Combined with the Breville Bar Aroma and fresh beans, this is one mean espresso making machine.
Positive Product Points
Really Cheap Real Espresso for under 100$ CAN
Negative Product Points
Temperature Stability Almost useless steaming
Detailed Commentary
Well I read lots about this puppy. Wanted a Silvia/Rocky combo but was too poor. Decided to try it after so many people on CoffeeGeek said it actually worked ok. Bought with a Breville BarAroma. I used some fresh roasted beans (24hours old) in the Breville set to Turkish grind (yeah right). I then proceeded to loosely fill portafilter with grinds and then tamp the crap out of it. Based on suggestions around here, pressed the steam switch and waited for some seconds and then hit the brew button. 80%+ crema right off the bat during the pour. With 10-30% after 2 minutes. Even got some tiger striping!
Have to be careful of the steam switch, can make the shot bitter if you over do it. Ran through 10 shots on the first day, all 80%+ crema. It's so easy to pull shots w/ crema on this thing. The included "instructional" video is mostly useless. I followed the Silvia temp surf video that I think Mark Prince did, and that's what gave me success. After all this I'm convinced that fresh beans and a super good tamp are essential to maximum crema. Temp stability negatively influences flavour however. More experimentation is needed in that regard.
Already ordered cheap Chinese PID to attempt to make the temp surfing a thing of the past.
I haven't tried steaming milk yet, not really sure if I can find a milk jug small enough!!
Buying Experience
It's Future Shop, walked in, grabbed box, got offered extended warranty, and walked out.
