WDT all the way. I even do a 'soft approach' wdt by just doing it in my basket in the pf just before I tamp and it improves puck consistency 10 fold. I can channel with the best of them without it, but with it I don't think channeling is a problem... less donut extractions and more even pulls. WDT, imo is the best thing since butter on toasted sliced bread. I may be over-selling it just a taadddd...but seriously. WDT is the cat's meow. Use it.

EDIT = I'm surprised this doesn't work for everyone... Just went through the 3 pages and realized this was given already. How does this not help everyone? haha

I was thinking about getting the coffee into the basket as even as possible
and I usually twist the handle while dosing. But I use to hold it horizontal.

Today I have been holding the handle very much towards vertical and getting
the coffee first around the edges and then in the middle, doing this over and
over as I fill the basket. Then I level a little bit north and south because
I feel I can get gaps if I just level straight once.
I didnt weight any dose today just felt it while tamping and timing the shot.
I use to get the tamper in there and then look from 2 sides to be sure
its even before doing the tamp. I hope to learn so I dont have to do this
because it feels a little bit bad as it stops the motion and might create
other problems, but Im working on getting more and more sure about tamping.

I ran out of beans some days ago and used some old ones so the grinder was a little off.
I got new beans today and this is the first shot:
(When the cups are full they are holding 60ml which is 2oz)

This took 58seconds, sprayed some and tasted bad.
The cup is less then half filled.


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Second shot took 45s, also sprayed some but tasted nice.
The cup is between half and full.




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Third shot was a little fast 33s filled almost to the max.
Less spray, but I thought it was gonna taste awful, to my surprise it was actually nice.



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Fourth shot gave me about 1,5-1,7oz and took 38s. This shot felt good, no spraying.
To my surprise it didnt taste good.




--------

The best tasting shots were 2 and 3, both had taste and sweeteness
and seemed to roll off in the aftertaste. First shot was too sweet
and last shot tasted a little scorched with a harder aftertaste.

I tried to incorporate my temperature controlling technique but it
suffered a bit today because I was more focused on the dosing.



I am lucky enough to have a skilled barista having a coffeeshop just outside my
window. I get my beans from him and they are 3days old. I have started to
only use the same beans as he does and I regularly go there to talk and to
drink his double. Im thinking about asking him up to taste my shots, he
has been here before but we havent really made any coffee.
I try not to get on his nerves.

I forgot. The beans today are about 10 days because of easter
they havent gotten any new ones.

Also a quick reminder of my coffee before I came here:

Every coffee is different, just as everyones tastes vary. Your times are on the long side, 26-30 seconds is the accepted 'normal' shot range (1.5-1.75oz from 14-16 grams of coffee). 1.5 oz in 35-40 seconds is more a restretto. Your first issue is the spraying, that channeling will throw the flavor off and get you a bitter over extracted cup. Second is the dose. If your series of shots were pulled with the same grind setting and dose, your dosing is way off. Everything being the same, your shots should fall withing +/- one or two seconds of each other. Channeling will also throw the timing and extraction amount off. Half a gram difference in dosing will make a big difference. In the beginning, weighing your dose is the best way to avoid that and scale is inexpensive.

Maybe I was being unclear.

The grinder was off during a test with another coffee.
All shots are made with different grinder setting.

The series I did was an attempt to dial in the grind using
same dose and tamp. So somewhere between last
and second to last shot should be good.

Since I have a vibe pump Im aiming for about 1.75-2oz in 35seconds.
Just as a place to start.


As seen here, I can now make shots without any channeling:
The cup isnt wiped, this is exactly as it came out.



I will make a video of me preparing the shot and then the extraction.
Im gonna have to wait tho, I cant get more beans until Tuesday

Congrats, that looks like a properly extracted ristretto. Normales are tougher, but worth practicing, since many blends tend to taste better at 1.5 ounce, 30 extractions than 1 ounce, 37 second ones.

Thanks.

Since I can now go for longer without the cone collapsing and blonding I will
try and work my way up.

I am very happy, my shots are coming out nicer much more regularly.