Just curious when everyone starts counting with their shot timer… as most ppl strive for the 25 to 30 second shot.

As soon as the water hits the puck (includes pre-infusion time) ?

Or

As soon as first drops hit the cup ?

    drdre89 it’s a good question if you are doing pre-infusion. With something like a 3+3 pre infusion (3s line pressure, 3s rest), you may end up grinding a little coarser than optimal if you are targeting ~30s total. Would love to get others thoughts on pre-infusion as I usually target a few seconds longer when doing it.

    • Rob1 replied to this.

        Mine has a built in shot timer from the moment you use the lever, but i dont take much notice of it

        Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

        2 separate timers, one when I start pre-infusion and one when drops start to fall after I pull the lever.

        The timing is fairly arbitrary in terms of the result. My machine has a built in shot timer that starts once the button is flipped. At that point pre-infusion starts and the puck gets wet. Extraction starts then. So, when most folks talk about 25-30 seconds, it is from that point. But, pre-infusion and all kinds of parameters are different from machine to machine. So, the easiest thing to do is start from when the button is pushed. Ultimately it is taste that determines what you want based on the coffee you have. So, if on your machine you go 30 seconds with pre-infusion of 6 seconds, and the coffee tastes under extracted, then go longer. Some folks have timers on their scales that start at first drip. Assuming around 8-10 seconds before first drip with a 6 second pre-infusion, then when their scale shows 30 seconds, it is more like 40 seconds. The point is make it relative to what your setup has. If you are simply using a separate timer, then either way is fine, just be consistent. Probably easier to start the timer when the button is pushed or lever lifted on the machine.

        Hit the button, start the timer. Use as guidelines, say, 35s, 36g out. There’s no point in use it the shot timer to stop the shot, the only useful thing for a timer is for reference so you can adjust your grind.

        A shot with pre-infusion will behave differently from a shot without pre-infusion.

        Makes sense. As others have said, always adjust to your taste buds, but was curious if there was a trend to slightly longer overall shot times when doing preinfusion.

        limelight it’s a good question if you are doing pre-infusion. With something like a 3+3 pre infusion (3s line pressure, 3s rest), you may end up grinding a little coarser than optimal if you are targeting ~30s total. Would love to get others thoughts on pre-infusion as I usually target a few seconds longer when doing it.

        Pre infusion makes the shot run significantly faster so if you were arbitrarily targeting a shot time you’d have to grind finer compared to running the shot *‘without’ the pre-infusion.

        *You can’t really run without pre-infusion because it happens as the puck is wet and saturated, which obviously always has to happen regardless of pressure or whether or not the pump is running.

        To expand on my early post simply as “Never”. My machine has a built in shot timer that starts when I flip the switch. I use it for no other reason than to assess consistency from one shot to the next. It makes no difference when you start the timer so long as you do it consistently. The majority of the time I pay absolutely no attention to it whatsoever. I’m more focused on the flow rate than anything, and ofc the target weight. Yes, the time can be used to determine average flow rate, but that isn’t particularly useful at all. You’re better off watching the shot and the scales and stopping it when you want so you can track flow rate and weight. If you pull two shots, one for a 1:2.5 in 30 seconds with a flow rate that starts slow and steadily increases, and another 1:2.5 in 30 seconds with a flow rate that takes longer for the first drip and rapidly increases, you’ll have two very different shots.

        I wouldn’t personally alter the grind setting or dose because a shot takes 25 seconds or 50 seconds, but I may let it run longer or cut it earlier depending on the flow rate regardless of weight out.

          This exactly, add to that every bean reacts differently

          I have a bean atm and today i ground a tad finer, went for a full 9bar shot and pulled 1:1 its the first time ive had the blackcurrant in it.

          Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -