1. Pretty much, I usually slow down a little bit when I lower the pitcher to prevent too much sinking of the milk. Too slow and your rosetta won't go anywhere though. Practice makes perfect on this one. 2. Either your steaming consistency changes every time or you're not working your milk enough.

To me this seems like the milk might just be a little too thick. Maybe try stretching it just a little bit less

This is probably the best, short of doing both at the same time. I would rather have fresh crema to pour art into and this gives you time to work the milk

Maybe it's the grind. Try lowering the dose and tightening up the grind and see if it moves towards the bitter side

Good thing, my willpower was waining and I don't think I could have held out for much longer

Not sure if you guys have seen this. Looks like it's good through tomorrow. $550 w/ tax. Someone should buy my CC1 so I can get this... {link}

Yep, pretty much the same as those. 1) Put blank basket in with some cafiza (don't need much!) 2) Run pump for 5-10 seconds to allow pressure to build, then stop it. 3 way valve will activate and suck detergent though. 3) Give it 10-15 seconds to rest 4) Repeat 4 more times (for a total of 5 times)

I would advise just giving Baratza a call when you have time tomorrow, their customer support is second to none

Similar routine to Burner0000: 1) Machine comes on ~30-40 mins before I wake up 2) Flush 2-3 oz water through portafilter and into cup for preheating 3) Once PID comes back up to temp, and coffee is ready to go a 3 sec. flush to get temp in group stable 4) Pull shot 10000 shots did some interesting

I'm going to try and tighten down the calibration a little further today and see what happens. Hopefully the worst that can come of this is ruining my burrs and not anything else! Still haven't witnessed this "sighing" that bostonbuzz is talking about so maybe I have a little more room for adjustment