I thought the beans smelled a little different when grinding. I know sometimes too much Robusta in a espresso blend can give the cup that flavor so I emailed my local roaster to see if there was anything new or maybe a bad roast batch had been reported (anything!). Nope, dead end. Time to clean the Ranchilio Rocky grinder.

I unscrewed the plate that holds the hopper and unthreaded the top burr. Yup, a 1/4 inch of yucky oils and residue. I got it all clean and cleaned the small cavities around the bottom burr. Fixed right? Nope, another dead end. Time to clean the machine.

I started with descaler, soaked all the components (wow – the portafilter!). The first shot I pulled revealed no change. I start wondering about that gasket in the brewhead that’s been there for 5+ years and the scary process of backflushing that I’ve not done (because of the vendor recommendations). I stumble across a great website (there are many for this machine) that finally gives me the courage to do these two things. I ordered a rubber insert for the portafilter that turns it into a blind (which forces pressure back into the machine for backflushing). In addition I picked up a $5 gasket. $10 in parts, $10 in shipping (boooo…!)

After emptying the machine and turning it on the side I wrestle out the gasket. Prying it out from the innermost part seemed to be the trick. To say there was a lot of oil and burnt reside in this area would have been an understatement. After removing it I used a standard espresso cleaning brush to get every corner of that brass brew head clean. Putting the new gasket in was simply, insert smooth side down and push. Next I backflush. I first put the knobby part of this rubber stopper down into the spout (made sense to me) but it didn’t seal, upside down did the trick. I flushed it several times and let it sit for a bit, then cleaned it out and backflushed again with water. After putting it all back together I pulled a couple shots with old beans.

The moment of truth. Will I be cursed forever with rubbery metal flavored coffee? I was happy to only smell coffee flavors when I dumped the 2 shots into the hot water to make an Americano! Gasket, backflush, who knows – one or both of them did the trick.

I found a lot of people complaining about this same issue on the net (but not a lot of answers). If you have a similar issue read the above links and order from Chris Coffee (I got parts in a few days). Gotta run, time for another Americano.

So I run over to CoffeeGeek to see what is new in the machines that are cheaper than Silvia (what I use). Here are some good looking machines in the $300 range

Francis X3
This one is a couple hundred less than Silvia. You have to love the looks. I’d still just save up for Silvia but… if $300-400 is your max it is worth a look. The detailed review is quite good.

Innova Arc
At $299 it has to be worth a look. It gets a good review for what it is and at half the price of Silvia… If you make mostly milk-based drinks take a look.

Solis SL-70
Clearly the ugliest of the bunch but gets great reviews. I have a Solis grinder I use for regular coffee and it just keeps going. Sounds like you need to pickup a new portafilter for good shots. Again – the price is about $300.

Of course I have to say – remember the grind. In reality getting one of these makes grind all the more important. On the cheap grinder front… Welll…

Gaggia MDF will get you the grind you need for $200

Solis Maestro might suffice – but spend the extra $60 on the Gaggia

So let’s see. We could grab a solis maestro and grinder and have a passable setup for about $430. That’s about 100 drinks at the local shop. I think I’d consider a Gaggia and the Innova if I was wanting to be cheap – still at the $500 range total. When you consider Silvia is $600 alone… Well it’s a good way to start and learn.