Thank you all for replying again, and thank especially Kahvedelisi for really specific advice! it is not rude at all, but it is rather really helpful for me that you point out what I am doing wrong and tell me specifically what I should do because I could not figure out what I should do and don't since there are so many important factors that I have to master especially on this manual machine. As every other people who replied told me about temperature and grind, I will try heating up machine longer, and grind coaser. Unfortunately I don't think I am getting new grinder since I just spent money on this machine(I was planning to go straight to electric grinder because I am sick of grinding with my hands :P), but I am getting a better one sooner for sure. I wouldn't try the Fellini move until I get better at this since I also realized that the Fellini causing the fracture and channeling of coffee. Currently I am not using Kenyan bean, instead I'm using Brazilian bean. So thank you all again and I will try things that was mentioned and hopefully I'll get not too sour shot next time!

Thank for many advice given, and I followed those advice and pulled 3 shots today, and I think the third one went quite well (well I don't know if it was a good shot, but at least it was not salty). It still got a little sourness but it was not as intense as it was before. This is what I did for three shots.

*I heated up the machine more than 20 min. I don't know how hot it was but pretty sure it was way hotter than yesterday.
1st one. 14 grams, 4 steps from the finest, tamped lightly. There were not much resistance when I pulled a shot, and the shot looked thin, and had almost no crema.
2nd one. I changed the grind setting to 1 step finer (3 steps from the finest), reduced dose to 12 grams, tamped lightly. Still not much resistance, thin shot as well.
3rd one. It was the same as 2nd one except I tamped a little bit harder. It came out really nice (like caramel) and crema looked nicer? It still got some sourness but not salty. damn it I should have taken a video!

3rd shot.


Although 3rd shot was okay, after 2nd and 3rd shot, puck was cracked and didn't manage to come out nicely from a portafilter. Is this happening after the shot??


I am sure that the temperature was higher than yesterday, but still don't know what exactly the temperature was. I looked into other thread on this website and found about Orphan Espresso Temperature Strip. Is it worth to install on La Pavoni, or can it be solved by experiences?
Thank you.

I am happy for you now that you are able to get better shots. With lever machines tamping and even the way you fill the basket may have huge impact on your shots.

Since you have to use hario for a while more, you may want to get the best out of your current equipment. Normally I don't advise this because I see it as opening doors to serious ocd problems but in your case you should try your hand at sifting your coffee into portafilter after grinding. How to do this more efficiently? Use a cone (or fold one from a4 paper) get a simple sieve. There is one in every home these days. Sift coffee into your basket and tamp it. Check how it effects the taste.

But I still advise perfecting what you just found by trying again and again. Try for consistency. Try to get similar results each and every time. If you find a way to sift your coffee then try 14 grams again but tamp harder and preinfuse for 6-7 seconds. Start pulling slowly then through the middle start pulling faster with increased pressure.

Last but not least really do not concentrate on puck. If you wait 15 to 20 minutes after your shots and unlock your portafilter then you will have drier pucks. Which means not much taste is more important. Always taste taste taste looks are irrelevant.

Ps. Marble is my expertise and I advise not leaving coffee grounds or liquid on it for too long. Wipe out as soon as possible. It is very porous and will start to absorb immediately. After a while you won't be able to remove the stains and in time you may start wondering why it looks yellowish in some areas. That is of course if your marble is not sealed with an appropriate sealer

Like was mentioned earlier you need to do the step-less lock nut mod to the Harios, otherwise their pretty much useless for espresso. OE also sells a bearing to stabilize the shaft which is why the Hario grinders grind uneven, the shaft has a wobble.

kahvedelisi wrote:
Ps. Marble is my expertise and I advise not leaving coffee grounds or liquid on it for too long. Wipe out as soon as possible. It is very porous and will start to absorb immediately. After a while you won't be able to remove the stains and in time you may start wondering why it looks yellowish in some areas. That is of course if your marble is not sealed with an appropriate sealer

From the grain pattern it looks more like Quartz, not Marble.

actually those are crystals which is very common in marble too. Below 2 examples from 2 different types of white marble with crystals laid side by side.



quartz has different texture, it's more like shards of tiny glass. In addition, if you noticed, his counter already absorbed some of the liquid and coffee drops looks dried out in some sections. Quartz is not as porous as marble https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sit ... ite+quartz

Only 1 person knows for sure. Will they chime in and solve this mystery?

cmin wrote:Like was mentioned earlier you need to do the step-less lock nut mod to the Harios, otherwise their pretty much useless for espresso. OE also sells a bearing to stabilize the shaft which is why the Hario grinders grind uneven, the shaft has a wobble.

Hi, thank you for mentioning about modding the grinder. I haven't done the mod that makes it stepless as it was mentioned earlier, but I looked up about stabilizing burrs and found someone has done it with scotch tape and rubber band. I have done it and now the burr looks like much more stable. I haven't tested it out yet, but see if I can get more consistent grind :)

Ps. Marble is my expertise and I advise not leaving coffee grounds or liquid on it for too long. Wipe out as soon as possible.

Thank you for letting me know. I'll make sure not to leave coffee on it any longer :)