:10

your picture looks like a classic ? he was asking about the cubica

Raymond Lin · 3 Nov 2012 at 22:29

i thought we are talking about the classic...my bad.

oli collett · 3 Nov 2012 at 23:00

Folks, whats your thoughts on an aeropress/grinder solution? I would only be making coffee at the weekends and I don't really have a lot of counter space, but I can see a decent grinder isn't going to be cheap.

Flibster · 4 Nov 2012 at 01:16

Hand grinder sounds ideal then.

Hario ones start at about £23 iirc for the slim
Skerton is significantly more than that. >£30
Porlex do a stainless steel bodied grinder for about £25 too.

oli collett · 4 Nov 2012 at 10:57

Flibster said:
Hand grinder sounds ideal then.

Hario ones start at about £23 iirc for the slim
Skerton is significantly more than that. >£30
Porlex do a stainless steel bodied grinder for about £25 too.

Hmm, looking into them, looks like it takes some time to grind! Might be a bit much effort!

Flibster · 4 Nov 2012 at 15:58

oli collett said:
Hmm, looking into them, looks like it takes some time to grind! Might be a bit much effort!

Weigh and grind the beans while the kettle is boiling. Takes 60 seconds max for the *in my case* 17g of coffee for an aeropress.

Hamster · 4 Nov 2012 at 16:01

Flibster said:
Weigh and grind the beans while the kettle is boiling. Takes 60 seconds max for the *in my case* 17g of coffee for an aeropress.

Can't remember if you had a Skerton or not. If so, did you mod it to stabilise the burrs?

oli collett · 4 Nov 2012 at 16:47

Flibster said:
Weigh and grind the beans while the kettle is boiling. Takes 60 seconds max for the *in my case* 17g of coffee for an aeropress.

Ah fair enough then! I can always buy an electric grinder in future if needs be anyway.

thewanted · 4 Nov 2012 at 17:04

Any recommendations for filter coffee? I've got a cafetiere and the coffee seems very watery despite me using two decent teaspoons of coffee, and a cupful of water.

I've got ground beans from Monmouth Coffee Company, but it's just not the same as they make it. Monmouth use filter paper in a cup when they serve coffee in their stores. Is that their "secret"?

Hamster · 4 Nov 2012 at 17:45

thewanted said:
Any recommendations for filter coffee? I've got a cafetiere and the coffee seems very watery despite me using two decent teaspoons of coffee, and a cupful of water.

I've got ground beans from Monmouth Coffee Company, but it's just not the same as they make it. Monmouth use filter paper in a cup when they serve coffee in their stores. Is that their "secret"?

Check out www.brewmethods.com

Loads of different french press methods to try out. Sounds like you're not using enough coffee but I'm not sure how you're making it and the size of your press.