C-spot wrote:Is there a rule of thumb one can use in judging shades (from a lighter becoming pour to the mentioned platinum blond) of blonding ? Or should everyone make up there own judgment according to taste and coffee type?

Something that goes without saying probably got lost in this discussion: Stopping shots on blonding rather than time or volume is the first part of a two part system:

1. You stop this shot on color, since it's too late to change the grind and dose.
2. You adjust the grind and dose of the next shot to get the right color at the time and volume you want.

{Begin ancient history blather} You have to remember that the on-line discussion of blonding started before barista competition, bottomless portafilters, etc, etc. Our amateur, and even pro, shot making was a lot more hit or miss in those days, and a lot of shots ended either with a still completely brown, or a 10 seconds of clear water flow, since people were looking at stop watches rather than the espresso. Nowadays people pay attention to the color, the exact dose and the fine grind settings as a matter of course. It seems likely that the average home barista now is a lot more consistent shot to shot than the average one from five years ago. So much of this discussion has become redundant. {End ancient history blather}