Fullsack wrote

In playing around with this routine, i've found my best shots, temp wise, tend to be pulled in a 20-30 second window that begins when steam first starts to come out of the safety valve, at around 6:40 and ends when the loud hissing noise occurs.

On my Europiccola with its new gauge I find your pulls "on time" translate to around .7 bar, and I also find that to be the sweet spot. I am wondering what kind of beans you are enjoying.

I seem to get the best results so far with blends or beans with some naturally good body and heartiness, such as an Italian style blend with a dry-processed base of Brasil. At best I find the taste cleaner than from my Ponte Vecchio Lusso, especially the aftertaste which seems to be the highlight of the flavor experience.

I have been trying to get good results with a S.O. El Salvador Finca Matalpa La Cidra from Ritual, which needs a very fine grind, but to no avail (though I am getting very nice shots with good body from the Ponte Vecchio Lusso). Any good results on the Europiccola with S.O. bright coffees?

I was out of town and ran out of my blend #86, a Brazilian, Indonesian, Central American and African mix, so I ordered some Hairbender and Black Cat. The Hairbender was better than the Black Cat with the Pre, the Black Cat better than the Hairbender with the Semiautomatic. I like my blend better with the Semi and the Lusso than the pre. Four Barrel's Espresso Blend also excels on the Semi and Lusso, but it's not as good with the pre, (just my opinion).

Installed an Orphan/espressme gauge kit today. It's a pretty slick set-up.