The Trouble with Silvia

Gardoni and Chino attempt the perfect godshot that quickly goes awry

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• coffee
• espresso
• silvia
• rancilio

[Brahmanfire]

That certainly wasn't the machine, rather it was operator error. The two obvious suggestions I'll make are, Grind and Tamp. Are you using a decent grinder? And if grind truly is the issue I would say tighten it up. But, I'm thinking this had a lot to do with the tamp as well. Does the tamp fit the PF snug? Are you distributing evenly when dosing? And how about pressure and polishing the puck. I think this may be a terrible dis-service to the Silvia. There's also the question of espresso quality.

[lancemaurer]

I love my Silviab but this video gets points on style...  I wont guess what went wrong but I dug the music and had a laugh. My espresso shots rock but hey maybe I am just lucky... I always use my dual portafilter...

[danjenkins40]

If the shot has a bitter after taste it may be that the pressure is too high. You can fairly simply adjust the pressure on a silvia, you want to be extracting at around 9-10bar, a lot of semi-autos will pull 15 bar. Can be adjusted for in tamping but reducing the pressure will make a big difference.

[kingdarko]

whats a god shot?

[borisburkhart]

Great Music!

[rlholo]

Yes, the grind is a little to coarse, that's all. Fresh coffee though - it wouldn't texture like that otherwise. The other thing about the little Rancillios is they tend to get hot so it helps if you steam milk first - then run water for several seconds to get the machine temperature down -  then grind/tamp & go. But really, it's tough to get good fine consistent coffee texture with those little grinders. Maybe try a lighter roast, it will do better with a grind that is a little too coarse.

[hindoopoulo]

Worst shot ever!! U should stay as far as u could from anything coffee! U'r a threat

[freironn1]

Haha looked like your portafilter took a dump in your cup :)

[daschlag]

Gross... I've never pulled a shot that ugly with my Silvia. I don't know what you did wrong but I wouldn't blame your machine.

[Roygocken]

This is a great machine, Im guessing the issue dose come down to the grind being not fine enough. I watched your other video when you used what looked like the La Pavoni machine and same thing way to quick. I dont know what kind of grinder you have, or if there are any more settings to get it more fine. Your grind is the most important part of getting a quality shot, both machines you have are great. Im guessing that your shots tend to be sour and the crema uniformly cinnamon colored.

[mradesch]

buy good fresh roasted coffee - this has the main impact on creama - after this grinding has the main impact.

[marek0086]

HAHA!