First Day with Mini Vivaldi!

[hmo66]

Hi all,
Received my new Vivaldi few days ago and today I Had a chance to set it up. I am upgrading from Starbucks Sirena (two years). Below are my first impressions (after around one hour of play, more details will come later)

1) I mostly used the Sirena with ground coffee either packed or locally ground at a shop. It was a nightmare as it was sensitive to changes in grind quality, so I can't say I enjoyed it until I purchased the Vario grinder when I discovered that I was wasting my time & money. But Sirena did not allow me to explore all possibilities of grind/coffee combination as results were unpredictable as one shot would be excellent and te second shot 50/50 even though other variables are fixed.
2) The machine, boxed & un-boxed is not THAT HUGE as some posters indicated. It is as if it is one of the commercial machines struck by "honey I shrunk the kids" laser!
3) Initial setup was quick, chris included a one page first time instruction hidden in the water tank which I followed... no problems tank god.
4) The 53 portafilter holds more coffee than Sirena's 58! WIth the sirena, the maximum setting on the Vario was 13.5 seconds. Any more and te PF would not close. Vivaldi's 53 took te same amount and I could put more.
5) Shots with the Sirena start beautifully ten quickly turn blond & light regardless of Tab strength or grind level. But my first shot with vivaldi using same grind....wow like honey extract all extracting time...
6) My kitchen is cold so I noticed the boiler lamb lights every few minutes, I figure the cold air slips into the interior of the machine cooling the boiler. Must find a solution for tat.
7) Frothing....this the first time I have seen my thermometer run so fast...I need getting used to this incredible frothing speed. I'll need to spend some time here, but that's gonna be a time saver as I usually spend 1.5 - 2 minutes frothing with the Sirena..
Finally, i did not find any note about offset temp. I checked the setting programmed and found it at +5 degrees. I don't know if this is the default or it has been set by chris shop.

That's all

[Endo]

Welcome to the S1cafe.

I've had my Mini and Mazzer SJ for 1.5 years now. Recently I've been using some other machines (like the popular LeLit PL041EM and Vario). So I've had the opposite experience of actully downgrading from the S1.

The thing that struck me the most are the poor temperature and pressure control on these cheaper mid-range machines. The shots were hot enough to burn my mouth and very thin compared to the Mini. Making back-to-back milk drinks seems horribly time consuming and steaming power is a joke compared to the Mini.

On the other hand, I like the Vario a lot (enough to buy one today). It seems like a perfect match for the Mini. Small, convenient and produces excellent results. While I love the feel of my big "Hummer" Mazzer, there's no denying the fact that the little "Prius" Vario is an excellent, modern, convenient home design. I expect it will likely replace my Mazzer as my main espresso grinder. The Vario and Vivaldi are like the Batman and Robin of home espresso.

Some advice on some of your comments:

Don't overdose the Mini. It likes 15.5 to 16.5g best. Taste will drop off if you go higher (unless you have the new triple basket).

Don't worry about the steam boiler cycling on every couple of minutes. That's normal. It has little to do with your kitchen temp. You could insulate it as others have done here and it will cut down on the cycling by 30% or so. I find it simplest just to leave it off and turn it back on whenever you need a milk drink. It take less than 4 minutes to warm up. This is normally the time I take to grab my coffee, cups, milk, pitcher etc. Just don't run the steam boiler if you don't need to. Turning it off is the real beauty of the double boilers. Remember, it's a sealed unit. So once it goes, you need to replace the whole thing.

The normal factory offset is +0. If your's is set to +5, that would be Chris's calibration. Leave it there.

[hmo66]

I admit, after few days wit the Vivaldi, I have a serious problem with proper milk steaming. The thing is so powerful heating the milk before giving me any chance expand the milk. The lever design is suitable for large volumes of milk, but given the projected use of the mini vivaldi, they should have installed a rotary knob so we can control steam strength more easily.

I have seen almost all videos on Vivaldi milk steaming but still produce terrible frothed milk. With the Sirena the process was slow (1.5-2 minutes) giving me enough time to master steaming process.

[slo]

Belated welcome.

Are you freezing your pitcher?

I keep my frothing pitcher in the freezer between usage. This slows down the heating and allows for more whirl-pooling.

[chas]

You can always buy a 2 hole tip and use it like "training wheels" for a while. I think I had about 4-5 tips for my S1 at one time from 2-4 holes with different hole sizes, too.

One thing you might check is to be sure you received the 4 hole tip with the smaller (0.9mm) holes and not the one with the big (1.1mm) holes. Sometimes they do slip up and ship the wrong tip.

[MichaelN]

I have seen almost all videos on Vivaldi milk steaming but still produce terrible frothed milk. With the Sirena the process was slow (1.5-2 minutes) giving me enough time to master steaming process.

I too recently graduated from a little machine that took over a minute to steam a small amount of milk. It took me a while to figure out the new technique with the S1.

It really is a totally different method due to the power of the S1. If your Sirena was anything like my old Breville you first did a bit of pre-warming with the tip half way down into the milk followed by a long stretch with the tip right at the surface. However with the S1 it is the opposite with a short stretch at the surface first followed by a longer roll with the tip plunged deep into the milk.

I would practice for a while with slightly larger amounts of milk until you get the hang of it. After a couple of weeks, and a few gallons of milk experimenting, I was able to make perfect micro foam even with just enough milk to cover one cappuccino.

I keep my milk nice and cold in my beer fridge, obviously the colder it is the longer it takes to steam and the more control you will have. For small amounts of milk, stretch for just a few seconds, then plunge the tip and roll. Don't rely on a milk thermometer to tell you when to stop rolling. With the steam power of the S1 your milk heats up faster than the thermometer can read off the temperature causing you to over-heat and produce ugly sea foam froth. Do it by feel, but stop a couple of degrees sooner than you would by feel with your Sirena as the milk heats so fast that it will take a good second or so for the temperature to work its way through the pitcher to your fingers. After you are done quickly plop in your thermometer to see where the temperature ended up to help you get used to the feel of things. I have a small digital instant read one that I picked up from a kitchen store for $19.

Here is my process for reference when making a single cappuccino:
- bleed the steam wand to remove condensation
- pour 2.5 oz. of cold milk (36F) into a cold pitcher
- stretch for about 3 seconds then roll for 8 (total 11 seconds)
- final temp of 155F
- finishing off with a little swirling and thumping

Good luck, welcome to the forum, and most of all enjoy your new S1.

Michael

[Endo]

The S5 lever combined with the steaming power makes the Mini as close to a pro setup as you'll find. With a bit of practice, you'll be making good foam in 20 seconds and you will look back with a laugh at your old "steam wimp" machine.

My advice is to keep it simple. No need for all the stretch and rolling like the old machine. No time for that since everything is over in 20 seconds.

Put the tip in the middle of a half filled 12 oz pitcher, just under the surface and leave it there for 20 seconds. That's it.

Just be careful not to move the pitcher too much. With all that power, if the tip comes above the surface, even once, it's all bubbles. Use 2 hands and keep it super steady until the pitcher gets too hot to handle (careful not to overheat the milk).

Tip: Save your milk by practicing using water with one drop of dishwashing liquid instead.