Giotto Conversion

Coffeebean

Hi Guys ,

I am now into a Giotto , which is being fed by  Mazza Mini ....

We are practising ........and having now chewed through many kilos of cheaper coffee to get a reasonable crema and thrown out enough milk to feed Ethiopia , I am wondering if there is a conversion kit to automatically keep the boiler topped up ?

I dread forgetting to fill to fill the reservoir and burning out the boiler .....so a conversion may be a safe option .......even with water restrictions .

Also I keep hearing that a water filter is necessary , but the water in Melbourne is supposed to be good , so is a filter necessary ?

Any thoughts on the conversion kit and filter would be welcome .......

Many Thanks ,

Coffeebean

DoubleRistretto

HI CB - congratulations on the purchase. I guess my only thought is that you're probably worrying about nothing - I don't have a Giotto personally but am pretty sure that all machines at that level have an automatic 'cut-out' when the water level in the reservoir gets below a certain level. Maybe another Giotto owner on the forum can advise, but am pretty sure you shouldn't have to worry. dR

Lovey

Hi Guys , I am now into a Giotto , which is being fed by

Coffeebean

Thanks Lovey , Happy with that and you have saved me the cost of conversion . I will look at the water filtration possibilities which is a pity , but I sense you are right about future scaling and other rubbish that comes through the system . Any thoughts about grind to get the right crema ? ............I have the Mazza mini sliding up to scale 8/10 on the grind thinking the grind may be coarse , yet  I still have trouble achieving a good 25 mill syrup over 25 seconds .......more like 10 - 15 seconds with the flow strengthening and color fading . I have tried a stronger tamping and changed beans a couple of times . The grind still looks a bit coarse , but I will keep at it and see what happens . The Giotto is great and a lot of fun ! Thanks for the comments . Regards, CB

Lovey

G'day Coffeebean, I don't know how the Mazzer's adjustment scale works, but when you grind at the correct 'coarseness', it should feel a bit gritty, like coarse table salt. It also sounds like you're changing too many variables at once, like the beans, grind and tamp. Only ever change one variable at a time and note the results of that change whilst keeping everything else the same. Probably the hardest thing to keep constant is the tamp, unless you've got an Espro or similar to keep the tamp consistent. Once your tamp is a constant weight, then you can start changing the grind and dose. What sort of beans are you using? They can have big influence on the amount of crema obtained. The only other advice I would give is to practice, practice and then a bit more practice. Enjoy.

Coffeebean

Thanks Lovey , After more practice I find the tamp needed attention , and is more critical than the Expobar where I had early learnings . There is a necessary clearance needed on the Giotto to close the head snugly ....more so than the Expobar . More coffee and more tamping is giving better crema than before . I still prefer the Giotto to the Expobar .......it is a better experience! I will sniff around for a water filter .........a local barista tells me that will make a big difference . What a learning curve for a lousy cup of coffee ! Rgds, CB

nzroaster

What you want to aim for with your pour is an even speed and a straight hang. If your pour speeds up as it progresses you are probably tamping to hard (it takes a while for the water to break the seal, but once it does it goes for broke!). Try a finer grind and lighter tamp, also try up dosing so that you are getting the impression of the shower screen on the puck after your extraction. You still want some spring in your puck but not rock hard. P.S. Yesterday I was forced to use a Giotto at a coffee expo due to 10amp power restrictions. I must say I was totaly impressed as I made 500 coffees(8oz take away cups) in 8 hours, smashing the 50 coffees per hour rating. As you can imagine it gave the machine a workout and it was very rearly at full pressure but it coped. Only killer was long blacks which I landed up having to refuse. Now that is a testiment to the build quality of these babies. Off to do it all again today...