Fine Tuning Ms. Silvia

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
beaker
Posts: 1
Joined: 10 years ago

#1: Post by beaker »

Hi All,

I bought a Silvia about a year ago and just recently have started a serious "quest" on how to pull a great cup of espresso from it. Right now, I feel like my shots are OK, but not great compared to getting the same shot at the coffee roaster where I buy the beans. I'm looking for some feedback on what I'm doing and some specific questions I have. Please let me know if I'm missing something fundamental in my technique.

Setup:
Rancilio Silvia with Auber PID (set to 218 deg F)
Macap M4 Stepped Grinder
Rancilio Bottomless Portafilter
EspressoParts HQ 14g Basket
58 mm Espro 30 lbs Calibrated Tamper
Fresh Beans from a local roaster, 3-4 days old


Procedure:
Silvia warmed up for 3-4 hours. Grind beans and dose 14.0g into basket (measured with a small scale accurate to 0.1g). Tap the bottom of the portafilter on the counter a few times to level the beans. Tamp lightly first, then tamp to 30 lbs. Insert portafilter, turn on Silvia's pump.

I adjusted the grind setting on my grinder this morning so that 2 fl oz of espresso is just over 20 seconds and I'm getting a pretty good pour (at least what I think) on my bottomless filter. However, the taste still seems slightly bitter to me.

Here's a video of my pour:
Specific questions:
1. Do you think that I'm getting blonding too early in the shot?
2. I arbitrarily set my PID to 218 degF based on some articles I've read. Would I adjust this based on taste?
3. I've noticed that part of the grounds don't come out with the puck when I hit it (see image below) -- Does this indicate any issue?

4. Any other feedback you have

Thanks for your help!

Jeff

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shawndo
Posts: 1013
Joined: 14 years ago

#2: Post by shawndo »

I would try WDT for distribution. It looks like it blonds early at around 19 seconds when the stream starts to wobble, so there might be some channeling.

Also, the flow looks a little fast to me, but I normally pull ristrettos. Just to assist with further troubleshooting, weigh the output instead of providing the volume. 2oz of output isn't as helpful since that could vary depending on the crema. Put the empty shot glass on a scale, tare it, then weigh it again after you pull the shot. (Or put the scale in a ziplock and pull the shot onto the cup sitting on the scale, like i do)

For a regular "50%" double, you would dose 14g of grounds and get 28 grams of beverage output.
Brewing ratios for espresso beverages

PS a soggy puck like that is usually a sign of a low dose for the basket size. the 14g HQ basket can be updosed by a huge amount. 14g is quite low for that. That said, it shouldn't affect the shot quality. I wouldn't worry about that, but you might want to do a search for the "nickel test" to figure out the max dose for that basket in your equipment
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

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heavyduty
Posts: 341
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by heavyduty »

Like Shawn, I would have cut the shot at 19 or 20 sec., so yes that's a little fast and I would try slowing the flow down. If you haven't already adjusted your grinder finer, I would just try updosing to ~17 grams and see what that results in. I have the same basket as you and have no problem dosing 18 g. in it. Different beans do better at different doses, so you just have to experiment. I also like ristrettos and it seems Ms. Silvia like them too!

*Edit* Your Silvia should be good and warmed up in about 45 min.
Tomorrow came sooner than expected.

Paul

dgkula
Posts: 49
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by dgkula »

I would updose to 17 - 18 g and weigh the output targeting 34 - 36 g. Evaluating output by liquid volume can be tricky. I want to get 35g in 27 sec. If you are cutting the shot at 19 sec your grind may be too coarse.

I started doing this with similar gear (Silvia & SJ) and discovered that I was overextracting - getting 40+ g of espresso. I started stopping the pour sooner to hit a 2x extraction ratio and the taste got better, losing the bitter egde.

Now I get perfect dry pucks that pop right out and espresso that tastes great!

mbenedet
Posts: 81
Joined: 10 years ago

#5: Post by mbenedet »

Just for reference, on my Silvia v3 with Auber PID a temp setting of 222.5 F was scacing 200 F at the group. 218 could be low, depending on your coffee.

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Burner0000
Posts: 469
Joined: 12 years ago

#6: Post by Burner0000 »

As others have stated I'd start with upping the dose. Also try to shorted the shot to 1.5 oz - 2 oz max. I recently tries a ristretto for the first time and wow.. I've been drinking bitter over extracted coffee from long shots upward of 3-4 oz..

I can also tell you that the steps on the Macap may be limiting your shot quality. I used my stepped Macap MX for a long time drinking satisfactory shots. Once I modded it to stepless my shots really improved. It's not hard you just have to drill and tap a few holes into the grinder and collar. Or just mount the worm drive and get a new collar which is $200. If you ever decide to mod I can help you out with that just PM me.
Roast it, Grind it, Brew it!.. Enjoy it!..

chachi
Posts: 49
Joined: 12 years ago

#7: Post by chachi »

+1 on the up-dosing...but, I don't know how you can get a 17g dose in a double basket on a Silvia...the headroom is non-existent. I used triple baskets with a naked filter and could go to 19, but 17 seemed to be a happy place for most beans. Also, I would recommend 221-222 temp and then mess with your grind/timing. The PID can give you the ability to monkey around a little too much...I know I did. The guy that sells those is really knowledgable and responsive via email. I believe he recommends 221 or 222 as a starting place.

Good luck. She is like a crazy girlfriend that Silvia.
Jason

mbenedet
Posts: 81
Joined: 10 years ago

#8: Post by mbenedet »

I remember in the Auber PDF files that came with my PID that they said it was about a 16 degree offset and even backed it up with graphs. My own scace tests have revealed 222.5 is 200 at the group. Waiting about +10 more minutes after temp stabilization, the reading goes up another 0.5 degrees.

shuurajou
Posts: 33
Joined: 16 years ago

#9: Post by shuurajou »

Echoing the sentiments of others, I'd propose increasing the dose. I've found that early blonding and puck that isn't very solid can be helped by this. You could try 16g initially, and look at increasing the fineness of the grind if necessary to try and maybe pull a shot runs a bit slower - think of something that looks like honey drizzling (n.b. if using a spouted PF).