Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

There is a rave'ing offer of 20% for today/28th CROWSNEST20

Did not ultimately try Raymonds #170 too mean for £7/250g when signature is £13/Kg

How often are folks de-scaling ? (since I changed to Bezzera heat-exchanger machine it is a bit more faff, ideally take off the sides of the machine and overfill boiler through anti-vac hole with de-scaler leaving overnight at least;
since capacity is nearer 1L versus 300ml in silvia I wonder if it scales faster, I also see some scale on the backside of the dispersion plate above the screen that I had not seen with silvia) - I guess I did it 4months back.
 
Argh always on a Wednesday! Do I risk getting delivered to work and it not arriving before EOD Friday, or risk getting sent to home where it might arrive on Friday and not get delivered. First world problems :(

Do they use Royal Mail?
 
jpaul said:
There is a rave'ing offer of 20% for today/28th CROWSNEST20

Did not ultimately try Raymonds #170 too mean for £7/250g when signature is £13/Kg

How often are folks de-scaling ? (since I changed to Bezzera heat-exchanger machine it is a bit more faff, ideally take off the sides of the machine and overfill boiler through anti-vac hole with de-scaler leaving overnight at least;
since capacity is nearer 1L versus 300ml in silvia I wonder if it scales faster, I also see some scale on the backside of the dispersion plate above the screen that I had not seen with silvia) - I guess I did it 4months back.
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Thanks just orderd :)
 
jpaul said:
How often are folks de-scaling ? (since I changed to Bezzera heat-exchanger machine it is a bit more faff, ideally take off the sides of the machine and overfill boiler through anti-vac hole with de-scaler leaving overnight at least;
since capacity is nearer 1L versus 300ml in silvia I wonder if it scales faster, I also see some scale on the backside of the dispersion plate above the screen that I had not seen with silvia) - I guess I did it 4months back.
Click to expand...
I do my heat exchanger every 3 months, though I'm sure I'd notice the difference if I did it sooner though. The water round here comes out of the tap in stalactites. All I need to do to mine is flush boiler, fill again with solution, then shake machine to swill it around. Pump lever several times in 5 sec bursts then leave (off) for min an hour. Then thoroughly flush out two or three times until water is clean (no citrus smell).

First cup after that is Best. coffee. Ever.
 
Pulled the trigger on that Ethiopia #170 and the Sumatran they had. Never had a Sumatran before, I'm intrigued after reading about how divisive they are :)
 
Scam said:
Pulled the trigger on that Ethiopia #170 and the Sumatran they had. Never had a Sumatran before, I'm intrigued after reading about how divisive they are :)
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Also ordered the Ethiopia #170 - we can all blame Raymond if it doesn't live up to his glowing report :D

Also ordered the Fudge as I'm working my way through their own blends. The 20% discount equates to free shipping. Can't complain at that!
 
Scam said:
Pulled the trigger on that Ethiopia #170 and the Sumatran they had. Never had a Sumatran before, I'm intrigued after reading about how divisive they are :)
Click to expand...

I'm about to start on the Sumatran. Tasting notes on the bags from Rave are usually spot on, provided you get the grind size right & your machine is clean.

I've tried the Sumatran before (couple of years ago) Its a good SO coffee from Rave. I've yet to buy a bad batch of beans from them. :)
 
OK hx is de-scaled [its rubbish that Bezzera do not give their machines names - had Rancilio Rocky+Audrey but Audrey (silvias mother) is gone now] ready for the new Rave consignment; Only missed one fix - left ~15hours
- used two 25g packets of restore cleaner this time but will get some citric acid powder in future (need some kind of indicator chemical to show when all the de-scaler is out - since have to run a fair amount of hot water through)
Did not peek into boiler through anti-vac this time, to check for any 'sludge' at vertical boiler base.

Raymond - I thought you had a Gaggia classic or baby so a silivia purchase more of a side-ways aesthetic jump, and also a better grinder than Rocky.
 
I have a Sylvia V3 and it came with the smaller 14g basket part no 40-100-102. I want to get a bigger basket for it, but retain the standard closed portafilter. I do have an open portafilter with a triple basket, but I prefer the look and feel of the standard one.

I believe Rancilio do a larger, 18g basket - part no 40-100-103 but I'm having a hard time finding a UK stockist. Most of the American vendors want as much for shipping as the basket costs (I know postage ain't free, but I'm a tightwad :p)! Anyone know of a UK stockist that may have what I want in stock, or is there any aftermarket baskets I could try? Cheers :)
 
before I sold Silvia predecessor with same pf I searched for *103 too, as documented here could not find one so bought this from coffee hit
La Marzocco Filter Basket 17g F3027 1 £7.98, Grand Total £10.98

which has better quality machining, like microholes in *103 part, and fitted pf fine ,
without breaking bank, it allowed a larger dose - there are some pictures of the 17g back up thread.
caterparts & espresso-solutions + others could not sell me a *103.
with newer machine, same dia pf, I suspect ims 18g ridgeless basket i now have, would also have fitted silvia pf
 
more like 17g, but there was some headroom (no bolt impression)
This shows dimensions and this was interesting too - gems like below (had to do rigorous purchase analysis)

Some available after-market filters showed promise, and positive
attributes, but could easily be broken after just 12–16,000 cycles (one
to two days on a cycler). In a busy café using 18-21 gram doses and 100
pounds of coffee per week, in a two or three group machine, that could
be as little as 45–65 days use. To confirm, we sent a set of three to Myriad
café in Montreal, where Anthony Benda and Scott Rao hammered on
them in their busy shop near Concordia University. Two of three broke
within 55 days. The failures occurred at the edge or in a stair-step pattern
along the holes. In order to stand up to commercial use, a filter must
withstand at least 120,000 cycles without any degradation or change in
extraction performance.
Click to expand...
 
How much coffee do you lot use in your Aeropress? I always aimed for 17g, but I tend to overdo it sometimes and I wonder if I'm going too strong and losing some flavour. I often end up with 21-22g. I use the inverted method and brew for 60secs. Reckon that's overkill?
 
I use one level scoop of beans (before grinding) which is typically 18g. I don't think you'll lose anything from going over by a few g, but you should be noticing a stronger body.

Scottland said:
Espresso, I've ordered from Rave and Squaremile the last few times so thought I'd go back to Hasbean :)
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Their Jabberwocky blend is my staple. The Jailbreak blend is their most popular. They do have plenty of singles ofc, but I got bored of having to recalibrate between cups :P
 
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