So I am experimenting alot lately. I just got my GS3 last week and I am trying everything out. I am new to the whole espresso game but I am very eager to learn.

I just have a few questions:

-I tried using a 2-3 days freshly roasted coffee and it was a PITA to dial and it tasted sour/bitter no matter what I do I've read that I should let it degass more. 7 days after roasting is optimal is this true?
-Where do you begin to make/create a brewing ratio/recipe?
-Do you start timing when a drop comes out or as soon as you engage the pump?
-I am able to get 20g:20yield:20sec but its kinda sour what is wrong?
-How do you generally dial in a shot? From what i saw from youtube people do 18g in :36out : 25-30 seconds.
-What brewing temp is a "safe"temp?


Any advice would be much appreciated! Hoping to get as much info as possible! and as usual Thank you to everyone!

Beans do need to "rest" a few days after roasting to get the best out of them. How many days exactly I will leave to others to comment on. However I often buy a lunch time cappuchino at an espresso cart, of which the owner roasts his own beans and serves coffee out of them within a day or two. He told me that using a lever machine, he just preinfuses the ground beans longer if they are very fresh.

You certainly went for top notch gear to learn on. The most systematic approach towards how to choose brew parameters like dose, grind and brew ratio that I know of is explained here:
https://baristahustle.com/blog/espresso ... zing-dose/
and the follow-up articles including the "putting it all together". Take your time to consume this and welcome to this rabbit hole called espresso.

The accepted starting point for your average roast is:

200F
1:2 ratio
25-30s

Timing starts as soon as pump starts and your beans are too fresh, I cannot get anything worthwhile until minimum 5 days post roast for just about any bean I've ever bought. After you've nailed the starting point, start adjusting for flavor, 1 variable at a time only. Also weight your dose and weigh output.

DeGaulle wrote:Beans do need to "rest" a few days after roasting to get the best out of them. How many days exactly I will leave to others to comment on. However I often buy a lunch time cappuchino at an espresso cart, of which the owner roasts his own beans and serves coffee out of them within a day or two. He told me that using a lever machine, he just preinfuses the ground beans longer if they are very fresh.

You certainly went for top notch gear to learn on. The most systematic approach towards how to choose brew parameters like dose, grind and brew ratio that I know of is explained here:
https://baristahustle.com/blog/espresso ... zing-dose/
and the follow-up articles including the "putting it all together". Take your time to consume this and welcome to this rabbit hole called espresso.

Initially wanted a slayer but that was like 4k usd more and needing to plumb it in was a deal breaker for me. I just tried brewing again an hour ago and it tasted way way better vs 2 days ago(it was like a sour bitter thing)made me do faces LOL.

sluflyer06 wrote:The accepted starting point for your average roast is:

200F
1:2 ratio
25-30s

Timing starts as soon as pump starts and your beans are too fresh, I cannot get anything worthwhile until minimum 5 days post roast for just about any bean I've ever bought. After you've nailed the starting point, start adjusting for flavor, 1 variable at a time only. Also weight your dose and weigh output.

Do i take preinfusion into account? I disabled it now but I could set it at 1 second pre infusion 1 sec off and full blast on pump. I always weigh my doses. I do however start the timer when first drop hits(dont see why acaia lunar has that feature if its not where you start counting) Anyway will try to do it also with the display shot timer and check results.

Usually including preinfusion for fairly normal extractions, if you start doing long preinfusions obviously you wouldn't still be aiming for those times, although I don't think you can on AV gs3. I would use the shot timer not scales auto timer functions, it's more reliable and consistent.

There is a preinfusion setting but I have not played with it that much yet. You just set it and the pump turns on for that long and then it shuts off and then it will turn back on depending on what you set it at. Factory calibrated it was at .7sec pump on then off then after 1 second full pressure for the actual shot. I am really torn on which to use but I will try using the shot timer and try out the results!

jpsm wrote:Do i take preinfusion into account? I disabled it now but I could set it at 1 second pre infusion 1 sec off and full blast on pump. I always weigh my doses. I do however start the timer when first drop hits(dont see why acaia lunar has that feature if its not where you start counting) Anyway will try to do it also with the display shot timer and check results.

Don't assume that, just because the Lunar has a setting where the scale activates at first drop, it is the setting that you should use. The Lunar also has a setting where the scale activates as soon as it tares, after a cup has been placed on it. That would be the best setting to use if you want to begin the tally as soon as you engage the brew lever (assuming that you actually engage the brew lever as soon as the Lunar has reset the scale to "zero" after the cup has been placed).

I have a hard time with timing. putting the cup on top and starting my brew LOL. I guess I need practice or I need the acaia mod scale for gs3 to make things easier(will give me more clearance)

Check out the espresso forum. Lots of your questions answered especially with you machine and set up.