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Pull up the lever and fill espresso cup with hot water
This is the single biggest by thing that needs doing, I reckon. If you forget it, you are not going to pull a good shot.
I tend to leave it alone for a few minutes after that so that it heats through (although I haven't yet actally measured the group head temperature).
Pre-infusion tends to depend on how old the beans are (for me, at least, as I buy by the kilo, and don't change grind as they age). I follow the wait-til-it-drips stage, as long as I'm not distracted by kids.
If you pull too hard steam will escape from boiler / grouphead join.
Wrapping the group inlet thermal buffer with plenty of PTFE tape fixes this.
You might also try custom cutting a gasket, but meh.
NotThamesWater
Well a lot depends on your coffee, grind, dose and type of basket but for my current blend this is my process,
I use a Knock grinder. Weigh out ~ 15g of coffee. Dispense into basket (I use a home made distribution tool to remove clumps and spread it about! Made a huge difference)
as I don’t have the tamper that fits perfectly, it’s like .5 of a mm undersized so I kind of have to shift it around to get the edges.
Pull up the lever and fill espresso cup with hot water, down again then fit the portafilter. Up and pre infuse for 20seconds (I used to do 10 but found it just seems to taste better if I leave it longer), then pull down fairly gently. If you pull too hard steam will escape from boiler / grouphead join.
Having a bottomless portafilter is useful too, also I can fit taller espresso cups underneath it.
A shower screen is also a good investment. I haven’t got one but sometimes I use an aeropress paper filter.. I think it’ll take a while to dial in but once you’ve got a process locked it’s pretty reliable :). Enjoy!