Espresso at Home

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Been using Silvia for like 10 years... Not as stable temps as I would like, but no complaints on the espresso. Replaced a few parts and is still going strong.

I do see a replacement on the horizon, distant horizon. Or as my girlfriend says "Put on the list..."

The Rancilio Silvia was the grail for home espresso for many years. As bigger, heavier, fancier-schmancier more temp. stable machines started getting attention for home use (at half-again or more the price of a Silvia) some of the gloss fell off "old reliable."

Then the smart coffee-dweeb boys starting putting PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) controllers on their Silvias for much less than the price of a fancy-schmancy new brewer and claimed results equal to perfection. What's not to like about perfection? Add $300 to a very good machine and have a perfect machine.

I have considered putting a PID unit on my Oscar now that some pioneers have shown the same results can get had with PID'd heat-exchanger espresso brewers, too. The coffee has been fine but, again, what's so wrong with perfection?