OK31 wrote:Thanks everyone. Yes I really need to get a more precise scale to help with weighing in and out. It's in my radar. As for milk drinks unfortunately I was on a roll and there's only so many drinks I can have at 8pm lol.

I have been doing the tap and tamp which may well be responsible for the shot starting strong and then having pressure drop though it's still well in the range where I want it. I'm thinking I probably want to go one more notch lower on size and lower the dose to maybe 15ish to see if I can get that good flavor without choking. This morning I got about 17g in PF and at 35sec got 32g out in cup which is probably great but think I could have gotten a little more flavor in a little less time. I am finally understanding that there is not wrong way its just what you like. So in reality all these coffee shops give you their interpretation. If you want your own then this is the way to do it and at the end of the day considering I won't be doing many shots straight it will not be as impactful though noticeable in milk.

Is a calibrated tamper worth it? And those who have had the grinder pro what did you find as a good balance on the grind size? Considering you can make it flow in 30 seconds using dose size and tamp in so many combos it's like probability all over again. Doing all shots in a row I found helpful to taste each otherwise doing it across days just spreads the torture while not wasting which I need to stop.

Next problem stretching milk and pouring. Science is one thing art well that's a whole other business.

HH wrote:The grind setting varies for me based on the beans I'm using, how old they are etc. I'm currently on 11, grinding for 17.2 seconds to give me 21g in the basket, but on my last bag of beans which was a different bean and roast, I was up at a setting of 15. Just change one thing at a time and you'll have it dialled in in a couple of shots. I keep tamping pressure and dose absolutely consistent which makes it a lot easier when trying new beans.

With regards to calibrated tampers and tamping variables, just tamp to full compression (until you can't physically tamp more), which cuts out the pressure variable completely.

OK31 wrote:So you basically overdose initially then tamp and razor out the rest to keep as close head room to the "recommended" as possible by breville

HH wrote:Yup. At least to work out what your recommended dose is for the included Breville basket. You only really need to do it once, most of my experience and reading shows in the stock Breville basket for the 920 it's geared for a 21g dose. Would be worth checking to make sure yours is the same (I'm not sure whether the baskets stay the same between machines, the 920 uses a 58mm basket). I found dosing the Breville to 18g (which I saw a lot on the forum as many members use VST baskets) made the shots far less flavourful and gush through a lot more quickly, so it was hard to find a grind that corrected it. Since dosing at 21g I haven't had a problem with the SGP.

OK31 wrote:Pull time recording started immediately at double shot button press, first drips started at ~9-11 sec
1st shot 15 sec grind, 12 size 18g in PF, 45g out in 32 sec - sourish kind of weak not something I'd enjoy

2nd shot 14 sec grind, 11 size 16g in PF, 44g out in 31 sec - sourish similar to above but definitely less "watery"

3rd shot 14.8 sec grind, 9 size 18g in PF, 40g out in 35 sec - better not AS sour but still a hind of that eh... at this point all 3 would probably be fine with milk but that's not what this is about RIGHT?!?!

4th shot 15.8 sec grind, 8 size 17g in PF (remember it may be closer to 18 or 16) 36g out in 40 sec - this tasted the best out of all, sour almost if not completely gone started to get on the cusp of bitter but not, taste lingers but can maybe be better?

OK31 wrote: different grind size will impact the size in basket and the fluffier stuff at 16g may be same height as 18g