I try usually try quite a lot of different beans, going from SO to blends, from light to dark roast. So yes, going into unknown territory results in sink shots. when I'm dialed in it happens very rarely. But maybe my forgiveness for inconsistency is huge

J

I, too, said 1 out of 10 because there was nothing between none and 1:10. I mostly only use my own 2 blends and these are well understood (by me). I also am pretty static with equipment rarely changing anything so my "routine" is pretty set and pretty consistent.

There is the occasional (maybe not so occasional) less than perfect shot - but I just drink it anyway for thrift sake.

Count me in the category of drinking my own mistakes. I just can't bear to toss away a shot if it can be salvaged by milk or turned into an Americano. I tell myself that I am trying to diagnose the problem by taste, but I am just cheap and lazy.

Not counting the morning seasoning shot with stale grinds, about 20% or more of my shots should be tossed in the sink. At least one out of 10 of mine should be sunk when dialing in a new bean, at least one out of 10 is just a plain catastrophe with no other excuse than operator error. However, my coworkers like theirs drowned in milk, so there is really no such thing as a sink shot when I prepare one for them.

Less than 1 out of 10 for me, it's pretty rare these days to have it so bad it's not worth finishing. But occasionally it does happening on the first shot when dialing in. Though often first shots that are too fast can still make quite decent lungos anyhow.

I am not sure if I should feel incompetent or perhaps I am simply a prude. I always sink the first double of the day (I don't even catch it so as not to be tempted), I taste my second, I drink my third... sometimes. It is not unheard of to tweak this and that and simply taste right past five. If the equipment rests for more than a few hours I sink the first and drink from there forward.

I just noticed I am one of 6 that said 4+... I feel like I want to meet the other 5... and taste their amazing (or disgusting) espresso.
For the sake of clarity, when in production it is usually only the first set that gets sunk... from there definitely less that 1/10; however in a non production environment the sink drinks more than me.

I believe I'm one of the other few - the proud - the "failures"

Keep in mind, too, that one reason for more sink shots is NOT necessarily bad espresso. It could be higher standards on the part of the barista.

(I suspect that is Chris' reasoning.)

Actually, I don't think my standards are higher than others.
I think I have different goals is all.

Let's all get back to reality. What percentage of the time do you make espresso (drinks) when you aren't rushed for time because you have to do something else in short order? Perhaps I'm naive and unrepresentative of most of us, but it is my impression that most people here, a very large percentage of the time, have other responsibilities that will demand their time shortly after the time they have devoted to making a given drink. Sure, it happens that I have oodles of time and just hang out around the espresso machine contemplating making shots, but most of the time, I've got something else to do right afterward.

Is this a situation in which most people most of the time are going to toss acceptable-but-not-perfect shots down the sink in the hopes that they can make a better one several minutes later? I think NOT. I will personally admit to having drunk a really bad sinker shot on more than one occasion when the most important virtue of the product was its caffeine content and nothing else

Perhaps that has something to do with what motivates people here, both in their actual shot making behavior and in what they are posting in this thread.

ken