Top of the line construction, monster steam production, no frills hard core espresso machine. Best in class. Tempermental at first but love soon follows.
Positive Product Points
Simple design - a pure coffee machine. Well built and beautiful to see. Great results are yours with practice.
Negative Product Points
You need to establish a relationship with Miss Silvia. It can take 10-30 shots to get things just right. She is very sensitive to the grind and tamp. Give her a lot of time to warm up, experiment with the grind and tamp. Be careful when it comes to steaming, this machine is a beast, it's every easy to over steam the milk.
Detailed Commentary
My Starbucks Barrista ( oem Saeco ) machine went dead after 10 years of true service. Starbucks no longer sells it so we ran out to the Silver Lake Intelligencia and put down the cash for a new Miss Silvia.
WOW - I had to look inside so I took off the covers - inside was a huge brass boiler and full up professional parts. The workmanship was truly beautiful.
It takes a while to get a good shot, practice and experimentation is the key. She is very sensitive to the grind and tamp. Toss the cheap plastic on in the box in the trash and get a first class tamper like a Reg Barber or Albabarista - the Silvia basket is 58mm.
All in all a wonderful machine that will probably last forever.
Buying Experience
Intelligencia is a fun place. They had the Rancilio in stock and tossed in a pound of Black Cat and gave me and my buddy free lattes.
