Welcome to H-B!

A lot of things going on. I'm not sure what happened with your BDB, but let's go with your Appartamento.

It's an HX machine, so it will need careful attention to flushing to get a consistent temperature. See Managing HX Brew Temperature. I find an EricS group-head thermometer makes it a lot easier and more repeatable.

An E61 group needs at least 40 minutes to heat up, no matter what the boiler temperature says. If it hasn't been, it may be pulling cool or cold shots, which often leads to sourness.

It's hard for me to tell the roast level of the coffee you linked, but "a fruit basket filled with sweet tropical fruits, super ripe muscat grapes, drizzled over by honey and a glass of fine old world wine" and "Black Cherry | Lavender | Peach | Balance" suggests to me that it might be a little challenging to pull with low acidity. There's often a fine line between "refreshing" acidity and unpalatable sourness, especially if one is expecting a more classic chocolate and nuts espresso. That you got a moka pot out of it that you enjoyed tells me you know what's possible from the coffee. Now to see if we can get that in your espresso!

eune00 wrote:it gets blond pretty quickly.. And super sour. So should I try to do a finer grind first?

Edit: Only start here once you have confirmed you've got your group-head temperature under control!

Yes, "conventional wisdom" would be that both of those point to needing a finer grind.

If you don't yet have a scale good to at least 0.1 g, I think the $15 or so would be a good investment.

I don't know how much finer to go as I don't know the coffee, your grinder, or your machine. I'd go fine enough that it is going blond at around 25 seconds with around 36 g in the cup with an 18.0 g dose (your benchmark, see in a following paragraph).

Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste is a good, general reference.

I think that getting to know a good benchmark for your machine and taking every new coffee there first is a good way to dial in. After a while you get a feel for what to change and by how much for the next shot. I found that keeping a notebook of what I tasted, changed, and how the next shot tasted made that a lot easier for me. Many people find a fixed dose, say 18.0 g and ratio of 1:2 (36 g out) blonding around 25 seconds from pump on a good benchmark. My benchmark is a little different than that because of the kinds of coffees I enjoy and some quirks of my machine, but I'll still go straight for my benchmark, then adjust from there.

Hopefully a longer warm-up will get you back on track!

Lots of threads on scales. Model names change seemingly weekly in the inexpensive scales. They're probably different in Canada as well. A recent thread I recall was Good Cheap Pourover Scale? The one looking for a scale to fit the Robot talks about tiny scales (under 4" wide), but I like something a little bigger than 3" if you're not going to put it on the drip tray. Mini scale for Cafelat Robot

There's many more threads as well.

Getting the whole HX temperature management thing down is a big key to consistency. Every machine is a little different, but you might want to read up on what other Appartamento owners are doing for their "ritual".

Sour and bitter can confuse even experienced tasters, especially when they're both present at the same time. "Back of the throat" might be astringency, often associated with bitterness.

Close to a 1:1 ratio in over 40 seconds, at least for most coffees, suggests the grind is too fine. I'd try working back to 1:2 in 25-30 seconds, tasting as you go. Let each shot cool a bit, stir, and at least sip. You may end up tossing a few, but tasting the changes can help recognize the various ways an espresso can be "off". You may find that you like it a little "longer" than even 1:2, depending on the coffee and your own flavor preferences.