I am still in learning mode with new machine. It is a La Scala Butterfly NEW http://www.espressomachines-it.com/macc ... rfly1.html

Strange thing: I think my grind adjustments have too much impact on the time for the espresso start flowing in to the cup. Example: if I have 23 second shot and 30 second shot and I did that by setting the grind only, main difference is that shot just starts later and have the same flow later.

Since I got the machine I had some decent shots, and in that shots start time is around 10-11 seconds (from the moment I lift the handle up), and that seams a little long? If I set grind coarser for the stream to start in 5-7 seconds than I got 18 second fast double shot...

I use around 15gr Guatemala 6-7 days old, a little on a light side, standard double basket. Same thing happens with Ethiopia last week. With 16gr I have a dry puck with complete imprint of screen, with 15 gr I have wet puck...but I think that this is irrelevant.

My flushes are around 200ml at least, pressure setting 1.2 bar.

Vibratory pumps take longer to come up to pressure. Think of it as a slight pre-infusion.

I had a Gaggia Classic and 10 seconds before beading was pretty standard for a tasty 36g normale in 30 seconds.

I find it impossible to correlate boiler pressure with group pressure so I wouldn't worry about that gauge when pulling a shot.

I can only say....follow your tastebuds...use Jim's diagram to adjust grind and dose and evaluate with your tastebuds and sight (blonding or not, channeling or not etc)

IMO there is no holy grail for shot times(given that the shot technically is ok and not f.e. Suffering from channeling which also may cause a fast flow). At the beginning approx a year ago the I almost went mad chasing overall pull times by adjusting the grind...a bit like what you wrote, the grind setting had more impact on the time to pour than the total pour time. Sure there probably are absolute boundaries but I never hit those, except for a choked shot or two over the past year.

For my Faemina the time elapsing until espresso starts to ooze out can take anything between 10 -20 seconds, total pour time I never measure but that may well take some 40-60 seconds sometimes (talking doubles here, with a load of around 14-15 g which is the max for this machine). i stopped bothering about wet or dry pucks and a surprise result they usually are pretty dry lately

My recipe to fine tune a coffe is typically quite the same.
Start with a 14 g dose(weighed), shoot for a fixed brew ratio at a fixed temp and adjust the grind to taste and only then vary with temperature and dose.
Your results may vary and some folks here may think I'm mad, approaches vary but since I decided to put some trust in my tastebuds my espressos are quite good and stable so it seems to work for me.

And indeed as tye previous poster states, for my gaggia classic it was also quite normal for the first espresso drops to form after 15-20 seconds (my grind typically is on the fine side of things and I had adjusted the OPV to 9bar)

I had a similar "problem". A same fine grind and a lighter tamp might be your answer. Try it, it helped me, but i was really pushing it hard and I am quite a big man

Thanks guys. I come from manual lever machine so your experiences are really helpful. I am dialing espresso with that Jim's diagram so I am on the right way I suppose... Maybe light roasted SO's are not the easiest coffees to learn, so I will try some more forgiving blend next time.

Light roasted SO are indeed less forgiving, my roaster of choice has started to roast a bit darker than a year ago and I'm quite happy with that...the taste profile is more to my liking and I hardly have to change parameters now, dialing in is a matter of two three shots.