Hi,
We drink almost exclusively espresso and we’d been using a Gaggia Classic for MANY years (paired with a Breville Smart Grinder Pro). Recently the Gaggia started to play up with the temperature fluctuating from lukewarm to very hot. As far as I could tell (with a multimeter) the thermostat seemed OK and we decided that rather than attempt repairs we would go ahead and get a Rancilio Silvia (2019 M V5) from Jetblack Espresso due to better build quality, superior steaming capability and aesthetics.
It arrived VERY quickly and we’ve been using it for a week. We’ve gone through 1kg of coffee (Full Throttle blend from Cleanskin Coffee Co in North Brisbane). We have not been able to get anything resembling a reasonable espresso. We heat up the machine as recommended, we use an Espro calibrated tamper to help maintain tamping consistency and we’ve tried many combinations of grind and quantity (including taking the grind all the way down to 1) but there is never any creama and the results are watery, not much better than from a percolator. The puck is always dry after an extraction so I don’t really know what to try.
It’s so bad that we’re considering going back to the malfunctioning Gaggia Classic as we could at least get good espresso out of it. Very disappointing experience so far and dropping another $400+ on a grinder is not really an option (at this stage).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I find it hard to believe that it’s impossible to get good espresso out of the Silvia (even with a Breville Smart Grinder Pro).
Regards,
Michal
We drink almost exclusively espresso and we’d been using a Gaggia Classic for MANY years (paired with a Breville Smart Grinder Pro). Recently the Gaggia started to play up with the temperature fluctuating from lukewarm to very hot. As far as I could tell (with a multimeter) the thermostat seemed OK and we decided that rather than attempt repairs we would go ahead and get a Rancilio Silvia (2019 M V5) from Jetblack Espresso due to better build quality, superior steaming capability and aesthetics.
It arrived VERY quickly and we’ve been using it for a week. We’ve gone through 1kg of coffee (Full Throttle blend from Cleanskin Coffee Co in North Brisbane). We have not been able to get anything resembling a reasonable espresso. We heat up the machine as recommended, we use an Espro calibrated tamper to help maintain tamping consistency and we’ve tried many combinations of grind and quantity (including taking the grind all the way down to 1) but there is never any creama and the results are watery, not much better than from a percolator. The puck is always dry after an extraction so I don’t really know what to try.
It’s so bad that we’re considering going back to the malfunctioning Gaggia Classic as we could at least get good espresso out of it. Very disappointing experience so far and dropping another $400+ on a grinder is not really an option (at this stage).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I find it hard to believe that it’s impossible to get good espresso out of the Silvia (even with a Breville Smart Grinder Pro).
Regards,
Michal

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