The only key is taste. A lot of people say that a 2:1 water to coffee ratio pulled in 28-35 seconds is what you want to aim for. That’s a great place to start, but I love some sweeter light roasts at like 40 second shots for 40g of water, 20-21g of coffee, and pretty much no one would recommend that based on averages.
So know what under and over extracted shots taste like, then aim for 40-45g water in 30 seconds with a 20-21g coffee dose, and decide if it seems more sour than you’d like (under) or bitter/cloying (over). If under, adjust to increase the brew time (experiment with both grinding finer and increasing the dose as the 2 best ways to increase extraction time). If you want to decrease the extraction time, your best best is to grind more coarsely.
So learn what tastes under-extracted to you and what tastes over, and then you’ll just have to adjust grind size and dose for each bean for the flavor you like most. Keep those settings and brew by weight until you need to adjust again.
I used a flair for a long time and loved it. Find a bean that’s got a lot of body and richness at a very light roast, and then grind it as fiiiiine as you can get it. Then you can crank the absolute heck out of it and overcome any heat or extraction issues with some huge pressure. Gauge add-on is highly recommended, but as far as other solid cups from budget machines, Breville makes great user-friendly machines at around/under $500, my rec being the Infuser/BES840XL
The only key is taste. A lot of people say that a 2:1 water to coffee ratio pulled in 28-35 seconds is what you want to aim for. That’s a great place to start, but I love some sweeter light roasts at like 40 second shots for 40g of water, 20-21g of coffee, and pretty much no one would recommend that based on averages.
So know what under and over extracted shots taste like, then aim for 40-45g water in 30 seconds with a 20-21g coffee dose, and decide if it seems more sour than you’d like (under) or bitter/cloying (over). If under, adjust to increase the brew time (experiment with both grinding finer and increasing the dose as the 2 best ways to increase extraction time). If you want to decrease the extraction time, your best best is to grind more coarsely.
So learn what tastes under-extracted to you and what tastes over, and then you’ll just have to adjust grind size and dose for each bean for the flavor you like most. Keep those settings and brew by weight until you need to adjust again.
super useful comment! TY!
Happy to help! Everyone deserves great coffee at home!
Mostly I use a stove top bialetti these days. And would really love to have a decent espresso device.
Flair anyone? https://flairespresso.com/
https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-espresso-machines
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/coffee-maker-reviews/g29069348/best-espresso-machines/
I used a flair for a long time and loved it. Find a bean that’s got a lot of body and richness at a very light roast, and then grind it as fiiiiine as you can get it. Then you can crank the absolute heck out of it and overcome any heat or extraction issues with some huge pressure. Gauge add-on is highly recommended, but as far as other solid cups from budget machines, Breville makes great user-friendly machines at around/under $500, my rec being the Infuser/BES840XL
The 58 that comes with a dial has a damage warning above 12 bar
I use a flair 58. I love it. Pull any pressure pattern. I don’t use milk though, and it is more work than the popular machines
More work, lower cost, fewer parts to break / replace. I’m talking myself into a Flair.
More work just because you’re the pressure source. But that also means you can use the pressure however you like
You need a really expensive machine to have that kind of control automatically