Rancilio Silvia

A bit of practice required – See Dom’s review above (awesome machine. Get a PID. Patience.) - a very good summary. I’ve had a V1 since 2005 and still going strong. Besides adding a PID, I upgraded the shower screen plus a steam arm from a later version. Show details

Rancilio Silvia Rewards Patience – Do you dream of waking up, making a quick cappuccino before reading the paper or browsing facebook? If so, then the Rancilio Silvia is NOT the machine for you. What you're after is a coffee appliance, like a Nespresso machine, and not a robust coffee machine at the tail end of the prosumer market. Coffee Machine or Appliance? There's nothing… Read more

wrong with a coffee appliances and I was very happy with my Nespresso. A difference, usually, is not in features or even coffee ability, but in the control a barista has over inputs leading to the coffee output, which in my case are espressos.

For example, making a coffee using a Nespresso appliance involves placing in a pod, positioning a cup, and pressing a button. The variables such as water temperature, coffee type or flow control are usually quite limited. This is true even of expensive coffee appliances, such as the Jura bean-to-cup models.

Coffee machines, from the Rancilio Silvia to the high end prosumer models, such as the Slayer Espresso or La Marzocco Linea Mini, usually have a different, more engaging workflow. Often, although not always, the barista grinds coffee, fills a coffee filter basket in a portafilter, choses or controls brew pressures and temperatures, plus brewing time and, if possible, the volume of water passing through the coffee. Usually, the more expensive the coffee machine, the greater the control over variables - sometimes to astounding levels such as machines like the Decent DE1PRO .

All of which brings me to the Rancilio Silvia. If the Decent DE1PRO or La Marzocca are at the pointy end of the prosumer coffee machines, then the Rancilio Silvia is at the start.

What Do You Get in the Package? The Rancilio Silvia v6's body is constructed from stainless steel, including the frame, which is an improvement over prior versions that used iron frames susceptible to rust. The Silvia has a single boiler and group made of brass, which means you can brew an espresso or steam; but not at the same time. The boiler has a 300ml capacity and is feed by a 2 litre water tank from the back. The group is designed for the same 58mm portafilter as expected from a commercial-grade machine.

Similar to the Gaggia Classic Pro, against which it is often compared, it has a 3-way solenoid valve to relieve portafilter pressure after pulling a shot. This prevents 'portafilter sneeze' and overly soggy used coffee pucks post-brewing. While the Gaggia Classic has two thermostats (brew and steam), the Silvia has three - brew, steam and safety (cuts the power if the boiler reaches 165°C). There are also three buttons; one for brewing espresso; one for steaming milk; and one to release hot/boiling water from the steam wand. On the body, there's also a tiny, but removable drip tray - more on this later.

The accessories are a hefty 58mm dual spout portafilter, 16gm and 8gm filter baskets, a metal 58mm Tamper and a plastic dosing spoon.

OK, Then - Just How Good Is It? The main reason I replaced my Gaggia Classic Pro with the Rancilio Silvia is boiler capacity. This is the Silvia's strength and weakness over the Gaggia. Whereas my old Gaggia Classic Pro had a 100ml aluminium boiler, the Silver has a 300ml brass boiler. While the difference for one or two espressos is negligible, the Silvia's greater capacity comes in handy for steaming. The main problem with the Gaggia is it would run out of oomph steaming for more than two cappuccinos, but the Silvia will happily steam my 3-4 cup milk pitcher, which is ideal for the change in life style that approaching retirement gives (more dinner parties, like when we were younger; and most people like a cappuccino after a meal).

But the larger boiler also makes hitting ideal brewing temperatures an art. So much so, the term 'temperature surfing' is often applied to the Silvia -- and to an extent the Gaggia. This is where the home barista controls, through heating the boiler via the steam function or cooling it by passing water through the group, the temperature of the water coming through the coffee. Too hot or cold will often make the resultant espresso somewhat less.

If the Gaggia was challenging to temperature surf, the Silvia is the same challenge multiplied. Often, in order to maintain constant temperatures, people will install a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller. This works in the same manner as the older cruise controls, which apply or decrease inputs depending on sensor readings of the output. There is a thriving aftermarket for both Gaggia and Silvia PID controllers; but I decided against both. In a similar manner to some who fly fish, I prefer to chase the correct temperature as part of the expertise of being a home barista. But, and just saying, you don't have to if you don't want to, and PIDs are available for the Silvia.

So, after watching a number of YouTube videos on temperature surfing, and a bit of experimentation, I found the routine that pulls good shots with plenty of texture and clarity. Whether they are better than my Gaggia is debatable. I suspect I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test; but this is good. It means I get more steam power without sacrificing espresso quality.

Finally, on the upsides, it's a weighty machine made from good quality components. The manual has instructions on how to adjust brew pressures by turning bolts attached to the OPV (over pressure valve), but the Silvia does not have a pressure gauge. So, if you want to reduce the pressure from 15 bars at the pump and (about) 12-13 at the group, to 9 bars at the group, then you will want to buy a gauge - I've a static pressure gauge - or estimate using the water volume/blind filter method.

Yeah, But What About The Downsides? Earlier I wrote about the drip tray and this is a sore point. It is both smaller than the Gaggia's and the frame has a small lip one needs to raise the drip tray over. The Gaggia, for example, has no such lip and slids out with having to tilt the tray, but for the Silvia I nearly had two messy experiences. The small drip tray would not be so much of a problem if it slid out.

There is no level indicator for the water tank in the back. Again, the Gaggia's tank level was visible from the front, but unless you're in the habit of checking every time you use the Silvia, its lack of water level visibility may catch one out. This, by the way, is particularly important since the heating element is inside the boiler and will break if there's no water in the boiler.

To conclude on the downsides, the package is lacking a few items. The first is a proper blind filter for back flushing. Instead, Rancilio provide a plastic disk that one places inside the 8gm basket. The impression is one of cheapness and oddity, particularly since they include a 58 mm metal tamp. Likewise, the dosing spoon is laughably plastic and the less said the better.

Maintenance If you get the Silvia from new or if it hasn't been used in a while, then you will need to prime the boiler. That is, fill it with water. The heating element is in the boiler itself and if there's not enough water then it will fail and require an expensive replacement. There are instructions that come with the Silvia, but in essence you fill the tank in back, open the steam valve, and run the pump for hot water until about 600mls of water passes through to a jug. You must also prime the boiler after steaming and, in the morning before I make my espressos, I run about 300mls through the group just to be sure.

There are routines to keep the group clean. After my morning espressos, I usually wipe the group and O-ring with a chux; pass about 100mls of water, and then do two back flushes without detergent. On the weekend, I will perform a back flushing routine with detergent. I bought some descaling powder for brass boilers, and intend to descale every 2 months as per my Gaggia. Canberra is a soft water area, so more frequent descaling is usually not required.

Caveats For my Gaggia I bought scales, precision VST coffee baskets, and a naked portafilter. The baskets and scales transferred to the Silvia, but I had to buy the Rancilio naked portafilters, which is shown on one of the photographs. None of these came standard with the Silvia, but are well worth it.

Conclusions I've pulled some out-of-this-world espresso shots, and some duds, but 98% of the time I pull excellent, well textured shots with complex flavours and little, if any, sourness. This machine is not an appliance, it's a hobby, and an excellent choice for the newly minted coffee enthusiast. It will reward patience in learning a coffee craft, and will last many years with care and maintenance.

Great home espresso machine! – Really cant complain about anything with this machine. Been a barista for 10 years, and this machines easy to use. Get the weight and grind setting sorted and the shots run consistently, especially if you temperature surf to get the right temp each shot. Steam pressure is great, if you follow the instructions on using the machine correctly and… Read more

doing maintenance after each use/once a week it will last you a long time.

Its loud when compared to commercial machines, but quieter than your average kettle. Great shots, silky milk (oat milk pictured), quick clean up. Absolute winner!

Great machine with high consistency! PID – -My machine is the V5 with installed PID controller (takes the variability out of both temperature and pouring the shot). -I've installed the machine in my office and would estimate that it pours at least 20 shots per week with it and I have not had the machine for almost exactly 1 year. I use it with a Breville BCG800 grinder and fresh locally… Read more

roasted coffee.

I have read some of the other reviews and will comment on some of the items they've raised.

Positives: Firstly, I was a bit hesitant to spend this much on a machine as an upgrade to my Breville, but wow am I glad I did. The PID is completely programmable so I can adjust the temperature, infusion, shot duration and steaming temperature. It has allowed me to dial the machine in for a perfect shot with the coffee I use. I prefer the coffee from this machine to almost any cafe in town and would recommend it to anyone who is serious about their coffee. Milk frothing is perfect and the machine always has enough pressure as the boiler temperature is displayed on the front of the PID. Just thinking about it makes be want to pour another shot.

Negatives: (reason for only 4 stars in my review) -base rust has been an issue with my machine as well, even though it is custom powder coated. -steam wand and pour spouts are a bit low if you use large mugs or frothing pitchers -drip tray is small and easy to spill, it fills after pouring/frothing 2x Flat Whites. -water tank has no level indicator so manually checking it to ensure there is enough must become part of your routine.

Summary: Even though it lacks some of the simple "bells and whistles" found on far more inexpensive machines made from plastic, it is a robust and solid unit that easily produces cafe quality coffee with high consistency. To those other reviewers who have issues with theirs, please contact me as I will buy your machine. It is commercial quality build, meaning that repair is always possible (I like the comparison to a Harley Davidson another reviewer mentioned). The PID adds so much control to the machine it is worth every penny. That PID paired with a consistent high quality grinder and local, carefully roasted coffee is a recipe for success.

A practical, robust, no-nonsense espresso machine – My review relates to the Rancilio V6 (2020). Per the headline, this certainly is a practical, robust, and no-nonsense espresso machine. You can't go much more basic without getting something that doesn't have a pump (or ended any electrical at all). This machine will certainly win no beauty contests (eye of the beholder maybe?), is noisy, and you… Read more

really need to drive it properly to get the best out of it. It is, however, capable of pulling some truly exceptional shots of espresso for the truly skilled practitioners - but for the rest of us it will still do very nicely indeed.

Like many who have picked up one of these machines, I am a budding enthusiast. I've never really consumed coffee much, but was recently exposed to pod machines, and decided that I didn't mind a coffee with steamed milk in it at all! After a little research I decided that pod machines were too wasteful, and wouldn't provide the best experience anyway. I jumped in with a cheap semi-auto machine, and enthusiastically began to learn to pull a half decent shot from it every day.

Sadly, the cheap machine developed a leak around the steam wand joint after a month or so of use. I decided it probably would only get worse, so I arranged a return. By this time, my wife realised that I was getting some pleasure out of my new 'hobby' (one which she enjoyed the fruits of), and so she suggested I get something better. I proposed the Gaggia, available around the $700 (AUD) mark. She had been doing her own research and asked why not the Silvia. The Silvia was about $400 more at the time, so I was quite surprised, but her rationale was that we should be buying a machine for the long-run. We were a little concerned by the number of Silvia’s we saw on the secondhand market with rusted frames (particularly around the water tray), but further investigation revealed that Rancilio moved to a stainless steel frame for the V6, so we went ahead and ordered the Silvia V6 ‘M’.

Had a bit of a false start with the Silvia, as we somehow ended up with the E model (initially) instead of the M as ordered. I was going to settle for this, but found that the machine had a leaking tank and, since it had also obviously been repackaged at some point, the supplier arranged to get it sent back and shipped out an M model to replace it.

If you're not familiar with the V6 Silvia 'E' and 'M' models, the 'E' model was built to satisfy Euro power efficiency regulations or some such thing, and turns itself off after 30 mins. This model, I presume, has a logic board inside with an electronic timer. The power switch is a momentary thing, and so the power is electronically controlled.

I pulled two shots with the ‘E’ model before finding the puddle of water growing on the bench top from the leaking water reservoir. For all intents and purposes it worked in the same manner as the ‘M’, excepting that it turned itself off before I got around to brewing (I think this would drive me crazy in the long term).

The 'M' model has the same old passive electrical design that I think previous models would have had - and of course would be identical to the ‘E’ apart from the power control circuit. Nothing fancy here. Just old fashioned toggling switches and thermostats controlling the flow of electricity through the heater and solenoid.

This is a very solid, but very basic machine. No pressure gauges, no PID, just a single boiler and simple plumbing and electrics. It’s quite noisy, with the steel panels and complete lack of any sort of sound/vibration dampening amplifying the action of the vibe pump when you pour and broadcasting 50hz hum throughout your home. Of course, you can modify the machine to be quieter and add features yourself if you feel so inclined, and there is a huge community of users who mod their Silvias. You can add that gauge if you wish, or install a PID (very popular option) in order to confine the temperature to a tighter range. Some people have managed to dampen the vibration/noise, and others have even installed a rotary pump!

For mine, I kind of like dealing with the larger temperature swings, as I wanted to learn to ‘temperature surf’ anyway. My process involves switching on the Silvia some time before I’m ready to brew a shot, and then flushing a little hot water through the head before waiting for the heater to kick in again. I’ll wait for a time after the heater light has gone off, flush again, and then pull my shot soon after. They have been coming out consistently flavoursome this way, though I’m still tweaking the grind and tamp. Initially I started pouring about 30 secs after the heater went off, but I found things a little hot and the coffee was tasting burnt. Your mileage may vary.

I do my milk steaming after pulling the shot, which doesn’t seem to be the recommended order of events (advice seems to be to steam milk first, then purge and pull your shot). It’s taken me a little while to get used to steaming milk with this - the Silvia has way more power than the cheap big brand machine I killed! I think I’ve got it nailed now though, with the starting the wand head just slightly below the milk surface, and opening up the tap on the steam fairly wide, but not fully on, and then opening it up a little more as I go). I anchor the spout of the jug against the wand, make sure I have a vortex throughout steaming, and I seem to be able to get fairly consistent foaming with a very nice texture.

Overall, I’m really enjoying this machine. It feels more like a power tool than a swanky kitchen appliance. It’s noisy, ugly, and takes a little work to run it. If you want something to set and forget, then look elsewhere, but if you’d like to learn more about espresso, and perhaps dive in deep, then you could do far worse than a Rancilio Silvia. No doubt I’ll eventually upgrade mine with a PID, but not before I’ve had the pleasure of perfecting the nuances of Miss Silvia as she came out of the box!

A word on grinders - and you will come across this written/spoken/shown all over the place - the quality of your grinder is SO important! I have a relatively cheap hand grinder, and it simply does not have the subtlety to dial in espresso properly. From one setting to the next will mean going from too fast a pour, to simply choking the machine - with nothing in between. I’ve been managing with this, but have just taken delivery of a much higher quality hand grinder, which will allow me to make finer adjustments in the grind. Do yourself a favour, and get somethings decent to begin with!

Got the coffee bug, went through many machines, picked the silvia – I have been through a lot of machines in the past year. Coffee has become somewhat a hobby, having started with pod machines, and then moving onto automatic machines and then switching through several manual espresso machines. As I learned more about the brewing process what I started to notice is the more manual you go, the more control and… Read more

flavour options you have.

After the fact I can say, learning to brew properly does take a bit of effort, but when you know what your doing you will not go back.

Out of all the machines I have been through, the Silvia will stay. Build quality is like a tank, no circuits, dependable, heats up in a couple minutes and makes a fantastic cafe quality coffee

I have paired mine with a Mazzer Luigi and am very happy. A few people here have pounted out that the base can rust and group head starts to peel, but other than that the boiler and internals are simple and should last a very long time if you take care of it.

Highly recommend this machine, but only buy it if you understand the brewing principles of grind, dosing and tamping.

Love my Rancilio coffee machine – Making a coffee with a Rancilio Silvia machine is like making art, you have total control on how strong, how hot and how much you want, this is not an automatic machine. From grinding the fresh coffee beans to placing the ground coffee into the group head to tapping it down and extracting the coffee via the machine it's all up to you. Once you… Read more

get it right and all the elements are measured and tested the coffee that is produced is creamy and silky, I feel like a real barista, it's Italian ingenuity at its best. Give me a Rancilio Silvia machine any day over an automatic machine.

15 years of great service and saved me thousands $$$ – Hasn't missed a beat in all these years my Rancilio Silva matched with a Rocky grinder. Price was $1300 the pair and I can make as good as most good cafes and sometimes better as I use quality milk and beans. Even cheap beans can make good coffee. I have replaced the grinder plates couple of times but not expensive. Do need to clean to look after but the savings made are huge. Show details

After 8 years of daily use, my Silvia consistently produces excellent espresso. Learning how to temperature surf is part of the process to achieve consistent results, and using filtered water is also something i use to minimise scale build up. The machine is solidly built and still looks great after all the years of daily use. I have a rocky… Read more

grinder which is a great partner to the Silvia. If you persevere and learn to master the machine with respect to temp, you will be rewarded with fantastic espresso.

Harley Davidson of Coffee Machines – I have had my Silvia for over 10 years and think it is fantastic. Note that these machines are fully manual and you need to learn how to use them. But once you do, you really can make a coffee as good as any cafe. An added bonus is that parts are cheap and widely available online as they use the same components as commercial machines. If you're… Read more

reasonably handy you can maintain or fix it yourself. Considering they are likely to still be making Silvia's in another 25 years, it could be the last Espresso machine you ever need to buy! Last piece of advice. You MUST pair it with a quality grinder or you'll never make a decent coffee. I use a Rancilio Rocky.

The Rancillio Silivia - a saviour during Melb lockdown – Dont know what the family or I would have done without the Silvia during our harsh lockdown!. It produces beautiful shots consistently with my fresh beans that I get from local roasters and independent supermarket. Crema is coppery orange and thick. I grind with the paired Rocky Grinder that has 55 gind increments. I typically grind on the 8th… Read more

finest setting out of 30 or even finer down to about settng 4 of 55. The milk frothing is superb but you need to use the freshest milk and some brands are better than others. For good textured milk that you can use for late art you really need to swirl it in the jug for circa 25 seconds as shown in youtube videos. If you like lactose free I find Zymil works well.As everyone else says the quality of the coffee poured is related to grind, freshness of beans (hopefully they were roasted within a week or 2) and the tamp pressure - which in my opinion has to be quite hard push (circa 12kg). For me the machine quality is fine (old school design). I think ti is essential to wipe under the drip tray daily to prevent water buildup and potnetial of rust. I purchased from Cafe a Roma in Malvern East Melb. I have no hesitation in reccommending the Rancillio Sivia it is a pleasure to use each day!

Base rusted after 12 months. Started cutting out after 12 months. Makes great coffee – The base has rust on it. Trying to dry after each use although it is worrying for at 12 months. The machine was inoperable for a week at just 12 months old. It trips as soon as you turn it on. Doing it again at 18 months. I've enjoyed the coffee and steam pressure although it doesn't seem to be holding up longevity wise. Show details