Meeting Miss Silvia

I began enjoyed espresso - buying it from baristas, but not home.

As years passed and my espresso infatuation grew, my espresso habit became increasingly expensive and inconvenient.  Was this something I could do at home?

The gadgets looked like fun.

I researched what equipment I might need to make espresso at home.

I scoured online reviews and discussion forums. Whole Latte Love had a lively collection of forums covering a wide selection of espresso machines and grinders that I found very useful.

In 2005 I selected the Rancilio Silvia.

I purchased my machine from Whole Latte Love over the phone. Because I was buying my first machine, I also used the phone call as a sanity check to ask some basic questions:

• Is this a good machine? (Yes)
• Is there anything else they would recommend instead?  (No, not in this price range)
• Did they sell many?  (Yes, this was a top seller.)

I was reasonably certain this was the machine for me.  ..still, the conversation was reassuring.  The person on the phone was not only patient, but very knowledgeable about different machines and how to use them.

Sold.

I first met Miss Silvia when she was deliver to my home December 2005.  She arrived well packed and in an unusually heavy box. (This is a sturdy, well constricted machine.) 

Although it felt like an extravagant purchase at the time, it proved a worthwhile investment.  I continued to use it daily for 13 years (more than 4,700 days) without problem.