Rule?!? There are no rules and IMBHO a waste of coffee even if it's a bit old for espresso. With a new grinder or new replacement burrs I just use the grinder and keep it dialed in as those burrs wear a bit. Might not be optimal, but beats wasting a precious commodity like coffee

IF the Silvia/Vario are both in great working order and dialed in you likely won't see much if any real improvement in the demitasse. If you plan to handle higher volume, more milk based drinks then yes something else might work better for you

FWIW I've done lots of espresso on many machines from home to commercial use and what I get out of my dialed-in Silvia is on par with the best I cranked out of any of them. Once brew pressure is dialed-in as well as you having the temp management covered you should be good to go. Pair it with a

Mine is a V1 from 2005 that I got not quite 3 years ago. Thankfully it was really never used and stored, so nothing but a tiny bit of surface rust residue. What I did was install thin rubber bumpers on the bottom of the frame that the drip tray rests on. That gives an air gap as well as

I think having multiple grinders in use regularly is overkill. Not everybody has the space or $ to go that route. IMBHO my vote is to have one really good espresso capable grinder and stick with espresso as no other brew/extraction method will ever come close for me

Thanks for the recommendation and notice it's a 14 oz. bag, which is sorta odd to me. How much was that at your particular location? Roast date?

Maybe this... {link}

Definitely agree on using what you like/can reasonably afford. My beast of a grinder cost me MUCH less than what it was new and will likely outlive me. Regarding complaints... surely there are tons of satisfied users of both brands and of course the most common posts are when there are issues, not a...

Definitely understand your aggravation as I had a Vario for years and it functioned quite well until different things started giving out on it. Got to the point where it was beyond worth me fixing it to have something else fail sooner or later. Gave it away for parts and sought out a long term/high ...

I haven't used that particular machine, but do you clean the steam wand tip after each use? I ask as it doesn't take much super-heated milk to build up and clog the tip opening(s). After each use I'd say submerge the tip in a partially filled mug of water and force some steam through the wand while ...