Commercial Quality in Home Espresso Machine!

If you have an interest in high-quality home espresso equipment then you are at the perfect place to learn more about one in particular – the infamous Rancilio Miss Silvia.

This machine is by far the best machine for the money. It excels on so many levels that it is difficult to know where to begin explaining the highlights. Construction, steam-ability, quality parts, weight, resale value, name value, and price are all but a few of the things that make this machine tops.

Miss Silvia does have drawbacks and it is important to acknowledge them before delving too deeply into espresso machine nirvana. One cannot take this machine lightly. It requires competent barista skills, quality coffee beans, and time to learn the ins and outs of using it. Again, it is not for the faint of heart but will be an ideal purchase for anyone wishing to produce the best possible espresso around – including Starbucks.

Let me explain what Miss Silvia is not before going any further. Miss Silvia is not the little steamer toy found in stores such as Wally World or Target. Step aside Mr. Coffee Espresso ECM (whichever model number this year) because we have the real deal here. Comparing Miss Silvia to Mr. Coffee is much like trying to compare apples to oranges. Both machines use water. Both machines make steam. Both machines work with coffee. However, only Miss Silvia has the capacity to do it right. The steam toys found in department stores fall in the wake of a prime piece of equipment like Silvia.


Miss Silvia’s Physique:
The Rancilio Silvia has an amazing body. It offers direct lines and an outer body stainless steel shell. The frame contains iron to ensure the best possible structure to house the commercially graded parts within the machine. One can certainly judge this book by its cover without missing anything, except perhaps the sweet 11-ounce brass boiler on the inside, which is something most sub-$1000 machines lack. The brass boiler allows better and more even heating of water. It is safer since medical reports state that nickel and aluminum boilers can be dangerous for people with kidney disorders particularly over time when nickel and aluminum begin to flake.

Miss Silvia is a home machine built using commercial parts and many commercial design specifications. The heavy commercial portafilter, for example, holds 58mm filter baskets making it easier to replace with more standardized parts. Rancilio is an Italian company famous for coffee equipment. Believe me when I say that these people know their coffee!

This machine does not require expensive inside plumbing. The back of the machine holds a two-liter water tank. The water tank allows filling within the machine or removal to fill from a filtered tap-water faucet or spring water dispenser unit. However, many people have made extraordinary advances in modifications to plumb this unit and call these modifications PID. I cannot recall what the acronyms stand for but I know it is a range of modifications much like computer junkies perform on computers to help them function at their highest possible limits. PIDs for the Silvia include extras such as expanding the reservoir, calculating shot time, and even additional gauges to assist in pulling the best possible shots from the machine. It can become quite intense although rarely is it super expensive. I will include links to some of the more popular instructions for these extras. It is important to remember that once a modification takes place, it voids any and all warranties so if interest exists to modify or PID, it may be wise to wait until after the warranty time.


What Can Miss Silvia Do and How?
Miss Silvia makes espresso and espresso-based coffee drinks including ristretto, Americano, cappuccino, latte, macchiato, and many other delectable delights available in most quality coffee houses. The steam wand provides necessary pressurized steam to froth and steam milk. The wand serves a dual purpose as well. It serves as a hot water dispenser for hot tea, hot chocolate, and because of temperatures that can reach over 100 degrees, it is ideal to use when adding hot water to dehydrated soups and bullion cubes.

In order to brew a quality shot of espresso, which is drank alone as is or combined with frothed or steamed milk, there are a few basics necessary to learn. First, it is important to test your water first. Certain minerals and metals within the natural water supply can lead to scale and seriously distort the taste of the coffee. Spring water or filtered water is not always the answer due to the hardness or softness of the waters. Test your water. Read the numerous facts regarding water quality and its effects on Silvia. There are numerous sites online explaining how different water types affect Miss Silvia. Vinegar will not remove the buildup grime within an espresso machine the way most usually clean drip pots. Even the drip pots have limitations when it comes to water temperature so Silvia’s specific boiler functions provide the best possible temperature for brewing quality espresso shots in addition to providing plenty of steam for those delightful extras within froth.

The second most important additive for Miss Silvia is coffee beans. Freshly roasted, rested, and ground coffee beans rank high on the Richter scale too. The fresh beans provide the best flavor. Average grocery store beans and the best from Folgers will not do. Fresh roasted and rested beans will keep you from ever wondering how you drank the other stuff.

The best machine, perfect water, ideal beans, and perfect grind will do nothing if the person behind the machine, the bartender or barista if you will, does not hold the most basic of barista skills. These skills are something learned over time but even so they must exist eventually if coffee nirvana wanted. The phrase barista skills sounds as if one needs to hold a doctorate degree in coffee but really it comes down to a few specific tasks. A barista should be able to adjust the grind of the bean while taking into account bean type, humidity, age of beans, bean oil content, and finicky attitude of the espresso machine itself. It requires the knowledge and expertise to give ground beans a consistent 30-pound tamper pressure within the portafilter before placing within the group head to start the extraction process. It requires knowing how to produce quality crema, which is the nice caramel brown liquid that mixes within a quality shot of espresso. Again, all this probably sounds like a daunting task but with effort, practice, and determination it is possible to achieve.

Miss Silvia contains many stainless steel and brass parts so producing a quality shot of espresso using her requires time or a cheat to bring the equipment to the desired heat levels. Normally, this takes approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Rarely does anyone have this amount of time to spend in the morning to brew an espresso or latte before heading off to work. Some people on the internet worked out a system to speed up the process. The tentative title for pushing the envelope on the time constraints is Cheating Miss Silvia. Following the directions to cheat Silvia into performing better does not harm the machine at all. It shortens 30+ minutes down to about 8 minutes when making a milk-based drink, which includes basic cleaning. I will include the link for this process too.

Once the machine is at optimum temperature, when not cheating Silvia, it is time to grind beans, tamp grinds into portafilter, place filter into machine, pull the shot, froth the milk, put the drink together, and clean up the mess. There is one cleaning step that must occur immediately to prevent difficulties and that has to do with the steam wand. It is imperative to wipe the steam wand with a wet cloth and run a quick burst or two of steam to clean any milk residue. This step is not necessary when producing straight espresso but it saves many headaches when building milk-based drinks. Granted, this is the short walk-through but it includes the highlights. Skill and speed come in time so in the beginning, it is important to practice consistency and accuracy first.


Why Choose Miss Silvia?
This is the all-important question. Why does one choose the Silvia over other home machines? After all, the machine costs upwards of $500! Well, there are many reasons for choosing this machine over others but the primary reason is quality. Miss Silvia is a durable, long-lasting, commercially built machine that can do the job for home use. In addition, this machine appreciates well. It retains one of the highest resale values in the market among home machines. Used Silvia espresso machines sell on Ebay for nearly as much as a new machine! What is even more amazing is that people will pay the price. When upgrade fever hits, and in time it most likely will, the best machine to own will be a Silvia if the buyer has interest in producing café-quality coffee like the pro barista but in the comforts from home.

If the person deciding on machines wants quick and easy without putting in technique or skills, then this is NOT the machine to buy. There are dozens of automatic machines on the market that can produce quick fixes; however, none of the automatics produces shots as great as this particular machine if the user is willing to put in the time to learn to use it properly.


We Covered the Good; Where is the Bad and the Ugly?
Miss Silvia, even in all her delight, has issues. Probably the top issue has to do with grind peculiarity. Silvia is finicky when it comes to acceptable coffee grind. Most grinders cannot grind nearly fine enough to make decent espresso from this machine. Blade grinders need tossing into the garbage because Silvia does not like them but the reasons are understandable. Blade grinders do nothing short of pulverizing the beans into specs with little use for any machine. A quality burr grinder is the answer for Silvia’s grinder woes. Rancilio, the company that brought Silvia into the world following her sister machines, matches with a grinder called Rocky. Rocky, by Rancilio, comes in two types. One type includes a doser, which doses specific amounts of grinds necessary to fill the portafilter on the machine. The other Rocky machine is doserless. This means in order to catch the grinds, one must place the portafilter under the finger-saving chute but above the removable steel bar that holds the filter. Instant-presto, press the button and begin grinding. Rocky has a setback or two of its own but I will write that in another review. Grinds from the doserless Rocky require a little more care to even the grinds into the filter but it allows for grinding for various different coffee makers including drip, moka, Turkish, and French press in addition to espresso.

This machine is not the most simplest to learn but once it happens, I believe you will never regret the choice as long as producing shots without using an automatic, fast-food, poorly brewed cup of java. The timing and practice are worth the effort, at least in my opinion. Silvia’s best match regarding grinders falls within the confines of the Rocky burr grinder, your choice, or something like the Mazzer burr grinder. Anything grinder of less structural option is a waste of time and will further frustrate the barista.

Finally, it is important to realize that continuous shots are not possible when using the Silvia. Do not get me wrong, this is a wonderful machine; however, if frequent entertaining is your thing or pulling several shots on a frequent basis is something you will do regularly then it is best to go with a machine that contains a heat exchanger. The heat-exchanger machines run upwards of $1000 and higher. Miss Silvia is a wonderful stepping-stone between the el-cheapo espresso steam-driven toys and the big boy machines with dual boilers and heat exchangers.


What Accessories are in the Box?
The Silvia comes with the espresso machine, plastic convex tamper, plastic coffee scoop, and the instruction manual.

What do I need to Purchase?
Depending on your preferences, here is a list of items you may need. Remember I am adding items for milk-based drinks. An asterisk notes items for milk-based drinks only.

20-ounce stainless steel frothing pitcher *
Thermometer to measure temperature in pitcher *
Shot glasses, espresso cups, or brewing pitcher
Cafiza or Cleancafe depending if you backwash (backwash recommended)
Cleancafe or other high-quality espresso descaler detergent
Rindz or other wand-cleaning detergent *
Blank disk for backwashing group head
Group head brushes for cleaning
Wand pipe-cleaner style *
Knock box for tossing spent pucks/grinds
Stainless steel polish/cleaner
Quality heavy tamper
Naked Portafilter – learning tool

Cafiza works with a blank backwash dish to clean the group head. Most home baristaz recommend backwashing the group head since the machine contains a three-way solenoid valve. This valve allows for immediate removal of the portafilter following pulling shots without spraying the user with scalding water from the group head. It is a nice addition to a home espresso machine. Rinsz does a wonderful job cleaning steamed milk from the froth arm inside and outside.

The naked portafilter is new to the world of espresso but it is my understanding that it is an excellent teaching tool in addition to the new item called the Espro tamper. The naked portafilter shows the quality of each shot. It can show the quality of the shot by the texture and color of the tiger striping, something impossible to do on the regular portafilter with spouts.

Personal Use and Accomplishments:
My introduction to Silvia is recent although in the time we spent together working on coffee I found that it is a rewarding experience. I have yet to experience true coffee nirvana and I am certain the infamous “godshot” is out there for me somewhere but I have yet to achieve it yet. I am not giving up hope either. My tamper techniques need some work in the department of consistency but this will most likely come when I receive the new heavier tamper in the mail. Currently, I am using the crappy tamper that came with the machine. The plastic coffee scoop is of little use for me because I own the doserless Rocky. A heavier and more consistent tamp should improve my espresso shots.

Performance on this machine for me is an extraordinary hurdle because I suffer with an eye disease that caused blindness. Yes, I am a blind home barista or at least I am working my way to the title of home barista. In time with plenty of practice and fine-tuning, I am certain I will achieve that much sought perfect shot. I am able to produce nice textured froth now and the shots are becoming better by the cup. I want to learn as much about true barista-ism as possible but I am having to do most of it by touch, sound, and taste because the visual clues are difficult due to the eye disease.

Eventually, I would like to learn to roast my own beans at home but for now, I am waiting until I can produce consistent great espresso shots.

Informative Links:
These links are not mine. I am simply giving reference information to assist others in making a conscious well-thought decision. Besides, between the Silvia, Rocky, beans, and accessories, the price tag reaches about $800 dollars or so.

Links for more information:
http://www.home-barista.com
http://www.coffeegeek.com
http://www.wholelattelove.com/tips.cfm?itemID=39

PID Miss Silvia – one site among many:
http://my.execpc.com/~n9zes/pepesilvia/pepesilvia.html

Cheating Miss Silvia:
http://www.coffeekid.com/archived/rancilio/cheatsilvia

The Espresso Guide:
http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide.html

Espro Tamper – clicks when making 30-pound tamps:
http://www.espro.ca/

Naked Portafilter:
http://www.home-barista.com/naked-extraction.html