Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
That may be true FJ - I have not really experienced the taint for a while now. I think it went away about a week after i figured out that I needed to refill the boiler.
Regardless, I have also tried the cleanout with citric acid, but Im not sure exactly how well that has worked.
At least the taint has gone.
victor.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Best to make it a habit of refilling the boiler when cold immediately after frst switching on. Run water through group until a steady stream emerges, and bleed a little from steam wand too.
Robusto
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
re: the Taint
I note from your post that you say you werent refilling the boiler after steaming. If the heating element has overheated on an insufficiently filled boiler, this may account for the off flavour.
FJ
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Thanks for the tips guys, I have put quite a lot of water through that wand by now and it doesnt seem to have changed much. Ill try your suggestions after I go down the shops and get me some citric acid. I guess I could wrap a towel around the tip when I unscrew it so I dont scratch it ^_^
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
One other thing that *might* be worth a try:
On the Silvia steam wand, the tip at the very end unscrews (or it does on mine anyway). It may be worth unscrewing it and then doing the flush. On the remote chance there is a miniscule piece of something in there to flush out, removing the tip will give it a bit more room to get out.
*DSMD - (Dont Sue Me Disclaimer)*
Be careful removing the tip as you could scratch or pinch it if you are too forceful.
If you are in any doubt about doing it, then you probably shouldnt.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Just to answer your question Victor, i noted NO... off or tainted tastes from silvia when new.Originally posted by victor link=1138960778/15#16 date=1139212322but the milk still tastes like silvia. Did anyone else experience this with theirs? Will some sort of cleaning solution fix something like this?
cheers,
victor.
i hope you find the reason, because it definately should not be occuring.
Good Luck
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Hi Victor,
Re the unwanted taint from your steam wand....
Its most likely due to remnants of the various machining and assembly processes at the Rancilio factory. All you most likely need to do, is to flush sufficient water through the steaming circuit until all tainting compounds have been removed.
You could probably add some Citric Acid (2 teaspoons well mixed through) to a full reservoir of water and then run this through your Steam Wand using the Hot Water switch, not the Steam switch. Run a 100ml through at a time then let sit for 20 minutes or half-an-hour and repeat until the reservoir is empty.
After that, refill the reservoir with clean fresh water and flush this through both the brew head and the steam wand and then refill and do again. This should have cleaned out any contaminants contributing to the flavour taint and then you just need to refill the reservoir a final time and start brewing. Hopefully, all will now be well
Cheers,
Mal.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Ha! I figured out what I was doing wrong...
I wasnt refilling the boiler to capacity again after steaming milk... Everything seems to be falling into place now! RTFM....
I just made two double lattes - one for my flatmate, and one for me. I managed to get good enough foam for art (albeit a little wobbly), but the milk still tastes like silvia. Did anyone else experience this with theirs? Will some sort of cleaning solution fix something like this?
cheers,
victor.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Good to see your cleaning routine is already established, Victor.
I used the electronic scales to weigh a scoopful of BEANS, and it is indeed 7 grams. However, when theyve been ground, the volume would obviously be much less. So you can appreciate that the 3.5 scoops of ground coffee you began with would have been way in excess of what the Siilvia should handle.
Robusto
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Thanks again Robusta, very helpful indeed!
I clean and flush the steam wand after every time I use it, and also, bear in mind that the machine is brand new - would that have any effect?
I know that I will get over my reluctance to unscrew stuff... I always do. I have managed to take apart most of my new toys =)
The amount of coffee the scoop contains depends on the amount of air in the ground coffee i guess... a finer grind would probably have less air in it (i assume), and would also depend on what grinder was used, etc. After I put the 3 and a half scoops into the basket, I hit the pf on the table a number of times to settle them and get rid of as much air as possible without compressing anything. It turned out to be less grinds than the top level of the basket, if thats any indication... I might have to buy cooking scales...
victor.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
I cant explain the water taste issue if its coming from the steam wand --- although, sometimes milk crud can accumulate on the inside of the wand. Again, I flush the wand with steam immediately after wiping the outside before the milk bakes on.
If youre doing things right, the pour will start dark and progressively lighten up. The first drops of water will naturally extract the virgin oils from the basket. As more water comes through, there is less oil, and the very last drops will be pale as a result. Its at this pale or blonding stage the pour should be stopped. The closer that coincides with the 25 to 30 seconds mark the better.
My recollection is that each scoop contains 7 grams. I am not exactly sure, but will measure it tonight. So 3.5 scoops is too much if all those beans are dispensed into the basket as grounds.
Your reluctance to take tools to a new machine is understandable, but cleaning the shower screen is a must. The build up of coffee oils and grounds will clog it in time, but even before that happens, youll be getting stale grounds in your freshly-brewed coffee.
Backflushing will help, but theres nothing like a good wipe with a sponge or cloth.
Depending on what sort of bolt you have, use a stubby screwdriver or preferably a hexagonal socket wrench to remove it.
Its very very easy to clean, and when replacing the bolt, tighten only slightly, enough to hold firmly. Undue pressure is not necessary and makes it extremely difficult to remove next time.
Hope this helps
Robusto
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Thanks Robusto,
The colour of the pull is darker at the start of the pull. It gets somewhat lighter in the second half, most probably because the beans are a bit old. Im going to get some new beans from Allpress on tuesday (best ive found in sydney... not counting all the home roasted of course!)
The silvia flavoured water is from the steam wand. Also why the milk tastes a bit like silvia too...
I have been cleaning and flushing after every pull. Not game enough to take the shower screen off yet though.
victor.
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Nothing wrong with the colour of that brew -- it looks excellent. Nice and dark, indicative of a good extraction.
I wouldnt worry about the bubbles, either. Beans which havent been rested long enough after roasting can produce them.
Its when the coffee comes out pale you have to worry -- beans too stale, water too cold, grind too coarse the typical causes.
Try on eliminating your variable problems one at a time, otherwise its difficult to tell what youre doing right or wrong. Work on the grind first. Coarser, finer. Then the dosing. Then tamping. Then make adjustments ad necessary.
The Silvia taste: Is that from the steam wand water or the group?
Old grounds attached to the shower screen will affect the taste of coffees, though not the milk, of course. Place a clean basket on the portafilter, lock the assembly in place, and pull a blank shot.
Grounds in the coffee glass? A clean is in order.
Especially because you may have been overdosing, your screen by now is probably saturated with grounds. Remove it, give it a good wipe and also wipe the group and the groove where the seal sits.
Good idea to do this regularly. When the water in the boiler is still hot, flush the shower screen after each shot.
Robusto
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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Admittedly, I wasnt being very systematic with my doses - I was going by sight and thinking "Yeah, this one looks like it is mounded higher than my last one..."
I did some more, using the scoop provided with the machine. I used 3 and a half scoops, levelled off exactly with a knife, into the LM basket, after the exact 3 came out a little too quickly. I photographed the whole sequence of events to get a) a photos of the bubbles which I am concerned about, and b) some nice photos ;D
The photo attached to this post shows a bubble in the flow on the right-hand stream. The shot tasted pretty damn good compared to the swill of yesterday! I cant wait to get some new beans - the ones I have at the moment are about two weeks old.

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Re: Welcome to my house Silvia!
Thanks guys
Ive tipped so many coffees down the drain now.
I have tamped hard, tamped less, ground finer, ground coarser, dosed more, dosed less, and every permutation of those variables. The best I managed to get was from a slightly coarse grind and tamping really hard.
From these pulls, they start out thin and black, then start coming out a lot faster, but certainly not gushing. What worries me is that theres bubbles coming out with the espresso. What is causing this? I have searched on the net, on these forums and also on coffeegeek forums but cant find anything about this. Hopefully my new tamper will arrive tomorrow, and hopefully it will help.
Also, I find that my steamed milk (by itself) has a Miss Silvia taste to it. I confirmed this by drinking some of the hot water that came out of the machine and it also tasted a bit. Will this disappear over time?
victor.
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