Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[Siliconslave]

Which is hard for an upgrade for a gaggia owner, as I paid £100 for mine. To upgrade, as you say, I really would need to spend close to £1k! I don't think I'll ever do that, so I'll probably end up keeping the gaggia until it breaks (if it ever breaks, and can't be fixed).

best bet for a Gaggia upgrade is the grinder and adding a PID - stable temperature really helps. If you want a good machine but don't want to breach the £1k mark you can look at lever machines, a basic la pavoni europiccola is about £400 - it may not be an upgrade in stability (in terms of temp, pressure, repeatability) but you'll get better coffee from it - albeit one in every x shots

 

[Raymond Lin]

This will make you all laugh.

My extremely tentative 'upgradeitis' shopping list currently consists of:

- Osmio Zero, because I'm fed up of my horrible Brita and manky water
- Lelit MaraX
- some grinder, but I'm not 100% sure which yet - need to do more research as I'm a bit fussy about them
- a countertop knock-box, not even started looking for this yet but it'd be helpful

What is that, something like £2k's worth of stuff? Talk about blowing my original budget

Sage knock box + Niche Zero or Sette 270i for grinder

 

[arty]

Sage knock box + Niche Zero or Sette 270i for grinder

Thanks, looking at those grinders now. The Niche looks particularly good, but unless I’m missing something it only seems available on Indiegogo, which is a bit odd...

 

[mid_gen]

Thanks, looking at those grinders now. The Niche looks particularly good, but unless I’m missing something it only seems available on Indiegogo, which is a bit odd...

It was crowdfunded initially, and they've kept it on that platform, sole distributor. Quite a lead time on it at the moment I think.

I like the Eureka grinders personally. Built like tanks, and the chrome Silenzio pairs nice with the Mara.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Thanks, looking at those grinders now. The Niche looks particularly good, but unless I’m missing something it only seems available on Indiegogo, which is a bit odd...

They are, about 2-3 months lead time. It’s a bit of a pain but it’s a great grinder (for single dose).

 

[Raymond Lin]

DP

 

[jpaul]

I thought Sette 270 had build quality problems , albeit, an original Z design, at least one owner here. ... Rocky, I've had 20years, with stepless&σ-reduction mods

Do not appear many good rocket/fracino/marzocco/ etc transcation on ebay, where you can go 2nd hand reducing the £1K to £400
... maybe like covid sourdough, everyones working from home.
I bought on ebay(pick-up) and had sold Silvia on gumtree.

 

[Raymond Lin]

It isn't the machines that taking up the space but everything else

 

[Hedge]

My new delonghi btc machine was pulling a single shot coffee at 60ml. No wonder it tasted disappointing. I've dropped it to about 35ml and it's much improved.

Just bought a bag of Union Revelation beans at Sainsburys. The roast date was only 2 weeks ago and they taste pretty nice.

I know btc machines won't match your espressos but I'm happy for the price I paid. I've tweaked the grind and it's producing decent shots.

 

[Raymond Lin]

As long as you are enjoying it that’s all it matters.

 

[Grimley]

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/rancilio-silvia-e-espresso-machine.html

Is the Rancillo Silvia still the go-to at this price range? Personally I don't think it warrants the £200 extra from the Gaggia Classic myself.

Or the Grace?

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/lelit-pl81t-grace.html

I know the Mara gets a lot of love. I have notice the Grace has a 57mm portafilter which is annoying. The Mara has 58mm and most machine uses 58mm.

I think your biggest hurdle is your hard water, if you can get filter (Brita) or last resort, bottled, then the coffee will taste much better, as well as not clog up your machine, because no matter what machine, hard water is going to eventually clog it up.

I've owned a Silvia for just over 4 years now. Unless you buy a PID for it, then prepare for the lottery that is temperature surfing. I bought a PID for it shortly after buying it but now I keep getting odd readings from it now when the pump is on. No idea what's causing it as there is limited info about 'pid faults' on the web. I think the temp sensor is faulty & I think there are better ones for it on the web, but I don't want to install it & break the machine if its wrong.

Also the frame the machine is bolted to, the build quality is unacceptable. It's very poorly designed as well. The powder coating is coming off and has started to rust, its a common problem on these machines. I've tried cleaning after every use but that just prolongs the inevitable. I could take it to bits & clean the rust off & paint it properly, but that would take time & I don't have the time at the moment.

If I knew then what i know now I wouldn't have got one, even though I paid under £250 2nd hand when it was less than a year old (I paid £160 for the PID new & fitted it myself).

If you bought a Silvia brand new & added a PID to the cost you may as well have bought the Grace. There is a 58mm version of the Grace called the Victoria (about £1** more expensive) BB don't stock it, but you could ask them if they are available to order from them, doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Siliconslave]

i'd be slightly hesitant with the Lelit Grace and Victoria at the moment, they've just released the updated Mara (the X) and Elizabeth so chances are that'll extend to the rest of the range as well - it sounds like the elizabeth is a very good machine now with some very neat features...

 

[jpaul]

The new lelit pump-x looks interesting , could probably replace the red/ulreka vibratory pumps that are in most other manufacturers equipment;
Grace already seems to have the pump pre-infusion from elizabeth.

Rancilio have to be thinking of adding a pid too - cost efficient microcontrollers and power transistors must be cheaper now, mecoffee pid had similar functionality, to grace pid, with bluetooth too to monitor temp, but didn't make it to the big time

 

[jpaul]

ditto

 

[Siliconslave]

The new lelit pump-x looks interesting , could probably replace the red/ulreka vibratory pumps that are in most other manufacturers equipment;
Grace already seems to have the pump pre-infusion from elizabeth.

Rancilio have to be thinking of adding a pid too - cost efficient microcontrollers and power transistors must be cheaper now, mecoffee pid had similar functionality, to grace pid, with bluetooth too to monitor temp, but didn't make it to the big time

didn't realise that about the grace - the system does seem pretty impressive tech

There is the silvia pro which essentially seems to be a silvia with a PID and double boiler - albeit for £1500!! Microcontrollers have always been really cheap (you can diy a PID for <£50 retail) but most espresso machines have stayed away from them as I guess they don't want/need 'complex' electronics in a very hot, wet and steamy small box.

 

[arty]

Well, things have probably got a bit out of hand, but I've ordered an Osmio Zero, MaraX and Niche Zero, as well as one or two accessories. Bit of a learning curve for me, but I'm hoping by jumping in a little higher than I had planned that I won't 'need' to upgrade quite so soon. As the Niche has a long waiting time, I'll be making do with my Ascaso grinder - or possibly my little Porlex hand grinder that I've always felt punches above its weight, so to speak - but at least it'll give me a chance to get up to speed a bit.

Thanks for the recommendations and assistance. I'll let you know how I get on Might drop into this thread a bit more in future as I'm sure I'll end up keeping an eye open for decent beans, too.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Well, things have probably got a bit out of hand, but I've ordered an Osmio Zero, MaraX and Niche Zero, as well as one or two accessories. Bit of a learning curve for me, but I'm hoping by jumping in a little higher than I had planned that I won't 'need' to upgrade quite so soon. As the Niche has a long waiting time, I'll be making do with my Ascaso grinder - or possibly my little Porlex hand grinder that I've always felt punches above its weight, so to speak - but at least it'll give me a chance to get up to speed a bit.

Thanks for the recommendations and assistance. I'll let you know how I get on Might drop into this thread a bit more in future as I'm sure I'll end up keeping an eye open for decent beans, too.

haha, I think when you get to that point, if the coffee is still bad, it’s not the gear. It’s technique and quality of beans, that’s what I say.

I’m sure it will make great coffee, i very jealous of the Mara!

 

[Siliconslave]

Good man, nothing like jumping in with both feet!

With that setup you'll start getting so much more from the beans, although that does mean if they aren't any good you'll notice even more I'm really rating black cat at the moment but there are plenty of recommendations throughout this thread.

 

[arty]

haha, I think when you get to that point, if the coffee is still bad, it’s not the gear. It’s technique and quality of beans, that’s what I say.

I’m sure it will make great coffee, i very jealous of the Mara!

Hah, I’m fully expecting to be the weak link in the chain to start with!

Good man, nothing like jumping in with both feet!

With that setup you'll start getting so much more from the beans, although that does mean if they aren't any good you'll notice even more I'm really rating black cat at the moment but there are plenty of recommendations throughout this thread.

Hope so - one of the reasons I wanted to back to an espresso machine was because I felt most of my existing methods weren’t getting the most from my coffee. I’m not sure whether anyone else here has the Osmio but if there’s interest I’ll post a bit about it when it comes.

 

[jpaul]

these should all be tax deductible working from home ... or , as opposed to, cycle to work scheme, an, espresso at home scheme. - calling Boris

else here has the Osmio

reverse osmosis is removing calcium carbonate ? forum search is broken so I can't see the earlier discussion on them, but Amazon reviews says

1- Quick-Change Sediment Filter 5μm: removes coarse particles, e.g. Sand, rust, chlorine, lime
2 - Quick-Change activated carbon filter: removes chlorine and organic impurities
3 - Quick-Change Membrane 50GPD: removes all pollutants and flavours to almost 100%
4 - Quick-Change Insertion Filters: Hygiene After-filter antibacterial calcium and magnesium bioceramics, adding a small 10-20 ppm of minerals

£500 alternative -

I had not seen the Silvia pro .... double boiler too , so Rancilio, do do, PID's.

conversely, if the lelit Anna, is a grace without pid (no low water either ) for £350, that would seem to be their, a cheaper, silvia competitor .... what am I missing
https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/lelit-anna-pl41lem.html.
seem to be some professionally modded pid+pre-diffusion silvias too https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/rancilio-silvia-pid-espresso-machine

The new lelit pump-x looks interesting , could probably replace the red/ulreka vibratory pumps that are in most other manufacturers equipment;

looks like they are £70, so 4x a normal pump.
with portafilter off, flow sometimes seems to pause, and seemed faster when I had inline tank filter out (for a kosher salt refresh), it's had 10 years of miles on it, so, I'm in the market for a red