Day 0 with the Rancilio Silvia

Got it delivered today at the office, it was a cold and rainy ride home on my Lambretta with the macchina per caffe strapped to the back.

This machine reminds me a lot of the Italian motorscooters I’ve got — very straightforward, mostly hand-built Italian engineering; finicky but durable when set up right. Frankly, compared to the plastic crap most companies put out and put on a $100-$300 price tag, this machine feels like a tank. It came with a little receipt that certifies that SABRINA in Villastanza di Parabiago ran five machine tests before the machine was packed. Nice.

The first two liquids I made weren’t coffee (in color, consistency or flavor), but I am approaching something like coffee with the third and fourth liquids. I have good feelings about what I might make tomorrow morning before work. Things are improving the more closely I follow the advice on technique gathered from The Internets. I think I’m going to use the double portafilter since I tend to mostly drink milkless doubles anyway…