What's new

Incoming Espresso Machine for my Birthday!

Ha, too late. I've been on his channel for a couple weeks. Also, I remembered where I saw one of those Decent machines (although didn't realize what it was) it was sitting on Lance Hedrick's countertop in one of his videos. I saw that screen and thought what is that Tesla-looking thing, something he jimmied up and modded?
😆
I hope you have seen the very recent video on the predecessor to the Decent, it was really interesting.
 
So I've always been a drip coffee kinda guy and only had the pleasure of drinking espresso when out and about.
Although after trying an Aeropress for about six months, my game has definitely been upped a notch or two.

Anyway, about a month or two back, this idea sorta keeps swirling through my mind, " You really need to bite the bullet and get an espresso machine. Don't you want to be sitting on your porch drinking an espresso like Tony Soprano outside the pork shop? Just a few more years until retirement (hopefully) and less chance of a luxury purchase then. You know how you like binging the streaming services... think how much better that could be with an espresso, a flatwhite or latte."

On and on, over and over. The seed was planted and germinating. Like a splinter in the back of my mind or a tiny hole in a tooth with a broken filling that you can't keep your tongue off of.

So I started heavy researching the subject about a month ago. Reading, reading, youtube, etc. Almost information overload. At first I was just going to get a Bambino but I come from the buy once/cry once school so after more research, I decided I wanted something more prosumer that would last a long time and could be easily serviced.

So I finally settled on the Italian made Quick Mill Silvano Evo. It has a boiler for the brew side and thermo block heat for the milk steaming side. PID temp control w/ shot timer, bar gauge for brew pressure and the OPV can be adjusted externally. It seems to be a nice solid machine and - the wife has agreed - the perfect birthday present for my 61st next month (if I pay half, haha). So it is pre-ordered and should arrive at port around the 15th, then another 7-10 days to clear customs afterwhich it will be shipped to me by the dealer. Hopefully, by July 2nd (birthday) but if a bit later, no biggie.

So fellow beanheads, I may have a lot of questions after that time about cleaning, backflushing and yes, brewing. Have pity on a newb. Hope I don't drive you nuts but man O man, I am super chuffed over this machine. Maybe I can learn to do that cool latte art like @Leverspro

Congrats, a brilliant present! Espresso's definitely a deep rabbit hole though... It's essentially the SR shaving of the coffee world, and can be a bit daunting. Tricky especially to begin with, but great when you get it right. The K-Pro is an excellent grinder (I use the similar JX Pro at work) - so you'll be able to make very good coffee with your setup.

James Hoffman is correct when he says that immersion brewing is superior to percolation. Mainly because perc offers far more opportunities to mess things up. Espresso is the most intensive percolation method we currently have - high water temps and pressures, to extract what you're hoping will be at least acceptable in a very short timeframe. For good espresso, you need to do a fair bit of work. Both literally in terms of the temps and pressures mentioned above, and metaphorically in your attention to detail and process control.

The good news though is once you've practiced (maybe for a few years hahaha), watched countless YouTube videos, read into the science of coffee extraction, asked numerous questions on forums and sorted the good advice from the bad-but-well-intentioned, you'll probably be a pretty good barista and happy with your shots. If you stick with just one source and roast level of coffee, this state of nirvana will probably arrive sooner, but you won't be as adaptable. Swings & roundabouts.

Buy good quality beans right from the off. No amount of RDT / WDT / distributing / tamping will correct for bad beans. So use decent quality stuff right from the start, and you won't be chasing your tail more than you need to.

Use a 0.1g+ scale so you can consistently measure input (bean weight) and output (espresso yield). The Decent scale @APBinNCA mentions will be, well, decent. On my setups I use £12 Brifit jewelers ones that have worked great for a couple of years now.

It sounds as if you like Italian things, so I'm guessing you like that style of coffee? Mid to dark roast, that classic coffee taste, works well in milky drinks like flat whites, cappucinos or cortados... For this, ristretto and standard espresso ratios are usually better (anywhere from 1:1 to 2:1 bean to yield ratio). Plus, pulling a mid-to-dark ristretto is about as Italian as coffee gets :c2:

On portafilters and baskets, as others have said a naked PF is very helpful in detecting issues with your puck prep. IMS, VST, La Marzocco and Decent all make qood baskets. Some say ridgeless is better, I don't think it makes the slightest difference. Like @Lightcs1776 I like a big triple shot every now and then, and few non-naked PFs will accommodate such a big filter. Regardless, get baskets to closely match your intended dose, otherwise you will have mess. You can definitely pull ristrettos with a dry puck, but you'll need a smaller basket than you'd usually use for that dose. I use a 16g basket for an 18g dose ristretto, I pull 1.5:1 for a 27g yield. It packs a flavour punch and is noticeably thicker-bodied than standard espresso.

Anyway I ramble on. Enjoy your present, and keep us updated on your progress. Happy coffees!
 
Congrats, a brilliant present! Espresso's definitely a deep rabbit hole though... It's essentially the SR shaving of the coffee world, and can be a bit daunting. Tricky especially to begin with, but great when you get it right. The K-Pro is an excellent grinder (I use the similar JX Pro at work) - so you'll be able to make very good coffee with your setup.

James Hoffman is correct when he says that immersion brewing is superior to percolation. Mainly because perc offers far more opportunities to mess things up. Espresso is the most intensive percolation method we currently have - high water temps and pressures, to extract what you're hoping will be at least acceptable in a very short timeframe. For good espresso, you need to do a fair bit of work. Both literally in terms of the temps and pressures mentioned above, and metaphorically in your attention to detail and process control.

The good news though is once you've practiced (maybe for a few years hahaha), watched countless YouTube videos, read into the science of coffee extraction, asked numerous questions on forums and sorted the good advice from the bad-but-well-intentioned, you'll probably be a pretty good barista and happy with your shots. If you stick with just one source and roast level of coffee, this state of nirvana will probably arrive sooner, but you won't be as adaptable. Swings & roundabouts.

Buy good quality beans right from the off. No amount of RDT / WDT / distributing / tamping will correct for bad beans. So use decent quality stuff right from the start, and you won't be chasing your tail more than you need to.

Use a 0.1g+ scale so you can consistently measure input (bean weight) and output (espresso yield). The Decent scale @APBinNCA mentions will be, well, decent. On my setups I use £12 Brifit jewelers ones that have worked great for a couple of years now.

It sounds as if you like Italian things, so I'm guessing you like that style of coffee? Mid to dark roast, that classic coffee taste, works well in milky drinks like flat whites, cappucinos or cortados... For this, ristretto and standard espresso ratios are usually better (anywhere from 1:1 to 2:1 bean to yield ratio). Plus, pulling a mid-to-dark ristretto is about as Italian as coffee gets :c2:

On portafilters and baskets, as others have said a naked PF is very helpful in detecting issues with your puck prep. IMS, VST, La Marzocco and Decent all make qood baskets. Some say ridgeless is better, I don't think it makes the slightest difference. Like @Lightcs1776 I like a big triple shot every now and then, and few non-naked PFs will accommodate such a big filter. Regardless, get baskets to closely match your intended dose, otherwise you will have mess. You can definitely pull ristrettos with a dry puck, but you'll need a smaller basket than you'd usually use for that dose. I use a 16g basket for an 18g dose ristretto, I pull 1.5:1 for a 27g yield. It packs a flavour punch and is noticeably thicker-bodied than standard espresso.

Anyway I ramble on. Enjoy your present, and keep us updated on your progress. Happy coffees!

Yes, but your rambling is packed with useful advice. I love it. I need to study more on this subject of bean to yield ratio and your example is quite helpful, as is all the other. Thanks for sharing and yes, I do prefer medium to dark roast.
 
Congrats :)
of course as sure you have read know good fresh beans and grinder are also important :)
I recently quit drinking espresso :) but had a Elektra A3 beast I loved and also a manual cafelat robot
compared to shaving shaving is a cheap hobby :) hahahahah

reckon my 30+ year former espresso nut side says play practice buy good beans and enjoy the journey :)
as for the rest of it backflush and clean etc. is actually pretty easy
When RDT and WDT become the norm I do think those can help quite a bit but again as said in above also good beans are the key and good grinder makes a difference its a rabbit hole for sure
BUT start and have fun again have fun :) I think many get caught up to much in the prep and tiny toys and forget its also about the experience

sitting in a tiny cafe in Italy with a great view from a guy that quickly ground and pulled a shot most likely will be better than one in a coffee nerds house who thinks to hard on it so like shaving the experience is a huge thing
I love my certain mugs/cups things to drink from as that is also part of the fun and prefer flat grinders for some and conical for others and once in a while I likes a moka pot from some quality italian bag beans just because of the history
like shaving to me its the ritual of measuring and grinding and prep and OH the flavor of your own the way you learn to do it can never be replicated once you master it

again great machine and sure you will love and enjoy it
downside between shaving and espresso your day should start at 5 am so you can be out the door buy 9am :) ahhahaah kinda a joke but not really :)
 
Congrats :)
of course as sure you have read know good fresh beans and grinder are also important :)
I recently quit drinking espresso :) but had a Elektra A3 beast I loved and also a manual cafelat robot
compared to shaving shaving is a cheap hobby :) hahahahah

reckon my 30+ year former espresso nut side says play practice buy good beans and enjoy the journey :)
as for the rest of it backflush and clean etc. is actually pretty easy
When RDT and WDT become the norm I do think those can help quite a bit but again as said in above also good beans are the key and good grinder makes a difference its a rabbit hole for sure
BUT start and have fun again have fun :) I think many get caught up to much in the prep and tiny toys and forget its also about the experience

sitting in a tiny cafe in Italy with a great view from a guy that quickly ground and pulled a shot most likely will be better than one in a coffee nerds house who thinks to hard on it so like shaving the experience is a huge thing
I love my certain mugs/cups things to drink from as that is also part of the fun and prefer flat grinders for some and conical for others and once in a while I likes a moka pot from some quality italian bag beans just because of the history
like shaving to me its the ritual of measuring and grinding and prep and OH the flavor of your own the way you learn to do it can never be replicated once you master it

again great machine and sure you will love and enjoy it
downside between shaving and espresso your day should start at 5 am so you can be out the door buy 9am :) ahhahaah kinda a joke but not really :)

Hah! A great post... pragmatic and useful with a dash of humor. Thank you
 
Congratulations! Also, sympathy.

Espresso is the fiddliest of ways to brew coffee. If you get it just right, it's ambrosia. A little wrong, it's...still good. But once you taste the ambrosia, it's hard to not spend your life seeking it.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
So I've always been a drip coffee kinda guy and only had the pleasure of drinking espresso when out and about.
Although after trying an Aeropress for about six months, my game has definitely been upped a notch or two.

Anyway, about a month or two back, this idea sorta keeps swirling through my mind, " You really need to bite the bullet and get an espresso machine. Don't you want to be sitting on your porch drinking an espresso like Tony Soprano outside the pork shop? Just a few more years until retirement (hopefully) and less chance of a luxury purchase then. You know how you like binging the streaming services... think how much better that could be with an espresso, a flatwhite or latte."

On and on, over and over. The seed was planted and germinating. Like a splinter in the back of my mind or a tiny hole in a tooth with a broken filling that you can't keep your tongue off of.

So I started heavy researching the subject about a month ago. Reading, reading, youtube, etc. Almost information overload. At first I was just going to get a Bambino but I come from the buy once/cry once school so after more research, I decided I wanted something more prosumer that would last a long time and could be easily serviced.

So I finally settled on the Italian made Quick Mill Silvano Evo. It has a boiler for the brew side and thermo block heat for the milk steaming side. PID temp control w/ shot timer, bar gauge for brew pressure and the OPV can be adjusted externally. It seems to be a nice solid machine and - the wife has agreed - the perfect birthday present for my 61st next month (if I pay half, haha). So it is pre-ordered and should arrive at port around the 15th, then another 7-10 days to clear customs afterwhich it will be shipped to me by the dealer. Hopefully, by July 2nd (birthday) but if a bit later, no biggie.

So fellow beanheads, I may have a lot of questions after that time about cleaning, backflushing and yes, brewing. Have pity on a newb. Hope I don't drive you nuts but man O man, I am super chuffed over this machine. Maybe I can learn to do that cool latte art like @Leverspro
We have two DeLonghi Magnifica superautos, one the compact model that I kept on the boat, and the full size one, that we bought forr the house. Mrs. McCoy makes me a nice quad shot cappuccino every morning and it brings great joy to my life to see the layers in a nice glass mug, inhale the intoxicating aroma, and sip the velvety goodness. We have them set up perfectly for our taste. The smaller one is now over 5 years old and still works great, never even changed the O rings yet. Of course we use distilled water and still we descale regularly. Somehow she broke the steam valve and so she broke off some of the housing so she could get to the valve shaft with a pair of pliers. I molded up a new handle for it out of JB Weld. It's ragged but right! Our daily driver until the wheels fall off! Honestly without a way to make a good cappuccino I would probably just drink beer in the morning instead of coffee. You are gonna LOVE having a good espresso machine.
 
Top Bottom