I thought I would start a new thread on my experiments as a noob with bottomless PF - I didn't want to hijack PaulN's thread. So I'm continuing this discussion from this thread.

Thanks to Compliance for pointing out my blonde gusher. I went back and read about the common issues http://www.home-barista.com/naked-extraction-common-problems.html and made some corrections, most noticeable grinding finer. Lots of stuff happened, including squirts and side channeling. But most interesting and surprising was this: Over extraction still gave me a much better result than I was getting. I'm talking about 2 oz for my double taking up to a minute! And yet, it still tasted pretty decent, and way better than what I was getting. Let me also add that I no longer use that triple basket - I went back to using my old double, which I know well, with the bottomless.

So since last time you have made your grind finer but except that everything else is exactly similar as you would do with a normal portafilter/basket? Same dosage, tamping technique?

The tamping is probably different. I'm using the bottomless, so putting it on the counter it sits flat. Impossible to replicate the former tamping. Also I am paying more attention to the dosing, making sure the perimeter is filled in. The BPF reveals all my flaws (at least those that have to do with espresso), so I'm making changes in dosing, tamping, as well as grind. But trying to be consistent for a period of time when I change one parameter and see what that does.

How about the over extraction?

The tamping is probably different. I'm using the bottomless, so putting it on the counter it sits flat. Impossible to replicate the former tamping.

I'm using a hockey puck to place the bottomless PF on while tamping and it works quite well.

I'm using a hockey puck to place the bottomless PF on while tamping and it works quite well.

Sounds very Canadian

I'm going to try the WDT. I'm just not thrilled that I need to stuff like that with a Vario.

You should experiment with a nutating tamp as well. WDT helped more with my old grinder, and nutating helps more with my current one. They are both good techniques. You can even do both on the same shot, but anyone watching you will think you've gone OCD (that is if they don't already).

Try this thread for nutation info: Nutation: how to do it right

Pull #2. This is a fully city roast. The lighting is crappy, but in fact it was a lot darker than it looks in the video, and pretty good striping. But see how much crema. What's up with that? Anyway, the flavor really came out. And the aroma was amazing! Such a radical change from what I was getting from that blend before. ie A lot of flavors came out that were never there before.

It does look light in the video. If the color were true I'd say you had blonding by the 13 second mark. The flow is still fast for me, so you could go even tighter with the grind IMO. Have you ever choked your espresso machine? You might want to try grinding fine enough to choke it and adjust it by backing off from there. That will help you see the range of grind levels, and give you a better sense of where you are in that range.

I did a quick search of youtube for an example, this one seems pretty good:

okmed wrote:I'm using a hockey puck to place the bottomless PF on while tamping and it works quite well.

You don't stand it on a block of ice do you ?