Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

silvia and rocky

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • r063r
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    Hi,
    congrats on your purchase.
    I have been using my silvia and iberital combo for the past 1 month, and since then my coffee experience has hit another level.

    The main key is to keep the dosing and tamping consistent at all time. You need to be able to see the screw impression on the puck. Fresh bean is also important.
    I have been learning alot from this forum and youtube.

    Raj

    Leave a comment:


  • reubster
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    BamBam

    Thanks for pointing out my typo.
    I did actually mean an impression of the showerscreen screw and not the showerscreen prior to pulling the shot.

    After the shot has been pulled [and the puck has expanded] you will then see the screw and the screens impression.

    Having said that, If you can manage to load a PF such that the puck is touching the shower screen, I dont believe the lack of expansion will result in burnt tasting coffee.

    Provided your grind is appropriately adjusted for that dose: ie to give the right pour time, the shot should not taste burnt.

    Burnt tasting coffee will be because the shot was pulled when the brew water was too hot.


    Leave a comment:


  • Stan
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    I live in Cairns and whilst there is plenty of fresh coffee on the tablelands there is little to be had in the town.

    I have been buying from Andy and have been pleasantly surprised both by the freshness and the speed of delivery. I would recommend the Buy Brown to anyone.

    Leave a comment:


  • BamBam
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    The optimum dose can be verified [after tamping] by inserting the pf into the group and then removing it: you should see the impression of the shower screen in the puck.
    You should also feel a little resistance when you twist the PF into place. There is a fine line between optimum dose and overload [where you cannot insert the PF at all]
    I am only a relative newbie to coffee, but I have found that this usually gives me a burnt tasting coffee as it doesn’t leave room for the coffee to expand. What works best for me is when there is a distinct impression of the shower screen screw but not of the shower screen itself (there is still a tiny bit of headroom). After I have pulled the shot, there is usually a very faint impression of screen left in the puck. Also if it is packed too tight I get very different pour times.

    Anyway that is what works best for me and as reubster says it is all about finding a method that works best for you.

    Leave a comment:


  • reubster
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    Andrea,

    As the others said, start with fresh beans, try Coffee Snobs Brown or one of the many other site sponsors who roast.
    I personally recommend CS Brown, Veneziano Caffe and Cuppacoffee [I havent tried the others....yet!]

    <===There is no challenge in obtaining  fantastic fresh beans. They can be found  over here. ...The only challenge is choosing them!

    As others have said:
    Getting your grind and tamp right is important, but these steps are both influenced by dose: ie how much coffee you put in the PF.
    Its a bit chicken and egg, but I reckon you need to start with getting your dose right.

    The optimum dose can be verified [after tamping] by inserting the pf into the group and then removing it: you should see the impression of the showerscreen in the puck.
    You should also feel a little resistance when you twist the PF into place. There is a fine line between optimun dose and overload [where you cannot insert the PF at all]
    TIP! [whilst you are still learning] If you overload, try gently scraping about 1mm off the top of the PF with a teaspoon, the object being not to disturb any of the puck below this, then apply a very light tamp to tidy it up  

    There are various ways to achieve optimun dose repeatedly, in my case I only put a measured ammount of beans into the grinder, others may grind to a PF mountain, tap the PF to settle the mound, then grind again to top up and follow this using a finder to a level off.
    You need to find the method that works best for you, and there is plenty to experiment with.

    Once the dose is right, the grind settings and tamp come into play.

    A couple of other points to mention:

    1. Warm Up
    Wait at least 30min [machine on and empty PF in place] before you pull any shot. Only then will the machine be satble enough to produce  good coffee.

    2. Temperature
    Silvia has a wide temperature swing: from way too hot to make coffee [this is probably why you sprayed the splashback] thru to to way to cool.
    You need to pull the shot at the optimum temperature.

    Tempsurfing is one process used to find  the optimun temp point but its very hard to get right,

    IMHO The simplest way is the cooling flush:
    Run water through your empty PF [blank shot] in to your cup/mug and do this until the heating light comes on.....this will also warm up your cup.

    It will take about 1 min for the heating light to  go out again, during which time you can grind, dose, tamp and insert the PF.
    It doesnt matter if the grind/tamp process takes another minute longer.

    When all the above is done, flick the hot water switch, open the steam valve and run water through the wand.
    Since the machine will be at [or near] maximum temp [ie higher than boiling] you will see the water spit /steam/ splutter as it flows out of the wand.
    Run it,  until it just flows as a steady stream [it usually takes about 30-60ml] then kill the hot water switch and close the steam valve.
    Youre looking for the transition point from splutter to smooth flow.

    Now you can pull your shot.

    The above process is actually very easy to perform and incorporate into your routine, it just looks clumsy in writing [at least in my words] ..sorry!

    ANY proper machine has a learning curve but with persistance youll get there. ........best of luck.

    Leave a comment:


  • liamth
    replied
    Re: silvia and rocky

    Hi Andrea,

    congrats on your purchase. I also recently acquired this combo, but you put yourself about 4 weeks ahead of me on the learning curve by having the smarts to - a) buy a grinder and, b) make it a rocky instead of a sunbeam.

    I cant actually picture how your joe is hitting the splashback though! Usually if it leaks out around the filter it just kind of dribbles down. Anyway, if thats what it is, the cure is to sweep any grounds off the rim of the filter before locking in, and give the filter seal an occasional quick scrub with a grouphead brush. Thats a must if you dont already have one - loads of gunk builds up on the seal.

    Also, as others have already pointed out, you cant overfill the basket. You need to be able to lock the handle all the way over (a bit past 90 degrees) without leaning on it. Otherwise it will squirt.

    cheers,
    Liam

    Leave a comment:


  • greenman
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    Andrea, fresh beans....of course you know that home roasting is the next step in your coffee journey, set up a Corretto and get some green beans sent to you and you will have lovely freshly roasted beans whenever you need them!!! You can experience the adrenilin rush of beanbay each month and the wonderful offering Andy has for us to savour.
    Good luck with Silvia, you will soon be producing great shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Leave a comment:


  • vicroamer
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    I put this up elsewhere it may help.
    "Depth of the showerhead in the basket is good to know. lightly load the basket(in the portafilter of course) not all the way, dont tamp, ensure showerhead is dry, load and lock all the way letting the showerhead compress the grinds you may need to remove some grinds and have another go, remove PF and gently sit tamper in, noting the depth it sits, the tamper I use has depth rings around it so it is easy to tell, you may need to mark the side of your tamper, when finished discard the grinds. Once you know the maximum puck height you can load and tamp with different loads allowing the puck to expand into the showerscreen."

    Leave a comment:


  • Andrea
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    Hi, I have a better tamper than supplied, paid about $45 for it so while it is not a pullman I suppose(hope) it is better than plastiic job the machine comes with. Beans are from Merlo that I bought in Brisbane last week. I live in Mackay so really fresh beans are always going to be a challenge. Still practising, and have even made some reasonable shots. I think I am expecting too much too soon, given that everything I read points to the fact that it does take some perfecting. Plus, It could be said that I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanting top quality shots straight up. Anyway... back to the "grind" I go!!

    Leave a comment:


  • BamBam
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    Hi Andrea,

    I am no expert only having my silvia for 4 months but I am getting pretty good shots now. This video on youtube helped me alot when I first got the machine.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhxvDusY3jk

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • vicroamer
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    This morning when pulling the shot coffee was spurting out too hard of the PF and hitting tiled wall to the left!! HELP!!!
    Never experienced this With no coffee in the PF and you havent temp surfed, the too hot brew water will shoot out over the bench.
    First thing is you must start out with fresh beans, supermarket or bulk beans from a deli wont do they must be freshly roasted.
    Basic steps to work through are, correctly fitting tamper(I use a Pullman matched to a Synesso basket), if your using that plastic thing then the brew just channels down the side, grinder dialled in, basket correctly dosed and tamped, a bit of temp surfing then you shoud be right.

    Leave a comment:


  • greenman
    replied
    Re: sylvia and rocky

    Hi Andrea, I would start with your grind, its probably not fine enough for espresso, do you have a good tamper (recommend a Pullman), dont use your single basket, stash it in a cupboard and forgot about it, dose the basket so that when you put portafilter in group you will get an impression from the shower screen in coffee grinds.

    try this link its got a heap of info in silvia
    http://homepage.mac.com/jrc/contrib/rancilio_silvia/

    keep us posted on your progress, it wont be long before you are producing a top shot!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Leave a comment:


  • Andrea
    started a topic silvia and rocky

    silvia and rocky

    Hi All, I just received my sylvia and rocky combo three days ago.  I have poured many, many shots already trying to get it right. (99% poured straight down the sink!!) Can anyone short cut this painful process for me? I was getting good crema but not now, and a slightly bitter taste.  This morning when pulling the shot coffee was spurting out too hard of the PF and hitting tiled wall to the left!! HELP!!!    Andrea.

    mod edit- thread title changed to protect the name of the innocent espresso machine
Working...
X