Hi, I've been pulling shots with my Cafelat Robot and Kinu M47 for over a year now. I also use the NDT and tamper tools from Orphan's Espresso and often get good or even excellent results. I've recently got a bag of Verve Coffee Kamuyu AA. It is a light roast and no matter how I do NDT and tamper carefully, 10s pre-infusion, there is just pretty bad channeling when I pull, with the liquid dripping from several locations of the naked portafilter. I have also adjusted grind size with no luck. The extraction time is just the usual 30s - 1 min so grind size should be in range. I feel like it is more related to the beans than other variables like my technique, grind size. Is there any hack that could help with this? Maybe a filter paper at the bottom? Or it is just meant to be brewed with filter?

Ah I haven't thought about that. Yes I do use a Stagg. I will try using the usual wide spout kettle. Thanks for the suggestion!