Hey all,
I am very new to doing my own espresso. As I have no great espresso grinder yet, I have calibrated my baratza encore per the video on it from Seattle Coffee. It is and has been my grinder for doing awesome pour overs and regular brewing. I know I am pushing its capability for doing espresso, so until I have a better grinder I am trying to make due with what I have. I have used anywhere from a setting of 4 all the way to 12. I am trying to keep my dose levels at 18 grams or so but do variate it some according to how fine I grind, and do believe that I am using the same tamp force thru all of my attempts.

What I have noticed is, at the coarser grinder settings, the shots have become more tolerant in bitterness and sourness, so I would like to think this is where it should be, with the exception that the body suffers some. I can attain a nice crema on the shots. The bar pressure is not at the same level for the coarser grinds as it is with the finer ones, as can be expected. My grind at setting 12 feels like it is fairly consistent, and just a little smaller than granular sugar crystals. Is it supposed to be finer??

When doing finer grinds, the variation on bitter and sourness quickly presents itself, and I have to adjust dose size to try and bring it back to acceptable balance again. Any suggestions, other than get a better grinder (lol), or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

before the countless masses respond to this post....nevermind....the sette 270wi showed up.

Enjoy!