A Perfect Cup of Coffee
If you were to wake up to a perfect homemade coffee, wouldn’t you have it every day? Coffee is an essential part of our wake-up/morning routine. It perks us up, and it completes our day. It gives us the boost we needed on a hectic day and allows us to feel in control of our lives.
And as we keep on hustling, we have to make sure that we are getting the right amount of caffeine. We might have our own preferences on how to make our cup of coffee, but it is no secret that a perfectly brewed coffee is amongst our favorites.
Good to know that there are many coffee machines in the market that allow us to have a coffee shop-grade espresso in the comfort of our own homes. For this article, we will further get to know Gaggia Classic Pro as machinery for your perfect espresso.
Gaggia Brand
Gaggia is a well-known authentic and expert coffee machine brand. Its founder Giovanni Achille Gaggia started in the 1930s and originated from Milano, Italy. He started by supplying homes and bars with their machinery.
Gaggia is known for its timeless and beautiful pieces. His goal is to improve the coffee extraction process. As he wasn’t really an amateur in the coffee industry as he’s been active in managing their family coffee bar “Caffe Achille”. Also, he devoted his time and effort to search for the perfect espresso. Soon after, as he was able to invent a different type of advancement in the coffee-scene, his machines were installed in different high-end coffee bars of Milano, Italy.
Gaggia espresso machines were said to be one of a kind as it extracts the natural coffee oils and produces a creamy layer as a topping of your drinks. Coffee bars with installed Gaggia machines have signages that read “Crema caffe di caffe naturale”.
It was during 1950 when Gaggia launch its first domestic use coffee machine. It is the beginning of an era for homemade coffee. Up to date, Gaggia is one of the most trusted coffee machine brands. Also, it keeps on delivering high-quality and well-calibrated machines worldwide.
Gaggia Classic Pro: Features
Gaggia Classic Pro is made of high-grade stainless steel. Aesthetically superior with its brushed stainless steel housing, holding up to 1-liter water capacity, and 9.5 x 8 x 14.2 inches dimensions. It has a commercial steam wand and rotating steam wand movement type.
Gaggia Classic Pro has an easy-to-use rocker switch control, allowing budding coffee enthusiasts to play around with it with intimidation. This model is available in 6 colors – brushed stainless steel, cherry red, classic blue, industrial grey, polar white, and thunder black. Gaggia Classic Pro is considered a semi-automatic machine and is said to be a perfect tool for espresso lovers.
Pros
- Its brewing capability is perfect.
- Its single oiler feature allows Gaggia Classic Pro to use the same water from brewing the coffee and steaming the milk.
- It is user-friendly. Literally, you’ll just have to turn on three buttons – on, brew, and steam. And voila! You can now enjoy a cafe-quality espresso in the comfort of your own home.
- Its boiler was made of aluminum; therefore, it won’t rust immediately.
Cons
- It has no temperature control. Hot temperature water is a key in order to make sure that you are making good espresso as hot water extracts more coffee than cold water.
- It lacks control as it only has three switches therefore not much room to experiment in creating your coffee.
- You’ll have to dismantle its part in order to thoroughly clean it.
How to Use Gaggia Classic Pro
- You need to allow your machine to preheat for 15 – 20 minutes before brewing.
- Put freshly ground beans on the basket and level it off before tamping.
- Use the included plaster tamper to compressed the ground coffee.
- Turn on the boiler switch, make sure the stream switch is off, and the steam valve is closed.
- In order to continue brewing, place a preheated cup under the portafilter, turn on the brew switch and let the coffee pour into your cup for 25 seconds. It is said that you have perfectly ground coffee beans if you were able to get around 2 ounces of coffee in 25 seconds. More than 2 ounces of coffee for 25 seconds means that the ground is too course. Less than 2 ounces means it is too fine.
- Suppose you wanted to make this espresso into a latte or cappuccino, transfer it to a bigger cup in order to add milk. It is said that a perfect measurement for a cappuccino is 2 ounces of espresso, 2 ounces of milk, and 2 ounces of foam.
- In order to make a foam, turn on the steam switch and make sure that the steam valve is closed. Check if the indicator light is on, and then you may start steaming.
Additional Tips
- Make sure that the portafilter and basket are fitted lightly into the machine, and all cups are preheated with boiling water. It is to make sure that you maintain a well-temperature espresso.
- Practice flushes the initial water that comes out of the machine. You may put in 4 ounces of water to allow the initial water to come out and might as well clean up any stuck coffee grounds. You can also use the initial water to preheat your cup.
- Double-check that the basket is dry before pouring in your coffee grounds.
- Clean your Gaggia Classic Pro at least once a week. You may use a light cleaning detergent solution and make sure that you rinse it very well.
- You can also use the citric acid to descale your machine. It helps to dissolve and flush away any build-up mineral deposits.
- In order to make sure that your descaling solution is food-safe, just dissolve at least one teaspoon of citric acid into a quart of water. Turn on the steaming knob, power switch, steam switch, and brew switch. Run the citric acid solution into your steam wand and turn off all the switches. Refill the water reservoir with clean water. Run it with at least a quart of water to flush out any remaining cleaning solution.
And here you go; after learning more about the brand, its features, and how to use Gaggia Classic Pro, I hope that it is a coffee machine you might want to consider.
