stinkyonion wrote:I think I would have had more good shots if I werent constantly changing the beans, dose, basket, etc. I dont attempt to pull two shots the same consecutively ever.

Let me first preface by saying I am NOT espresso expert ; I (self assessment) am newbie to novice level. But I am observant and have learned immensely from reading forums such as HB (and HB is my main source of espresso and coffee information).

Let me make a medical analogy. Say I wanted to return back to hospitalist work and I need to relearn central line placement. Should I practice & master one technique (e.g. femoral ) or should I just vary it (e.g. random femoral, subclavian, right IJ, swan ganz)? Well my residency mentor could be wrong but he always says start off with femoral central line placement and master it until you can do them in any situation (sleep deprived and code blue situation) THEN master IJ THEN proceed to subclavian.

Well then why aren't you doing the same here?

I really think you SHOULD keep things the same. SAME bean and SAME ROAST and do slight variations (e.g. dose and PID temperature). Personally, I weigh ground bean (to 0.1 gram) and weigh drink as it is being brewed (try to keep to 0.5 gram; cannot do better because my hand eye coordination sucks - hence I am not your specialty) Unless you like you espresso and lattes like Forest Gump chocolates (i.e. you don't know what you are going to get until you open the box) then you should keep things the same.

stinkyonion wrote:All shots taste great with milk as a latte. Frankly, as I am usually thirsty, I havent had the desire to finish many shots as an espresso. I always add milk after drinking the first third straight.

Well about anything short of sink shot will taste better with milk. That is how Charbucks is able to get away with their crappy espresso.

You also mention sour. Well I am near certain I know cause of this (senior members like Sherman or Jim who attended Chicago Get Together IX at your home please weigh in)--> it's your coffee grind and bean used. Light roasted (e.g. Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and I believe you state you have some green beans meant to be light roasted) brewed as espresso is very hard to obtain non-facial pucker taste (or non super acidity tart lemonade) from my Mazzer Super Jolly; Only time I can get something drinkable is to use 206F brew temp, 17 gram VST basket and grind very fine and pull very long. So I suspect with your Mazzer Mini it will be essentially impossible with its smaller flat burrs. Sherman's K10 (68mm conical burrs) allowed these shots to be pulled with such ease in my two weeks with K10 and per discussion with Sherman.. I RELUCTANTLY returned his K10 yesterday (again another shout out to Sherman for such amazing graciousness and friendliness).
For resolution of facial pucker inducting shots my suggestions are
* realize your taste buds may be more sensitive to it ; I know I am;
* first master a comfort espresso bean (i.e. ones easier to pull) (for me it is Paradise Roasters Nuevo)
* sell your Mazzer Mini E
* get a Titan conical grinder (e.g. see this thread Calling all Titan grinder owners... help me decide )
Regarding price of Titan grinder --> Well uhh..... you already went nearly all in with brand new Rocket R58, Hottop roaster, Espro tampers and scales. And as you have read here on HB, grinder is king for espresso. Now just go over the edge !

P.S.
BTW your home theatre so spoiled my kids , I'm diving in and building mine (finally). So no K10 for me in near future b.c. of this unless whole lotta moonlighting. Only equipment I really lacked for home theatre are FP and screen. Learning sound deadening is a real pain. Also thank you again for you and Mrs. graciousness and hospitality for Chicago Get Together IX.

The problem is every time I go to make coffee I have a different number of people that want some, and each time they have a different size cup in mind. Because of time crunch, I make either a single, a double, a triple, or overdosed triple and divide accordingly. Also, right now I have about 10 different coffees. I want to try each one. And most are in small half pound home roasted lots. Clearly, it would be better if I stuck with one bean, but temptation to try each is too much. The triple whammy of different beans, different dose, and different portafilter size means that I never perfect any of it. Im definitely not buying any more beans for at least a month, maybe 2 if staleness is not to bad. I can nail the extraction ratio most of the time irregardless, and my cups are dramatically better than a month ago.

In fact, just google searched what happens when coffee goes "stale". Apparently, it just gradually becomes more bland. Perhaps this can be remedied to some extent with updosing? But it is not like bread, which when stale is completely different than fresh and utterly unusable. I am sure the starbucks beans and the Lavazza beans I have are both many months old and are not dramatically different to my tongue compared to the blazing fresh stuff. After another month I will try the even staler Lavazza and Starbucks beans again and see how apparent the difference is with fresh roasted.

Just finished studying the grinders. Probably will wait to update from the mazzer mini until I better understand the tradeoffs. I really want a grinder that will fit under the wall cabinets. Dont want a hopper; the tamper to hold the beans down is ideal. Dont want a doser. Dont want a lot of grinds retained in machine. Could not figure out if the super jolly or k10 or whatever would fit these requirements. Might have to wait until someone makes a pro model that is not same size and weight as fire hydrant. I guess I dont care about the weight.

So I spent about 8 hours over last 2 days studying grinders. I should upgrade to super jolly burrs in my mini. Then, when things stabilize a little in a few months, will get a HG One. It is the only grinder that fits under the wall cabinets and gives a good grind that I can find. I will give them a couple more months in case they find some kinks to improve as it is so new. Maybe even Another_jim will review it by then and add to Titan Grinder Review. Increasing grind time by 20 seconds per cup will be painful, but oh well.

If you get an HG-One, bring it along to the next meetup, and we can pull shots with it versus a K10. Given results with the Pharos, I'm pretty sure that the taste will be indistinguishable; but it will be interesting to see how it stacks up in terms of usability -- there have been some rather glowing reports on the user thread.

Any traction on meeting again guys? I've got some stuff from Terroir I'd love to share!

...bump...
We completed February and stinkyonion's free Saturdays for espresso clinic. I say espresso clinic because I read another Cafes thread about a hands-on clinic rather than charette being sought in LA. It seemed as if stinkyonion was looking for a bit of clinic rather than more charette. Any interest? - stinkyonion? I know nothing about use of your equipment, but I know I would enjoy being a 'fly on the wall' in a one-on-one clinic of this sort. I am finally arriving at some progress after a year of several pulls each week on my pavoni, and I am enjoying what we pull. I still have zero handle on whether what I am enjoying comprises espresso, or strong coffee, but I am enjoying what I am producing lately. My son does most of the pulls - he does very well, but does not imbibe. I would suspect that a clinic might assist in getting stinkyonion to enjoy using his equipment and begin the ramp up to enjoyment rather than acquiring a taste - I recall your December2012 question whether espresso is an acquired taste.
Any interest?

Im all up for meeting again. We have to do it. Only a question of when. This saturday is the GS3 company's release of new machine, I am planning on going to the afternoon hands on session, but also am on call in the hospital, and have chicago fire so dunno. Next weekend am on call again, in house, so no chance. The two weekends after that bracket spring break week where I want to leave town as far away as possible. That blows March for me unless nonweekend get together. April is good though.