AnonymousRetriever—February 18, 2013✓ Verified purchase
Miss Silvia can either be a dream machine or a regrettable purchase, but this has nothing to do with the machine and everything to do with the operator. Miss Silvia is a very simple and well built machine. Rancilio has been true to this concept since her inception. She sports a solid brass boiler, steel frame, and she's finely dressed in easy to clean stainless steel. There's no shortage of pressure, water, or heat. Everything about Miss Silvia is built to last. This simple, high-quality build approach isn't for everyone because it trades off automation for skill. A person who leans toward automatic, mediocre espresso will bemoan the simplicity of Miss Silvia. She lacks many modern features such as a PID controller, pressure gauge, timer, on/off scheduler, etc. Implementing such features in Miss Silvia would reduce her simplicity and dependability at her current price. Rancilio elected to favor quality and simplicity over automation to keep Miss Silvia's at her current price. That reality bridges us back to my opening comment that whether or not this is a dream machine comes down to the operator. I personally find it no chore at all to repeatably pull excellent quality shots from Miss Silvia. That's not an easy feat with numerous machines considerably more expensive then she is. However, to get these results I've followed my nature to study and practice. I've learned over the years with other equipment what it takes to pull excellent shots of espresso. While the espresso machine certainly does matter, pulling excellent quality shots goes far beyond the espresso machine. One must put in the time to learn about different roasts of coffee, grinds and grinders, tamping and tampers, heat consistency, maintaining pressure, and how to properly apply all these important areas to pull an excellent quality shot of espresso. I've applied my experience to Miss Silvia and enjoy the process of doing so. After getting to know her for a couple of months I have no trouble whatsoever enjoying one smooth shot of espresso after another... all with Miss Silvia in her stock configuration. It's also not in my nature to blame a tool if it doesn't do the job it was designed to do. That statement assumes two things. 1.) The tool was designed to do a job a specific way at a specific level of quality. 2.) The person using the tool understands how to use the tool properly in order to get the best results possible from the tool. Miss Silvia was designed to pull repeatably excellent quality shots of espresso. So an inability to get such results is the fault of the operator not Miss Silvia. If you're a person who likes analogies let me put it another way. If a person owns a high-quality pen but has terrible penmanship, a vacuum of creative writing ability, sparse knowledge of grammar, and a limited vocabulary is it the pen's fault they cannot write an engaging story? No, it's not the fault of the pen. It's the fault of the writer. With Miss Silivia it's the operator's fault if they cannot pull a high quality shot of espresso. That's the truth. With that analogy in mind I highly recommend Miss Silvia. If you understand the art of pulling excellent shots of espresso and are willing to put in the time to learn who she is and how she works she won't disappoint you. However, I don't recommend Miss Silvia if you refuse to get to know and understand her, or to study and practice the science of pulling repeatably great shots of espresso. If you don't enjoy the process and are only interested automation you will blame Miss Silivia for your own lack of ability to pull quality shots from her, and she really is a fantastic machine. If you're an instant-gratificationist I'm afraid there is no silver bullet to pulling repeatably great shots of espresso from Miss Silvia. You need to go for a more expensive automatic machine. The truth is there is a lot to learn about pulling great shots of espresso regardless of the machine. Even the most expensive espresso machine on the market would confront you with challenges. Every machine has a personality and Miss Silvia is no exception. She is, however, and exceptionally well-made machine for the money. Enjoying her build quality is a matter of the person, not a matter of the machine. Hope this helps you make a buying decision. Read more
Sherlockian—January 19, 2018✓ Verified purchase
***UPDATE: I've had this machine for a little over a year now, and everything I said in the original review below still holds. I would like to add that regular maintenance of this machine is essential to keep it in good working order. Make sure you backflush regularly, de-scale (especially if you have hard water) and also clean out the grinder. I neglected to clean the grinder for the first 8 months and it was a mess to disassemble and pick out all the built-up coffee oils. So just make sure you do your regular maintenance on this machine and treat it nicely, and in return you can expect a consistently delicious espresso every time. PS: I finally mastered the oat milk latte....WORTH IT! Original Review below: _____________________ Ok, so I spend WAY too much money at the coffee shop. $5-6 per visit at my local shop, but why waste the money? I first started learning how to make 'proper' coffee back in 2013 with a DeLonghi Retro Bar32 that I picked up for about $75. Knowing very little, I initially struggled to figure out how to pull a good shot of espresso that wasn't watery or bitter. Most pre-ground coffee didn't work; but the experience did teach me how to operate a semi-manual machine, how to heat up the boiler, steam milk etc. etc. My biggest gripe was the milk steamer which didn't get me that nice microfoam and tended to make the milk more watery than anything. So, 4 years later (hat tip to the the DeLonghi for still going strong in 2018 btw!) I felt it was time to invest in something a little better. With an upper limit budget of $1000 and a LOT of research, I settled on the Rancilio Silvia. I understood the learning curve was steep but I wanted good coffee, darnit, and I was willing to work for it. Well, I've had the Silvia for a little bit over a month now, and I couldn't be more pleased. I purchased both the Silvia and Rocky doserless grinder at the same time from Cerini Coffee and Gifts in the Bronx (great seller!) and it arrived promptly and excellently packaged with a bonus lb of beans to get started! I now buy my beans from a local coffee roaster, and the Rocky grinder allows me to grind the freshest beans which I'm sure play greatly into the taste of the coffee. It took me some time to figure out the correct grinder setting that would get me the 2oz shot in 20-30 seconds with the right flavor, but once I got it 'dialed in' (coffee aficionado lingo for finding the right settings) it makes amazing coffee. My microfoam steaming skills are still under development, but I can make some great, thick cappuccino-style foam, which I generally dump on top of the finished product to generally delicious effect. Initially I considered getting the PID add-on for the machine, but honestly, after following the temperature surfing guidelines and paying attention to the lights, I've got it down to a pretty good system. Yes, the PID would probably satisfy my latent perfectionism, but I'm honestly getting a great cup of coffee without it. I just try to be as consistent as possible in terms of dosing, tamping and brew time and found this is a good combination. So, my vote is that the PID add-on is optional, a convenience but not essential. Note: For all you non-dairy drinkers out there, there's an additional learning curve to master: steaming non-dairy milk! Yay! But hang in there. After repeated practice, I find that I can get pretty good results with soy milk and most almond milks. Oat continues to be a challenge but one I'm committed to mastering because have you ever tried oat milk in a latte? (hint: it's delicious) For those who do prefer dairy, I've gotten the best results with cold 2% milk; however whole milk works too. Since this is already a significant financial investment in the machine, I would suggest also purchasing both a heavy tamper and a stainless steel milk foaming cup to complement your purchase. The tamp provided by Rancilio is plastic, and doesn't give the adequate pressure needed. The milk foaming pitcher helps you properly measure out and steam the right quantity of milk. In conclusion, I'm really happy with this machine. I only visit the coffee shop now to buy beans, and I enjoy making coffee for family and friends too! Yes, the initial outlay is expensive, but at $5-6 at the coffee shop, this is an investment that will pay for itself over time. Final note: For those on the fence about spending this money with no prior experience in coffee making - let me suggest starting with a lower-priced machine like a DeLonghi or similar and then getting a really good grinder. As a fun experiment, I made a latte on my old machine using the Rocky grinder, and it was pretty tasty! So, if you're not sure about spending a bunch of money on a machine, start with the grinder along with a lower-priced machine. The fresh-ground beans really make all the difference on any equipment. Read more
