New Rancilio Silvia!

So we finally bit the bullet and purchased a "real" espresso machine. We had been suffering through far too many Tim Hortons (which are admittedly the best of the drip coffee purveyors), and decided that enough was enough.

The Silvia is a craftsperson's machine, one which I have to admit I do not really know how to use yet. It is unforgiving of poor technique, and requires a high quality grinder (which I do not have yet either) to get decent results. It does however generate some of the best coffee I have ever had when used correctly. We ran off several dozen shots over the last couple of days in order to test it, and practice. We learned some hard lessons about tamping and grind consistency.

The local coffee shop (Coffee King) was very helpful in supplying "throwaway" beans that we could use for practice roasting, as well as some really good house blend for the actual keeper espressos.

Now that I have the base equipment, I suppose that my geek side is going to take over. I am already contemplating a PID Loop modification...

Update: Helen and I have both gotten some pretty amazing shots out of the machine tonight. The timing and volume seem to be the issue. To be short, the perfect espresso shot seems to be a light tamp on slightly finely ground coffee, and 25-28 seconds to pour the full 2 oz shot.