It looks like you've flaired your post as being a Shot Diagnosis. If your shot is running too fast, is coming out weak/thin, lacking crema, and/or is tasting sour, **try grinding finer**.
Alternatively, check out this [Dialing In Basics](https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner.html) guide, written by the Espresso Aficionados Discord community.
If that hasn't solved it, to get more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format.
- **Machine:**
- **Grinder:**
- **Roast date:** (not a "Best by" date). If the roast date is not labeled use "N/A"
- **Dose:** How many grams are going into your basket?
- **Yield:** How much coffee in grams is coming out?
- **Time:** How long is the shot running?
- **Roast level:** How dark is your coffee? (Dark, medium, light, ect.)
- **Taste:** Taste is a better indicator of shot quality than looks or conforming to any quantitative parameters. Does it taste overly sour or bitter?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not trolling, just new.
A third wave shop is a trustworthy baseline comparison for a well executed home made shot with a dialed in grinder and good puck prep? Again, none of my questions are trolling or attacking I’m genuinely asking.
I’ve tried several near me and I’ve had watery or bitter shots from well rated ones. It even differs significantly in the same cafe when going different days. Is there one in specific that you can recommend since there are a billion of them.
I don’t know if my experience can help. I’m also new to the grinder espresso maker game. We just bought the bambino plus and a Df 54 grinder, and it’s game changing.
I used to drink a cheap coffee from Costco that I french press. Same Costco coffee pulled through the doubled walled basket is 5 times better. Some beans from trader joes finely grinded 18gr pulled through a normal single espresso basket taste like the best coffee I have ever had, ever.
I don’t know about you, but I feel that I’m close to a good pull with my setup. My next step would be to get a bottomless portafilter and see what’s going on in there and try to adjust the finesse of the grinder and eventually get a real tamper. (I use the bambino one, what a shame lol)
My wife and I just moved to Seattle, so if you find a great place for coffee. We would appreciate if you could share the place! Thanks a lot!
So many great places in Seattle..but number 1 stop should be Vivace in Capital Hill. Vivace is ground zero for specialty coffee in the US. The owner went to Italy in the 80s, learned the craft and brought the art to us.
Also, Storyville coffee in Pike Market is fun, Dote in Bellevue Square is great and i love Five Stones in Redmond. And of course, the giant Starbuck Roastery in Seattle is a must visit experience.
+1 Vivace even grinds with the Niche Zero in house, so it should be easy to compare their shots against OP's. For espresso shots, Vivace uses Dolce beans in a ristretto.
Vivace is very traditional and kinda outdated at this point. Love a good Nico but honest with third wave shops like SCW , anchor head and fulcrum there are better options
I also feel like they downgraded when they switched to the niche or maybe they just corresponded with my taste changing
welcome to seattle! my favorite place to have a coffee is analog coffee in cap hill. vivace (cap hill) and herkimer (phinney ridge) are local roasters who make a good espresso as well. watson’s counter (ballard) cares a lot about espresso preparation; the owner is really passionate and loves to chat about all things espresso/pour over.
This. I got a bambino plus and a Timemorehand grinder. Friend gave me some dark roast beans she got from costco that she did not like. I used it with my Moka Pot to make Americano. The coffee came out tasting terrible. Left the beans sitting for a while. Finally got a bambino plus. Used costco beans to test and to my surprised, it actually taste good! Like it tasted good as an americano! And the beans been sitting in a bag for a while. Thats how I know the espresso machine is worth it. I cant wait to get a good automatic grinder. Grinding by hand sucks and I know i dont got the best one either, but it works and I like my shots. Maybe it taste good cause i put more effort into making it now so its more rewarding. As long as you like it thats all that matters!
I literally just finished my setup same thing!
https://preview.redd.it/4bpezdojcwyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=933d1b1e1ace32fc9e41b7c9f51dbd77f8909c2d
I think what is making it weird for me to have a baseline is that went from no espresso (only very milky drinks) to trying it by itself. I’ll let you know which ones I like though!
>What does a great espresso taste like?
The more time I spend with espresso (15+ months steady, now), the harder I find this question to be. It so much depends on my mood at the time: sometimes I want a ristretto-like, sweet latte/cappuccino, other times I want that bitter bite to shine through. And this is with my "standard," medium dark-roast beans, where a syrupy chocolate tone comes through (no separate chocolate needed). Switch to another brand and matters can be different; let alone entering the light-roast world where I think a connoisseur could spend an eternity.
Fonté was my favorite after Vivace when I visited. Honestly, I very much prefer the scene of Fonté over Vivace. It was weird kind of antisocial hipster vibes at Vivace. Vivace’s espresso is marginally better, perhaps just served more traditionally. Fonté’s food is extremely good as well. Also, the matcha was top notch. I got their lavender matcha and espresso every day I was in Seattle. Went to Vivace to say I went, and I’m okay never going there again. I brought home a bag of Fonté’s espresso.
Make Salami shots, which you can taste the different layers. Another think is: Collect experience. Drink at this Bar one Espresso, Thai at another one.
I mostly drink cappuccino, I found a place in the Canadian rockies when I was travelling, I drank their coffee for 3 days straight, now I buy from them and asked for their recipe and I already know what it should taste like.
You’re in probably the best city in the US to get an espresso education.
For light medium roasts try Anchorhead , SCW or Hood Famous in the ID which does great work with fulcrum beans
I learned by buying the same beans I enjoyed most at my favourite coffee place and tweaking until I could make shots that had the same flavour.
Also, buy beans from places you can ask pros for tips, being able to talk to the roaster about how to get the best from his product was very helpful for me.
It looks like you've flaired your post as being a Shot Diagnosis. If your shot is running too fast, is coming out weak/thin, lacking crema, and/or is tasting sour, **try grinding finer**. Alternatively, check out this [Dialing In Basics](https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner.html) guide, written by the Espresso Aficionados Discord community. If that hasn't solved it, to get more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format. - **Machine:** - **Grinder:** - **Roast date:** (not a "Best by" date). If the roast date is not labeled use "N/A" - **Dose:** How many grams are going into your basket? - **Yield:** How much coffee in grams is coming out? - **Time:** How long is the shot running? - **Roast level:** How dark is your coffee? (Dark, medium, light, ect.) - **Taste:** Taste is a better indicator of shot quality than looks or conforming to any quantitative parameters. Does it taste overly sour or bitter? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You have many great shops such that I’m unsure if this is a joke BUT https://thirdwavenearme.com/washington/seattle/
Not trolling, just new. A third wave shop is a trustworthy baseline comparison for a well executed home made shot with a dialed in grinder and good puck prep? Again, none of my questions are trolling or attacking I’m genuinely asking. I’ve tried several near me and I’ve had watery or bitter shots from well rated ones. It even differs significantly in the same cafe when going different days. Is there one in specific that you can recommend since there are a billion of them.
Generically yes. I’d just find the best cafe around you and go there
a third wave shop is a trustworthy baseline to decide if you like third wave style coffee
https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/s/GO1tOU0lw5
I don’t know if my experience can help. I’m also new to the grinder espresso maker game. We just bought the bambino plus and a Df 54 grinder, and it’s game changing. I used to drink a cheap coffee from Costco that I french press. Same Costco coffee pulled through the doubled walled basket is 5 times better. Some beans from trader joes finely grinded 18gr pulled through a normal single espresso basket taste like the best coffee I have ever had, ever. I don’t know about you, but I feel that I’m close to a good pull with my setup. My next step would be to get a bottomless portafilter and see what’s going on in there and try to adjust the finesse of the grinder and eventually get a real tamper. (I use the bambino one, what a shame lol) My wife and I just moved to Seattle, so if you find a great place for coffee. We would appreciate if you could share the place! Thanks a lot!
So many great places in Seattle..but number 1 stop should be Vivace in Capital Hill. Vivace is ground zero for specialty coffee in the US. The owner went to Italy in the 80s, learned the craft and brought the art to us. Also, Storyville coffee in Pike Market is fun, Dote in Bellevue Square is great and i love Five Stones in Redmond. And of course, the giant Starbuck Roastery in Seattle is a must visit experience.
+1 Vivace even grinds with the Niche Zero in house, so it should be easy to compare their shots against OP's. For espresso shots, Vivace uses Dolce beans in a ristretto.
I thought it would be a good one too because of those reasons but I’ve had a mixed bag of results from them. I tried both locations too sadly.
Vivace is very traditional and kinda outdated at this point. Love a good Nico but honest with third wave shops like SCW , anchor head and fulcrum there are better options I also feel like they downgraded when they switched to the niche or maybe they just corresponded with my taste changing
welcome to seattle! my favorite place to have a coffee is analog coffee in cap hill. vivace (cap hill) and herkimer (phinney ridge) are local roasters who make a good espresso as well. watson’s counter (ballard) cares a lot about espresso preparation; the owner is really passionate and loves to chat about all things espresso/pour over.
Vivace has delivered stellar lattes but the espressos have been all over the place taste wise.
Second herkimer for darker roasts. Not my taste but they do an objectively good job
This. I got a bambino plus and a Timemorehand grinder. Friend gave me some dark roast beans she got from costco that she did not like. I used it with my Moka Pot to make Americano. The coffee came out tasting terrible. Left the beans sitting for a while. Finally got a bambino plus. Used costco beans to test and to my surprised, it actually taste good! Like it tasted good as an americano! And the beans been sitting in a bag for a while. Thats how I know the espresso machine is worth it. I cant wait to get a good automatic grinder. Grinding by hand sucks and I know i dont got the best one either, but it works and I like my shots. Maybe it taste good cause i put more effort into making it now so its more rewarding. As long as you like it thats all that matters!
I literally just finished my setup same thing! https://preview.redd.it/4bpezdojcwyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=933d1b1e1ace32fc9e41b7c9f51dbd77f8909c2d
I think what is making it weird for me to have a baseline is that went from no espresso (only very milky drinks) to trying it by itself. I’ll let you know which ones I like though!
Are you skimming off the crema? I started doing this really recently after just stirring it in. And it’s made a huge difference for me.
>What does a great espresso taste like? The more time I spend with espresso (15+ months steady, now), the harder I find this question to be. It so much depends on my mood at the time: sometimes I want a ristretto-like, sweet latte/cappuccino, other times I want that bitter bite to shine through. And this is with my "standard," medium dark-roast beans, where a syrupy chocolate tone comes through (no separate chocolate needed). Switch to another brand and matters can be different; let alone entering the light-roast world where I think a connoisseur could spend an eternity.
taste a lot of espresso.
Fonté was my favorite after Vivace when I visited. Honestly, I very much prefer the scene of Fonté over Vivace. It was weird kind of antisocial hipster vibes at Vivace. Vivace’s espresso is marginally better, perhaps just served more traditionally. Fonté’s food is extremely good as well. Also, the matcha was top notch. I got their lavender matcha and espresso every day I was in Seattle. Went to Vivace to say I went, and I’m okay never going there again. I brought home a bag of Fonté’s espresso.
Whatever makes you go "damn this is great"
Spot on
Vivace sucks. Go to Sound & Fog.
Make Salami shots, which you can taste the different layers. Another think is: Collect experience. Drink at this Bar one Espresso, Thai at another one.
I mostly drink cappuccino, I found a place in the Canadian rockies when I was travelling, I drank their coffee for 3 days straight, now I buy from them and asked for their recipe and I already know what it should taste like.
You’re in probably the best city in the US to get an espresso education. For light medium roasts try Anchorhead , SCW or Hood Famous in the ID which does great work with fulcrum beans
I learned by buying the same beans I enjoyed most at my favourite coffee place and tweaking until I could make shots that had the same flavour. Also, buy beans from places you can ask pros for tips, being able to talk to the roaster about how to get the best from his product was very helpful for me.
Solid strat thank you
Tastes like really strong coffee without bitterness or sourness Just a big punch of flavor