What’s on your coffee bench?

[rockdude]

Originally Posted by crankles

uh oh...just got an email from Denis... Monolith pre-orders open up in a few days.

must...resist....

Keep us updated!

[crankles]

Originally Posted by SoCalSteve

What would you ( attempt ) to order?

Prolly the Titan flat...not the Max.

I'll wait for the SuperMax...you know the one built by guests of Pelican Bay.

[d_douglas]

This could be in the coffee thread or in the Barn Finds thread.

I helped my next door neighbour move a few items in his house after work today and just casually commented on his espresso machine. He said it works great and he and his wife use it a lot, then said “do you want one? I have another one” and I naturally said ‘yes’!

His sister bought a new one and gave him the old one, but he said he has no need, so he GAVE IT to me - a Rancilio Silvia machine!! It was dirty, but I gave it a wipe and scrubbed it up and it looks great! I opened the cover and the internals look like they’re in good shape as well. The thing that holds the portafilter is delaminating the fake chrome, but other than that, it appears to be in great shape! He can’t find the portafilter but I can manage buying a new one. My dream of buying an actual espresso machine is not yet dead!!

What a day! My 12yr old loves coffee, so I will have a shot pulling session with her . Don’t judge - she’s been drinking one coffee a day for about three years

[d_douglas]

Sorry for the rotated photo, but you get the picture.

Does getting this machine without a tamper and portafilter means I need to get one of those Chris King tampers?

And what about ‘bottomless’ portafilters? Are they the way to go?

[schwa86]

Yes to bottomless IMO. Makes both the tamping and adjusting of shots easier. Do you have a good grinder? That’s arguably as/more important.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Sorry for the rotated photo, but you get the picture.

Does getting this machine without a tamper and portafilter means I need to get one of those Chris King tampers?

And what about ‘bottomless’ portafilters? Are they the way to go?

No to CK tampers specifically, but yes to a 58 mm tamper in general

Among other things, water purifier (made by BWT) also recommended

You may just want to run some water through the group head to make sure the internals havent been caked with lime scale

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

This could be in the coffee thread or in the Barn Finds thread.

I helped my next door neighbour move a few items in his house after work today and just casually commented on his espresso machine. He said it works great and he and his wife use it a lot, then said “do you want one? I have another one” and I naturally said ‘yes’!

His sister bought a new one and gave him the old one, but he said he has no need, so he GAVE IT to me - a Rancilio Silvia machine!! It was dirty, but I gave it a wipe and scrubbed it up and it looks great! I opened the cover and the internals look like they’re in good shape as well. The thing that holds the portafilter is delaminating the fake chrome, but other than that, it appears to be in great shape! He can’t find the portafilter but I can manage buying a new one. My dream of buying an actual espresso machine is not yet dead!!

What a day! My 12yr old loves coffee, so I will have a shot pulling session with her . Don’t judge - she’s been drinking one coffee a day for about three years

What is it with free Silvias. A couple years ago while visiting family in WA we tried their Silvia and liked it. They promptly asked, "Do you want one, we have an extra?". As with you, we said YES.

Yes to the bottomless portafilter, especially with the three shot basket. It was recommended upthread somewhere years ago so we made the change/upgrade. Well worth it.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

This could be in the coffee thread or in the Barn Finds thread.

I helped my next door neighbour move a few items in his house after work today and just casually commented on his espresso machine. He said it works great and he and his wife use it a lot, then said “do you want one? I have another one” and I naturally said ‘yes’!

His sister bought a new one and gave him the old one, but he said he has no need, so he GAVE IT to me - a Rancilio Silvia machine!! It was dirty, but I gave it a wipe and scrubbed it up and it looks great! I opened the cover and the internals look like they’re in good shape as well. The thing that holds the portafilter is delaminating the fake chrome, but other than that, it appears to be in great shape! He can’t find the portafilter but I can manage buying a new one. My dream of buying an actual espresso machine is not yet dead!!

What a day! My 12yr old loves coffee, so I will have a shot pulling session with her . Don’t judge - she’s been drinking one coffee a day for about three years

Nice Neighbors! She's a great little machine. I had one in my office for years for the afternoon pick-me-up. As mentioned, find yourself a decent grinder. I see used Rockys on craigslist often ( there's even one now for $280 in the bay area) and Kafatek just opened up pre-orders for theirs ;-)

[schwa86]

There’s also a Rocky for sale on the home barista forum with new burrs for $200. I’ll send you link by PM in case of interest.

[oldguy00]

Originally Posted by donevwil

What is it with free Silvias....

I think Silvias are one of those machines that don't look overly special, and thus a lot of folks don't really know much about them and would assume they are no better than a Krupps machine at first glance.
Also, they have always been known as the machines that were really hard to get a perfect shot out of, and people liked to tinker with them, add PID's, etc.
I had one for a couple years and could never get what I felt were good looking shots out of it, no matter what I tried. Then I bought a Rocket Giotto, and it was night and day difference, perfect shots were easy, as was perfect micro foam while steaming.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by crankles

Nice Neighbors! She's a great little machine. I had one in my office for years for the afternoon pick-me-up. As mentioned, find yourself a decent grinder. I see used Rockys on craigslist often ( there's even one now for $280 in the bay area) and Kafatek just opened up pre-orders for theirs ;-)

I forgot to mention that he also gave me a pretty nice burr grinder .

Looks like the Portafilter is missing, so I will have to buy a new one. Also, not sure what it’s called but the round thingy that the PF locks into has delaminating chrome film on it (presumably from heat and humidity) - can this part be replaced? It’ll work fine either way, but it looks ugly …

[scoobydrew]

Do a search for "Silvia grouphead cover". It's just a cosmetic thing as you mentioned. The PF locks into the grouphead hidden behind that cover.

[9tubes]

Congratulations on getting a Silvia. Great machine.

You might start with descaling the machine. Look on the web for instructions or take it to the shop if you need assistance. If you take it to a shop, ask them to test the pump. They are cheap to replace on that machine and having consistent pressure is the key to good espresso.

I'll put in my vote to buy a bottomless portafilter. It makes it easier to see how well you're tamping because if you don't tamp correctly you will get a spritz of espresso on your pants. It's a good learning tool. There is no reason to have a spout on a portafilter other than to collect oily grunge from coffee pours and then be hard to clean.

The Silvia uses a standard 58mm portafilter, so any will work. Lots of choices out there, including fancy woods for the handle.

Also, you'll need a basket with that portafilter. Since you got a free Silvia, you might as well get a nice "precision drilled" basket to go with it. The IMS or La Marzocco competition baskets are the hot set up. Figure 18g for your typical espresso double shot ristretto.

The portafilter attaches to what is called the grouphead. Under the grouphead you will find be a rubber gasket that creates a seal against the top of the portafilter. Assume the gasket is dried out and won't seal properly. You can buy a new silicone gasket for that machine for probably less than $10.

I suggest EspressoParts.com for this stuff. You might be able to find it on Amazon but why not buy from a specialty retailer? Better choices.

[d_douglas]

Well, I blew half a bag of espresso yesterday pulling undrinkable shots .

I was expecting this as I’ve only used an espresso machine a dozen times, so there’s a learning curve, what I think learned was that the grinder is no good, as the extraction was quick (immediate?) and watery, so the coffee wasn’t ground fine enough.

My neighbour came over and we played around using his grinder and it started looking like espresso, though still extracting too fast (10sec) and it was bitter.

My tamping skills need to come up, but I also need a finer grind for sure.

Are there other things that make this happen? Is there anything with the machine itself that would result in terrible coffee?

[kytyree]

Maybe a pressure adjustment? Not sure on the Silvia's but the Gaggia's can come set a bit higher than optimal in order to account for the use of pods.

If you google Silvia pressure adjustment you'll find a few videos on how to do it, I've only done it on a Gaggia but it did help.