espressotime wrote:But the machine is a Breville.

20+ years ago first espresso machine was a Solis SL-90 which I fake PID'd. Solis SL-90 Adjustable Brew Temperature.
Made pretty fair espresso from roasts I did that pulled well on my hardware.



In the mid-teens, some pals bought Breville DB. It takes a bit of effort and selection of the right coffee, but it can make pretty good espresso. Without a selection of baskets, and a fair bit of experience, some roasts are off limits.

IMO, most are hampered by a lack of experience and 'adjustable' hardware, i.e. basket selection*, to dial in corner case beans.

By way of example, back in February of this year, I ordered my favorite 60/40 'central'/'yrg'** blend from Wandering Goat in Eugene, Oregon. [I've been ordering coffee from them for about 15 years. They're a very good shop. Chupacabra is tasty and easy to pull on almost any hardware]
February blend was Cafe Feminina Peru 60% / Yrg Gotiti 40%.
Shot params:
IMS double, 20g, grinder 15.3, 200°F, 8.5bar, 30g in 30s***
An Italian pal couldn't get enough, calling it "amazing, delicious, incredible, tastes like another..."

As the Gotiti is gone, Sept '21 is Cafe Feminina Peru 60% / Ethiopia Sidama Homacho Waeno 40%
Same starting point as Feb and YIKES - spray, suck a lemon sour, 15 second collapse - H O R R I B L E ! !
Dialed [about ¾ pound] params:
new 'no name triple' basket****, 22.5g, grinder 13, 205°F, 7.75bar, 40g in 20s
It's now ready for my Ital pal. It's "amazing, delicious, incredible, tastes like another..."

Oh yeah, no WDT, RDT, etc. Just distribute, level tamp with any of 5 variously shaped & diameter tampers.

* baskets wear. Sometimes an old basket is just the ticket. Various depth and shape matter, but the marketing hype is mostly malarkey because one size does definitely not fit all!

** generic Guatemala - Costa Rica - Nicaragua - Chiapas - Peru - Bolivia - ETC / Ethiopian blend of medium roasts. I troll my fav roasters to see what they currently have on offer and when something looks interesting order it up. I also order standard blends. Last was Caffé Lusso RESCUE:FREEDOM BLEND. Ya gots to pull it hot.

*** ALWAYS first drop in cup.

**** Synesso triple didn't cut it. Nearly same shape & very close hole size, but hole pattern differs.

So I gave this some more thought. I had an e37s and a bdb and while I didn't experience channeling after I figured out what I was doing I did have those issues with a rocket hx machine I bought for work. Even when I switched out that grinder the issue remained. I had done basically everything that I normally did at home without any channeling at all. The only thing that really worked is adding a shaker to the work routine. Hope that helps.