Yeah, if you low dose in a basket and the grounds don't pile above the rim, you can still level with it below the rim. the threaded part will extend down into the basket as far as you want.

People using the SAI shot collar, I'd like to get reviews and opinions on them !

I want to buy one but I just can't get that making the top part of the coffee bed flat will help out that much the extraction ?!? To me, if the whole depth of the basket would be distributed before tamping, it might help things out.

Thanks !

I've been enjoying mine. Usually the grinder fills over the cylinder in the collar, I spin the whole collar and the cylinder moves through the coffee, evening out the top third of the grounds, then I tap it on the tamper stand which knocks the pile down to just under the cylinder, I spin again, leveling out the top of the puck, then pull the shot.

It works great for me as my main issue was really that the grinder throws grinds so fast they pile up on one side a bit more than the other, and this helps even things out. Now, would it be better if it had tiny feelers that reached all the way to the puck floor that perfectly groomed the bottom third of the pile? Who knows. For me...Who cares? It works just fine as it is.

Previously, because the grinds were often UNDER the rim of the basket, it was kind of hard to get the tamper (VST sized so tight) to nutate or do anything to level things. but with the collar it is no big deal.