Silvia & Rocky - other options?

Munster Gal

I've been lurking here for a little while trying to decide what set up to buy my husband for a 40th birthday present. I had my mind made up on the Silvia+Rocky set up but the only thing putting me off is the warm up time. Is there anything else comparable which doesn't take as long to get ready. My husband is mainly an espresso drinker and while we would probably make the odd cappucino it wouldn't be top of our list of priorities. The budget is around €800 but could push it a little ut would prefer not to! Any advice is gratefully received!!

RE*AC*TOR

I'd say stick with the Silvia anyway.

The length of heat up time is proportional to the size pf the boiler. A smaller boiler would heat up quicker but is also less temperature stable during the shot, as cold water enters to replace the hot brew water. This can negatively affect the quality of your shots, which if you are thinking of spending €800, I would imagine is important to you.

The single boiler (nonHX market) is full of mediocre machines, poorly designed machines. Unless you want to bump up to a QuickMill Alexia (or one of the other names it goes by), I'd stick with the Silvia.

On the grinder front, the Rocky will do a good job.

For my money I'd buy a Macap M4 Stepless (with doser). I think it's a great value machine at €379. It's a class above the Rocky, in terms of build, burr size, adjustment, grind quality.

No doubt someone will suggest the Iberital MC2 for £100. Personally I find worm drive conicals to be a little frustrating to adjust, but if you can master it, it's probably the best value espresso grinder on the market.

One last thing, do the Silvia OPV mod. Make sure you're brewing at the right pressure. It makes a big difference to taste.

This is a good demo of how to use the machine also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhxvDusY3jk

Mr Magnolia

I have the Macap MC4 myself. It does retain a lot of grinds, most machines do though so don't be put off. Make sure you get some cheap coffee to dial in whichever grinder you buy and some great coffee to start off with. Keep us informed

rockbeer

I posted this link in another thread recently but perhaps you didn't see it. So here once again are instructions on how to get the Silvia from stone cold to brewing temperature in 5 minutes 26 seconds.

Great espresso has to be worth five minutes of anyone's time!

kencleary

For that sort of money though why not go for a cheap HX machine like the Oscar or somesuch. Should just come to €800 for one of those and a Rocky.

http://www.coffeecrew.com/content/view/414/27/

RE*AC*TOR

kencleary wrote: »

For that sort of money though why not go for a cheap HX machine like the Oscar or somesuch. Should just come to €800 for one of those and a Rocky.

http://www.coffeecrew.com/content/view/414/27/

If you don't mind brewing at 15 bar pressure, or have the ability to retrofit an OPV into the Oscar - sure - go ahead.

Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.

rockbeer

Silvia + Rocky set is €694 from http://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/ including delivery. You'll struggle to match that price for an HX machine worth owning.

Munster Gal

rockbeer wrote: »

Silvia + Rocky set is €694 from http://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/ including delivery. You'll struggle to match that price for an HX machine worth owning.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and rockbeer thanks for the link, it looks like Silvia & Rocky is the way to go. If left to my own devices I probably would have bought a basic bean to cup machine but reading through the threads here I'm now convinced a decent grinder and machine are the way to go. I'm hoping the 5 minute cheat will make more sense once the machine is in front of me!!