mycatsnameisbernie wrote:Your Bambino is capable of making great shots from medium to dark roasts when used with a non-pressurized/single wall filter basket and a good espresso-focused grinder. Right now, your Encore is the weak point of your setup.

I assume the Bambino is similar to the Infuser. Adding a bottomless portafilter helps so you can see what's going on. Doing good WDT helps a lot. Running a shot with just water before the real shot helps (thermal stability). Doing manual preinfusion and stopping the shot manually by weight helps. With these simple and low-cost things, I've pulled great shots on an Infuser with a bunch of higher-end grinders. And all with light-medium or light roasts.

Said more simply, I agree the grinder is the first step.