Mini Isomac Rituale review

[simonp]

AH, OK yep, me being a twit

In that case I reckon there must be some sort of restriction in the Isomac Rituale, there is so much more steam power from the Silvia.

We did notice that with the steam valve fully open, the boiler pressure would drop, then easily recover, which would indicate a restriction.

[Davec]

In that case I reckon there must be some sort of restriction in the Isomac Rituale, there is so much more steam power from the Silvia.

We did notice that with the steam valve fully open, the boiler pressure would drop, then easily recover, which would indicate a restriction.

Not really sure, will be reviewing a Millennium in a week or so, so will probably find out then. I would imagine the water level in the boiler and size of boiler may have an effect. Also how large the deadband on the pressurestat. I reviewed an HX machine a couple of weeks ago, had a really tiny deadband on the pressurestat, held pressure within 0.01 bar of the selected pressure which was quite impressive. So as soon as you drew steam, the thing would fire up the element. It was an incredibly good steamer, right through the pressure range of domestic thru to commercial settings. It is a considerably cheaper machine than the Isomac, but by the sounds of it may have given better steam performance?, we shall see.

[Ian]

In that case I reckon there must be some sort of restriction in the Isomac Rituale, there is so much more steam power from the Silvia.

Hold on there a sec. - I've missed the previous discussion but the steam stat in a Silvia is 140C, that's from memory so feel free to correct if that's wrong.

From http://www.efunda.com/materials/water/s ... le_sat.cfm that gives a pressure of 3.61 bar (abs.) or approx 2.6 bar gauge.

So, to get a HX boiler up to the same pressure as a Silvia in steam mode, you'd need to see 2.6 bar on the gauge.

HTH

Cheers

[simonp]

I steam at around 260F, which is approx 127C. but that is measuring some way down the boiler, so it may be higher at the top where the thermostat is. I have a 150C thermostat fitted, but I find that if I let it go the top temperature the steam power is too much for 200ml of milk.

Given my temp and pressure should be similar to an HX machine, I expected similar results.

[simonp]

Sorry, not being clear there. What am saying is that I am not running the Silvia at full pressure, so not using all the steam power and running at a similar boiler pressure, but was still getting much more grunt that the Rituale I was using.

[simonp]

I'm resurrecting this thread after speakinh to Phil at the weekend, and it seems that the general opinion I gave of this machine was that I didn't like it.
I thought I ought to correct this view, as in fact I DID like it.
It is a very pretty machine, which produced some wonderfull espresso, and is very easy to use. My only complaint was with the steaming, which seemed weak to me coming from the Silvia, which, it seems, is actually a powerfull steamer, which I hadn't realised. It also seems after some digging, that the tip may be quite restrictive, so bigger holes (and ones that point straight down) would probably suit the technique I have learned better.

Anyway, just thought I should put the record straight if it seemed I didn't like it

[Davec]

[CakeBoy]

The thread read to me as though you enjoyed the espresso but were wrestling somewhat with the different (to your Silvia) steaming set-up.

[simonp]

The thread read to me as though you enjoyed the espresso but were wrestling somewhat with the different (to your Silvia) steaming set-up.

Yep, absolutely. It would be interesting to try the espresso using the Mazzer, if the improvement on the Silvia is anything to go by it should be superb.

[CakeBoy]

That would be an interesting experiment. So Simon, the mazzer has made that big a difference to the quality of your espresso over the Rocky then? Is it overall or specifics, i.e. mouthfeel/body, crema and so on?

[Gouezeri]

Playing devils advocate here... same as MattS in the gas roaster discussion... unless the burrs are the same age/seen the same amount of use then I don't think you can judge the reative merits.
D

[steves]

I think it would be useful to compare the machine Simon used with the full-size Isomac Rituale

[simonp]

Playing devils advocate here... same as MattS in the gas roaster discussion... unless the burrs are the same age/seen the same amount of use then I don't think you can judge the reative merits.
D

Actually they are about the same age, and seen similar use (so I was told) so I think the comparison is not totally without merrit. The Rocky burrs were certainly in excellent condition being about a year old, grinding about 60g of coffee a day. I think I can reasonably say the difference is real.

The main difference I have noticed is that the shots are able to run more volume before any "blonding" occurrs. The Rocky never gave shots this long even with brand new burrs. The crema is darker, and more dense, giving a thicker mouthfeel.

[simonp]

Playing devils advocate here... same as MattS in the gas roaster discussion... unless the burrs are the same age/seen the same amount of use then I don't think you can judge the reative merits.
D

Actually they are about the same age, and seen similar use (so I was told) so I think the comparison is not totally without merrit. The Rocky burrs were certainly in excellent condition being about a year old, grinding about 60g of coffee a day. I think I can reasonably say the difference is real.

The main difference I have noticed is that the shots are able to run more volume before any "blonding" occurrs. The Rocky never gave shots this long even with brand new burrs. The crema is darker, and more dense, giving a thicker mouthfeel.

[CakeBoy]

The main difference I have noticed is that the shots are able to run more volume before any "blonding" occurrs. The Rocky never gave shots this long even with brand new burrs. The crema is darker, and more dense, giving a thicker mouthfeel.

On a much smaller scale, I have found very similar differences between the Spidem and Audrey/Tranquilo combo. Clearly nothing the combo makes will be anything near the standard of your set-up, but it does highlight the potential for this type of difference to become apparent. I suppose we should not be surprised as we all know a superauto cannot produce the same result as a half decent manual set-up, so it follows that a really decent grinder will improve the end product over using a very good grinder.

Simon, have you any pics showing the depth and colour of the crema etc? I find that very interesting because using the same beans in both my quite blond Spidem crema has recently turned very terracotta in colour and thick with the combo set-up. I intend to take comparison shots and pics of the replacement Tranquilo once all is up and running properly.