After much frustration and umpteen sink shots last night I was getting close. But this morning was a glorious success. I pulled a very short shot that took probably too long ~30 sec. volume under an ounce but very respectable. I was happy with that one so I went for a second shot and tried my hand at micro foam to boot.
Redbird espresso, still pretty long ~30 seconds (might be tamping too much pressure), temp ~ 198-200. I've had the Redbird in the freezer since it arrived stored in canning jars, took it out yesterday morning. Most of the failed shots were various other beans of questionable freshness or quality.

Now I know what all the buzz is about and feel justified in the big cash out lay. A hobby that will pay dividends for a long time to come.

Now if I can just repeat/repeat/repeat.

I'm using my old iPhone 3G for a shot timer and note pad to record grinder/time/temp.

Equipment new (arrived Monday) Alex II, with group head thermometer, not plumbed in yet.

John

It's a great feeling. I'm new to this as well, but when I made a shot the equal of my favourite cafe I was delighted. I'm still weighing and measuring everything, but it's no hardship when you get consistently good results.

I'd like to expand on this weighing and measuring issue. Do you weigh the beans prior to grinding or tare the PF and weigh after filling basket. I've been doing a rough measure of beans into the grinder empty hopper filling the PF leveling and tamping. I have a Baratza Preciso and can grind into the PF but I just grind into the bin then shake it into the PF. I did weigh the PF once at ~ 17 grams. I haven't gotten into quantifying the resulting liquid volume, just eyeballing the how much is making it into the 1.5 ounce espresso cup.

Even with my obviously amateurish procedure I'm starting to get some positive results.

jw

I weigh the grounds. Every coffee starts at 14g and then work from there. I use the 14g/50ml ratio as the other datum point and I nearly always decrease the water content. I don't weigh the mixture, but am now good enough to eyeball the volume in the cup. I think one of the good things about sink shots and measuring is it teaches you how to adjust the taste using things you can control. I also time my shots to take 30s which includes 5 seconds for the pump to come on line. So the liquid exiting the pf takes 25 s.

I read somewhere that Italian coffees are "designed" to be best when working to the above parameters. I also read that American coffees are roasted/designed to use a bigger weight of coffee, albeit the other parameters are much the same. I do know that what I read was the opinion of an Italian importer to the US, so can't really be taken as fact.

I've had varying degrees of success so far. The only (what I'd call) good shots I've gotten so far is with Redbird Espresso so I order 5 lbs.

I'm having real trouble with decaf. My wife drinks decaf and I like to drink coffee in the evening sometimes and would rather decaf on those occasions. So far I've tried Blue Bottle decaf Noir and Metropolis decaf Redline and both are giving me similar symptoms. No matter the dosage and I measure out ~ 18 grams, I tried tamping ~ 30 lbs and I get gushing blonds within 15 seconds or less and it tastes foul. Forgot to mention I have tried finer grind as well. All of them sink shots. I tried tamping with more pressure but still seems to get thin dark liquid that runs blond way too soon almost no crema. If anyone has some pointers for a noob I'd appreciate some ideas.

Thanks,
jw

John,

Try Decaf Espresso Rustico from Counter Culture: http://counterculturecoffee.com/coffee/...gory_id=11

You pretty much make it as they say, 19 grams to make 19-20 grams of espresso in 21-22 seconds and it is really good decaf.

Thanks Dennis. I've read lots of good things about Counter Culture so I will give that a try.

I actually got better success with the Metropolis Redline Decaf yesterday and today. Made my wife an americano this morning and she said it's "good" and she'll usually just say "it's OK". Still seems to get run a bit fast and blond quickly but I made some progress.

I'm having major success with Redbird espresso it just works for me without any trouble. And I'm amazed that I ordered late on the 22nd and received my 5 lbs of Redbird that was roasted on the 23rd on Saturday the 25th. I think I'll stick with this one for a while until I need a change.

jw