Kenja -
Looking good, wait longer on the 205 + 10 sec. Wait till 20 sec and I think you might see a flatter shot profile. It still looks like you're losing temp through the shot which isn't good.. unless you want to!

Geoff

dont forget to turn down the ovp from 11bar to 9 or 9bar, that helps too.

either way,the machine runs hot. ive found what best works for mine, so far, is set at 8.5bar, 0.9 bar boiler pressure, flush to 205 (which is closer to 198 at the puck), then pull a shot immediately.

Here's my latest update... I'm pulling the tastiest shots (Stumptown Hairbender) by flushing to 203, waiting ~10 seconds and then going. By the time I pull the shot, the grouphead is back up to around 205 and then decays down to around 198 by the end of the shot. I think the actual brew temp must be somewhere around 198. I plan to go back and do more flush big, long wait, and go experiments, but haven't had the time. At least I am getting some really good espresso out of the thing, now.

I just brewed a home roasted blend (Brazil, Guatemala, and Colombian) I came up with this morning and I am in complete heaven. I am finally happy with my purchase and my wife isn't giving me so much crap for buying it. Thanks to everyone for the input and guidance.

BTW, I also bought the restrictor through espressocare, but have not felt the need to install it, yet. Will update once I have...

Kenja