How to improve my espresso

[duke-one]

Hello All: After two years of no coffee, per doctor's orders, now ignored, I'm enjoying my morning buzz again. I just put in service a new bottomless portafilter and have started timing shots after reading hear and there on HB how long it should take for a shot to, well, shoot. It is taking 40 seconds and the "puck" is wet on top which is a no-no, no? I've just adjusted the grinder a bit coarser after getting 50-55 second shots. The crema seems pretty good in the cup but when I see pictures of shots on HB it makes mine look very weak. I get nothing like the full bottom of the filter basket covered in crema, beautifully tan. How do I get there? I have good equipment, keep it clean, reasonably good beans (Jeremiahs Pick). I have a good scale and have checked the pressure I apply to the grounds at about 30lbs with a twist (polish) at the end as I have picked up from HB. Is there a book I should have? I live in the S.F. bay area; I'm sure I could hire a barista to give a home lesson.
Thanks in advance for any help, KDM

Kenneth Duke Masters
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791

[HB]

The crema seems pretty good in the cup but when I see pictures of shots on HB it makes mine look very weak. I get nothing like the full bottom of the filter basket covered in crema, beautifully tan. How do I get there?

Improving your espresso by observing the quality of the extraction is a good start, but like "eye cupping" espresso based on the appearance of the crema, it only gets you so far. I've sampled espressos that were absolutely beautiful in appearance and ordinary in taste, and espressos that were ordinary in appearance but tasted superlative. I cobbled together a list of the site's recommended reading. Among the best and most practical text written for the journeyman barista is Jim's Diagnosing the Taste and Appearance of an Extraction in the Home Barista's Guide to Espresso.

What I propose is a two-step program: Begin by working on the mechanics of making espresso. That is, confirm your dosing is consistent, tamp is level, temperature and brew pressure are correct, extractions look reasonable and are within 20-30 seconds, etc. Most of the recommended reading focuses on this goal. The next step is manipulating the techniques used in the first step to change the outcome. For example, increasing/decreasing brew temperature, brew pressure, dosing (updosing, downdosing), extraction times, etc. The goal is to learn how manipulating variable X typically affects outcome Y. Once you have an intuitive feel for how various tweaks affect the results, you can experiment based on your taste preferences.

[cannonfodder]

Take Dan's advice and add a year of practice and you should be able to pull consistently good espresso shots. For consistently excellent shots, add more practice. Good espresso is not easy, but I would not call it terribly difficult. It just takes some basic knowledge and a lot of practice.

[duke-one]

Dave: I've had the Astoria machine for ten years or so and another before. I always try to improve what I do either in the kitchen or the woodshop etc. One new direction I'm taking is trading in the Mazzer Mini for a Mazzer Electronic Doserless grinder, type "A". This will insure no older grounds in the doser with out dumping it out every time. Next step will be getting the hang of the new grinder, dialing it in and probably dumping a bunch of improper grounds. No sense in trying any other "tweaks" till then.
Thanks, Duke