On Alexia? I looked around but did not see an ALEXIA specific thread. Thank You.
PS. I'm working the 2 minute reverse temp surf on Silvia and it seems to produce a better shot. That was so KEY, thanks again!

We are just getting started, but the Buyer's Guide to the Quick Mill Alexia thread will follow the review process in the The Bench forum prior to putting together a proper review article.

Hi Beavis,

I just wanted to weigh in -- seems like you're grinding before preheating your cups. As I learned from a CoffeeGeek podcast, even a minute or two of sitting around will affect the taste of ground coffee. Because there's two minutes of reverse temp surfing to kill, I use this routine with my non-PIDed Silvia:

Preheat cups (I use cafe au lait bowls most often) by filling with water from both the PF and the water/steam wand. (See Mark Prince's 'Cheating Miss Silvia' here.) Basically I fill the cups until the red light comes on, then wait until it goes off again, then fill the cups some more, etc. When the cups are 3/4 full or so, so I know they're good and hot, and I see the light go on for the last time, I then dump the hot water into the sink, dry the bowls, take the PF out and quickly dry it (to save a little time later) and put it back, dump the pre-measured beans into the grinder hopper, and wait with my fingers poised over both my minute timer and the grinder switch.

The second the light goes off, I start the timer and the grinder simultaneously. I grind into a small bowl and dump the first bit into my knockbox, because it's most likely the stale tail end of the previous grind. I then remove and dry (again but quicker this time because it's still mostly dry from before) the PF, insert a bottomless yogurt cup, and grind directly into the PF. I do the WDT (hence the yogurt cup), dose and tamp, and usually manage to get the PF back into the Silvia with a few seconds to spare before the 2 minutes is up.

As the timer hits two minutes, I press the brew switch, and activate the steam switch as well, also per Mark's Cheating Miss Silvia guide, to save a little time waiting for the steam to come up to speed after the espresso shots are pulled. I cut the shots when I see blonding, purge some water from the steam wand by pointing it into the tray and opening the dial until I start getting some spurts of steam instead of water, close the wand and wait another minute or so before starting steaming. While waiting for steam I sometimes take out the PF, check the puck, and knock it into my knockbox, sometimes I just forget and do it afterwards during cleanup.

If you're just doing espresso, obviously you can skip turning on the steam switch during brewing and all the steam steps.

Cheers,
C

You are my HERO! I've been too lazy to get the yogurt container, break it out and do the WDT. I need to do this.
I totally agree with you about the grinding. I do it concurrently while preheating the cup (I do not preheat the PF but suppose I should) and then twiddle my thumbs during the 2 minute wait. I'll now grind during this 2 minute wait.
I'm going to follow your technique. After all is said and done, you have the EXACT PROCESS incorporating every known Silvia trick.
Thanks very much.
On a side note, have you thought of upgrading and to what machine? Curious.

Hey Beavis,

Well, it's always nice to have an enthusiastic response to a post.

Seriously, you're very welcome. I'm far from an expert, having only bought my Silvia in December, and it's my first real machine. I did spend about 3 straight months reading Coffee Geek and Home Barista for 40 hours or so a week around then though -- things were slow at my job -- so I soaked up a lot of the wisdom from these parts.

No need to heat the PF by running water through it if you let the machine heat-up for 45-50 minutes or more, but I'd recommend it for any time less than that. (See here for a chart showing temps on a Silvia grouphead as it heats up normally, without running water through.)

My next upgrades are going to be a naked portafilter, so I can really refine my dosing and tamping (and impress friends and family with espressoporn pics), and then a PID kit from Jim Gallt (the site I linked to above), so I can stop timing down from 2 minutes. After that I'll probably upgrade my Rocky grinder before upgrading my machine. I only get to make about 4 coffees a week on my machine because of my life schedule, so I can't see pending the extra cash on an HX just to stop waiting for steam on those occasions (even if most of those 4 drinks are lattes for breakfasts on the weekends). Maybe one day though, when the combination of machine costs coming down and my salary increasing hit that magic point of convergence. If my SO ever wants to learn how to make coffee, that might tip the scales too, because the Silvia really is finicky. Meanwhile she seems happy for me to make them for her.

Enjoy,
C

Beavis wrote:...my wife has a Nespresso machine that she loves.

Good for her!

When I want an 'excellent' espresso, I switch on my Essenza machine, wait the 45 seconds for it to warm. Then, I 'pull' hot (Vittel) water into the 2oz glass cup (to warm it). Tip out the water, pop in a Nespresso Arpeggio pod into the machine and 'pull a shot' in around 25 seconds. The crema is always perfect and the delicious aroma invites you to sip the hot espresso.

So, within 2 minutes, I can enjoy a deliciously consistent quality espresso and I have 12 (13 if you include the promotional blend) to choose from.

The only 'mess' is the spent aluminium pod, which I recycle by splitting the pod, emptying the grounds into the compost and putting the pod in the aluminium foil bag that I empty from time-to-time into the foil recycling bin.

Uh oh. Duck!



C

cannonfodder wrote:It never ceases to amaze me how much work an 'entry level' espresso machine takes to make good espresso. I have upgraded a couple of times. My current kit, I grind, tamp, flush for 4 seconds post flash boil, lock in, put the cup under the portafilter and pull the shot. Good to very good every time, no fuss needed.

I upgraded from my direct plumbed rotary Bricoletta to a Rancilio Audrey last night. (Cracked T fitting to expansion valve in brew circuit but that's another story, on order EPNW) Amazingly using HX flush-n-go techniques I've pretty much mastered with my hot blooded Bric' rather than traditional Silvia surf and wait techniques work remarkably well with the Audrey. In fact easier than the Bric! (less flushing)

With empty PF in Audrey flush 'til heater light comes on, wait for heater light to go out then grind for shot, with PF still in flush Audrey again just 'till heater light comes on , dry PF and build shot, flush empty group listening to flash counting down from end of flash then immediately lock and pull. Damned if it isn't rather consistent, verified with Thermofilter. One key here is keeping heater light engaged at all times. Tested pull, post shot couple ounce flush, wait 25 sec (simulating PF build, 25sec just because count-down-timer set for 25sec, can be shorter time and still work fine since flash a good 2 or 3 seconds), flash-n-go series and doesn't yield intershot temp dive. Cool. Of course, intrashot is the usual ~3f drop or so as expected from my previous years with Silvia.

But still, no long counting from heater on ( or off depending if Up or Down traditional surfing). Simply count from end of flash lock and pull. And virtually no wait other than PF build time required back to back shots.

All in all Audrey will make a quite respectable back-up/travel unit. (Still can't wait to get Bric' back up and running of course, EPNW should have the 1/8" double female single male compression T sometime today. Depending on when UPS delivers it'll ship today or Monday so I'll have it Monday or Tuesday.)

Even making Debi a quad shot 16oz white chocolate mocha for the road this morning wasn't that bad.

Note: fairly certain Audrey has the older 110c tstat versus newer 100c tstat. Don't know how well technique will work with cooler tstat since solid flash required. Without flush when heater just goes off Audrey would be up ~215f start of shot!

Also, flush sequences prior to fist shot helps stabilize group temp eliminating shot series temp creep. Another cool factor.

Friggin' way amazed how simple Audrey is to use with consistent results now with many years experience compared to Silvia just starting my espresso journey!

(FWIW got lucky and yesterday when Bric' fitting finally died found an Audrey/Rocky combo on Craigslist for a very good price, just reduced $100 from what he had been asking. Both in pristine condition complete with knock-box drawer base, extra group gasket and extra Rocky doser spring. This Rocky will likely be up for sale shortly since don't need it.)

OldVillain wrote:Good for her!

When I want an 'excellent' espresso, I switch on my Essenza machine, wait the 45 seconds for it to warm. Then, I 'pull' hot (Vittel) water into the 2oz glass cup (to warm it). Tip out the water, pop in a Nespresso Arpeggio pod into the machine and 'pull a shot' in around 25 seconds. The crema is always perfect and the delicious aroma invites you to sip the hot espresso.

So, within 2 minutes, I can enjoy a deliciously consistent quality espresso and I have 12 (13 if you include the promotional blend) to choose from.

The only 'mess' is the spent aluminium pod, which I recycle by splitting the pod, emptying the grounds into the compost and putting the pod in the aluminium foil bag that I empty from time-to-time into the foil recycling bin.

Do you work for a nespresso machine company? A lot of your posts seem like ads for the machine . I've had a few espresso's from a nespresso machine and i can't say they are excellent by any means, but its a nice quick way to get some caffeine when you need it and taste/convenience ratio balances it out. I personally will stick with my mazzer and gaggia for a good cup.

lilotaku wrote:Do you work for a nespresso machine company? A lot of your posts seem like ads for the machine .

We established earlier that David does have a business relationship with Nespresso. David, I kindly ask that you refrain from any further product endorsements.