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 Disappointing construction Jul 02, 2010
I read several positive reviews about the Rancilio Silvia and almost two years ago I finally bought a brand new one (from another vendor). The machine makes good coffee, however, after 18 months I noticed creases in the metal around the lip of the head assembly. More creases and bubbles appeared, and then the metal foil separated. I have never used any chemicals to clean the machine, only a wet cloth. Now the machine is an eyesore, and Rancilio Silvia doesn't consider the problem as covered by their warranty. I am very disappointed, and will not buy another Rancilio product again. Maybe the machine I received was defective, in which case I think that Rancilio should have agreed to repair it.
 Top-notch restaurant quality coffee in the home. Oct 22, 2009
The Rancilio Silvia 2009 model is a hands-on coffee machine for people who want to learn the art of espresso making. I almost bought a Solis Sl70 after reading the excellent reviews on CoffeeGeek, but choose this for the commercial parts availability, the stainless steel housing and the larger 58mm portafilter. I am not disappointed. The 2009 Silvia has a 3-hole steam nozzle which makes hot water dispensing a little tricky at first, but it makes for excellent steaming of milk and with a little care hot water is easy too. My only complaint is the small drip tray which needs regular emptying despite my use of a small plastic tray to catch most drips.
 Great Machine, but takes practice, patience and lots of Beans Oct 02, 2009
Great machine, but don't expect to take it out of the box and be pulling great shots the same day. I was a little cocky after using my Starbucks Batista for a couple of years and could pull amazing shots consistently. It took at least 50-75 try's before I made an acceptable espresso with the Rancilio and needed to get out a screwdriver and wrench to decrease the pump pressure before it happened (easier then it sounds, instructions in the manual). The rap with the Rancilio is you almost need to be a professional to pull great shots consistently. If you're looking for the easy road spend $3000 for a think-free machine or drive to a good coffee shop. If you are looking to master a craft, Rancilio will force you to study beans, grinds, tamper techniques, etc. Very rewarding once you get the hang of it...
Difficult to get used to but worth the effort Jul 27, 2009
I have sitting right next to me the second generation Rancillio Silvia, I have owned it for about a year now.
I have owned 6 different expresso machines- mostly low to middle end machines since I started making espresso at home. I strongly recommend the Rancillio Silvia to any home barista or speciality coffee enthusiast in the market for a middle to lower-high end machine. Upon unpacking it from the box, you will find very quickly that this machine is built very well and has a feel that much consideration and engineering has gone into its design. When I was in the market, this machine was described to me as being "built like a tank"- I agree with this statement whole heartedly.
The title that I have chosen for this review suggests that the Silvia takes a little getting used to. Like any espresso machine(especially manual machines), this machine has quirks that you have to learn to work with. Learning the proper espresso grind and tamping pressure is a skill that only experience can teach- the learning curve for me was about a month or two, but I now have this beast tamed and enjoy cafe quality espresso whenever I want, for only the cost of the beans, milk, water and electricity to run the machine (Which all works out to cost less than a latte at Starbucks).
The stainless steel construction ensures that the machine functions both as a coffee maker and a piece of eye candy, while promising an easy surface cleaning. Cleaning the brew head and portafilter is simple as well, just lightly scrub the brew head with a brush to loosen and remaining grinds, knock out the espresso pod and run some water from the brew head to rinse out the portafilter.
On the "negative" the drip tray is a little small, so if you want to run water into the drip tray, be sure to empty it frequently- this has never been a problem for me.
The steam wand produces high pressure steam and tends to squirt out water initially, so make sure you blow out the water into an empty cup before steaming your milk.
The other downside (a consequence of its price range), is that it only has one boiler tank, so you have to pull shots and steam milk separately. Since pulling shots and boiling for steam occur at different temperatures, this means you have a delay between the two. (Again, this is a consequence of the price range- two boilers would be nice, but personally I cannot afford a double boiler machine).
All things considered, I would definitely purchase this machine again and do recommend it to others. The shot quality makes the machine worth every penny of its price.
I purchased this machine concurrently with the Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder(I bought the version with the plastic exterior- it was about $70-$80 where I bought it, there is also a stainless steel version for about $130) and find that the grind between the upper end of the "Extra Fine" gauge and the lower end of the "Fine" gauge yields a perfect grind for the Rancillio Silva (I just saved you the headache of finding the right grind).
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Shiny and Solid Mar 26, 2009
The Rancilio is an excellent machine for the price. It exudes solid, shiny reliability, and makes a fine espresso too. I use it with a bottomless portafilter from Chris Coffee, which I recommend as well.
If you had to outfit an Italian battleship, the Rancilio is the machine you would want to pick for the officer's cappuccino lounge. It would fit in very well with all that stainless steel. And why not buy two more for the crew?
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