Ok, this post might be a little meandering, and I am not sure exactly where I am going with it. Perhaps validation, or maybe just a discussion around what is going on.

Quick background - started with an Elizabeth + Sette 270Wi/DF64, now using a Quick Mill Vetrano 2b Evo w/ FC + Lucca 75 Grinder (Eureka Atom 75, essentially).

I typically brew medium roast espresso, and I prefer drinking straight. 20grams in, 40grams out (varies depending on roast, but ballpark). Since installing flow control and picking up the very capable Lucca 75 grinder, I have found myself pulling quite a bit longer shots, and really enjoying them. I am using a pretty consistent profile - 2-3bar pre-infusion until first drops around 15-20s > ramp to 9-10 bars at the group > reduce pressure slow to 7-6 bars for the last half or third of the shot.

From start to finish, shots are pulling around 55-65 seconds. I recognize the lower pressure pre-infusion and descending pressure are going to add time to the shot.

What I find interesting though, is that if I pull that same grind and dose at a more traditional "wide open" flow, the shots still take around 45-50+ seconds at full 9-10 bar.

So, I guess my question and where I am going with this - any conventional espresso wisdom would tell me the grind is too fine and should be pretty over-exacted, based on the shot time for the wide-open shot. However, I am absolutely loving these shots with flow control. They are thick, full of body, sweet, and still have plenty of flavor nuance.

Why is this? Have I simply become accustomed to thicker over extracted espresso and not realized it? Is flow control effectively enhancing the good flavors and properties while minimizing the acrid and over exacted flavors, giving me a more exacted shot without the bad flavors? Am I likely doing something wrong and just getting "lucky"?

Even videos on flow control profiles do not typically pull this long, unless I am mistaken.