Correct, add a flow kit for variable preinfusion.

That's correct that it will only pre-wet if it isn't plumbed. I've also done standard pre-infusions. Both methods have worked for me although now, I just use my FC without doing any pre-infusion. One thing I have not tried, is to barely open the FC to keep the pressure really low thus simulating line in pressure. I'll try it tomorrow and let you know how it compares.

Jeff wrote:Correct, add a flow kit for variable preinfusion.

Jeff - I'm curious, is your technique like what I just described?

For milk drinks only I'd go for a conical. Breville dual boiler + niche zero will give you amazing cappuccinos. You could sell both and upgrade if you feel the need to but a friend of mine compared espressos from a lelit bianca and the bdb and he sold the bianca (he did the slayer mode).

If you're reading this and pulling medium-dark or darker roasts, you probably don't want to do this. It is likely to make a bitter mess.

I use a different machine, so it's hard for me to say how you'd execute with an E61 flow control. You probably could do something very similar. Looking at this morning's light-roasted Gesha, the profile for it, my Niche Zero, and this machine went something like this:

* Fill the basket at 5 mL/s until the pressure reaches 4 bar (7 seconds, with this coffee, first drops landing around 6 seconds)
* Turn off flow, wait for the pressure to decay to 1.5 bar (~11 seconds total, about 4 g in the cup)
* Ramp up to 8 bar over 7 seconds
* Slowly ramp down to keep flow into the cup reasonably constant (this shot ended around 30 seconds total, 17 g in, 50 g out)

I've got a few variants of this, mainly on how the pressure during extraction behaves. Each coffee seems to "like" one a bit more than another. I'm still waiting on my big flats, so I can't say how well this would work with one of them.

Credit for this approach goes to Luca C and Stephane Ribes