Hi All,

I have a random question, which I could not find an answer to.

I've recently got the Silvia/Rocky combo - and with the right technique and coffee (WDT and surfing) - the coffee is excellent. Thank you all for the excellent advice - I enjoy my coffee because of your contributions...
During parties, I am finding myself to be a popular visit from friends (who offer themselves as my guinea pigs/practice) - but I am finding the rebound time for the Silvia as a drag for efficient "service".

I was wondering (as a sad excuse for cost-efficient upgraditis) if TWO separate Silvias would perform just as well as ONE two-group machine?
I do not want to plumb a line - so - I was musing - just run two Silvias (alternating heat up cycles) for up to 8 doubles and steam two milk pitchers in *almost* the same time as one Silvia.

Getting another Silvia is not expensive. Getting a 2-group machine is a lot of coin...

Am I crazy?

Thanks in advance...

You don't need a two group unless you have two baristas. There are plenty of one group commercial machines that you can't outrun (e.g., La Spaziale Vivaldi, La Marzocco Linea Mini).

+1!

Not to mention- as a 2gr Slayer owner - the machines are huuuuuuuge, require 220-240v, water + filtration + drain. To give you an idea, my Slayer is over 200lb's WITHOUT water in its 4 boilers ... And also retails for nearly $19,000 with the factory-installed upgrades.

I would go the LMLM route.

chrisbodnarphoto wrote:Not to mention- as a 2gr Slayer owner - the machines are huuuuuuuge, require 220-240v, water + filtration + drain. To give you an idea, my Slayer is over 200lb's WITHOUT water in its 4 boilers ...

Well gosh, that sounds terrible. Can we get some sympathy here for Chris? Anyone?

(BTW, this is just me being jealous, in case my humor didn't come across!)

I used the meCoffee PID in my Silvia and loved it...one of its features is the option for "active" PID. It connects to the brew switch and immediate starts the heater in preparation for a new shot even before the sensor registers the temp drop. I was able to do quite a few shots in succession.

Of course when it comes time to steam milk, you will miss a double boiler or HX machine.

Thanks. I did not know some single groups were so fast.

However, the ones you mentioned could buy multiple Silvias. This is part of the question i am trying to ask - is the setup i proposed a cheaper (acceptable but not a higher quality) alternative?

Thanks again.

You can probably imagine the performance. Personally I think it would be overly complicated and ultimately much slower than a commercial one group. I've catered lots of cars and coffee events; I'd take any prosumer E61 double boiler over two Silvias.

didn't one group HX machine is suffice?

Prosumer HX espresso machines don't perform as well under heavy loads, i.e., they usually need more recovery time than a similar E61 double boiler. Not to mention you go through a lot more water due to flushing. Then again, it depends if we're talking 4 consecutive drinks with a long pause or 6+ consecutive drinks with not much downtime. It won't matter if your production runs are only short bursts.