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Sunbeam ristretto Vs Rancilio Silvia

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  • Sunbeam ristretto Vs Rancilio Silvia

    No contest you say? well the silvia is 10 times the price.

    So I bought my Parents a Ristretto. They are overseas at the moment and while they were gone both my Mums birthday and Fathers day passed.
    The Grinder is an Iberital challenge on a permanent loan to them. (I want fresh coffee when I visit).

    Below is an account of my bench test before picking them up from the airport tonight.

    Before even plugging the machine in I had the pressurised filterbaskets in the shed and the bottom hacked of with a combination of drills and angle grinders, It doesnt look pretty however unlike the Krups baskets I know that there is no problem with them sealing at the top. Also this is free.

    So plugged it in, filled the water resavoir. 8-) these water resavoirs a cool 8-) no tubes coming over the top to drip water everywhere.

    Filled the boiler, this seemed to take forever and when the water did flow much slower then Silvia. ho hum time to dial in the grinder and make a coffee. The challenge had been on plunger duty for a while so turn turn turn the grind adjustment and just when you think its enough keep turning. ahh so this is why I upgraded to a Mazzer. :-?

    Pulled a shot, too fast. adjusted grind and pulled 5 seconds wait then 60ml in 25 seconds 8-) tasted it. Rwanda Cyanagu no bitterness, bright flavour but not the chocolate notes I expect from this bean although maybe its too fresh. Noooo body!!! I think that maybe these filter baskets are just too small for double shots.

    I adjusted the grind a bit finer and pulled another shot waited 10 seconds to see the first drips and then about 30ml in the remaining 20 seconds. there was more body but still not anything like Silvias shots. I made this into a Flat white.

    The boiler is really quick and was up to steaming in hardly any time. Much slower the silvia and wasnt my best milk however I pulled a pretty good rosetta with the sunbeam jug. tasted it, not bad. definatly from fresh roasted coffee. and better then most cafes. not as creamy as I would like, perhaps I needed to bleed off more water, surf the steam temp etc.

    I added suger and gave it to my sister who isnt a big coffee drinker. She loved it. "eyes widen, Thats really good" Content that my parents who only drink milk based coffee will find the same I called it a day and cleaned up and tied a ribbon round it.

    I think I need to experiment more. Early days yet but I think I can say that if your an espresso drinker and a snob about it then this machine would be frustrating. However if milk drinks are your thing and you have no money then its a contender.
    If you were to buy the same grinder and machine combo you will get milk drinks which will impress your friends for as little as $80 plus a decent grinder.

    More to come.






  • #2
    Re: Sunbeam ristretto Vs Rancilio Silvia

    I enjoyed reading this... thanks Muppet :-)

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    • #3
      Re: Sunbeam ristretto Vs Rancilio Silvia

      Hey muppet man, I personally dont think much of the sunbeams, I have one I used to use, replaced it with an isomac, which incidentally I got for an absolute bargain off evil bay, decided it was worth fitting a pid to and consequently the sunbeam which cost me a whole heap more has been put aside and is doing a whole heap less.....

      Ray.

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