Rancilio Silvia/Rocky: Top Quality Espresso Tips

[Ruben]

It took me more than one month to troubleshoot the Rancilio Silvia/Rocky machine, even though I had experience with another high-end home espresso machine in the past. After doing a lot of reading online and consulting GB, I can now say that the espressos I brew are BETTER than any I have had in the Toronto area.

Criteria of a quality espresso?
i) 25-30 seconds pouring time*** The best indicator of whether or not you are brewing it correctly.
ii) Use the double portafilter for a full espresso cup (30 mL) and the single scoop for a half cup (15 mL, ristretto, short)***
iii) Lots of crema (~ 50% crema)*** You may read this elsewhere but, you will not truly believe it until you have tasted one with literally 50% crema!
iv) A mixture of medium and light brown crema***
v) When you add sugar, it sits on top of the crema for three or four seconds (or more!) before settling to the bottom.***
vi) When you switch on the brew button, the espresso begins to pour out after a delay of a few seconds. If this delay is prolonged (~ more than 5 seconds), or if there is no delay, the shot will likely come out either burnt, or weak, respectively.
vii) Immediately the coffee pours as a deep caramel-brown color. If it is near-black, either the coffee is not very good, the grind is too coarse, or there was too little coffee in the portafilter.
***KEY POINTS

Factors that affect making a quality espresso? (List NOT ordered)
i) Coffee brand - I enjoy Kimbo Crema Dolce Espresso ($13-15/kg - much better than Lavazza (leaves a metallic taste with little crema), or similarly priced Mauro brands), but have not tried any of the GB blends, which for the price, must be excellent. I keep Rocky half filled and keep the rest of the 1kg bag in the freezer. With ~1-2 espressos per day, I refill Rocky every 1-2wks.
ii) Grind: from the tightest burr position on Rocky (not necessarily "0"), loosening 12 notches provides an espresso that pours in 25-30 seconds. I grind the coffee just prior to brewing.
iii) Amount of coffee: (~8 g for a single; ~15 g for a double but, I never weigh the coffee). Instead, overfill the portafilter and using a straight rule (or a slight rounded edge - e.g. a knife, extended index finger), swipe away any excess grinds, such that the untamped coffee grind just fill the portafilter. Do NOT overfill too much or else you will lose a lot of coffee when you remove the portafilter from underneath the doser.
iv) Use the tamper to apply at least 30 lbs of pressure (leaning your weight on the tamper should suffice). If you buy the GB tamper (very nice product), there is a rim on it that should just touch the portafilter when you have tamped the coffee. If you have tamped and the rim does not touch the portafilter, you have too much coffee. If you have tamped and the rim very easily touches the portafilter, then you have too little coffee. When tamped, the coffee should fill to ~ 1 mm below an edge on the inside of the filter (NOT 1 mm below the top for the portafilter!!!).
v) I use filtered water, but am not sure this makes a difference (hardcore enthusiasts may dispute this).
vi) Hot machine. the hotter the better. Give it at least 30 minutes to warm-up. Otherwise, touch the mounted portafilter: if it is too hot to keep your hand on it, the machine is ready. Search "how to cheat Silvia" online, to learn how to sufficiently warm up the machine in less time.
vii) Ensure the boiler light is NOT on and if has just turned off, give it at least 15-30 seconds before running the espresso shot.
viii) Use pre-heated cups (the warming rack on Silvia is OK if the machine has been on for a while, otherwise run cups through hot water to warm them up.
ix) Serve the espresso immediately, as the crema turns a bitter dark brown very quickly.
x) A hot, heavy (insulating) espresso cup helps but is not substitute for serving it immediately after it is brewed. I am very happy with the Illy brand cups I have, but the Rancilio cups at GB appear very good too.
xi) Keep the machine clean. Empty the portafilter after you've enjoyed/served your espresso. Run water through the brewhead to clean out grinds stuck to it. Use a damp J-cloth to clean out any grinds around the brewhead where the portafilter screws in. With the consistent use, the machine should be decalcified every few months.
xi) Read-up on tips to making a quality espresso. You've spent $$$$ on a very good home espresso machine. Learn to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed. Dividends for your efforts are paid in compliments comparing your coffee to the best cafes in the city.

Tips on frothing milk will follow, but I am not yet 100% happy with my results.
Enjoy,
Ruben

[cjaxx]

thanks for the simple post! It's so hard to get easy, to-the-point information for beginners on the net, what with all these obsessive-compulsive types writing out there!

One question though... where do you get the Kimbo Espresso Dolce Crema?

thanks!

[mohan]

I am surprised by one aspect of Ruben's useful post, namely the temperature he likes. I thought coffee was more bitter if the water is too hot.

I flush Syvia for a few seconds before I attach the portafilter with coffee -- this cleans out the brewhead as well. Then I wait about thirty seconds and then draw the coffee (before the light has gone out). This gives a beautifully rich tasting espresso, with no bitterness at all. On the other hand, I don't get nearly as much crema as Ruben.

One question: 12 notches above tightest, which is not necessarily 0. How do you find tightest? I usually grind at 9. Is that too fine for dense crema?

[mrgnomer]

[mrgnomer]

I had a Silvia with a Rocky for about a year. One thing about the Silvia is that it's thermostat controlled and the band is quite wide. Thermostat on is at about 180F and thermostat off is about 220F or so, if I remember correctly. Ideal brewing temp is anything below about 205F so catching the Silvia either at the top of the boiler or at the bottom is either way too hot or way too cold.

One way around the temp band is installing a PID device that over rides the thermostat and can be programmed to keep the temp in the boiler at a pretty constant temp. Temp surfing is also an option, that is timing boiler element on or boiler off to hit a good brew temp while it's on the way up or down. Down is easier since the temp drops slower but it takes a bit more time.

To know what temp is in the boiler you can attach a thermocouple end under one of the thermostat screws on the top of the boiler to read the temp. Surfing, PIDing, or adding thermocouple info for the Silvia can be found with an on line search. There's lots of info.

[Percy]

A very nice post, and thanks for the effort. It is informative, simple, easy to follow, and has a wealth of good tips. As I spend more time on this forum, I hope to post more messages, hopefully as informative as this one. As my experience with the new roaster grows, maybe I will be able to exchange tips for various roasts, preferences, and types of coffee blends to try.

Keep up the good work, and keep roasting and brewing.
_________________
Roasting and Brewing in the "Cool Pool"
Roaster------------Gene Cafe
Grinder-------------Rancilio Rocky
Machine------------Rancilio Nancy (soon to be upgraded to the Silvia)
Favourite Bean---Tanzanian Peaberry City Roast +

[Ruben]

[Ruben]

[mrgnomer]

The advice on finding the zero point on commercial grade grinders is to turn on the grinder and gently adjust it until you start to hear a metallic high pitched cutting noise. That's the burrs touching. This would be your zero point. Remember the the setting and back off to find your espresso grind. Touching the burrs together doesn't damage them since it's only the coarse burr zone that's contacting. The fine grinding zones don't contact with the burrs lightly rubbing together.

A good grind setting for espresso depends on the grinder. With new, sharp burrs on the Rocky I found a good range for espresso was between about 6-8 numbers coarser from zero. My zero was at +3 so the the corresponding Rocky setting was between 9 and 11. As the burrs dulled I found I had to adjust finer for the same extraction timing to about +3 to +5 from zero which was 6 to 8 for me.

Be careful going from a coarse setting to a fine setting without the grinder running. For grinders like the Macap or Mazzer vendors warn that doing so will void your warranty should damage occur. The reason being that if you did a coarse grind before adjusting finer without the grinder running there is a very good chance that coarse grinds still in the burrs will be compacted to the point that they will jam the burrs as you adjust finer then turn the grinder on. You run the risk of burning out your motor if compacted grinds jamming the burrs stall it. The Rocky is a good commercial grade grinder as well and adjustment precautions should be considered and followed. To avoid the problem the grinder needs to be running while making the adjustment from coarse to fine.

The Silvia is a single boiler, thermostat controlled machine. She's got 3 thermostats: one for brew temperature, one for steaming and one for high temp safety. The band on the brew temp and steaming temp is quite wide. If you're looking for good tasting extraction a brew temp of between 201F-195F is advised depending on your roast, blend or taste. To achieve these temperatures it's necessary to temperature surf the Silvia.

Randy Glass outlines a good temp surfing technique for the Silvia.

http://home.surewest.net/frcn/Coffee/HowToTemperature.html

Greg Scace has measured the temperature of the brew water out of the Sivlia under various conditions and timing. His finding help to understand what's going on inside the Silvia's boiler.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.coffee/msg/fb66109cb119634c

The Silvia also has a lot of brass and takes a bit of time to come to a good operating temp. For me it was about 40 min from a cold start before the grouphead and all the internal components were at stable temp for good brewing. You can cheat the Silvia and get her going in a fraction of the time from a cold start by flushing hot water through all her parts. It drains the reservoir but if you have to get her going quickly the cheat works well.

http://www.coffeekid.com/archived/rancilio/cheatsilvia

The Silvia's a great machine to work with and really sturdy.
_________________
espresso: Quick Mill Vetrano, Olympia Cremina
grinders: Zassenhaus knee mill, Macap M4 stepless
drip: Yama 5 cup, Bodum e Santos, french press, ibrik
roaster: Hottop programmable

[Osiris]

Hi Ruben,

I have a question regarding the below quote from you

[mrgnomer]

[Ruben]

Hi Osiris,

My experience is the fresher the store bought coffee, the more dense it will pack. So, you could either adjust the grinder or

... do as I do ...

When you fill the hopper with fresh beans, overfill the portafilter with grind as usual; however, wipe off very slightly more off the portafilter with fresher beans. That is, use a rounded edge to wipe off slightly more grind than with less-fresh beans/grind. After the coffee has been in the hopper for a couple of days, use a straighter edge to wipe off excess grind.

I think this will do the trick without the hassle of having to constantly adjust the grinder setting.

I have found an espresso brand that I am generally happy with. From package to package, there may be a slight differences in the freshness of the bean but, I would not expect this to be much a problem for the non-aficionado.

A couple of notes regarding mrgnomer's post in reply to your question. He generally sounds like he knows what he is talking about and you will likely learn much from his posts. BUT, since he will not be warranting your machine, I would strongly advise against adjusting your grinder to find the tightest setting while it is in operation. I think this is asking for trouble.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Ruben

P.S. Sorry about the late post. I request to be notified of any posts, but am not getting the emails. GreenBeanery, what is the problem?!

[kirby]

[mrgnomer]

[Ruben]