Hi, this is my first on this forum. Apologies if similar topics were discussed before, any referrals to related topics much appreciated...

I began my espresso hobby a year and a half ago with most primitive equipment. Eventually I caught upgraditis and after some research, in good part through this forum, I upgraded to what I think is a good enough set of equipment: Rancilio Silvia (with later added PID w/pre-infusion), Baratza Vario and Reg Barber tamper. I also make sure to get fresh beans from local roasters in New York, usually roasted the same day, and used within two weeks (1/2lbs or so with 1-2 shots a day). I make sure to warm up the machine and my cup, and thoroughly clean it from residue before each shot. I don't know how good my tamping technique is, but I generally manage to get exact 2oz shot in 25 seconds, with about half an inch of crema on top (especially when the beans are freshest). My shot temperature is set at 221-223 degrees, and I've tried several of the finest grind settings on the Vario.

So it seems to me like I am doing everything by the book, yet the results I get in the cup are sub par, far from what I taste in the coffee shops. Granted their equipment is better, but I thought I could get pretty close, especially considering how much more attention I give to my shot preparations as opposed to baristas in an average coffee shop. What I get in the cup I'd describe as more bitter and watery compared to coffee shop espressos. Also I think my espresso is a little hotter, and I wouldn't be able to drink it all in one-two shots.

So please help me out: what stages of espresso preparation am I possibly overlooking and can improve on? I am sure there is something drastically important missing from my shot preparations...

Thank you very much for your help!

Start by getting naked portafilter and see how your extractions look like. Do you have one?

These articles should be helpful:

http://www.home-barista.com/naked-extraction.html
http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide.html
http://www.sweetmarias.com/espresso-crema.php

Super-common issue. As I've been through the same journey with similar equipment, let me tell you what's worked for me (and it's working QUITE well).

I have a Silvia with an Auber PID and it sounds like you do as well. It took me a couple of months before I was making great espresso but once I got the hang of it, the rest has been totally automatic. I am consistently brewing the best espresso I've ever had with my setup, bar none. So, take heart, it can be done and it can be done with what you have at hand.

Let me start with just a dump of what I've learned so far. And it is:

1. American dosing practices and philosophy all point relentlessly towards higher amounts of coffee in the basket than what Silvia seems to have been designed for. In particular, the stock Rancilio double basket simply won't tolerate any more than 14 grams of coffee before the coffee starts to run into the shower screen.

As it is, again with the Rancilio basket, there is an extraordinary chance that you will crack the puck when you place it into the machine. And you won't know you've cracked it except by the awful taste of your coffee.

The solution? $12 for a "Marzocco/Synesso ridgeless basket" from EspressoParts. It gives you the necessary headroom between the puck and the shower screen even when over/up dosing and without fear of cracking or damaging the puck.

Until you can get it, resist the temptation to updose. Keep your doses under 14grams and periodically check to make sure you are not contacting the shower screen (place portafilter in the machine and then take it right back out. You should see no marks in the puck from either the screen or the screw that holds the screen in.)

2. Auber's factory boiler temperature of 221F is far too hot and produces brew water in the 205-210F range. Dial it down to 214F which should give you about 196-198F brew temperature.

3. When it comes to tamping, less is (much) more. Both in terms of pressure and obsessiveness. I used to slam 40+ pounds of pressure into the puck, I'd two two (or more tamps), I'd knock the edge of the portafilter to shake loose coffee off the basket walls, and I'd do a fancy spin/polish to finish it all off. I am convinced that all those shenanigans opened up voids within the puck and led to channeling.

Now I dose, distribute (I use WDT and find it immensely useful with both the Vario grinder and the Rocky), and tamp. Tamping consists of a LEVEL tamp (levelness is very important) and a single tamp with no knocking of the portafilter, no NSEW method, no nothing. I use a very slightly convex 58 tamper (both Espro and Reg Barber) and I don't put very much weight into the tamping at all. Then it all goes gently into the machine.

4. Calibrate your grind. Resist the overwhelming desire to increase the grind coarseness and compensate shot timing by updosing. This seems to happen among a lot of us because we just aren't comfortable setting our grinder so close to its zero (burrs touching) point so we updose to give us some headroom on the grinder setting. Resist this. When you think you're grinding finely enough, go one step finer.

I find my grind spot this way. No matter what the coffee, grind exactly 14 grams into the filter and pull a shot. Assuming you got no channeling, you should aim for 2ml per second of pump-on time. I.e. if you switch the brew switch on for 25 seconds, you should have 50ml of LIQUID volume (NOT liquid+crema volume -- stir the crema into the liquid to remove it from the equation if necessary). Once you figure out what grinder setting it takes to accomplish that, then you can vary up and down from there for taste fine-tuning although I have found that whatever setting provides you with the above will be fine from that point on, even if you updose somewhat.

I think that people tend to start grinding coarse and then tighten it up until they get to where they need to be. I know I did. I think it's far better (and easier) to start by grinding as fine as you can, making sure it positively chokes the machine dead (and, if it doesn't, finding out why (channeling?)) and then easing up (going coarser) from there until you're where you need to be.

5. Find a coffee that gives you the taste you want. This is hard and takes some time. Be careful to not ascribe to your technique that which can be explained simply as being a coffee that's not to your taste.

The corollary to this is that, if it seems too hard it probably is. There is a temptation to obsess over all the variables present in espresso making (brew temp, pump pressure, dose size, etc.) and to conclude that the difference between a cup of turpentine and a God Shot can be found in a 1F or 1 gram difference here or there. It's just not true and if you have things generally right, you will produce generally excellent cups of coffee. As much as we'd like to think this is rocket science, it's not. And making excellent cups of coffee, consistently, is easily within the realm of anyone with even basic skills and entry-level equipment.

6. Which leads me, again, to less is more. I didn't start making truly exceptional cups of espresso until I stopped trying to use exceptional levels of skill and competence. Once I let go of temperature obsession, grind quality obsession, dosing obsession, preinfusion this, pressure profile that; once I let go of all the noise and got to a zen happy place of simplicity, once I got there, it came to me (hint, turn off preinfusion if you're using it until you get the hang of making great coffee without it)

Don't fight it. Just relax. If you have good beans, if they're a blend and a roast that CAN be to your liking, then it's just a matter of grinding them up and pushing some hot water through them and not getting so sideways about the process that you screw it up.

Note this applies to the coffee as well. Don't start with the most exotic boutique blend out of the fanboy's favorite atelier. Head over to Starbucks and buy a couple bags of their espresso roast beans. They are by far the easiest beans to use to get in the zone. Once you're making drinkable shots of Starbucks espresso beans (and you will be, and they will taste absolutely fantastic when you get it right) then you can start sampling the fancy stuff.

"bitter and watery" is most commonly the result of a combination of too-high brew temp and channeling. try reducing your brew temp and working on your distribution.

Thank you for the responses so far, it is extremely helpful!

The main issue seems to be my tamping technique, as I suspected. Naked portafilter is probably one more piece of equipment that I need to get to see whether I am anywhere close to proper tamp, which I suspect I am not at all.

I don't have a scale to measure exact 14g doses, but my understanding is that this is what Vario should produce in 7-8 seconds of grinding at one of the finest settings. I will now make sure to check that once tamped, the puck is undisturbed once placed in a Silvia. I am pretty sure I've been overdosing in the past, as I've always seen central screw marks on the puck as well as round edges at the sides.

I do have an Auber PID, which my friend personally picked up from the nice gentlemen who runs Auber and happens to live just 5 minutes away from his house in Georgia. I had a hunch that stock temperature setting was too hot, and I'll change it as soon as I get home today to 214F as suggested.

I realize that it takes time and practice to get things right. I'll be sure to report back on my progress as I start making suggested tweaks. Thanks again!

Get a naked portafilter AND a scale.

Both are extremely helpful in fixing problems.

The amount of grind coming out of a Vario (at least for me) depends how the vario is loaded.

For instance, I normally load my Vario with enough beans for 2 doubles.
The first shot comes out light, I need to set the grind time a little longer. 2nd shot comes out heavy, grind time needs to be shorter. Would never figure this out without a scale.

Randy

vetallist wrote:The main issue seems to be my tamping technique, as I suspected.

No, probably not, unless by tamping you mean distribution of the coffee in the basket. Tamping, or compressing the coffee in the basket, is one of the least important factors, except that, as Greg says, a level puck is important, and particulaly so with Silvia.

Distribution is critical with Silvia. This means the coffee needs to be evenly distributed in the basket with no gaps or clumps. As Greg suggested, look up WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) on this site. It's easy to do and I think you'll find an immediate improvement in your shots.

vetallist wrote:Naked portafilter is probably one more piece of equipment that I need to get to see whether I am anywhere close to proper tamp, which I suspect I am not at all.

A naked PF will help you determine if your distribution is good or not. Definitely get one.

vetallist wrote:I don't have a scale to measure exact 14g doses, but my understanding is that this is what Vario should produce in 7-8 seconds of grinding at one of the finest settings. I will now make sure to check that once tamped, the puck is undisturbed once placed in a Silvia. I am pretty sure I've been overdosing in the past, as I've always seen central screw marks on the puck as well as round edges at the sides.

You can't get close enough to the proper weight by estimating based on the grind setting and time. The weight of the coffee at a particular grind and time setting varies with the coffee and sometimes humidity. And while the Vario has the least retention of any good grinder on the market, it does sometimes retain grounds in the chute. Get a small digital gram scale with .1g resolution. They're very inexpensive ($10-$20). You can find them on Amazon. This will help keep those doses small enough for Silvia and will ensure that you're consistent with your dosing from shot to shot.

As usual, Chris has zeroed in on the two most likely procedural problems. The temp is definitely way too high and your distribution probably needs work. The temp is easy to fix. Distribution takes a little practice, but if you go with WDT you'll be on the right track.

I agree with much, if not all, of what Greg says in points 1-5. Small adjustments can make a considerable difference, depending on the coffee, the equipment in use and the barista. But he's right that at your stage of skill development, with the equipment you have, you shouldn't obsess too much about things like temp and pressure, provided you get the PID into a more resonable range (to achieve 195F-200F at the puck) and your machine's pressure has been properly adjusted to approximately 9 BAR at the PF.

However, I respectfully disagree strongly with what Greg says in the last paragraph of point 5 and all of point 6, and here's the best advice I can give you: begin with the coffee. It's by far the most important factor in the espresso equation.

You say that you're using coffee from a local NY roaster. That doesn't mean much. There are lots of small roasters that do a dreadful job with espresso. Further, I'm not at all convinced that you'll get drinkable shots from any Starbucks coffee. They tend to over roast, and if you don't like that flavor none of their coffees will please you, no matter how well you refine your technique and equipment settings.

I do agree with Greg that you should stay away from exotic blends touted on coffee sites. They may be too difficult for you to dial in just yet. You need to find a "forgiving" blend or Single-Origin coffee that's easy to work with. Trouble is, most of the great blends are designed to be heavily updosed (if you do updose, get the ridgeless basket recommended by Gregg -- it'll work well in Silvia up to about 16g.)

When I had a Silvia, I found the easiest coffees to work with were Single-Origin coffees in low doses. I was (and still am) particularly fond of the Ethiopian Ademe Bedane espresso from Terrior in Massachusetts. It's delicate, delicious and pretty easy to work with. It's designed for low doses, 13g-14g, 195F-197F, 1.75 oz in 25 sec. That said, it is bright and acidic, so if you don't like that profile choose something else. Terroir has a nice Kugomoini Kenyan espresso that's a bit more on the chocolate side of the spectrum.

Perhaps others can chime in here with some high-quality blends or SOs that Silvia can tolerate.

vetallist wrote:Thank you for the responses so far, it is extremely helpful!

The main issue seems to be my tamping technique, as I suspected. Naked portafilter is probably one more piece of equipment that I need to get to see whether I am anywhere close to proper tamp, which I suspect I am not at all.

Don't obsess about your tamping technique (I made this mistake) if by technique you mean how much force you're applying. Tamping pressure, in my experience, is one of the things that really makes little to no difference at all. So long as there is enough pressure to settle the bed and not enough to crack it (i.e. something between about 5 and 100 pounds), it's fine.

Getting a LEVEL puck, on the other hand -- i.e. a LEVEL tamp --- is very important. But, as others have said, a naked portafilter will quickly tell you if, or if not, your tamp is a problem.

I don't have a scale to measure exact 14g doses, but my understanding is that this is what Vario should produce in 7-8 seconds of grinding at one of the finest settings. I will now make sure to check that once tamped, the puck is undisturbed once placed in a Silvia. I am pretty sure I've been overdosing in the past, as I've always seen central screw marks on the puck as well as round edges at the sides.

Actual weight of dose isn't that important, I said 14g only because not having the puck hit the screen IS important and less than 14g pretty much guarantees it won't.

With a compacted (tamped) puck you should see no marks on the top of the puck if the portafilter is inserted in the machine and then taken out. Note, however, that it is normal (and fine) to see the imprint of the shower screen SCREW after the puck has been brewed. Brewing expands the puck slightly and it can touch the screw when it does. But a dry puck should never touch any part of the machine when inserted and removed.

I'll be sure to report back on my progress as I start making suggested tweaks.

Please, please do.

vetallist wrote:The main issue seems to be my tamping technique, as I suspected. Naked portafilter is probably one more piece of equipment that I need to get to see whether I am anywhere close to proper tamp, which I suspect I am not at all.

Tamping is not very important. It's probably the least important of all elements of the barista technique. Really, all it does is preserve the bed of coffee you've created through dosing and distribution.

In other words... no. The main issue is not your tamping technique.

vetallist wrote:I don't have a scale to measure exact 14g doses, but my understanding is that this is what Vario should produce in 7-8 seconds of grinding at one of the finest settings. I will now make sure to check that once tamped, the puck is undisturbed once placed in a Silvia. I am pretty sure I've been overdosing in the past, as I've always seen central screw marks on the puck as well as round edges at the sides.

14g is not a universal dose. It works well with some coffees - and poorly with others. What's important with dosing is that you find an amount of coffee that works well with the coffee (to your taste) - and that you are consistent with that dose.
Until your skills are very dialed in, being consistent is challenging and most people use a scale to help with this.

"7-8 seconds at one of the finest settings" is (to be blunt) unlikely to get you any sort of consistent dose much less a specific target dose.

Screw marks on the puck POST extraction are not always an indication that you've dosed too high. This imprint can occur after extraction stops in many cases.

vetallist wrote:I do have an Auber PID, which my friend personally picked up from the nice gentlemen who runs Auber and happens to live just 5 minutes away from his house in Georgia. I had a hunch that stock temperature setting was too hot, and I'll change it as soon as I get home today to 214F as suggested.

I'd strongly suggest reading the linked-to documents above.
Understanding the relationship between temperature and taste is quite important.

Thanks guys. I printed this thread, along with linked articles, to study some more on the way home tonight. I am convinced now to get the scale and naked portafilter (along with ridgeless basket?), but that will have to wait until I get back from vacation. But in the meantime there is plenty for me to improve on even before getting these gadgets. It seems like I only focused on getting 2oz in 25 seconds, but left out a lot in between. I could see how naked portafilter would immediately expose my technique flaws.

Thanks again everyone for your words of wisdom! Hopefully I am not the only one benefitting from this thread.