Hey iploya!

Thanks for your suggestions! I'm not sure if I can change up the pressure settings on my infuser but I've tried to "max out" (I think) the preinfusion time available on the infuser for all the shots I've pulled. Seems like 10s is the max allowable on the equipment but I'll go read up and see if preinfusion pressure adjustment is an option on the infuser!

As for the coffee roasting date, the coffee I've used in these videos were <1month old from the roast date. Could it be the way they were roasted or the origins of the beans? I've tried with a newer batch of coffee lately and it seems better.

Roast date 29nov2021 and these were pulled on 05dec2021. Smart grinder pro inner burrs were kept at 4 but I had to increase the grind size from 1 to 4 else it chokes and gives nothing.

I've got 17.0g in, 25.1g out in 51s (inclusive of 10s preinfusion time):

I'm sorry I can't offer anything other than moral support yet as I'm facing *exactly* the same situation with my Infuser. Using the stock filter in an aftermarket bottomless portafilter, I've managed one really good extraction out of maybe twenty attempts.

Thanks for all the suggestions above. I'm off to play with my grinder and see if there's a way to change the pressure...

That looks really close. What catches my attention here is that the bottom of the portafilter basket never really fills in completely. Would it be possible to shoot a video showing your puck prep?

Agree, the last video looks the most promising. Finally went fine enough, and a little beyond, and need to somehow back it off a again just a tad (main clue is 51s is very long). The last photo of the grind was really clumpy, which can happen at finer settings, but you can definitely fix that with a WDT tool if you aren't already, then level it with a leveler before your final tamp, and that should get a more uniform flow.

Sounds like the coffee you are using is sufficiently fresh, and the last shot looked closer to normal but now on the slow side. It still looks to me like a dark roast but I am no roasting expert and my personal pref is just biased toward the medium-to-light roasts currently.

I guess the puck prep needs improvement.

Did you try tapping the portafilter vertically before using an OCD distribution tool?

I suggest you to tap hard vertically to collapse the coffee mountain on the portafilter to even out the density difference in the puck. Tap vertically this way and get a fairly flat puck surface. Then do OCD distribution and then use a palm tamper with a higher pressure.

If you want to do WDT, do before the hard vertical tap.