Long time listener, first time caller. I've gotten a lot of good advice from reading here.

Recently decided to jump in with both feet, stretched my budget and got a new Bezzera BZ10 and refurbished Vario. I've used many threads here to dial in my grind. So, here's my step by step process to pulling a shot. Please critique each step where it needs . I am mostly satisfied with the taste I should note but I want to be making the best espresso possible.

My issue is my shots are timed well (I think) but come out weighing ~44g with a brew time of 28 seconds from first drip (about 8 seconds until first drip). Machine is getting up to proper pressure, about 9-12 bar.

Workflow:
Turn machine on. Put portafilter in machine as the grouphead is heated.

Weigh out 18g of espresso beans (Red Bird, roasted last week, I keep it in an airtight container with a valve). I place the beans in the empty hopper. I have read about some popcorning but it just doesn't make sense to me to keep the beans in the nonairtight hopper. Plus it makes dosing very difficult. I have a great scale and weigh to 0.1 g.

Run some water through the grouphead and portafilter. Empty water from portafilter and basket.

Grind beans directly into portafilter. It takes almost exactly 11 seconds to get 18g.

Tamp to about 30 pounds. I've checked how much pressure this should be on a scale so I think I'm hitting 30 pounds pretty well. I make sure it's level.

Pull shot. I have noticed occasionally that it drips faster from one side than the other. I think it was from putting the portafilter in too tightly. I've checked my tamping and it's better.

I don't really know about the color. It starts dark and turns blond. I've read about this but haven't really gotten a good sense of when the color should change. I always stop based on volume not color. At 2 ounces (I pull into an espresso cup so I know where 2 ounces is on the side of the cup). I get a beautiful crema. It's probably 75%+ of the shot when it's done pulling. I have dialed in my grind to the brew time above (about ~28 seconds from first drip, 36 seconds total). Currently I'm on 1-L on the Vario, but I realize that doesn't mean a ton because each machine is calibrated a little differently.

Shot weighs about 44g. I've gotten it down to about 42g, maybe 40g before.

It tastes good to me. It's less intense and maybe a little less bitter than the espresso from the best coffee shop in town. They have an amazing espresso machine, one of the gravimetric ones, costs like $30,000. However, I really want to make sure I'm getting the best espresso possible, to enjoy all the nuances and subtle flavors.

After I'm finished I run more water through the grouphead. I wipe off the screen and try to get more espresso out of the grouphead. Empty the drip pan, wipe it out, make sure it's dry. Wipe down the stainless steel. I'm not sure if there's anything else I should be doing for maintenance. I use softened water and then run it through a Brita filter.

Please tell me how I can make better espresso. I've tried to be as explicit and detailed as possible. Let me know if I left anything out.

Similarly to you I am a new member but long time reader(and home barista). 18g of coffee with a 44g shot is a 41% brew ratio. I am not familiar with how finely your grinder is adjustable but if you could grind finer in order to get a 18g coffee/30g shot(60% brew ratio) in the same length of time, I think you would see a difference in taste. But it's all in personal taste since I prefer 7g singles with a 20-25g shot which is a low ratio.

Thanks for the reply. I did have my grinder a bit more fine and the shots took about 40 seconds or more to pull 2 ounces. I've finally gotten my brewtime down to the recommended range and now I've found that my shots are too heavy. So basically I guess they are weaker than they should be? I'm not sure which variable to change.

Sorry, I think I said finer when I should have said coarser. Either way the point is to be able to get less volume from the same 18g of coffee in 25 seconds or so. If the finer one took you 40 seconds, what volume was it at 40 seconds? What volume would it be at 25 seconds, that's what I'm trying to convey.

oops, just saw that you got 2 ounces at 40 seconds, if you stopped that same shot at 25 seconds with less total volume, I think you would be in the ballpark of what I was originally trying to describe.

So you're saying I should grind a bit coarser and stop at 25 seconds no matter what? And see what volume I have?

Basically, I guess I'm saying that I just got the machine. I read a lot and followed the directions I found to dial in my grind (i.e. find the grind that gives you 2 ounces of espresso with 18g dose in 25-35 seconds from first drip). Now that I've done that, I found that my shot is too heavy, which I guess means underextracted?

I'll pull another shot right now. Just want to know what variable to change and how to diagnose the problem.

I should add that at my current grind setting I'm getting 2 ounces in 28 seconds from first drip, about 36 seconds from hitting the on button. (I'm never sure if the brew times start from first drip or not.)

Start your brew time when you hit the button. Aim for 25 seconds + or - 5 seconds, no matter what the shot volume. Stop at no later than 30 seconds, whether a 5 oz. cafe crema or a 1 oz. ristretto they will all taste good if you don't overextract. Then adjust your grind to get a different amount of volume in the same 25 seconds. That's what works for me.

I apologize if I sound confusing. I know what works for me but not sure I know how to describe it or explain it easily.

I think your timing might be off. Try timing your shots from when you push the brew button to when you stop, which includes the pre-infusion time. Shoot for 20 to 30 seconds.

I currently favour weight-based rather than volume based, as the amount of crema varies greatly and it weighs little compared to the liquid coffee. Shoot for about twice as much yield as coffee grinds.

Don't ignore colour. When it blonds you're going too far, according to my taste anyway.

If you want a lower brewed weight, you'll need to stop the shot sooner or slow the shot by grinding finer. Best to use a scale under your cup to hit the weight you want, and don't worry about volume or time ( as long as its in the 25-35 second range you are good).