Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[haaammit]

Another person catched the deadly disease - Upgraditus.

Is it bad that I haven't even had Miss Silvia delivered (tomorrow fingers crossed) and I'm already looking at a PID for her

 

[E61 Grouphead]

Is it bad that I haven't even had Miss Silvia delivered (tomorrow fingers crossed) and I'm already looking at a PID for her

That would make it an uber good machine

I'm gazing longingly at Mazzer Minis. Damn upgraditus

Does anyone use a yogurt pot (bottom snipped out obviously ) to help with dosing. I have seen a few videos and it does seem to reduce the amount of grounds spilt on the kitchen units considerably.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I've asked for "black filtered coffee" in 3 starbucks and 1 costa in the past 2 weeks.

The number of times i actually got an americano is about 50%....???

I'm too short of time to correct them, i honestly don't think they know the difference!

 

[haaammit]

Oh

My

God.........

Miss Silvia arrived at 11.58 am today, unfortunately in the midst of a power cut. For several hours I've been reading and re-reading the instruction book (by candle light no less).

Power finally came on about 2 hours ago. I quickly bunged some water in - flushed her through and then waited. After the recommended 30 mins, I chucked some Sainsbury's Espresso beans into Master Rocky, set him at no. 6 and let him blitz into Miss Silvia's portafilter basket.

A quick tamp and some pressurised water later, I have an espresso that is by no means perfect, or even good, but so much better than my cheap machine - that's even before playing with the grind. So full of flavour, but not bitter or sour!

Wow.

Let the obsession begin

 

[Flibster]

Oh

My

God.........

Miss Silvia arrived at 11.58 am today, unfortunately in the midst of a power cut. For several hours I've been reading and re-reading the instruction book (by candle light no less).

Power finally came on about 2 hours ago. I quickly bunged some water in - flushed her through and then waited. After the recommended 30 mins, I chucked some Sainsbury's Espresso beans into Master Rocky, set him at no. 6 and let him blitz into Miss Silvia's portafilter basket.

A quick tamp and some pressurised water later, I have an espresso that is by no means perfect, or even good, but so much better than my cheap machine - that's even before playing with the grind. So full of flavour, but not bitter or sour!

Wow.

Let the obsession begin

YAY!

Also - as it says Norwich-ish in your location.... time to pimp. www.thewindowcoffee.com

Hayley is superb and sells beans from Hasbean so you can try all sorts of different ones. She gets 5 or 6 different ones each week.

 

[Siliconslave]

Wow.

Let the obsession begin

Now as Flibster says get some decent beans and go mad - Sansburys espresso beans will be seriously limiting the end result. A good hasbean or squaremile bean will give you a fighting chance of bring out the best of your setup.

Let the godshot hunt begin

 

[haaammit]

Cheers for the heads up on the coffee place Flibster - I have been buying coffee from Wilkinsons (their Medici Espresso is my favourite so far), but will deffo have to try that place - have you bean(!) in there?

Siliconslave - cheers for the advice I got the Sainsburys beans to get to grips with the new mistress - didn't want to waste good beans getting to know her - will get some decent beans from the place Flibster recommended

Mmmmm - Godshot........

 

[Flibster]

Cheers for the heads up on the coffee place Flibster - I have been buying coffee from Wilkinsons (their Medici Espresso is my favourite so far), but will deffo have to try that place - have you bean(!) in there?

Whenever I'm in Norfolk I go there.
Was there last weekend on both saturday and sunday. Hayley is fantastic, the food is also fantastic and if you go on a friday thats when she normally has the fresh coffee come in iirc.

Hayley has also just got her own Behmor roaster, so I'm expecting some interesting experiments from her soon. Hopefully when I'm next in there on Christmas Eve, I'll get to try some. Other half has to work from home, so my laptop will be swiped and I'll go into Norwich to get caffeinated.

I know Wilkinsons quite well. Not a huge fan of their coffee, all a bit too darkly roasted for me. But I do go through a sizeable amount of their tea.

I will give you a warning though - there is a new coffee shop in Norwich. Mustard *in the old Colmans mustard shop* They roast their own coffee - sadly the coffee isn't great pre-roasted. I tried it out with a couple of other coffee loving people and they tried the Kenyan coffee, and it was ok. Nothing great, but nothing terrible. I tried the Indian - mmmm... ashtray and rubber. Took hours to get rid of the taste, even after another coffee from Hayley and about half a box of jelly babies.

 

[manveruppd]

I'm kinda gutted - came to Dublin for 2 days and was planning to visit Colin Harman's 3rd Floor Espresso tomorrow in the few hours I have before I have to fly back... but just went on their website and found out they're closed on Sundays!
It's my own fault of course - should've been the FIRST place I visited!
Anyone know any other good cafes/bars/restaurants here in Dublin that I should check out? Will have a couple of hours to go out in later tonight as well as tomorrow morning/noon.

 

[GSDog]

I'm so pleased that I've found this thread.

I've been brought up on horrible instant coffee all of my life and as a result of that I usually stuck to drinking tea. However, a couple of weeks ago I had my first proper espresso and I am now addicted. Around the same time I noticed that my mum, who hardly ever drank coffee, had started using a cafetiere and was drinking coffee as much as tea. She gave me her christmas list last week and right at the top of the list was "Coffee machine".
I think she's only expecting a cheap machine but after doing a little research I realised that I'd need to spend more for a decent machine. I then found the Gaggia Classic with a 1/3 off and have now reserved it as there was only one in stock. I'll probably use it more than she will anyway.

I know the grinder and beans are probably even more important so I will be buying a decent one soon. In the mean time, what is the best pre-ground coffee to use with this machine? I've heard Lavazza and Illy mentioned several times but what type is the best?

 

[Flibster]

In the mean time, what is the best pre-ground coffee to use with this machine? I've heard Lavazza and Illy mentioned several times but what type is the best?

Lavazza and Illy were roasted and ground weeks ago. You're better off going to a specalist roaster and getting him to grind it fresh for you.

Even though ground coffee is only at it's best for less than 10 minutes, the closer to freshly roasted the better.

My recommendation, seemingly as always, is Steve @ Hasbean - As it's a new espresso machine and you'll be learning the ropes, go with something like Jailbreak and maybe the christmas espresso blend. Both are pretty forgiving in usage, and they are currently my faourite of Steve's espresso blends, Jailbreak in particular. Steve will espresso grind them for you, they may not be perfectly ground, but it's good enough to start with.

Things you will need to get soon though include - decent milk jug, bottled or filtered water for the machine *I still use Ashbeck from Tesco's*, descaler, 58mm blind basket, and probably the most important thing - a good 58mm tamper.

 

[Alex_L]

Hello,

The Silvia uses a vibratory pump, like most Cofee machines in the domestic market (and especially at this price range). It is most likey this that is causing the panel vibration. I just used the hot water to warm my cups before pulling shots.

What sort of noise are we talking about here? The Silvia is an excelllent steamer (very powerful for its class)

The drip tray cover should definitely be removable. Rancilio really need to sort out that tiny drip tray.

Thanks for the reply.

Vibration seems to be the pump and the cup warming plate as you say, so that I can live with. Might try some damping in future though.

In terms of the steaming, i follow the following gleaned from the internet guides (i'm keeping it basic for now):


1. Pull my shot
2. Switch the steam switch on
3. Wait for a bit (10-20 secs)
4. Bleed the steam wand of any water in it
5. Wait (10 secs)
6. Put wand into milk jug, about 1cm below the surface
7. Turn steam wand on
8. Deafening noise (screaming/roaring noise)


Then the end product is just very hot milk with minimal foam at all. The Milk is so hot it dries onto the wand, which seems different from the videos i've seen online where its wipe clean.

I used to muck about with my parents gaggia classic and could get really good milk without too much hassle, but the silvia just seems much harder, and the noise is almost putting me off attempting more lattes....

 

[Flibster]

Screaming is not a good noise to have.

Try this video guide - it's pretty good.

 

[Bennie-Mac]

Does anyone know of any decent sites that sell posh espresso/coffee cups, im after some glass ones preferably, thanks Ive had a google but am struggling to find ones i like that arent ridiculous money

 

[Mark A]

Does anyone know the cheapest place to buy Tassimo coffee refills? I'm just after one that makes a medium strength cup of coffee. They seem to be dear for what they are.

My sister knew I liked my coffee and I told her if she wanted to get me something coffee related she could get me a grinder. Instead she spent £60 on a Tassimo machine. Which was very nice of her but tbh I would have rather just got a cheap grinder and some beans to use with my cafetiere.

 

[GSDog]

Lavazza and Illy were roasted and ground weeks ago. You're better off going to a specalist roaster and getting him to grind it fresh for you.

Even though ground coffee is only at it's best for less than 10 minutes, the closer to freshly roasted the better.

My recommendation, seemingly as always, is Steve @ Hasbean - As it's a new espresso machine and you'll be learning the ropes, go with something like Jailbreak and maybe the christmas espresso blend. Both are pretty forgiving in usage, and they are currently my faourite of Steve's espresso blends, Jailbreak in particular. Steve will espresso grind them for you, they may not be perfectly ground, but it's good enough to start with.

Things you will need to get soon though include - decent milk jug, bottled or filtered water for the machine *I still use Ashbeck from Tesco's*, descaler, 58mm blind basket, and probably the most important thing - a good 58mm tamper.

Thanks. Where do you recommend I get the accessories from?

 

[Flibster]

Does anyone know of any decent sites that sell posh espresso/coffee cups, im after some glass ones preferably, thanks Ive had a google but am struggling to find ones i like that arent ridiculous money

Thanks. Where do you recommend I get the accessories from?

http://www.creamsupplies.co.uk/
http://www.espresso-products.co.uk/
http://www.espressowarehouse.com/
http://www.coffeehit.co.uk/
http://www.espressoparts.co.uk/
http://www.xpresscoffeeuk.co.uk/
http://londiniumespresso.com/
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk
http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk
http://www.hasbean.co.uk


For starters anyway.

 

[Hamster]

I've been using the Skerton grinder and the Aeropress for a few days now and i'm more than impressed with the results. I've never liked black coffee before as i always found it too bitter and acidic, then again the coffee i had been using was pre-ground supermarket types with a cafetiere or a perculator.

I've been enjoying 100g of Meyart coffee and vanilla beans bought from a market in Birmingham somewhere which is very nice!! Crisp and cleaner than i had imagined. I tried it with milk yesterday but it didn't work well. On the last cup now so i'll be opening the bag of La Ilusion coffee from hasbean later on.

Thanks flibster for your advice, i'm very happy with the choice

I've been looking for a source of freshly roasted beans somewhere in Uxbridge. There used to be a shop on Windsor St but it has closed so if anyone knows anywhere decent around there, please let me know otherwise i'll buy from Hasbean.

I'm also looking for a decent, leakproof travel mug. I've used thermos mugs in the past but they haven't lasted very long so now i use cheap poundland jobs but, let's say, they have a taste of their own!

Another question, i've noticed on one website that you've linked to in your last post that they recommend opening the bag of beans 10 days after the roasting date. I thought it was better to use the beans as soon after the roast as possible. Any ideas why?

 

[manveruppd]

10 days is ridiculous! It is said that the aroma of the beans changes in the first 2-3 days after roasting. I've experienced this myself with some beans, that there'll be a vaguely anchovy smell to them on the first day I open them, but usually if I order online they're at their best by the time they get to me. 10 days is way too much, they'd be well on the way to staleness by then!

 

[Flibster]

Thanks flibster for your advice, i'm very happy with the choice

Great.

I'm also looking for a decent, leakproof travel mug. I've used thermos mugs in the past but they haven't lasted very long so now i use cheap poundland jobs but, let's say, they have a taste of their own!

There aren't any really. Well, none that I've found. Closest is the Not a paper Cup, but they're quite fragile and quite expensive. Still looking. The Keepcup looked promising, but doesn't keep the coffee warm for long.

Another question, i've noticed on one website that you've linked to in your last post that they recommend opening the bag of beans 10 days after the roasting date. I thought it was better to use the beans as soon after the roast as possible. Any ideas why?

If they are sealed and have a one way valve so you can get the CO2 out, then 2 weeks isn't entirely unreasonable. Some coffee's I've had in the past tasted best after a weeks rest, 10 days is pushing it though. I've found that it tends to be around 3-5 days from roasting that the coffee tastes best for me. Entirely personal thing through.