(Sorry - I'm noticing the post is a bit dated) - but I agree - you really have to tighten up the grind. I don't know your grinder, I'm using the Breville Smart Grinder) - and pull exclusively Italian blends. I have it set right now at 15. Doing double ristrettos - double basket - 14g in, 24g out, or if I'm going for a tongue coating - 13g out. Usually pulling closer to 30 sec, sometimes 35sec with the Kimbo.
I understand you're not looking at going to exclusive Italian blends, but there are a few good feeds on here all about them that bring up the mystery of "old stale Italian beans" pulling amazing shots.

As the original poster I have to say that the needle has moved QUITE a long way in the past year and a half for me. I'm now at the point where I can easily dial in any bean with the Kafatek and now it's just about trying to get one or two PERFECT shots out of the bag while making the worst shot still quite good. Basically there are no more sink shots. Even the 20 second outliers or the odd 70 second runaway.

I meant to update this thread more often but to be honest I've had a few months of back to back orders from ZAB. Great coffees and fast shipping.

Recently I decided to try out Rouge Wave. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of fun with their Guatemala Duraznales Washed. The acidity/sourness was quite challenging to get under control. Eventually after 3 weeks post roast I was able to get some decent shots out of it by using a very tight grind and a 3ml/sec flow profile that I held at 2 bar until I got a few grams in the cup. I still have a 200g bag of their Elkin Guzman- Finca El Mirador | Natural Orange Bourbon that I'm going to open next.

After that experience I ordered a few bags from Detour including their Holiday Blend which was immediately sweeter and much more balanced and flavorful before I even had it dialed in. I'm now working on a bag of their Cedral Costa Rican which is also turning out quite nicely.

Another HB'er just sold me a Roast Vision so I thought it might be interesting to start posting roast level in this thread in case anyone is interested. Here are the readings for these three coffees:

Rouge Wave - Guatemala Duraznales Washed
Roast Vision 25 - Medium Light
Agtron Gourmet - 93

Detour - Holiday Blend
Roast Vision 21 - Medium Light
Agtron Gourmet - 82

Detour - Cedral - Costa Rica
Roast Vision - 23 - Medium Light
Agtron Gourmet - 88

I also just got bags of Lavazza Super Crema and Lavazza DEK Decaf so the whole range of roasts is covered. My next order will be from Rabbit Hole roasters. This will be my first time trying them.

I just finished off the last of the Lavazza Gold that was in my freezer. I'm still shocked that this tastes like it does. Milk chocolate, almonds and caramel. Very smooth and enjoyable at 197F 18/27g.

As another point of interest I put the last of the grounds from that bag through the Roast Vision and it read a 14 or Medium Dark (Agtron Gourmet 61) after 4 samples.

Just finished a bag of Rouge Wave Elkin Guzman Natural Orange Bourbon.
Measured 26 - Light on the Roast Vision
This was cinnamon coloured. Very sweet and just FULL of fruit and berry flavors. So much so it was difficult to pick them all out. Nice chocolate finish.
This was very good coffee.

Have started a bag of Detour Santa Lucia Costa Rician washed Caturra.
Measured 21 - Medium Light on the Roast Vision
Massively sweet with dried strawberries, dark chocolate and some lingering floral notes.
Another great coffee and a bit of a relief from the Natural while still being very sweet.

Would buy both of these again but I think Detour is sold out at the moment.

I haven't added to this thread in awhile so I thought I'd chime in with something that's been working really well for me over the last few months. Hatch in Ontario.

The coffees are excellent, the roasts are super consistent from order to order and while measuring them with a Roast Vision they spread out their roast levels very evenly and logically. I've enjoyed the Blackout, Gamma, Supernova and Starlight as well as a couple of 200g bags of Geisha. Now that my Tim Wendelboe subscription has started I'm looking forward to getting to know these coffees a little better while I settle in for comparing the Monolith Flat to my about to arrive MC4.

+1 for Hatch. Really enjoyed the Starlight and Supernova. I try to avoid decafs, but the El Paraiso I picked up for my wife was one of the better ones I've had.

My other recent notables (typical of my tastes generally) are: DeMello's Ethiopia Gerba Dogo, the Ardi Natural from Social and the Heirloom Guji from Prairie Lily.

Haven't tried the decaf but the El Paraiso Eco-Enigma was only okay. Not bad but did not blow me away like some of the other coffees. Try the Gamma. It's Italian done really well and fresh.

I ambitiously/foolishly bought all of the "foundation" coffees to try in one go. I think the Gamma was likely past its best-before date by the time I got to it, will order another bag! Since many of the lighter roasted dry processed coffees I tend to favour need at least a 2 week rest, I sometimes forget the more traditional roasts til they're not at their best .

In terms of roast level it's between Blackout and Supernova. Right now I'm going through the bag of Cafe Lusso GRAN MISCELA CARMO that came with my new grinder. The Hatch coffees are superior in my opinion.

Haven't tried hatch until recently

Great shot from the sasa Ethiopian this morning with the SLM flat and the gs3