HB wrote:Egads, that's some leakage! Put one hand on the side of the machine and torque it down a lot tighter. Looking at the video, I would say as much as 3/4 to one inch tighter. To save coffee, get out a blind basket and assure it seals against full pressure.

Yeah great suggestion Dan... Jon do what that guy said.

Ok, I called Chris Coffee and dude told me to take out the spring and try it. No leak! I'll futz with the spring and see if the basket was seating incorrectly. Will be playing Spielberg again soon for y'all.

- Jon

Ok, big success. I took the spring out and put it back in, I ensured the basket is seated well, and lastly, I gave the pf a good 1/4 turn tighter (I didn't think I could, but you guys were right) fixed the problem. No more leak!

Sorry, my Director Of Photography totally dropped the ball and failed to record this last extraction! Camera malfunction, I think.

I'm now TOTALLY WIRED on my 5th latte, but enjoying every drop.

THANKS ALL!!!

One comment: I have a small, 12 oz frothing pitcher. The Silvia's steaming wand is not too long, and when I'm doing small quantities of milk, it's barely long enough to reach the top of the white nectar. Not a biggie, but another inch on the wand would be nice... Oh well - short wand - story of my life...

- Jon

jonbauer wrote:One comment: I have a small, 12 oz frothing pitcher. The Silvia's steaming wand is not too long, and when I'm doing small quantities of milk, it's barely long enough to reach the top of the white nectar. Not a biggie, but another inch on the wand would be nice... Oh well - short wand - story of my life...

Jon-

With my 12 ounce pitcher, I often have to use more milk than I really need to deal with the wand length. I have an 8 ounce that I use for smaller volumes, unfortunately, my small pitcher doesn't have a pour spout (but I can't pour any art yet anyhow ).

3 naked portafilter shots...



- Jon

Hey those look pretty good. They do look a bit fast possibly but I can't see what volume you get in the 25-30 seconds.

Right on!

Dan, I haven't started experimenting with WDT yet. Gotta get a needle and a yogurt container and start using it...

More videos coming soon.

- Thanx
- Jon

HB wrote:Is the dosage changing from shot-to-shot?

Ahhh yes dosing, the dark horse of espresso extraction. Gotta have a consistent dosing technique for great espresso extraction. For my technique having a doser is key. Jon however has a doserless grinder which for me is a bit harder but it is possible.

It looks like you were getting the dreaded twister cone. If you watch the striping as it exits the basket, it should flow straight down. It looks like your distribution or tamp is favoring the front of the basket. You can see the stream wander forward as the shot progresses. You can also see the tornado effect as the stream wanders.

Try turning your portafilter as you dose. Don't bang or knock it, just rotate the handle left to right to left to right etc... until you reach your desired dose. When you tamp, make sure you arm is vertical and in line with the tamper handle, not offset to one side. That will tend to drive you tamp harder to one side, which appears to be the front (handle side) of the portafilter.

I had the same problem, it just took some practice and patience.