My sister-in-law finds it bitter and gross too. Will do a complete deep clean and post results..to let others know if they come across the same issue as me

That green residue is a little creepy! Verdigris?

Please let us know the results of the clean-up process. A superb shot of espresso is surely just ahead.

I found that in addition to cleaning the boiler, which had residue that tasted bitter from the lime build up, I needed to disassemble the head - gaskets, seals et al - and soak the pieces in a white vinegar solution. The deposits were like creosote! It took some time and effort as the lime salts and tar are very tenacious.

When putting it back together I used the correct silicon lubricant. I couldn't believe the difference in quality. Like a new machine.

Before drinking the coffee, I ran a vinegar solution 3 more times, then rinsed 5 times. I was surprised with how much fine sediment there was - which went through the filter.

A shot under 20 seconds may taste bitter to you as well. Is it watery-bitter? From my recollection, levers can tend to run longer shots, (like 30-40 seconds?) while still tasting good. Choking is too fine of course, but maybe you're back too coarse again...?

mindless_fool wrote:dont think its over extracting. it isnt taking 20 sec to pull the shot.

In my experience with a Pavoni EP you certainly can and should have an excellent shot if the extraction time is around 20 seconds, which should be in ristretto territory. However this does require a decent amount of resistence in the lever pull down - to the extent that you need to hold down on the boiler cap as you depress. You have to work for that espresso man! If you are not finding this, and that your pull down is "easy" with little resistence, then you will get bitter/underextracted shots. This comes down to tamping, grinding and dosing. A full dose, with a hard tamp/coarser grind or soft tamp and with finer grind should give you good results,

The other cause of bitterness is water that is too hot. The Pavoni's are notorious for overheating, even after a single shot if you dont allow them enough cool down time, or use ice cubes or cold damp cloths to force the cool down more rapidly.

Better than ice or a damp cloth, don't let it get so hot in the first place. It is already difficult enough to try and hit a good temp on the way up, let alone trying to cool it down to the sweet spot.

New-to-me Europiccola!