Supermarket Pre Ground Coffee Suitable for Espresso Machine?

kiitos on 13/12/2021 - 00:30

I've been given an old Gaggia Espresso Dose machine and I want to see if I can get a decent coffee out of it. Being new to an espresso machine, I didn't want to waste good beans on it initially, so I bought some cheap pre ground coffee (Chicco D'Oro) from the supermarket and tried it out. The coffee comes out initially OK, but quickly starts spurting and running watery. I guess it's either channelling or is too coarse, or both? I checked the coffee packet and realised it says suitable for filter and plunger. So I suppose it's too coarse for espresso?

Any recommendations for a cheapish pre ground supermarket coffee I can use that's fine enough for espresso? I realise I probably won't get a good taste, but want to hopefully get to a point where the coffee is not watery and is pouring correctly before going to better ingredients.

I do have a hand grinder but from what I've read it's not suitable for espresso.

Food & Grocery Coffee

Comments

spackbace on 13/12/2021 - 01:08

+5

Ex-barista here - grind your own, don't take shortcuts or you'll just keep wasting coffee and money
altomic on 13/12/2021 - 02:24

+3

ex-toyota salesperson here - get Aldi Lazzio dark roast ground coffee. $4 for 250grams. done
- Naigrabzo on 13/12/2021 - 08:50
  
  +1
  
  ALDI medium FTW!
dasher86 on 13/12/2021 - 08:23

+3

If you're not willing to grind your own get a pressurized basket (blasphemy I know) you will get better results with pre ground super market beans.
- pcolby78 on 13/12/2021 - 08:49
  
  Agreed. There's no way supermarket coffee will be ground fine enough for espresso unless you use a pressurised basket (is it even espresso then?). So either get a pressurised basket, or buy coffee from a (non-supermaket) supplier that will grind it for you - some local cafes do this.
  
  FWIW, while waiting for my grinder to arrive, I tried supermarket coffee that claimed to be for filter, plunger and espresso, with my Breville BES840. With the non-pressurised basket, the coffee was way too fast, and flavorless (as expected), but with the pressurised basket it was "okay" - definitely not amazing, but still a world better than pods IMO ;)
  
  Cheers.
silenthillrocks on 13/12/2021 - 08:25

+1

get Coles Urban Coffee Culture dark roast ground $4.50 per 250g
kaoz on 13/12/2021 - 08:44

+3

Hey kiitos,

I’m in a similar situation as yourself having just acquired a Gaggia Classic pro and getting into espressos. I started with some Aldi Lazzio medium dark pre-ground, but it’s too coarse and I couldn’t get any satisfactory results - the non-pressurised baskets ran too fast and the pressurised basket was okay in terms of extraction time but the taste was pretty meh. Could be the beans, for all I know. However, a few days ago I did receive my new hand grinder - 1ZPresso K-plus - and boy oh boy - I can now get flavours out of supermarket coffee that I never knew existed in coffee beans. suddenly there was real sweetness that lingered in the mouth and a fruitiness that was clearly distinct from the sour under-extracted taste I was getting this far It was a real revelation for me. So far, black coffee tasted like burnt rubber and bitumen, but now it’s actually enjoyable.
I’m sure I am still not getting the absolute best out of the coffee yet, but it motivated me to keep experimenting and practicing on supermarket beans (at the moment it’s beans ground and drunk from Woolies, they were on special - and organic) until I get comfortable with the machine and the whole process and before I take the plunge and get some decent beans from a local roaster.
One thing to note was that I tried re-grinding the pre-ground Aldi coffee and it was an absolute mess, so I wouldn’t recommend that. It’s not worth the trouble imho, especially with a hand grinder. Use that pre-ground supermarket coffee as pour-over or in a French press, if you have one (those things can often be found second hand for a couple of bucks) and I would highly recommend getting some supermarket beans and just trying to grind them them with your hand grinder to see what happens. If you do, it would probably be best to use a non-pressurised basket and just experiment a little to find out what your grinder is actually capable of.
Keep track of what you’re brewing (dose, yield and extraction time) so that you can improve upon each shot. I didn’t log my shots in the beginning and ended up not remembering what I did and whether I changed the grind setting or not.

Best of luck on your espresso journey!
- Naigrabzo on 13/12/2021 - 08:51
  
  Nice!!
  
  What you should do for fun is to do a blinded comparison to see whether you can truly pick the flavours or whether it's the price placebo talking. X Mas project!
  - kaoz on 13/12/2021 - 09:13
    
    Haha, i actually do use my partner as a blind taster to see if it’s just my perception or whether the taste really altered. It’s never a truly blind taste test for yourself if every mug in your house is a different shape and/or colour so it’s easier to use someone else as the Guinea pig lol
    - Naigrabzo on 13/12/2021 - 09:26
      
      +1
      
      True my man. Coffee game is very subjective and I bet very many of these coffee peeps will fail a truly blinded comparison. Which begs the question, do you drink out of a red mug or blue?
      
      https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/20…
      - kaoz on 13/12/2021 - 09:39
        
        @Naigrabzo: Wow that’s very interesting. Thanks for sharing this paper! Oh god now I gotta buy new coffee mugs… lol
  - MintBerryCrunch on 26/12/2021 - 06:47
    
    The difference between fresh (less than two months from roast date) and stale supermarket coffee is night and day. From the smell of opening the bag, to filter, to french press, to espresso. Because coffee is a perishable with lot of oils that oxidize - the same way potato crisps in opened container taste off after a month…I used to buy ~20/kg bags of supermarket whole beans. Now I only buy beans with a roast date - for a reason.
    - Naigrabzo on 10/01/2022 - 09:31
      
      Dude, Try double blind testing and see whether you can tell. If you can't then might as well buy cheeeeep stuff. Otherwise pony up the ca$h! This is the OZB way.
- kiitos on 30/12/2021 - 17:01
  
  +1
  
  Thanks @kaoz!
  
  I followed your advice and used my Timemore C2 on a finer setting and it was a great improvement. Initial shots were still bad, but improving now. I don't know how good a coffee I can ultimately expect to be able to produce from this machine - I think the grind is still a bit coarse but I went finer and choked the machine, with water coming out around the gasket. The earliest shots tasted burnt but now are somewhat smoother. This machine has a pannarello that I need to try to work with, it produces very frothy milk which isn't what I'm after. But the improvements so far have been good!
KaTst3R on 13/12/2021 - 09:42

Even with a pressurised basket, you wont be getting anywhere close to freshly ground beans. It will be under extracted and taste super sour. These are just not made for an espresso machine as the grind is usually much courser. More for a filter basket or moka pot type brew.
MintBerryCrunch on 26/12/2021 - 06:44

Order beans online from a local roastery. The market price is about $40/kg for freshly roasted beans. You need beans roasted less than two months ago to make espresso. Treat beans like oranges in the fridge - they are perishable. Usually tastes best from week 1 to week 5 post roast date. Dont buy any beans without a roast date. Using beans ground over 10 minutes ago is pointless for espresso.
kiitos on 30/12/2021 - 17:04

Thanks all, I've taken all your advice on board and I'm getting better shots using my hand grinder and a variety of beans - started with Lazzio as recommended by @altomic, now mixing with my other beans from OzBargain deals.

Now have to work on steaming milk without ending up with dry froth.

Supermarket Pre Ground Coffee Suitable for Espresso Machine?

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