So, I just received the latest from Blue Bottle's SO subscription (formerly Tonx) Ethiopia Guji Hambela Natural. Against my wishes (I don't like blending my Gesha, cause $$$), a coworker combined it roughly 50-50 with some Sweet Marias Acatenango Gesha that I had roasted to just barely the end of first crack. All was forgiven though, because it turned out to be one of the best shots I've ever had in my life. Tasted like blueberries swimming in flowers and sunshine. 18 gram dose pulled over roughly a minute in my La Peppina.

If you have the means I highly recommend it. I assume any good DP Ethiopian + Gesha would give you a similar effect.

I take it both of these were around City/City+ level?

I would think it would be smarter to try this by mixing the beans on a per-shot basis.

Yes, both are fairly light. I know the Gesha was barely city because I roasted it myself. Going by eye the blue bottle is city+, its light in color but not very mottled.

And yes, I mixed it on a per shot basis. I would not sacrifice an entire batch of Gesha.

Sounds good, may have to try this next time I have a Gesha... 18 grams in the La Peppina's a pretty high dose. Did you help the spring lever on the return?

I've actually crammed as much as 20g into the double basket before. It takes some doing, and you end up pretty much level with the top, but you can do it.

I don't usually assist the spring much, if at all. My shots are almost always on the slow side, and I tend to just go with it, those are the ones I seem to like best with the Peppina. One thing I do usually do is hold back on the spring pressure initially so you get a real slow pressure ramp up during pre-infusion. The slow ramp up gives you less compaction and thus faster flow for the same dose/grind. Once I'm done with pre-infusion, I just push the lever back to the bottom and let it go.