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The Silvia is a better machine than most of the Gaggia's. If you couple it with a PID, it's a really nice setup for the money.
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May 3, 2016 22:13
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rockcity posted:The Silvia is a better machine than most of the Gaggia's. If you couple it with a PID, it's a really nice setup for the money. Whichever one you end up getting, steam then brew.
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May 3, 2016 22:42
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There's a pair of Pavoni 16 & 8 manual pull espresso makers listed on my local craigslist for what appears to be a decent price. Are these good, reliable machines? Obviously there's a learning curve with manual machines, but aside from looking cool are they worth the investment? E: Nevermind, should have searched first. One of the ads claims to have had a service done recently though 
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May 3, 2016 22:46
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They're a pain in the rear end to use even when working properly; most people buy them for the looks or to relive their European vacation cafe experience. They do hold their value though and are pretty easy to unload on craigslist once you've satisfied your curiosity.
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May 3, 2016 23:02
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bizwank posted:Whichever one you end up getting, steam then brew. A lot of people say this, but every single time I do this, my milk separates and I can't pour latte art worth poo poo, even with regularly swirling of the pitcher. Also, when you're done steaming, the boiler is still at around 250F. If If I flush through water after that to drop it further, it's still hot enough to where it vaporizes out of the bottom and it gets water spray all over. I get much better results pulling the shot first and then steaming. The crema subsides a bit so that much is no good. I have a PID though so I know exactly when the boiler is at its hottest (about 282F) so that's probably why it's still so hot when I'm done steaming. I also find that if you crack the steam wand a couple of times while it's heating, it seem to speed up the process so that you're not waiting all that long. My process is pull shot, pour milk into pitcher. Purge the wand around 240F, purge again around 255F and then when it hits 280F, start to steam. rockcity fucked around with this message at 00:01 on May 4, 2016 |
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May 3, 2016 23:59
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That isn't "craft the best beverage" advice, it's "don't destroy your machine" advice and it's targeted at the average user who knows little to nothing about how their machine works and will subsequently walk away from it with the boiler 1) at steam temp and 2) half empty and venerable to heating element damage. Brewing second ensures the boiler is cooled, refilled and ready to be used safely next time they fire it up. You clearly know how your machine operates (and it's a nice machine, had the same setup for a few years) and can safely ignore it.
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May 4, 2016 01:09
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bizwank posted:That isn't "craft the best beverage" advice, it's "don't destroy your machine" advice and it's targeted at the average user who knows little to nothing about how their machine works and will subsequently walk away from it with the boiler 1) at steam temp and 2) half empty and venerable to heating element damage. Brewing second ensures the boiler is cooled, refilled and ready to be used safely next time they fire it up. You clearly know how your machine operates (and it's a nice machine, had the same setup for a few years) and can safely ignore it. Hmmm, I'd never heard that, good to know. I'd heard it a lot with people talking about latte art and that they got better results with the fresh crema, which normally I'd agree with if my milk didn't suck by the time I was ready to pour.
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May 4, 2016 01:33
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ThirstyBuck posted:I made it through my first semester of anesthesia school fueled in large part by my stash of beans. Does your school make dumb jokes about going to sleep in class?
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May 4, 2016 02:04
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rockcity posted:The Silvia is a better machine than most of the Gaggia's. If you couple it with a PID, it's a really nice setup for the money. Cool thanks for the feedback. Of course now that I have asked, the Silvia for $250 bucks is gone mirthdefect posted:Does your school make dumb jokes about going to sleep in class? No, actually the jokes are waay worse.
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May 4, 2016 03:10
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ThirstyBuck posted:I made it through my first semester of anesthesia school fueled in large part by my stash of beans. I drank all of the coffee so I bought some more. Evidently 10lbs a semester is just right. Get the Silvia - Gaggia is second place 
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May 4, 2016 04:14
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Can't comment on Silvia versus Gaggia, but I was helping unbox some Rancilios we got recently and those things are nutsy. It's laying there in the box lookin like a Braun grinder or something, but I can barely lift it out with one hand the thing is so dense*. After reading up on its capabilities I'm amazed they got that much grinder in that size. Not a lot of walk-ins buy them in my experience, but it's one of the grinders the owner recommends unreservedly, keeping in mind we also stock Mazzer/Macap/Baratza. *this is where you mock me for not being strong
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May 4, 2016 09:18
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The Rocky is a huge friggin motor with a few extra parts strapped to it, weighs in around 20lb if I remember correctly. That thing is a beast for sure.
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May 4, 2016 17:40
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Maybe a stupid question, but why not: I'll be going to Europe on a cruise this summer. We have stops in Barcelona (2 nights), Marseilles, France (though we're going to end up in Paris) and what I'm most excited about, 3 stops in Italy: Florence/Pisa, Civitavecchia/Rome, and Naples/Capri. To any goons who have gone to these cities, are there any must go to places for espresso that you could recommend?
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May 5, 2016 00:07
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The Ascaso factory is in Barcelona, not sure if they do tours but it might be worth finding out if you're into stuff like that.
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May 5, 2016 01:22
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Ugh, had a nasty one today. We're trialing a FAEMA Barcode super automatic from Italy (probably like $8k USD) and usually I'll grab a drink off it just to try new ones the head tech programs in (it is super configurable). It's pretty good, and has a wicked self-cleaning cycle. So today I got a mocha and took a big ol swig of... rotten steamed milk.
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May 5, 2016 19:35
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Reinanigans posted:Maybe a stupid question, but why not: I'll be going to Europe on a cruise this summer. We have stops in Barcelona (2 nights), Marseilles, France (though we're going to end up in Paris) and what I'm most excited about, 3 stops in Italy: Florence/Pisa, Civitavecchia/Rome, and Naples/Capri. Paris: Telescope, kb, Thank you my deer, 10 belles, Coutume, Belleville Brűlerie Florence: Ditta Artigianale, though do try a pre-third wave place for classic Italian espresso. Ask your hotel front desk where they go.
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May 6, 2016 14:05
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I've been given a moka pot for my birthday and I'm really liking how it works, but how do you get the best out of these things? How long should it take to brew, that kind of thing. Also it looks like it's going to be a pain to clean the inside of it, anything I should avoid doing?
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May 8, 2016 22:19
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TheDarkFlame posted:I've been given a moka pot for my birthday and I'm really liking how it works, but how do you get the best out of these things? How long should it take to brew, that kind of thing. Also it looks like it's going to be a pain to clean the inside of it, anything I should avoid doing? Use a detergent like Cafiza or Oxi Clean. It'll clean up pretty easily after a soak in warm water and detergent.
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May 9, 2016 12:12
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TheDarkFlame posted:I've been given a moka pot for my birthday and I'm really liking how it works, but how do you get the best out of these things? How long should it take to brew, that kind of thing. Also it looks like it's going to be a pain to clean the inside of it, anything I should avoid doing? Just watched a little how-to video on it. They said don't tamp just level, a coarser grind than espresso and start with already hot water as not to burn the coffee.
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May 9, 2016 12:52
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With a moka pot, you need enough water in the bottom chamber to be able to generate enough pressure. In order to vary the coffee:water ratio, you only really have room to adjust the amount of coffee, but you also have to simultaneously adjust grind size in order to get brew time right.
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May 9, 2016 13:53
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Re: Silvia vs Gaggia: I have a 14 year old V1, no PID, original steam wand... and I wouldn't trade it for any Gaggia home machine. Once you get used to its idiosyncrasies (and that isn't hard), it's just so drat consistent and so drat good. Re: Steam First: As already said, doing it this way is boiler-friendly and brew-temp-friendly. The milk does indeed sit for a bit, but you can take a small teaspoon and gently stir it back into reasonable shape for the pour. It absolutely will not match a batch of milk fresh off the wand, but you can still get back to being closer to a unified mouthfeel, even if your hearts look more like butts and your rosettes look like scribbles.
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May 9, 2016 19:11
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The universe must have sensed my espresso itch. My wife came home with this, which arrived at the same time as the coffee I ordered.    It should be fun to play around with for a minute.
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May 9, 2016 22:07
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Alleric posted:Re: Silvia vs Gaggia: Curious: what about it do you like so much over a Gaggia? I've had my Gaggia for a couple of years now and other than the recent issue with the clog have had zero issues with it.
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May 9, 2016 22:10
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I can't believe they didn't try to make this look more like a penis.
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May 9, 2016 22:23
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dik-dik posted:Curious: what about it do you like so much over a Gaggia? I've had my Gaggia for a couple of years now and other than the recent issue with the clog have had zero issues with it. I'm not totally crapping on Gaggia. I ran an Espresso Pure for a number of years before moving on to the used Silvia on craigslist. Just want to be clear on that. My Pure was kind of waning, and Gaggia doesn't make them anymore, Silvia was 230 off CL. That was the trigger for the switch. Now, after running the Silvia for several months: 1. The bigger boiler: the temperature stability through the brew is just stellar. Once I get a PID on this thing it'll be just stoopid. 2. The bigger boiler: For dealing with a larger water mass, this thing heats up quick. 15 mins of warm-up and it's good to go. 3. The bigger boiler: it can steam for days, and gobs of pressure. On my Gaggia, even with surfing I would find the thermostat triggering the boiler mid-pull sometimes. That inherently means water temp in there was dropping from max to min very, very fast. Mine also took a solid 30 minutes to warm up and be ready to brew. Finally, I'm steaming milk for my cortado, my wife's café au lait during breakfast, her to-go one, and then our daughter is totally spoiled and requires her own demi of microfoam with breakfast as well. Steaming this amount of milk on the Pure was a rough prospect. I was usually running the boiler pretty dry by the end of it, and it was hard to get a good vortex going in the pitcher. It was just the right opportunity to progress at the right time, and the Silvia just fits more with my use case. I had both machines up and running the transition morning and pulled a shot of the same bean and grind off both rigs. The flavor out of that bean was worlds better on the Silvia (it was already good on my Gaggia). Now, does that mean all beans are better? Nope, but there it is. After that I donated the Gaggia to work.
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May 9, 2016 23:18
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As a point of reference, here's a Silvia and Gaggia boiler side-by-side. Note that the Silvia boiler is solid brass and weighs in at 3lbs 4oz while the Gaggia is aluminum and about a third of the weight at 1lb 2oz.  And since we're doing show-and-tell, here's a couple boilers that probably could have benefited from more frequent descaling:  (Ascaso Dream) (Delonghi Magnifica)
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May 10, 2016 00:05
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There's a gaggia classic, rancillo rocky espresso grinder and rancillo base/knock box for sale on CL for $500 -- what do we think of this as an entry point for espresso? What should I be looking for regarding machine quality and condition?
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May 10, 2016 03:26
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bizwank posted:And since we're doing show-and-tell, here's a couple boilers that probably could have benefited from more frequent descaling: Holy dooley, I've had the blinking "descale me daddy" light on my espresso machine for about 6 months now, I'm going to descale my machine right loving this minute
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May 10, 2016 03:41
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goku i won't do what u tell me
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What's the deal with the espresso hairdryer?
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May 10, 2016 05:21
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ThirstyBuck posted:The universe must have sensed my espresso itch. My wife came home with this, which arrived at the same time as the coffee I ordered. I'm confused, has the "dog bowl and heat gun" home roasting method become so common that people are now marketing special heat guns specifically for roasting?
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May 10, 2016 15:53
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foxxtrot posted:I'm confused, has the "dog bowl and heat gun" home roasting method become so common that people are now marketing special heat guns specifically for roasting? I think the 'dog bowl' is integrated into this one.
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May 10, 2016 16:16
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That's a handpresso. It makes espresso using co2 cartridges for pressure.
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May 10, 2016 16:20
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I thought it was a weed vaporizer.
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May 10, 2016 16:48
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bizwank posted:As a point of reference, here's a Silvia and Gaggia boiler side-by-side. Note that the Silvia boiler is solid brass and weighs in at 3lbs 4oz while the Gaggia is aluminum and about a third of the weight at 1lb 2oz. Nightmare material there on the scale. I just did the Silvia and the Technivorm weekend before last. The boiler comparison is very cool. I never cracked the Pure open but when I was fixing the steam control on the Silvia when I bought it I had it open and was kind of amazed at the sheer amount of brass in there.
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May 10, 2016 17:20
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I received a Ninja Coffee Bar ( http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Brewer-Thermal-Carafe-CF085Z/dp/B0160R1LEK ) recently. I want a nice drip machine for when I'm too lazy to aeropress. Is it worth keeping or should I look into exchanging for a Goon Recommended model?
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May 10, 2016 17:53
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Clark Nova posted:That's a handpresso. It makes espresso using co2 cartridges for pressure. KirbyVanBurch posted:I received a Ninja Coffee Bar ( http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Brewer-Thermal-Carafe-CF085Z/dp/B0160R1LEK ) recently. I want a nice drip machine for when I'm too lazy to aeropress. Is it worth keeping or should I look into exchanging for a Goon Recommended model?
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May 10, 2016 18:19
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Clark Nova posted:That's a handpresso. It makes espresso using co2 cartridges for pressure. Huh, I don't get it, but I'm not an espresso drinker.
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May 10, 2016 18:45
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withak posted:I can't believe they didn't try to make this look more like a penis. I asked my wife why she bought a fancy dildo. Second-hand. And then gave it to me. Clark Nova posted:That's a handpresso. It makes espresso using co2 cartridges for pressure. You just pump it up like a bicycle pump. No CO2. E: Whoops, looks like that was already explained. I'll probably use it for a couple weeks and then put it on eBay to fund a Rancilio. ThirstyBuck fucked around with this message at 22:40 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 22:37
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ThirstyBuck posted:You just pump it up like a bicycle pump. No CO2.
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May 10, 2016 22:38
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taqueso posted:Glad they managed to get some stroking into the product design. Too bad it can't spurt steamed milk into your cup at the end. Missed opportunity.
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May 11, 2016 00:22
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