New (well, nearly) Sivia does not like me

[wlodek]

Help, help ...
With this Piglet-like squeal I start my plea ...

What happened? Well, my Silvia arrived yesterday, she (?) is nearly new, with well over a year of warranty left and none of the seven signs of aging, in fact she looks like she had no use at all.

In my (encouraged by my better half) quest to minimise the number of coffee machines in the kitchen I set her up along with the Pavoni Pisa with the same amount of coffee, same 30min pre-heating, same tamping pressure (well, give or take the 2% ...), same coffee (Red Lavazza Espresso which I rather like).

What comes out of Pavoni: nice brew, nice flavour, thick crema like in the example photos in a thread here - the nice looking golden-brown, thick one. Smooth warm flavour and taste.

What comes out of Silvia? Dark brown unpleasant bitter watery liquid. What am I doing wrong?

I did try to 'control' the temperatures, tried to run both just after the thermostat decided it was happy (so no cold water treatment). What else should I check? Does she like finer/coarser grind? The liquid was coming out quite fast ...

Is there a hope ....

Anything else that you might need to know? Anything I could try out? Any practice exercises ...

W.

[Ian]

What shot quantity/times are you getting with Silvia? I would expect the brew pressure to be higher than in the Pavoni so you'll need to grind more finely. You'll need something fresher than Lavazza too.


Ian

[simonp]

What comes out of Silvia? Dark brown unpleasant bitter watery liquid. What am I doing wrong?

Grind too coarse for sure, the Silvias do need a fine grind.
Also don't forget that the Pavoni had a pressurised portafilter that will give a crema enhancing effect that is not due to good fresh beans.
With the Silvia, adjust the grind till you get about 25 seconds for 50-60ml of espresso (including crema) using the double basket.

Just a thought, are you using the single or double basket? Forget the single basket with teh Silvia, it produces crap espresso (as do most single baskets I believe).

[Gouezeri]

Er, I really don't want to be posting this in public... but, um... well... it had been a busy week and I just hadn't had the time to order any fresh coffee from Mr "Past It." So that was the first error... The second error was to head down Sainsbury's and buy some Red Lavazza beans (please, stop cringing at the back). My third and final error was to go anywhere near Silvia with them.
Silvia had made her point when she spat the "coffee" (I use the term loosely) all over the place!
Rather than deconstructing the error of my ways, if you want to get a decent espresso with a nice amount of crema and no bitterness out of Silvia, you need _fresh_ coffee, with a fine and even/regular grind, and the double pf basket. Anything else and she'll spit it out with derision.
Hope this helps and can somebody please come and get me out of the "Dunce" corner when my time is up...
D
ps. "Mr Past It" please laugh a little quieter, I can hear you all the way over here!

[wlodek]

Many thanks to all for the quick replies as I was getting worried.

Since I tried both baskets, all comments point to the grind and the beans.

I'll try a finer grind and report tonight or possibly tomorrow, as I can't really drink espresso after 7 p.m.

Meanwhile any other suggestions will be enthusiastically welcomed.

Best wishes,

W.

[wlodek]

Right, experiment No.2 done. After adjusting the grinder to the best it can do, which turned out to be close to talcum powder, extremely consistent too, Silvia was clearly overwhelmed. I think I'll get there, as I must have gone to the other extreme and made a sort of unpermeable brick in the filter. Half a minute later - nothing, so I switched off and removed the mud from the filter. OK, so I need a slightly coarser grind ...

Meanwhile I run out of coffee beans, so it looks like further experiments will be taking place tomorrow after a shopping trip to Kendal. There is a nice coffee shop there.

Thanks for your help, I'll get there eventually.

Is there a member in my area, by the way?

All the best,

Wlodek

[PeterAG]

wlodek
As well as the coffee shop there is the chocolatier, always worth a visit

peter

[wlodek]

The chocolatier I know ... been there many times. I have a teenage daughter hooked on chocolate, we follow close behind.

I watched a barista in Italy making a really nice hot chocolate using the steam wand on the espresso machine ... our normal order there was a caffe doppio corretto (for me), a 'capuccio' for my better half, and a hot chocolate (or two) for the children. When I'll have tamed Silvia coffee-wise I'll have a go at hot chocolate - the thick, dark and fragrant Italian kind.

Any hints on the espresso machine based choc- technology around here?

W.

[moccafaux]

Since you got the Silvia as a used one, how clean is it on the inside?
No matter what a previous owner would say, first thing to do is to give it a good de-scaling and then remove the showerscreen, seal etc and clean everything thouroughly. Then you can be sure of having only to adjust the coffee-parameters to get a decent pull.

[wlodek]

Since you got the Silvia as a used one, how clean is it on the inside?

Thanks, I must have learnt something (except for Silvia specific skills clearly) from reading this group, as this was one of my first thoughts.
One of the first things I did was to unscrew what I could unscrew (which seems to be an awful lot on Silvia) and had a look. No gunk at all, clean metal only very slightly discoloured. Either the guy I bought her off hardly used her or gave her a thorough clean before selling.

She is fine now, cooperates with me and her big grinder cousin. Coffee comes out perfect. I am at the stage of trying various roasts.

Thinking about temperature control ...

W.

[moccafaux]

They are on the dark side, of course? The roasts, I mean

[wlodek]

They are on the dark side, of course? The roasts, I mean

Well, yes, not of my making as yet though. Farrer's in Kendal seem to do a good job. Their French roast espresso blend is very very nice.



W.