Widen The Espresso Shot Window
If you're fairly new to home espresso, you'll probably be seeking advice online for how to produce the best shots of espresso possible, and the one thing you'll constantly hear about, is "shot time" or the "shot window".
This is how long it takes for the shot to pull, and you'll usually hear shot windows of between 25-30 seconds, or 28-32 seconds.
By the way, in case you were wondering (it's one of the most common emails I get) the shot time includes any pre-infusion, it's from when you press the shot button.
If you're doing some kind of advance pulls for light roasts, "slayer shots" and so on, then you'll hear about starting the timer at first drips, but for "normal" espresso, shot time includes pre-infusion.
Windows Can Be Opened
Just while you're getting started & finding your feet, I highly recommend opening the shot window right up, aiming to get the shot to run for 20 seconds or more, with a max of 35 seconds.
The problem with the 3-4 second shot windows, is they're actually really quite tricky to hit consistently, when you're getting started out, and hitting them doesn't necessarily matter, when you're starting out.
It's all about taste, at the end of the day. Taste is subjective, and your palate will develop as you go along. When you fiercely aim for 28-32 or 25-30 seconds, you're putting in all that effort to please someone else's palate.
Take Chocolate Brownie blend, for example. I know this bean very well, it's been my house blend for a few years now, and I've been developing my palate for several years.
For me, I can really notice the difference if the shot runs in 21/22 seconds vs 27/28 seconds. It's a very forgiving bean, the most forgiving I've ever used, I don't have to faff around too much to get it right for my relatively well developed palate, but I can't drink even a milky made with a shot that pulled in around 20-22 seconds, or one that pulled in 32-34 seconds, it just won't taste how I know choc brownie should taste.
But when I'm making coffees for someone who I know doesn't have the same level of palate development, I know that I don't need to worry too much about being precisely dialled in.
I've tested this many times with many different people, I know full well that the flat white, cappuccino or Americano I'm about to make for someone else who I know isn't a pro barista or a seasoned home barista, that ran slightly fast or slightly slow, is going to taste great to them.
So if you take advice from a pro barista, or a seasoned home barista, someone who really would be able to tell the difference that a few seconds of shot time would make, you're pulling your shots for them, not for you - and making things way more difficult than they need to be.
Also, shot time isn't usually quite as precise an indication of extraction more entry level home setups than it is with commercial or prosumer espresso machines.
Keep Espresso Simple
When you're beginning, espresso is quite complex, there's loads to think about, so if you're less obsessed about achieving a very specific shot time, and you're focusing more on whether or not you're happy with the taste, you should find the early days of your home barista journey a bit less frustrating.
Instead of looking at the numbers, and being aware that because the shot ran in 22 seconds it's probably sour, or because it ran in 35 seconds it's probably hollow & bitter, be mainly focused on taste.
I recommend only looking at the shot time really vaguely, don't worry about the numbers as long as the shot ran in over 20 seconds and under 35 seconds, just focus on whether you're happy with the taste or not.
Most beginner home baristas have told me that once they start doing this, home espresso becomes way less frustrating.