I have been a happy home barista, making one cappuccino and one pour over daily. I enjoyed my coffee and thought that i have been making better cappuccino than shops out there. I like my cappuccino strong but not overly strong ... somewhere between cappuccino and piccolo.

Until recently ... i went to a coffee exhibition... tried few cappuccinos. I started to realize that my cappuccino is bad. Their cappuccino was weaker than what i like but ... it had distinctive taste aroma or whatever.

But me ... i did plenty different beans and blends... the final result always tastes almost the same. I have tried adjusting my grinds and yield for a few days but still didnt come close to what i got at the exhibition.

I hope someone could help.

A quick list of what equipment you're using might allow some folks here to better direct you with some specifics.

Strega and pharos...

I use a lower grade single boiler and grinder combo, I found my milk-based drink were better than most coffee shops once I got the mano. What I don't understand from your OP is that all the beans you have tried end up tasting the same. I cannot relate as I find the taste and results quite distinctive from bean to bean or blend to blend.

Have you mastered the brewing process? Are you using fresh, high quality beans? Are you measuring your brewing ratio and getting consistent results?

I use 18 gram basket .. weigh the grounds before loading it into portafilter. Tonight i tried 20 grams espresso in 160ml tulip mug. This made a capppuccino that is almost as weak as the one i had in the exhibition (i bought the exact same bean which i had in the exhibition). But missing almost all taste that i found before.

How much milk are you using and what temperature are you heating too? I found that around 140F produced the sweetest results.

I think I know what you are referring to.

In my experience, good quality steamed milk from a high power steam boiler stands out most in a well made cappuccino. It just has this certain "bite" which really shines through even if you pair a mediocre shot with it. I say this because having recently acquired the Linea Mini with its incredible steaming power, I can fairly easily reproduce this milk quality at home (steaming for capp takes about 6-8 seconds). With my previous Breville Dual Boiler, I could steam milk pretty well but it was harder to get the milk quality with that certain "bite" I am talking about (I think steaming took around 20 seconds with the dual boiler).

This may or may not be what you are referring to.

I dont think this is about milk. I know what my capppuccino will taste if i put too much milk or too little. I say that the espresso is not extracted properly that im missing characteristics. does this has to do with the machine being a lever?

Tried another cappuccino this morning... no success. But i just realized that i have a equipment related habit thats probably needs to chnage. With my grind setting and the strega... when i pull a shot, the first drip comes between 1 bar and 2 bar... always. Then i always release the lever soon after these drips. The spring engages at about 80 degress from vertical. Not sure whats the real pressure at these angle.

Im thinking maybe i should wait for 4 bars or higher then releasing the lever.

I would definitely agree with bengee and say that you should definitely concentrate on your shots and getting them to a really high level before focusing as much as the cappuccino. Make sure your beans are fresh and freshly ground. You are building the drink off the shot as a base, after all.

Incidentally, I really like to pull my shots a bit more ristretto when I'm making a cappuccino. I really find that the extra body of the espresso and the punchier flavors give it that "wow factor", even when the actual volume of espresso is less. This may just be me, but you might try that and see what you think.

Maybe if you walk us through your workflow, we could better help you!