This is a bit of a 2 part question.
Q1: what pressure have you found to bring optimal group head temp for light SO roasts or does this machine do better with something not so light? I have messed with grind and dose and have been struggling to hit the sweet spot, I either keep getting slightly sour and thin or lemon peel bitterness. My pressure is right at 1.2bar.
Q2: what tamper have you found to be a good fit for these baskets? I use the Elektra microcasa a leva double baskets.

Thanks

Ron

Three days ago, I bought a bag of counter culture hologram that was roasted just 3 days prior. So my efforts were done on day 4, 5 and 6. Their roast is light, tan in color.

I use a PID on my 2 group PV lusso, which was set at 1.2 bar and that is about 243f in the boiler, according to the probe.
Mazzer major grinder in use here, if that helps.

I ended up reducing that pid setting to 239, over the course of the days, which is just a hair at or above 1.0 bar, and the sweetness returned to the product. Its more of a lemony citrus brightness, rather than sugar, but it also lost its aggressive sour note that was present at 1.2 bar. That was why I lowered it. My bet is that it could stand to be even lower, but I am almost finished with the 12 ounce bag already.

I am allowing for idle group head temp to occur. Hours of being on, actually. I rarely do back to back shots. I either switch heads, or wait a while.

I am pre-infusing for a count of 6, and the shots are slow, dripping mostly, then after the second full pull, a mouse tail stream is evident. Total output is 22ml, from 12 grams in. I just happened to be weighing everything, lucky you.

For most beans, 1.1 bar works. I have only ventured from .9 to 1.2 on the gauge.

I have 2 tampers, but this is the one I am using now- its a snug fit. One of the baskets is slightly ovalized, and the tamper snugs up against it when spun.
http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-One-Pi ... _1824.html

please add your recipe-

1.2 bar seems on the high side. I don't do milk drinks so I don't factor in steaming, but I shoot for setting my machines at .8 bar. I really like the results I get from that.

Wow, thanks for the help! I came home today and started hitting the books and figured I would pull a couple shots for the study session. I drilled a hole in the side of my casing to make adjustments a lot easier and quicker and set my pstat so the gauge floated between .9-1.0 and man what a difference that made. I dosed my usual 16g which usually yields 15.5g in the basket, pulled the lever down for a 5 second pre-infusion than slowly released it allowing the handle to reach about 3/4 stroke then re-engaged the lever slowly and let go for a full stroke which yielded 22.8g of liquid gold in the cup. The shot was creamier, smoother and sweeter. I used a 2day post roast Guatemala Huehuetenango that was dropped at 12:07 just as first crack was finishing up. For a longer light roast I am really impressed with the results that dropping the pressure had as I had been getting some powerful citrus peel characteristics before and a much thinner body. The shot took total of about 35seconds which is a little quicker than what I normally experience. The stream picked up quite a bit of speed on the second pull and appeared to blonde a little sooner but the shot still tasted pretty good. I am going to mess with getting the stream to slow a little bit more on that second pull and see what effects delaying the blonding has. Thanks again, so far the results have been great.