Coffee Appreciation

My steamer wand seems to have stopped working. I only descaled about a month ago, and did a really through job then, so I'm wondering what the problem could be.

Normally once I've pulled a shot and pressed the steam button, the machine starts re-heating and steam starts coming out of the showerhead, which is generally when I start steaming. Now that doesn't seem to be happening at all. It has happened intermittently in the past, but now it doesn't seem to be working at all...

i'm selling my rancillio silvia yooooooo. if someone can take it off my hands this week they can have it for 160. it's got some slight cosmetic damage at the front but it works really nicely.

i'm only selling it because i don't use it at all and i'm buying a puppy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35962320@N03/3508746096/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35962320@N03/3507926071/

jesus, mate. your kitchen's a mess! cute dog though...

My steamer wand seems to have stopped working. I only descaled about a month ago, and did a really through job then, so I'm wondering what the problem could be.

Normally once I've pulled a shot and pressed the steam button, the machine starts re-heating and steam starts coming out of the showerhead, which is generally when I start steaming. Now that doesn't seem to be happening at all. It has happened intermittently in the past, but now it doesn't seem to be working at all...

I don't recall ever having steam exit the shower screen. But then I usually leave the portafilter in place when steaming. Is there any steam/water coming from the wand at all?

I don't recall ever having steam exit the shower screen. But then I usually leave the portafilter in place when steaming. Is there any steam/water coming from the wand at all?

Maybe a slight drip of water...

When I first got the machine, I would keep the portafilter on, since it seemed to help build up the pressure, but after a portafilter 'sneeze' I decided against it - it seemed to work just as well without anyway.

I'll probably end up stripping it down later anyway. The more I read up on this, the more I get the feeling that I'll never get a really good espresso out of the Cubika anyway, so it might be better just to cut my losses and sell it to pay for a new machine. Of course I'd like to get it working again first so I can actually sell it on...

Two machines just aren't enough.. do you deliver? ;)

Have you any experience with fitting a PID to one of these?

And here I am answering my own questions again..
http://www.murphyslawonline.com/silvia.html

yeah i can do, you're in chiswick or acton or something aren't you?

please note there's a bit of damage (small dent and scratches) on the front when my mother knocked it or something, i don't know. i wasn't living at home at the time. but it's all running nicely. i'll throw in some cleaning stuff, and see what other bits and bobs i can hustle up.

the photo isn't my kitchen, luckily. and yes my dog is beauuuuutiful

sorry lastly on PID's. i'm not amaammamazingly savy when it comes to engineering etc but i've been encouraged to but a PID in the silvia in the past it's meant to be pretty easy and there are tons and tons of internet walk throughs. can easily find you a couple of people to talk to if you were to get stuck. i'll dig up some youtube vids of people that have done is bizarre shit with their silvias

oops lastly the price of the machine is £150 didn't realised i'd hit the six instead!

Stir it before you tamp it..
http://www.home-barista.com/weiss-distribution-technique-steps.html

Ross, cheers. I think I'm going to stick with just the Bezzera for now.
I wasn't so happy with it but now I've got it on a timer to warm up properly and I've worked out the steaming technique I reckon I'll keep working with it to improve.
One day though, you mark my words, one day I'm going to have a machine with so many dials, gauges, meters, powertaps, gps, etc on it.. I could launch coffee to another planet. Screw the taste, it's all about the gizmos! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7pOfJTQ5Dg

i have a question. how much coffee is too much coffee?

shakes and twitches

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280347267845

"Stir it before you tamp it.."

I tried this, but found it to be a bit of a pain. I have a funnel made out of a plastic cup (like in the link) and generally just shake the basket around to break up the clumps and distribute a bit better.

That said, I have been having a lousy time with the latest batch of monmouth espresso beans. I got the regular espresso rather than the organic, and over 50% of my shots are either running right through and being watery, or are just too tight with nothing coming out at all without stupid pressure on the lever. I've done all the dicking around with grind and tamp etc, but they seem much more unforgiving than the organic espresso, where I managed to get the grind dialed in and then was pulling 95% decent shots.

Could it be the beans, or am I just a dick?

If you are, then so am I. At first I thought it was the grind, so went coarser, but the shot pulled to fast and the puck was soggy. Went back to the old grind and tamped less, and got a twenty second shot that blonded quickly. I'm at something of a middle ground now with all of the variables, but am getting more of a 'drip, drip, drip' that occasionally forms a stream, as opposed to a proper stream.

Although in my case the inconsistency probably points to crap barista skills...

Can you grind it finer?

what do you mean by stiring it before you tamp it? like mixing around all the grounds in the PF before tamping it? if so, don't do that.
if you're finding the differences in the grind huge (ie gushing, or barely coming out) then try playing with quantity of coffee instead of just grind. what grind are you using btw? i presumed it's stepped, yeah?

Ross, have a read of that link above. Some guy was raving about it. Weiss method or something.

Some twat has already bid on that machine..

I used the commercial two-group at my friend's bar-bistro last night, and even though I was having problems with my tamping, I was getting some of the smoothest espresso I'd had in a long time. Also made the best macchiato I've tasted...

I need a new machine don't I?

Also watched in a mixture of amusement and horror as their bar staff overdosed the basket and then didn't tamp - instant blonding - and they thought they were getting good crema...

I'm thinking of bringing the Gaggia (or the Rancillio when I win it :)) into the office.
Buying coffee or drinking filter coffee while at work thinking about my machine at home is fucked up.
Only problem is controlling its use - you KNOW no bastard will ever clean it or treat it like their own if I set it up in the kitchen. I could make the casing electrically live so anyone who touches it is found in a quivering, charred mess on the floor.. but OHS might argue with this.

Hmm...

I've just had an awesome coffee at Hurwundeki on Cambridge Heath Rd. It's just opened, think they have the same supplier as Square Mile Coffee or summat. Really cool place check it out.

Square Mile Coffee IS a supplier.. they be roasters innit.

Stop bidding on that Rancillio bastards! I kill you!

screw the kitchen, couldn't you just keep the gaggia (or ranilio) on your desk? Or in a big drawer, Or maybe in a filing cabinet, which you could lock.

I have to say, having my own machine has pretty much ruined coffee for me as the costabucks espresso is really not doing it for me any more.

I thought about keeping it on my desk. Could just walk to the kitchen now and then with the drip tray. But it's a bit noisy (like I'm not already louder) and the water and milk is in the kitchen.. you know it's just easier to make a big coffee-related mess in the kitchen.
Maybe I could just get everyone else in the office evicted?

Coming from Melbourne meant that all London chain store coffee was shit anyway so I had no probs adjusting. I'd drink my instant coffee than spend cash on a lot of costabucks efforts. Mmmm.. instant coffee and ice cream.. mmm..

ok, so you keep the machine in the kitchen, but you keep the portafilter in your desk. Bingo, the machine is useless to everyone except you because YOU HOLD THE KEY.

That's genius (or I'm daft). Thanks

I'm not bidding any more on that Rancillio.. it's going for more than I coulda got it off here so for that, I'm out. Sorry Ross :)