They've made it less of a pain for their manufacturing team to assemble, and while this doesn't directly benefit the user, there's some chatter about this also making maintenance easier. If you're going to be using the traditional baskets and freshly roasted coffee beans, though, you'll need an espresso capable grinder. This could of course be that it's two users using different espresso machines and very different coffee beans, but it could also be an indication that the newer models will grind much finer, and it could be that the person singing its praises (who bought a few months later compared to the other guy) has a newer model with the finer grinding ability. This didn't turn out to be the case, and the Gaggia MD15 was really designed to pair with the entry level Gaggia options, including the Gran, Viva, and Carezza, and other cheaper espresso machines using pressurised baskets.

The latest 2023 Gaggia Classic Evo has come with some nice, relatively small updates, and I'll review both of the models shortly, but firstly, let's just get into why this little machine (most models except the 2015 version) is so special. What's So Special About The Gaggia Classic Anyway? Entirely designed and manufactured in Italy, the Espresso series is composed of different models: Style, Deluxe and Evolution, available in various colors. They differ from one another for finishing, materials and design details. On the other hand, the technical features – that make them stand out in the market, and the perfect choice for the beginner home baristas – are the same for all models. Let’s discover them all. The machine has default settings, but you can easily make your personal and customized espresso just by following these simple suggestions:If you are an espresso lover like me, searching for the perfect grinder, no 6 on this machine is the one to use and the crema is perfect every time – I say buy it.” OVERALL Gaggia Mdf Review Always select high quality blends. Blends with Arabica are characterized by a higher acidity and a more aromatic flavor, while blends with more Robusta have a stronger taste. Anyway, as far as I could see the fact the MDF was a doser grinder was the only thing that put off a lot of people from pairing their Gaggia Classic with this grinder, so when I heard Gaggia were bringing a new doserless grinder to the market, I was hoping that they were going to develop something more along the lines of the MDF but on demand, to compete with the likes of the Sage, Baratza and Eureka grinders. I've not used the Oro yet (I will be doing it very soon, and I'll update this post accordingly) but on paper at least, they appear to have done a very good job. Basically what they've done is to take their Mignon Xl, with its very high-quality diamond inside 65mm flat burrs, and its rapid (around 3g per second!) grinding speed, and they've put it at an angle to create a more direct, gravity-fed grind path, and they've paired it with a bellows to further decrease retention. I can tell you from personal experience that these grinders are sturdy, because when I tried to grind a lump of copper with this grinder, twice – it did no damage whatsoever. No, I didn't do this on purpose ;-). The grinder jammed and turned itself off, I adjusted the grind much more coarse and tried grinding again, but it jammed again. I took it apart and discovered that a lump of copper had ended up in with some coffee beans I'd received, odd. I removed it, with no problem whatsoever.

This is marketed as a “professional” grinder. No, just no! Stuff like this really winds me up, I don't know why marketing people have to make such huge jumps into alternate realities when writing marketing blurb. An important note on this grinder is that as with the other grinders at this kind of price point, it won't grind fine enough for espresso if you use standard, non-pressured baskets. As I mentioned earlier, if you're using a budget espresso machine with dual walled baskets, then you'll be able to work with a grinder like this, however, if you're using standard, traditional baskets, it's unlikely you're going to be able to grind fine enough with any of these grinders, and you also don't have the fine-tuning adjustment you'd want for dialing in the grind with traditional baskets. The previous portafilter was chromed brass, as with the previous group. This is something that some people weren't a fan of, as it quite easily marks, and there was some concern about peeling of the plating in the long term. The new Classic 2023 version comes with a solid stainless steel portafilter, so this is likely to last just as long as the classic itself. New Easier Assembly All in all, this is a very good burr grinder for the price that it is. It may only come with a one year warranty, but it will possibly last you years, perhaps even decades with careful use and maintenance. The reason for this is that out of the box, the OPV is set to around 13-14 bars, and this is because they're trying to serve two markets in one, with the Classic.A brand name doesn’t necessarily translate into high quality components, and at this price point expectations should be relatively limited, but Gaggia are unlikely to slap their brand name onto a lump of rubbish & risk damaging the brand name for what I’d imagine is a very small profit per unit. But this change on the Sette 270 actually puts it very close to the Niche Zero in terms of grinds retention, so it's a big deal.

The sound of the burrs touching while spinning is unmistakable. It’s a high-pitched metallic “chirp” plainly audible over the sound of the MDF motor. In case you're not familiar with retention, grinds retention, or more specifically what's known as “exchanged retention”, refers to the coffee that ends up in your basket, or your brewer, or whatever, the next time you use the grinder. What this means is that if we don't want to use some stale coffee when we brew for the first time of the day, we need to purge some coffee to ditch that exchanged retention, and we also have to purge each time we adjust the grind, or we'll be using a mix of grind sizes. The only thing I think is a bit of a pain, is that you really need four hands to operate this grinder, if you're to do it properly. You really should have the grinder running when adjusting the grind, at least while adjusting it finer, and this is true with any grinder, but you have to push a little paddle down while turning the hopper to adjust the grind. If you're doing that, that's your two hands busy, how are you going to hold the portafilter, and how are you going to press the grind button?

The Types of Coffee Grinders

The finer you go, the better the uniformity, but generally speaking, these kind of grinders don't produce as uniform particle size as proper burrs will. I think they're a step up from using a chopper, and certainly a step up from using pre-ground, but I'd go for a burr grinder if you can. Entry Level Burr Grinders One of the changes I'm referring to is that as well as the 30 macro grind steps, meaning bigger grind adjustments, there is an additional stepless micro-adjustment for espresso. I think this is genius and is something I think Baratza has really got right with the latest iteration of the Sette 270. There are only 15 grinding steps, and moving the burrs closer together means it can grind finer, but it doesn't make the adjustments any smaller. When I've dialed in with this grinder, I've easily got into what I refer to as “ballpark dialed in” but the grinding steps aren't small enough to really precisely dial in as you'd be able to do with stepless adjustment or a much bigger number of smaller steps. Doser grinders tend to go hand in hand with making an espresso, since this is what dosing helps with the most. Why they've made this change? I think they're generally trying to move away from manufacturing practices that aren't friendly to their manufacturing team, or friendly to the environment, and from what I can tell, anodization and electroplating are processes that are seen as not particularly good in both of these areas, the electroplating refers to the chrome plating that I'm about to talk about.