I use a La Pavoni Europiccola, and I've recently been timing my pulls. I find that (excluding the pre-infusion time, which is usually about 10"), the lever pull varies between 15" and 35" (depending on the usual variables, and some that I can't work out). The shots taste different, but almost all are acceptable. I was wondering if I should aim at a narrower range of times, which would effect how much pressure I put on the handle.

So, it occurred to me to ask how much time spring-loaded levers are set to take to pull a shot. I suppose they vary, from machine to machine, and also depending on the resistance they encounter from the puck (quantity of coffee, grind, tamp etc). But is there a more-or-less usual time?

I've now read a long thread here on pulling shots with an Olympia spring loaded machine, and I can see that the variation in extraction time on lever machines is very great, depending on the spring, the amount of coffee, grind, tamp, kind of coffee .... . If I had read that before posting, I would have realized that my question is essentially unanswerable!

Well, the question has many answers - potentially as many as there are people using levers. The fun is to experiment and see what suits your palate. Though I've never timed my lever shots, I have a rough feeling that the entire process of preinfusion, partial pulls and actual pulls takes 30-40 seconds. And on my Cremina, that has resulted in some truly amazing coffee lately.

Besides timing of a shot, there's also the pressure exerted which also affects shot quality. I've been finding on the Cremina that a shot requiring more pressure seems to have far more complex flavors.

I think you've got some shots to pull!